The Final Fantasy series has changed a lot over the years, which makes sense given its been around for almost forty of them. For most of my life Final Fantasy has been a series about pushing the boundaries using the most gorgeous and cutting edge graphics imaginable, with 3D visuals that feel like they can’t be topped every single release. I remember thinking nothing could ever look more realistic and breath-taking than the cutscenes of Final Fantasy X, and although that’s obviously not true it does still hold up rather well for a PS2 game. Once upon a time though, Final Fantasy featured beautiful pixel art in its landmark RPGs. Final Fantasy Resonance feels like the perfect throwback to this era while maintaining that modern flair and beauty, by utilising the HD-2D style that we all love.
Final Fantasy spinoff games come in many forms, but this one is very much a classic JRPG adventure. Our protagonist Rain is a knight in the kingdom of Grandshelt, who leads an airship squadron. When the kingdom’s crystal is destroyed he’s sent on a journey with his lifelong bestie and almost brother Lasswell, across multiple continents that all have crystals that a group of six villains are trying to destroy. You’d better believe that there are chocobos, moogles and cactuar along the way too, but this isn’t just a silly throwback to the early years of the series.
I fell in love with the characters of Final Fantasy Resonance so much harder than I expected, and honestly more than those of recent mainline games. Rain is earnest and likable, without being too sickly sweet. Lasswell has always lived in his shadow, but isn’t too angsty with it. The mysterious girl they find in the crystal Fina is your typical amnesiac party member, but she’s also bubbly and lovable. As I gathered more and more allies I struggled to decide who to keep in my party, because I wanted to get to know them all. They all feature massively in the story too, which has so many twists and turns.
Final Fantasy Resonance is broken up into chapters, and for the most part each of these takes place on a new continent. While you’re exploring this new desert or ice themed landscape you’ll probably meet a new friend, and face off against a new member of the evil team. Along the way though you’ll likely find out about some tragic events from all their pasts, and gasp at big reveals that hit with real emotion. Don’t be fooled by the pixel visuals, because it’s been a long time since a Final Fantasy story has been this gripping.
Between dramatic story beats though you’ll have to do a lot of fighting, which means plenty of traditional turn-based combat. All your favourite Final Fantasy spells and attacks are represented here, with glorious pixel explosions and lighting effects galore. The main twist with the combat though is the ability to stagger foes, which can be done more easily by hitting weak points. If you stagger an enemy it’ll be stunned for a turn and that party member will gain an attack, and if you stagger all the enemies then everyone can batter the stunned foes. This is only made satisfying when you start gathering Visions to equip each character with, which are perhaps the most delightful aspect of this whole game.
You see Visions are actually classic Final Fantasy characters, from across the entire series. You obtain them in shrines across the world, where you’ll get to see scenes from their original game and will be asked questions about their heroic journeys. Once you’ve got Cloud, Squall, or Cecil on your side you can equip them to your party members, and use their abilities in battle. Alongside this you’ll also gain access to a massive special attack where you summon them to take on stunned enemies, with accompanying 3D animations to go alongside the massive damage. For fans of the series these will make you squeal with utter glee, and travelling somewhere new is always exciting because of the new visions you’ll find.
Like everyone else in the game, Visions can be levelled up to give them new skills. Each character can also master visions, unlocking permanent stat buffs and all sorts of abilities you can equip even when you aren’t paired with them any more. This ensures there are all sorts of builds you can create by mastering different visions, depending on your play style. I immediately focused on giving Rain and Lasswell the ability to counter every physical and magic attack with a sword slice of their own, while ensuring my mages were given the ability to break the damage scale and hit harder than the standard cap of 9999. Perhaps you’d rather gather immunities to different elements though, or boost up your critical hit chance to stagger enemies faster. However you want to play Final Fantasy Resonance is valid, just be careful that you’re still prepared for all the spectacular and challenging boss fights.
Final Fantasy Resonance delights in pretty much every way, and that certainly includes the audio and visuals. The soundtrack is all killer and no filler, with wonderfully emotional songs balanced out perfectly with high energy bangers that I never wanted to end. The voice acting is sublime too, which each character brought to life with perfect performances. Those HD-2D visuals are as magic as ever in the Final Fantasy universe as well, quite possibly surpassing anything in the style that’s come before it. I am desperate for more Final Fantasy games to follow in the footsteps of Resonance, because it just suits the series so well.
There’s so much to love about Final Fantasy Resonance, but it does have some small issues. The most glaring of these are the side quests, which as you play deeper into the game become more lacklustre. The vast majority of these just involve traveling back and forth between characters to talk to them, and even with fast travel they just get repetitive despite adding some flavour to the story. The other annoyance involves fast travel, because it can’t be used in dungeons. I understand why this is the case, but Resonance categorises so many tiny single room areas as dungeons. You’ll be refused fast travel dozens and dozens of times throughout the game, and every time it’ll make you groan as you’re standing next to the door out of a place.
Final Fantasy Resonance is a love letter to one of the greatest gaming series of all time, full of delicious fan service and sensational battles. The story is better than that of most mainline games, and the HD-2D visuals are frankly absurd. I’ve not been this engrossed in a JRPG in a long time, and by the time the credits rolled I didn’t want it to end. Whether you’re a fan of the series or just like turn-based battles, Resonance is a game you will almost certainly love.
