Ahead of its release in October, Square Enix has dropped several new details about Final Fantasy Resonance, its HD-2D reimagining of the mobile game Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius. Based on the first season of Brave Exvius, here’s a closer look at the game’s world, characters, gameplay, vision systems, and completionist content.
Empires strike back
Two of the regions that players can explore include the powerful military nation of Zoldaad and the city of mages known as Mysidia. Just like in Brave Exvius, Zoldaad appears to be on the march as the home of the fabled Fire Crystal, and has secretly been building up a fleet of airships and mass-producing magitek as it expands its borders into neighboring countries. Considered to be a legend, the advanced magical civilization of Mysidia is home to some of the strongest magic-wielders in the world and is said to also house the Ice Crystal.
Characters
Previous trailers have already shown us the main cast of Final Fantasy Resonance–Rain, Laswell, Fina, Jake, and Lid–and if you played the mobile game, you can also expect to see a few more familiar faces like the Mysidian sage Sakura. Opposing the heroes are the Sworn Six of Paladia, the Veritas. Each Veritas represents an element, and their roster includes the brutish Veritas of Flame, the honorable Veritas of Earth, and the volatile Veritas of Light.
Gameplay
At its core, Final Fantasy Resonance is an old-school turn-based RPG, full of hard-hitting Limit Break attacks and chances to strategically outmaneuver enemies. One of the big draws in the game are the Visions of legendary Final Fantasy heroes, who can fight alongside Rain and his companions when they’re summoned. Players may use the magic and abilities of Visions in combat, and the stronger your bond with them grows, the more abilities you’ll unlock for these legends.
Staggering all enemies in one turn will even allow you to trigger a Resonance with a vision, resulting in them performing an exceptionally devastating attack–while your eyes get treated to a slick piece of CG animation. You can even make your Visions stronger, but there’s a catch: You’ll need magicite to grant them stronger abilities, but because the material is exceedingly rare, you’ll have to choose which Vision you strengthen. Some of the Visions also include original characters that were first introduced in Brave Exvius:
- Amelia: A maid armed with Fire-aspected guns
- Camille: A mercenary who uses water and earth attacks
- Wilhelm: An imperial general who can act as a party’s shield
- Victoria: A black mage who wields dark magic
- Ayaka: A white mage who can buff the party with support and healing magic
As mentioned above, heroes from previous Final Fantasy games can also be recruited to your party:
- Firion (Final Fantasy)
- Onion Knight (Final Fantasy 3)
- Vaan (Final Fantasy 12)
- Lightning (Final Fantasy 13)
- Noctis (Final Fantasy 15)
- Clive Rosfield (Final Fantasy 16)
Espers
For some extra firepower, you can also summon Espers. These powerful beings will join your battle for three turns, and once the timer is up, they’ll drop a devastating attack before they vanish. The cuddly Carbuncle will cast Reflect magic on your party, the sea serpent Leviathan will deal water damage to enemies with a Tsunami, the armor-clad Odin can dish out a non-elemental attack that might instakill some enemies, and the mighty dragon Bahamut unleashes his signature Megaflare assault on foes.
Completionist content
Anyone looking to 100% Final Fantasy Resonance will want to make certain their party is ready to fight. Square Enix is teasing a battle with the mysterious bladesman Gilgamesh, and if you’re feeling really confident, you can even challenge Ultima Weapon. A boss battle that has cropped up in several Final Fantasy games over the decades, Ultima Weapon demands perfect preparation, or you can expect your challenge to be over in just a few short turns.
Final Fantasy Resonance launches for PC and consoles on October 22.
