Final Fantasy Resonance Preview – Calling Up the Classic Characters

Square Enix is really having a field day with its HD-2D games. After releasing The Adventures of Elliot earlier this year, the studio has returned to its Final Fantasy roots. Final Fantasy Resonance, a remake of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, is the next role-playing game to get the HD-2D treatment. Don’t get me wrong, I love the look. But as they say, you can’t go on looks alone. Then again, they also say, don’t judge a book by its cover. And after going hands-on with Final Fantasy Resonance, I can see—and appreciate—how this upcoming title weaves in over 30 years of Final Fantasy.

In my roughly hour-long preview, I got to go hands-on with the game’s second chapter. I delved into the Wind Shrine dungeon with my seemingly four-person party to locate the Wind Crystal. So far, standard Final Fantasy stuff.

My party consisted of protagonist Rain, warrior Lasswell, healer Fina, and wannabe engineer Lid. Why do I say wannabe? Lid’s whole shtick is that she wants to be the next Cid. And apparently, a name change (really just one letter) won’t cut it. “I intend to inherit the name of Cid,” she announces to a villain at one point. Oh, and Noctis is here.

Wait, what? Noctis? THE Noctis? Final Fantasy XV Noctis?

Yep, Notic Lucis Caelum himself is here. Or rather, his “Vision” is here. Before I reached the Wind Shrine I got to see one of the neatest aspects of this game. Aside from upgraded turn-based combat and HD-2D visuals, Final Fantasy Resonance also brings a big change to Brave Exvius through its Visions recruiting system.

In Resonance, every mainline Final Fantasy game, from I to XVI, has characters you can recruit as “Visions.” Essentially, Visions work similarly to Summons. You can call on them during battles, but unlike Summons, which trigger high-damage attacks before going on their way, Visions may use their regular attacks on any turn, every turn. Oh, and they also have their own special moves. More on that in a moment.

Before I discuss moves, I do want to talk about the new way in which you recruit these legacy characters. Various Sanctums dedicated to Final Fantasy characters dot the map. So for Noctis, we head to the Sanctum of Noctis. There, a crystal asks questions of the player based on what they’d do in certain situations. How closely your answers resemble what that character might say determines any buffs that character receives upon joining your party.

Now I don’t want to brag, but I’m something of a Final Fantasy XV aficionado myself. I platinumed the game and—what’s that, I didn’t view the accompanying anime? Or watch Kingsglaive? Okay, so maybe I’m more of a journeyman. Thankfully Final Fantasy Resonance didn’t quiz me on the anime or movie. But I still found the last question tricky, especially after two easy ones. I got it correct, but it did test my knowledge of the game. Players procure Noctis regardless, but I love how longtime Final Fantasy fans get rewarded the more games in the series they know about.

As for the other Visions, I was told not to spoil all of them. So I won’t. I can talk about the ones in my party, which included Terra, Zidane, The Warrior of Light, and Cloud. I was hoping to see Aerith since she’s probably starved for screen time in Final Fantasy VII Revelation. As you may guess, most of the Visions consist of the protagonists from each game. That said, there was one that made me raise an eyebrow. That’s all I’ll say for now.

Back on my quest to the Wind Shrine, I got to see Resonance combat in action. Or rather, in all its turn-based glory. Much of it is what you’d expect from a turn-based Final Fantasy. Characters can attack, cast spells, or use items. Elemental weaknesses are here, and a “weak” sign appears above enemies after you exploit one. From then on, any time you encounter that enemy type, it will glow blue when you select a spell it’s weak to when attacking.

Basically, Resonance doesn’t take any huge (turn-based) swings in its combat. But it still modernizes it. A bar at the top lets you know the order of each combatant’s turns. And each enemy has a stagger bar, which players can deplete to gain an extra turn. Party members have their own bars under their health. These grant Limit Bursts (different from Limit Breaks… in name), which grant powerful attacks.

While traversing the overworld and dungeons, enemy encounters occur. That’s nothing new. But before they occur, the minimap in the top right corner flashes red. When I went to heal at a Save Spot before the dungeon boss, I noticed the map starting to flash. Had I healed immediately, I would’ve walked right into a random encounter before the main boss. That’s a pet peeve of mine. But since I had this warning, I took a few steps, fought the enemies, and then healed and went over to the boss battle. It’s a small detail, but I appreciate that Resonance has quality-of-life updates like this.

As for the boss battle against the long-titled Aether, Veritas of the Heavens, it proved sufficiently challenging. I judiciously staggered him to take advantage of the extra turns. But his ultimate attack Heavenly Wind almost wiped out my party. And that’s with my characters being overleveled for the preview. As such, I decided to call on some friends.

First, I brought out a summon. And Resonance immediately treated me to a 3D cutscene of Siren appearing and unleashing her attack. But if I thought that was kinda cool, the Resonance Attacks had me grinning like Tidus in that one meme.

You know an attack should be special when it’s named after the game itself. And Final Fantasy Resonance’s Resonance attacks did not disappoint. Each one comes courtesy of a Vision. As a big Final Fantasy VII fan, I called on Cloud to use his Ascension attack. I got treated to a cutscene of Cloud unleashing a Buster Sword attack reminiscent of Omnislash. It was great.

Later on, I called on Terra to aid me. While not as epic as Cloud’s appearance, it was simply great to witness a 3D and fully voiced Terra in action, even if she didn’t have green hair. Interestingly, the classic characters all had their Japanese voices. So I wonder if Square Enix will reveal some new voice actors for some of these beloved classic characters.

I’ll confess, I didn’t really have Final Fantasy Resonance on my radar before this preview. While I love Final Fantasy, I have other titles to play, and I’m already eyeing Revelation for early next year. While a turn-based HD-2D Final Fantasy is sure to be a selling point alone for many, I wanted a little more.

Thankfully, with references to every single numbered game in the series beyond simply cosmetics, Resonance really made the case for me to take note. It’s early, but it feels like it has the potential to be a “greatest hits” compilation for the series. Additionally, the story beats I saw hint at an intriguing Final Fantasy tale.

Oh, and the game looks great. Sure, HD-2D games pretty much always look great with their retro-infused visuals. But Resonance adds some cinematic flair with a movie camera. And that’s to say nothing of the 3D cutscenes, which give us glimpses of beloved characters who may rarely—if ever—get the 3D animation treatment.

Final Fantasy Resonance will arrive on October 22nd, 2026 for PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.