With HD-2D being one of the staples in Square Enix’s wheelhouse, it was only a matter of time until the iconic Final Fantasy series dipped its toes into the style. Such is the case with Final Fantasy Resonance, the first HD-2D entry of the series that harkens back to the games of old in all the best ways possible. While the game itself is adapting the mobile gacha game “Brave Exvius“, it feels like its own thing that doesn’t need the player to know about it to enjoy it, similar to Octopath Traveler 0 last year.
The demo for Final Fantasy Resonance is very lengthy and very enjoyable. Spanning over 4 hours of content, with several bosses and an amazing opening to what seems like one of 2026’s longest JRPGs.
An Exhilarating Story from the Get-Go
Final Fantasy Resonance starts with a war breaking out. Mages, Knights, Airships, and Magitek Armor are all fighting in an all-out war. At the center of the story is someone called the Archwitch. She fights against overwhelming odds before the sky splits open, and it fast-forwards to a time of peace in the Kingdom of Grandshelt, where the main character, Rain, is sent to check on the Earth Crystal when its barrier is compromised.
Upon discovery of the crystal, Rain and his companion, Lasswell, are confronted by a knight who destroys the crystal and razes Grandshelt. These events send Rain and Lasswell to hunt down the other crystals and prevent this knight from sending the world into chaos.
As far as the storytelling goes in the demo for Final Fantasy Resonance, it is undoubtedly going for that classic story approach past games had. The kingdom falling to ruin, a story of protecting the crystals, all of it screams classic Final Fantasy. The characters themselves also make the game very enjoyable. Rain and Lasswell play off each other very well and have really good voice acting. This is also true for other characters found in the demo as well, especially Fina. All of this is paced perfectly between classic turn-based combat and random encounters (with a twist!)
A Return to Classic Turn-Based Combat
Final Fantasy Resonance returns to the series turn-based roots, just with a few modern-day tweaks. Instead of the ATB system of the older games, there is a set turn order. You have basic attacks, spells, and item usage like all other JRPGs, with an animation speed-up option to quicken combat. For the twists, there is a stagger meter for enemies, along with weaknesses that make staggering them easier. Every stagger gets you an extra turn, and staggering all available enemies in one turn gives you a sweeping stagger that lets you activate a special attack from your “Visions”.
Visions act a little bit like the job system from past games. You start off with two that are a white mage and a black mage at first. Then you start to find Visions that are iconic Final Fantasy characters. The available ones in the demo were:
- The Warrior of Light from Final Fantasy 1.
- Terra from Final Fantasy 6.
- And Cloud from Final Fantasy 7.
Each Vision has unique passives, skills, and an ultimate attack. These ultimate attacks are usable only during sweeping staggers. These moves also feature 3D-rendered cutscenes that flow well with the gameplay. Making them extremely cool to use.
Between all of these little elements of the gameplay is a slew of random bosses. Some of them pertain to the story, and some are found in odd spaces. Such as, one in the desert area that isn’t killable in the demo. As well as Gilgamesh showing up to steal your Genji Gloves. Final Fantasy Resonance is always exciting because of its gameplay and boss placement.
Flawless Performance
Final Fantasy Resonance on PC was flawless, even on Valve’s Steam Deck device. I was running the game on an LG OLED at a consistent 120fps at 1080p resolution, and the game looked absolutely stunning. There were no visual glitches, no bugs, no crashes, nor freezes to find either. It was a squeaky-clean experience, to say the least.
Finally, the visuals and music were all top-notch. As an avid HD-2D enjoyer, the sprite work, environments, and dungeon designs were all jaw-dropping. Bosses and enemies were no slouch either. The music never let up either. Grand orchestral scores, dour tracks, and ethereal soundscapes were found consistently throughout. Even the new chocobo theme was fun to listen to!
Final Thoughts on the Final Fantasy Resonance Demo
Final Fantasy Resonance is shaping up to be one of 2026’s finest JRPGs, and by Square Enix no less. The demo is very lengthy, and kept me consistently engaged. Its quality, from the visuals to the voice acting and the gameplay, puts this game in line with the quality that Final Fantasy is known for. You absolutely owe it to yourself to play the demo.
The full game will be launching on October 22nd on every platform for $49.99.
