// THE VERGE — MOBILE & WEB
Final Fantasy dips back into the SNES golden era with Resonance
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Square Enix’s latest HD-2D game carries the Final Fantasy name — and a lot of what makes the franchise great.
Square Enix’s latest HD-2D game carries the Final Fantasy name — and a lot of what makes the franchise great.
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Final Fantasy is a lot different than it used to be. While many of the early Final Fantasy titles look and play similarly to each other, the series has since grown to encompass blockbuster games like Final Fantasy XVI and the gargantuan Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, which don’t play much like the classics. But there’s still an audience for retro RPGs and old-school Final Fantasy games, especially thanks to the HD-2D style that mixes gorgeous pixel art with detailed 3D graphics to great effect. Square Enix has made a bunch of HD-2D games already, like the remakes of early Dragon Quest titles, but this week, it’s launching the first HD-2D Final Fantasy game: Final Fantasy Resonance.
Resonance, thanks to the HD-2D art, kind of looks like what the classic Final Fantasy games feel like in my memory, but I was surprised at how old-school Resonance feels to actually play, too — which, for the most part, is a good thing. In Resonance, I’ve spent a lot of time wandering around a big world map to get from place to place, tackling random battles along the way and investigating little sparkles to pick up items. The towns have a familiar feel, with the classic inn, item shop, and weapons shop setup. Similarly, battles are traditional turn-based fights, so I’ve found myself spending a lot of time in various battle menus to plan out my attacks. Enemies even flash right before they attack, just like in older RPGs.
At times, Resonance can almost feel rudimentary; I’ve recently been working my way through Final Fantasy VII Remake again ahead of Revelation, and Remake’s action-heavy fights feel much more contemporary. But there’s something soothing about Resonance’s familiar patterns. I really like just grinding through some random baddies to level up.