If you think that turn-based battles are too old-fashioned, know that Final Fantasy Resonance is setting out to prove you wrong. The game’s set to release in October 2026, and the first Final Fantasy title to sport Square Enix’s HD-2D art style has some questions to answer. One of the biggest questions is how this particular entry plans to modernize turn-based combat without losing what makes it such a favorite of the franchise’s longest-standing fans.
In essence, Final Fantasy Resonance has improved and modernized the series’ classic turn-based combat with its new stagger system. There hasn’t been a turn-based main series entry since the beloved Final Fantasy 10 (10-2 boasting an ATB system too), and in bringing this battle style back in Final Fantasy Resonance, the team has also implemented a brilliant turn order manipulation mechanic. It allows for the cancelation of enemy turns and adds a whole new strategic layer to combat.
Final Fantasy Resonance’s Stagger Mechanics Are Extremely Powerful
In a lot of even the best RPGs, using an enemy’s weakness against them in battle simply results in increased damage. It’s usually logical enough: machine-type foes tend to take huge damage from lightning attacks, icy enemies would rather you keep your Flame Sword all the way out of their business, and so on. I’ll never understand why Fire was made weak to Ice in the Final Fantasy series, but what really matters is this: it’s more interesting when there’s an additional strategic advantage to exploiting these weaknesses.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Guess the games from the emojis.
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That’s exactly what Final Fantasy Resonance provides. In another Square Enix HD-2D RPG series, Octopath Traveler, enemies are weak to specific elements or types of weapons, such as a sword, dagger, or staff (balancing jobs and sub-jobs is crucial to getting the best coverage). Scoring enough hits with their weaknesses causes a Break, which cancels turns and leaves them more susceptible to damage while they’re stunned. The system in Resonance is similar to this.
The best turn-based battles are about far more than just passively choosing skills from a menu.
Here, enemies have a secondary gauge that decreases with hits to a weakness. Emptying it causes a stagger, or even a coveted Sweeping Stagger, which allows the whole party to take another turn and top it off with your chosen Resonance attack (a follow-up from a Final Fantasy icon like Cloud Strife or the Warrior of Light). It’s not just about spamming these weaknesses to get to that state, though, because getting those staggers at the right time in the turn order is also a huge bonus.
Being Aware of the Turn Order Will be Crucial to Your Success in Battle
All too often with even the best turn-based titles, it’s difficult to tell which enemy’s going to attack next. A lot of the time, it’s immaterial if you’re AoE blasting the field or focusing them down one by one, because they might not get to move anyway. In longer and more challenging fights, though, it can be a real lifesaver to know where the next attack is coming from. To help players plan several moves ahead, some genre entries feature a timeline, with portrait icons showing when each member of your and the enemy party will take their turn.
This could just be so much wasted real estate on your screen. However, if you pay attention and use it to plan out your strategy, you just might find that there’s much more to the turn-based style than passivity. For example, in Darkest Dungeon 2, you can potentially save a run by bearing this information in mind and focusing on a key enemy target, defeating or stunning it before it can devastate your party. If you can see two melee attackers are about to strike, you know how long you’ve got to buff or heal your valuable Heroes before the blows arrive.
My favorite example of this kind of mechanic is found in Ubisoft’s beautiful Child of Light. In this 2D fairytale-esque RPG, you can literally watch when Aurora, her party members, and the dark creatures they’re facing are going to unleash their attacks. Each advances individually along a timeline, and then, upon choosing an attack or ability, must wait during a casting period before using it (the more powerful the ability, the longer it is). Being hit during the latter can interrupt that move and cancel its use, and there’s even a mage character who can freeze opponents in place and temporarily stop them moving on the timeline at all.
This more dynamic style allows the game to feel like an all-new Final Fantasy experience, while setting it apart from all the action RPGs that the series has delivered since.
In short, some of the most gripping turn-based combat in RPGs is that which allows the player to take a more active role. Resonance is set to do this with its focus on watching the turn order and reacting to it. There’s also so much to bear in mind on top of that, with the skills of main party members and those of their accompanying Final Fantasy superstars to balance.
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Image via Square Enix -
Image via Square Enix -
It’s far from the action RPGs that fans of recent installments will be used to, but it represents a unique blend of the old and the new, with some great takes on mechanics seen in more recent turn-based RPGs (and the obvious influence of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius too). All of this makes it one of my most anticipated games of the latter half of 2026. Pokemon Winds and Waves seems set to change up the series turn-based combat, and I’m thrilled that Final Fantasy Resonance is too.
- Released
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October 22, 2026
- ESRB
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Everyone 10+ / Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, Language, Suggestive Themes
