The first HD-2D entry in Square Enix's beloved RPG franchise is big on nostalgia and little else
When asked what defines the series he created, Hironobu Sakaguchi is reported to have said, “Final Fantasy is Final Fantasy if it has a blue window with text in it.” It’s a tongue-in-cheek answer that speaks to the certain je ne sais quoi of Square Enix’s legendary RPG franchise. There is, however, something far more important that defines it: crystals.
By that barometer, Final Fantasy Resonance is not only a Final Fantasy, it is the most Final Fantasy. It has so many crystals.
Resonance, co-developed by Square Enix and Lancarse, is so overtly an homage to every other game that bears the Final Fantasy name. It is packed to the brim with Easter eggs, references, and illusions to what came before it. This is largely a holdover from the game's source material, the now shuttered mobile title Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. Much like Octopath Travel 0 before it, Resonance seeks to strip away the predatory gacha mechanics of the game it was built on and offer up a more streamlined big box title complete with a fresh coat of paint.
This, however, only highlights the core issues of the base experience, namely how much of it relies on reminding the player of games that came before it. Nostalgia may have succeeded in getting Brave Exvius players (of which I myself was one for a couple years) to spend real world money on beloved characters, but it falls flat in Resonance .
Source link
