Final Fantasy has returned to its famous magical worlds with Final Fantasy Resonance, an absolutely content-packed game that is open for standard and deluxe edition pre-orders on the Switch and Switch 2 today.
Set in a brand-new world, the story will follow the adventures of Rain, the commander of Grandshelt, The Kingdom of Knights’ airship squadron. After he receives a royal decree to investigate the waning magical power at the Earth Shrine, he and his childhood friend/deputy commander, Lasswell, are promptly defeated by a man clad in black armour. After being defeated, they witness the shattering of the Earth Crystal, the loss of their entire squadron, and the deaths of all their comrades.
After they eventually return to the kingdom and find the man in black armour – Veritas of the Dark and a member of the Sworn Six – attacking it, they manage to save the king, but are once again defeated. Loss upon loss puts them on the path to journey out and protect the remaining crystals scattered around the world. Joined by a mysterious girl named Fina, the party has no idea what to expect.
Along the road, players will visit many interesting locations and locals around the world of Final Fantasy Resonance at large. The Olderion Federation is one such example, noted as the capital of the whole Federation. Olderion sits by the sea, enjoying protection and prayers from the Wardens of the Waters, a clan of warriors that have safeguarded the land for ages and an esper named the Maiden of Water, known as the God of Water to the locals.
There is also the Continent of Wind, Dirnado, with its steel-forged capital city of Dilmagia. It is known as the birthplace of airships, the homeland of the original Cid, once the founder of airship technology, now, a title that the most accomplished engineers take on in each age. The Sworn Six are attacking each notable region; right now we know of three: Veritas of the Heavens, Veritas of the Waters, and Veritas of the Dark, matching the themes of the regions.
The gameplay system is a faithful advancement of the classic turn-based systems that Final Fantasy is known for. The now genre-standard timeline is one of the main highlights of combat, allowing players to see the exact order that enemies and themselves attack in. What’s new, however, is the vision system: by completing character-related events throughout the game, players will be able to obtain the crystallised essence of those characters. When equipped, these visions will allow characters to harness greater power, and with the ability to swap them between characters, greater battle strategy.
Visions play a pivotal role in combat throughout the game; using them in creative ways across multiple characters will be the greatest boon to use throughout Final Fantasy: Resonance. Legacy Final Fantasy characters will also appear in the game with their own visions to gain as well; the Warrior of Light, Terra, and multiple more nostalgic characters, including Cloud, will all be available to you in order to stop the machinations of the Sworn Six.
With visions being the main way of more complex attacks, there is naturally a need for a lot of companions to fuel that combat prowess, and there are a lot of them. Lid is the resident Airship mechanic, and the one in contention for taking on the title of Cid. Nichol is a member of the Wardens of the Waters and a strategist for the Olderion Federation. His passion for protecting his homeland outshines most others. Those two are joined by many, many more characters, each with their own story to explore.
Completionists will have their taste of tea as well; there are numerous mini-games and collectables available to complete and find along the way. Test your timing with jump rope or attempt to catch wily moogles in mog tag, all while collecting tablets spread across the world to redeem for valuable items and other rewards.
Final Fantasy: Resonance has much more to offer as well, a coliseum, legendary armaments, summons, weapon manufacturing and who knows what else. With Switch and Switch 2 pre-orders starting today, there’s no better time to get into a brand new Final Fantasy game sporting all-new HD-2D graphics.
