I’ve played a lot of Final Fantasy games over the years, but Final Fantasy Resonance immediately looks different. We’ve seen Square Enix use HD-2D for games like Octopath Traveler and Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, but this is the first time Final Fantasy gets that treatment. After playing part of the game during Gamescom, I’m already wondering why it took them this long.
My demo started with some time to explore the map before heading towards the Wind Shrine, where most of my session took place. I won’t go into the story or what was waiting for me at the end of that section, but I did get enough time to explore, fight quite a few enemies and eventually test everything I had learned during a boss battle. Well, “learned” might be a big word here, because there is quite a lot going on during combat and I definitely need more time before I completely understand everything Resonance allows you to do.
Final Fantasy looks good in HD-2D
Before I started worrying about Stagger meters and Visions, I mostly wanted to walk around and look at everything. Final Fantasy Resonance looks gorgeous. The pixel characters are obviously the first thing you notice, but there is much more happening around them. Grass moves when the wind blows across the fields, lighting changes the look of an area and the environments have far more detail than you would expect when looking at a screenshot.
That wind moving through the grass was such a simple effect, but I kept noticing it while exploring. Combined with the small shrines, temples and enemies hiding around, it gave me plenty of reasons to wander away from the route towards my next objective. The mix between pixel characters and 3D environments works really well for Final Fantasy too. We’ve already seen how good this style can look in other Square Enix games, but seeing familiar Final Fantasy elements presented like this hits differently. Crystals, monsters, magic and all the other things you associate with the series fit this visual style almost ridiculously well. I spent most of my session around the Wind Shrine, so I obviously haven’t seen enough of the world to know how much the environments will change later on. What I saw certainly made me want to explore more of it.
Stagger first, hit hard afterwards
After exploring it was time to test the combat and needless to say, I wasn’t prepared for this at all. Final Fantasy Resonance uses turn-based battles, but there is quite a bit happening underneath the familiar commands. One of the most important things is figuring out enemy weaknesses and using those to build towards a Stagger. Once you manage to break an enemy’s defence, you get extra turns and a much better opportunity to deal serious damage.
It sounds relatively straightforward when I write it down like that. Playing it for the first time was another story. There are different characters, weaknesses, attacks and abilities to consider, and simply picking the strongest-looking attack every turn isn’t necessarily going to help you. I spent part of the demo fighting regular enemies and grinding before heading towards the boss, and those encounters gave me some time to figure out which attacks worked and when I should start preparing for a Stagger. Once an enemy finally breaks, things get a lot more fun. This is when I could start dealing much more damage and use stronger Resonance attacks instead of slowly working through their defences. During the boss fight, getting that timing right became much more important. I knew I wanted to reach the Stagger, but I also needed to make sure my party was in decent shape once I got there. I definitely wasn’t playing Resonance as efficiently as someone who already understands every system, though. There were menus where I needed a second to remember what everything did and moments where I probably wasted an attack that could have been used much better. That’s something I’ll need more time with when the full game arrives.
Calling in some familiar faces
In combat you can also call in the help from Visions, which is basically fan service as a game mechanic. These Visions are echoes of characters from other Final Fantasy games that can join your party through their own abilities. Square Enix has already confirmed characters such as Cloud, Tidus and the Warrior of Light, so there is plenty of nostalgia being thrown into the system. What I liked during my demo was that they aren’t simply there for a quick cameo. Calling on a Vision can do serious damage, and I quickly started saving them for moments where I really needed that extra push. Seeing another Final Fantasy character suddenly appear during battle and unleash an attack was cool every single time I used one.
There is also more going on with Visions than I could properly figure out during one session. They have their own skills and abilities and can be used to change how you build your party. I mostly approached them as another powerful option during combat, especially while preparing for the boss. And yes, I know Final Fantasy fans are probably already thinking about which Visions they want in their party.
I need another go
My time with Final Fantasy Resonance was mostly spent learning. I explored the area around the Wind Shrine, fought enough enemies to prepare myself and eventually faced the boss waiting at the end. I’m deliberately not saying anything about that fight from a story perspective, but it definitely forced me to pay more attention to Stagger and the abilities I had available. The combat is probably the part I need to play again before I can say much more about it. There are a lot of systems working together and being dropped somewhere into an RPG during a Gamescom demo isn’t exactly the easiest way to learn all of them.
What I already know is that I want to play more. The HD-2D style looks fantastic, the Visions are a fun addition and once I started getting those Staggers and following them up with bigger attacks, combat started making a lot more sense. I just need the game to give me a little more time next time I play it.