Enrique Medina

Incoming fanboy rambling: I have finally come to a close at nearly 60 hours on Final Fantasy Resonance and dare I say I liked it more than most FFs that have come out since like the PS2 era lmao. There's something to be said about a story returning to the "roots" of its respective franchise. What some can consider tropes are, to me, tried and true archetypes and a foundation to build an awesome story upon. It celebrated what came before while building up its own world and lore for the future. It didn't feel just like reheating classic FF's nachos, it felt like a genuine evolution of the classic formula. Rain is one of the best FF Protags in a LONG time, and the supporting cast is no slouch either. While they had varying degrees of success for me (for example Jake's arc didn't resonate with me as much as the others) I think every character is great and it's the closest I've gotten to a Xenoblade cast out of FF in a LONG time. Speaking of the cast, holy crap the voice acting. I'd hate to be that guy who was posting hot takes about Rain's Voice work when the game first released because you must feel really silly right now, lol. The voice performances in this game elevated almost every scene, to the point where one of my main nitpicks was that there were so many great side quests I wished were voiced instead of left to text only to hear them chew the scenery more. The voice cast and directors for this game absolutely deserves all the kudos. It maintained a perfect blend of classic jrpg and more contemporary/modern humor. As for the writing itself, I can't say enough about how well paced the game felt going through it. While some would argue the patterns became predictable up until Chapter 5, I prefer to label them "consistent." The sidequests, too, all built up over time and almost no plot thread was left laying on the table. Even things as simple as a single item exchange ended up playing a huge part in a character payoff later that was a delight. I don't think anything was left on the table and even minor character exchanges from chapter 1 had some kind of payoff later. If I had to pick my favorite stuff I'd have to say Chapter 3 and then everything from Chapter 5 onward. Chapter 3 and the Leviathan fight remains one of the best holy crap moments in the game, with Nichol probably coming out my second favorite character next to Rain. That boy has gone through a lot. This also applies to the antagonists, who are all (except arguably one) 10/10 characters. Umbra and the rest of the Sworn are absolutely some of the best FF antagonists in along ass time. They never pull the "I just wanted to play on the playground" nonsense and instead stand by their morals and make decisions that make sense based on their personalities. We love a good "Reverse RPG Party" antagonist group. The gameplay is some of my favorite turn-based in a long time. Being able to whip out 8 turns and build characters around different styles (LB building, physical vs magic, an actual viable tanking build, reflect, etc etc) ruled and I spent a ton of time just levelling visions up to test builds. Not since FF7's Materia system have I had this much of a blast creating busted ass builds to destroy everything that crossed my path while jamming to some of the best music the franchise has had. So much to say I kinda wanna make a video to be honest. My nitpicks are probably, the final confrontation (no spoilers) with a specific antagonist got a little Kingdom Hearts-y with the DARKNESS! LIGHT! DARKNESS! stuff, but it's also come to my attention that apparently the final confrontation was the major rewrite from the mobile game. I want the sidequests to be voiced in the next one (please tell me there will be another one), and I think the pacing of tools they give the player can make you kinda broken as early as chapter 3 (arms akimbo is given too soon I feel for how much it breaks the game). I'd say this has a strong chance of being my game of the year. I knew I'd like it but I didn't know I'd love this THIS much. The team who stood behind this to make it a "full game" instead of "just a port" should hold their heads up high at the next meeting with their superiors at Square because they made the right call and made a game that channels all the best parts of Final Fantasy as a franchise. From the music to its gameplay. I thought it wouldn't live up to the hype people were putting out for it but I'd argue it surpassed it. Ending the rambling for now, because I could keep going all night. Gotta go do stuff around the house and maybe get to postgame stuff tonight/tomorrow. I hope they get to make more (if they want to). Hell of a game. #FinalFantasyResonance