Final Fantasy Resonance Is Good Enough To Be Final Fantasy 17

Welcome back to Remastered! This week, I'm reviewing Square Enix’s latest HD-2D game, Final Fantasy Resonance.

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Final Fantasy Resonance Is A Creative Act Of Preservation

While Marvel Snap is my mobile game de jour nowadays, there were a few months about a decade ago when I played Final Fantasy Brave Exvius somewhat regularly. I never saw its story completely through and dropped off playing around the time Ariana Grande got added to the game, but I remember enjoying its RPG systems and the broad taste of Final Fantasy characters that it offered. 

That’s why I was hopeful when I learned that Square Enix was taking the bones of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and turning it into Final Fantasy Resonance, a throwback HD-2D RPG for consoles. Just as Final Fantasy VII Remake stretched the idea of what a remake could be, Final Fantasy Resonance shows it’s possible to take the core of a gacha mobile game and turn it into an HD-2D RPG that can stand toe-to-toe with classic Final Fantasy games.

Since Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is no longer playable, a fate all too common for online games these days, Square Enix’s act of repurposing and preserving it is something I can truly appreciate. Final Fantasy is a series that has survived by adapting to the times and adopting the look, feel, gameplay, and narrative themes that best fit the era it is released in. Final Fantasy Resonance shows it need not be such a bad thing for the franchise to look to the past when charting out its future.

Final Fantasy Resonance is the epitome of what Amphibian developer Greg Alexandropoulos called a “four dudes in the line RPG.” Final Fantasy helped establish this style of RPG, after all. You fight with a party of four characters who can attack normally or use magic and other special skills each turn. Find enemies’ weaknesses, stagger them, and deplete their HP to zero. Every fight follows that same formula.

It may be quaint by modern RPG standards, but the fun of classic Final Fantasy comes from refining character builds, discovering how to combo different skills together for maximum effect, and leveling up your characters so you can do it all over again. As a mobile game, Brave Exvius simplified combat somewhat, but playing Final Fantasy Resonance feels much closer to something like Final Fantasy VI.

The additional wrinkle added by Final Fantasy Resonance is summonable characters. While these originally fueled a microtransaction-laden storefront in the mobile game, here you just stumble upon shrines across the overworld to gain access to new Final Fantasy characters. These heroes, which include everyone from Final Fantasy 7’s Cloud to Shantotto from Final Fantasy 11, give you access to new types of magic. 

They complement your static party members by giving them access to new skills they would not normally have. Where other Final Fantasy games have the Job system or Materia, these summons are at the core of character builds in Final Fantasy Resonance. I really liked this system, as it offers a lot of freedom while still featuring sensible and rewarding choices. It takes a gimmick meant to make Final Fantasy fans open up their wallets and turns it into a core part of otherwise by-the-numbers but well-refined retro RPG gameplay. 

Often, I would not recommend something as fan-service-filled as Final Fantasy Resonance to those unfamiliar with the franchise, but I oddly believe that this game could make for a good entry point. Compared to something like Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Resonance doesn’t require broader knowledge of the franchise to understand what is going on. 

When you come across a shrine, the game gives you a crash course on the character you can summon, and their ultimate attacks highlight some of the coolest things about them. If anything, Final Fantasy Resonance does a great job of offering a broad taste of Final Fantasy, so you can better understand which corners of the franchise you vibe with and want to explore further. Do not be surprised if you end up adding other Final Fantasy games you have not played to your wishlists. Maybe it is time that I finally get around to playing Final Fantasy 9 all the way through.

When it comes to the main story, Final Fantasy Resonance follows original characters, starting with two knights from the Kingdom of Grandshelt. They set out to defeat the Sworn Six, a group of elder god-like warriors intent on destroying the crystals that serve as the magical backbone of its world. Oh, and at the center of it all is a magical girl who can shift from a naive yet helpful healer to a sultry archwitch at a moment’s notice. 

The game is filled with fantasy RPG tropes, like the spunky mechanic or the bookish wizard who needs to learn how to make friends. Final Fantasy Resonance is filled with hammy voice performances, and probably will not win any writing awards. Still, it hits exactly the tone I wanted from a retro-inspired RPG, and its mobile game roots mean the story quickly becomes compelling. 

For those who have deeper knowledge of Final Fantasy, Resonance can be rewarding too. That knowledge will give you deeper appreciation for certain story arcs or plot beats, like when your party helps a rebellion not too dissimilar to the one in Final Fantasy 2.

While I respect Final Fantasy Origin and Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s approach of playing around with preconceived expectations of tropes from the games they reinterpreted, Final Fantasy Resonance shows that a more straightforward approach that pays tribute to themes rather than direct plot beats works too. 

Final Fantasy Resonance also pays respect to the classics by looking damn good while doing so. This is the best HD-2D game from Square Enix yet, toning down the bloom effect and even getting confident enough to play with different perspectives and camera angles in cutscenes and battles to make them as visually compelling as possible. They reminded me of pixel art flash animations I would watch in the early days of YouTube, and I mean that endearingly.

Coming into the year, HD-2D game The Adventures of Elliott: The Millennium Tales was one of my most anticipated games, and I was thoroughly disappointed. It was repetitive, and felt like it wouldn't have been a game of note if not for the HD-2D style. While I was worried that HD-2D would become a label for subpar retro throwback games, I am happy that was not the case with Final Fantasy Resonance, which is now one of my favorite games of 2026.  

Just as I suspected after playing its demo, Final Fantasy Resonance now stands as  the best HD-2D game, worthy of the Final Fantasy name, and one of the boldest and most unique game preservation efforts I have ever seen.

This throwback RPG understands what made classic Final Fantasy games tick, and it applies that to a modern game that pays tribute to several iconic Final Fantasy titles, including a mobile one you can no longer play.

While I understand Final Fantasy Resonance might not have the presentation or scale to warrant mainline status, I would not have minded if it were called Final Fantasy 17. I never would have expected that while playing Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and broadening my knowledge of the series a decade ago. 

• Creative Assembly released and then delisted Total War: Shogun 2 Complete Edition after backlash to its undisclosed use of AI upscaling.
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• Analogue revealed the Super Nt+ and the Mega Sg+, upgraded $220 versions of its SNES and Super Genesis cartridge-playing consoles. 

I’ve played so many games over the past month that it has been hard to keep count. With this Final Fantasy Resonance review, I am finally nearing the end of that, but I still have some thoughts on other games to share:

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 – Auroch Digital has claimed the mantle of being the premier boomer shooter developer this year with Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War and now Boltgun 2. With some of the best level and sound design in any boomer shooter, this has quickly become one of my favorites of the year. You should check out my full review on But Why Tho?, as it is my first byline on the site.

Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave - I only had the chance to play a couple of hours of this and just barely started Deidritch’s route during a press trip last week, but I am already liking what I see. The great tactics core of Fire Emblem is still intact, but I am equally impressed with the game’s ambitious use of dungeon crawling, turn-based RPG-like event battles, and time-hopping narrative that I do not have a full sense of yet. I have a feeling this will be one I sink my teeth into for a while.

That’s all for Remastered this week. While the newsletter’s schedule has been a bit odd this month, I plan on getting it back on its weekly cadence. Subscribe for free so you don’t miss the newsletter on October 29, and consider supporting me on Ko-fi too!