Fans of classic turn-based role-playing games have a reason to celebrate with the upcoming release of Final Fantasy Resonance this October. The title arrives across all major platforms, positioning itself as a bridge between longtime enthusiasts of the franchise and the mobile gaming community that has supported Brave Exvius for the past decade. While Resonance is fundamentally a new console experience, its foundations clearly draw from the decade-old mobile title, raising questions about how successfully it can shed its handheld origins.
The game employs a nostalgic approach to exploration and structure, featuring a traditional overworld populated with towns, dungeons, and random encounters. Players will navigate this space as Rain, the blonde protagonist wielding an oversized blade—a characteristically Final Fantasy aesthetic choice. A distinctive feature allows players to unlock beloved characters from the series’ storied history by discovering shrines and completing trivia challenges, granting access to abilities and stat bonuses that enhance the core party members during combat encounters.
Combat represents the experience’s greatest strength, delivering genuine strategic depth through turn-based mechanics reminiscent of classic entries like Final Fantasy VI. Players must identify enemy weaknesses and exploit elemental advantages while managing resources carefully. The inclusion of stagger mechanics—a modern design element requiring players to exploit vulnerabilities to temporarily disable foes—adds contemporary complexity without compromising the turn-based foundation. Early encounters proved sufficiently challenging, with boss battles demanding thoughtful tactical planning.
However, the transition from mobile to console isn’t entirely seamless. Pre-rendered cutscenes displayed during combat visibly retain their mobile game origins, featuring notably lower visual quality than the surrounding HD2D aesthetic and lacking English voice acting. While this inconsistency proves forgivable given the overall quality of the experience, it serves as a visible reminder of the title’s handheld heritage. Whether Resonance ultimately transcends these origins remains to be determined upon its October release.
Originally reported by Mashable →
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