An adaptation of the mobile gacha game Brave Exvius, Resonance reworks it into a more traditional Final Fantasy experience, complete with mechanics resembling the series' classic job system and a vastly upgraded presentation. But does Resonance strike a chord with long-time series fans, or does it fail to escape its mobile cash-grab trappings?
Brave Exvius was a game I didn't actually play (in part because it threatened to eat up every last bit of space in my phone's storage during the installation process), and it's since been delisted and shut down so I can't really say much about it from firsthand experience. I can, however, see that it got a divided reception among fans and critics for its mobile game tropes, though it did fare considerably better than another infamous Final Fantasy title in that regard. Resonance apparently makes few changes to the core plot of Exvius, though it drastically reworks the mechanics to something more in the vein of the '90s Final Fantasy games and, of course, utilizes Square Enix's trademark HD-2D style to deliver some gorgeous spritework blended with 3D environments and effects; something they've used in many other IPs, but ironically it took nearly a decade to be fully implemented in a Final Fantasy title.
Resonance is definitely aimed at appeasing long-time fans of the franchise, returning to turn-based battles, having familiar elements like crystals, airships and amnesiac protagonists as part of the storyline, and even having something resembling a class system in the form of "Visions". While each character you recruit is built as a pre-fab archetype, they can freely equip Visions to learn new skills and gain permanent boosts to their core stats without restriction. Of course it is to your benefit to equip Visions that will complement their base class and its stats, but there's no restrictions on this; and it is definitely beneficial to teach everyone staple skills like Cure, Esuna and Counter Attack. Skills are earned by gaining a resource called MRP through battles, and once a character's Vision levels up they will permanently add it to their repertoire. However, if they swap to another Vision and wish to retain the use of learned skills, they must allocate another resource called AP to them; it most closely resembles Final Fantasy 9's equipment-centered skill system. Visions manifest as characters from Final Fantasy games of the past, ranging from FF1's Warrior of Light to White and Black Mages and, as you can see in the screenshot below, popular characters like Rydia, Cloud, Aerith, Terra and even Sora from Kingdom Hearts all put in appearances too. One nice feature is that you can check the status screen to see a full list skills each character will learn, as well as those each Vision will provide when leveled up, so you can plan out your builds well in advance.
Combat is pretty basic turn-based action, though per franchise standards it remains well-paced, with few overly long and tedious battles and the ability to speed up animations so you can get through mundane fights faster. There are a few twists though, seemingly inspired by the SMT/Persona franchises. Each enemy on the field has a Stagger meter alongside their health bar; any attack lowers it, but specific abilities and elemental weaknesses will drop it faster. When an enemy's meter is depleted they get Staggered, giving the character who depleted the meter another free action at the end of the round. Staggering all enemies results in a Sweeping Stagger, which not only gives your entire team an extra action, but can be followed up with a special move from one of your equipped Visions - often a powerful multi-hit attack, though there are also healing and buffering effects among them. But while they are quite powerful, they're not necessarily an instant victory, especially on the higher difficulty levels.
One earns bonuses for fighting efficiently too, gaining extra experience, money or MRP for fulfilling certain conditions in a fight. Winning a fight without taking damage awards bonus experience, getting an Overkill (landing another attack after depleting an enemy's health during bonus turns) awards extra money, and managing to stagger the last enemy on the field and kill them off before they recover awards extra MRP. These are quite fun to try for and definitely make farming points and upgrading characters and Visions more captivating than simple grinding. A collectible arises in the form of "tablet shards" that award various treasures when you gather enough and turn them in; not dissimilar to the Mini Medals in the Dragon Quest games. Characters also gain full points and MRP even if they're KO'd during a fight, which is quite nice; and even those who want to do solo run challenges or whatever else have an option to remove party members from the lineup entirely.
So, while Resonance still clearly shows some traces of its origins as a mobile game with its overall linear structure, short dungeons and flashy visuals, it's very clearly undergone a major overhaul to become an experience inspired by classic Final Fantasy. It tells a solid story of its own with several familiar series elements, and mixes in enough fan service in the form of past characters, musical cues and, of course, the series' long-recurring summoned monsters to feel like a solid homage to the franchise. Of course, it's aided by a top-notch presentation, with well-written characters and dialog, well-acted voiceover and an implementation of HD-2D that actually feels like a solid blend of 2D and 3D elements, blending detailed, well-animated sprite-based characters with 3D environments and effects. It reminds me a lot of the recent Dragon Quest remakes, effectively paying homage to the classic games while also puttying up some of the cracks in their design and adding in a few fresh ideas without disrupting the original games' charm and balance. If you're one of those fans that's long been seeking a return to the polsihed and addictive design of '90s era Final Fantasy, this is one you may want to give a chance. I was certainly pleasantly surprised by it.
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: Windows, XBox Series, PlayStation 5, Switch 2
