Combat praised, story not
Final Fantasy Resonance has an 85 on OpenCritic and a 90% critic recommend rate, yet Eurogamer scored it 3/5 and called it “just a shame about all the actual writing.” That is the shape of this launch: a battle system critics keep praising, bolted to a story that IGN and Eurogamer both single out as the weak spot.
Our headline number is OpenCritic’s Top Critic Average, 85. OpenCritic’s page also lists 101 critic reviews in total and says 90% of critics recommend the game; those are separate figures from the average. Square Enix and LANCARSE Ltd. developed it, Square Enix publishes it, and it launched on Steam on 22 October 2026.
Six verdicts, and a 10/10 at the top
These are the scores as OpenCritic’s reviews page lists them. The scales differ (out of 10, out of 5)
| Outlet | Score | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|
| IGN (Michael Higham) | 8/10 | Praises HD-2D visuals, turn-based combat and music; calls the story underwhelming |
| Eurogamer (Dom Peppiatt) | 3/5 | Fantastic battle mechanics, weak writing |
| GameSpot (Heidi Kemps) | 7/10 | Has faults, but delivers the Brave Exvius revisit the reviewer wanted |
| Nintendo Life (Mitch Vogel) | 8/10 | Flexible job system, overworld exploration and HD-2D add up to an “easy recommendation” |
| TheSixthAxis (Dom Leighton) | 8/10 | Old-school action, a decent narrative and a delightful look |
| DualShockers | 10/10 | Square Enix’s Steam page quotes it as “Final fantasy is back and better than ever” |
Of the twenty reviews on that page, eighteen carry a score and two don’t (Polygon and VGC). Eurogamer’s 3/5 and GameSpot’s 7/10 are the two lowest scores there; every other scored review on the page works out to 80% or higher.
The battles and the pixels carry the praise
The most repeated compliment is the combat. IGN’s Michael Higham cites “solid turn-based combat and incredible music” and says the game “sets a new benchmark for HD-2D visuals.” Eurogamer’s Dom Peppiatt, the same critic who docks it for the writing, calls it “a fantastic example of how to rewrite battle mechanics to suit a full-fat RPG.” PlayStation LifeStyle’s Tyler Treese, who scored it 9/10, writes that “the brilliant turn-based battle system on display keeps Final Fantasy Resonance engaging from start to finish.”
Nintendo Life’s Mitch Vogel adds the job system and overworld exploration to the list, and Wccftech’s Francesco De Meo (9.5/10) goes furthest on the look, citing “the best HD-2D visuals to date.” Square Enix’s own Steam page describes the combat as exploiting enemy weaknesses to stagger them, break their defences and seize extra turns, and bills the game as the first Final Fantasy to join the HD-2D lineup.
The writing is where the points go
IGN’s verdict is that the visuals, combat and music “carry an underwhelming story.” Eurogamer’s complaint is the writing. GameSpot’s Heidi Kemps says “for Resonance’s faults” the game still gave her what she wanted from a Brave Exvius revisit, without naming the faults in the line OpenCritic shows. Saudi Gamer, which scored it 4/5, says the game “still show its mobile game DNA.”
Two unscored takes push a different line. Polygon’s Willa Rowe calls it “a popcorn game,” and VGC’s Dave Aubrey writes that “in a world with HD-2D releases of classic Square Enix games and Pixel Remasters of the first six Final Fantasy games, Resonance just isn’t an essential experience.” Not everyone minds the story, though: TheSixthAxis calls the narrative decent, and Shacknews’ Ozzie Mejia says the themes of heroism, honour and brotherhood “struck true.” Story was also the sticking point in our Star Wars Zero Company roundup, another 85.
Even the critics who list reservations tend to come back warm. Hobby Consolas’ Álvaro Alonso scored it 88/100 and wrote, in the English text OpenCritic shows for his Spanish-language review, that he has “enjoyed Final Fantasy Resonance like I haven’t enjoyed a Final Fantasy game for a long time.”
What Steam and the PC specs add
On Steam, English-language user reviews read Overwhelmingly Positive, with more than 2,100 of them counted when we checked on 30 October 2026. The store page lists a free demo whose saved data carries over to the full game; some level restrictions apply, and the whole first chapter is open to explore. It also lists Denuvo Anti-tamper and a Windows 11 requirement.
Square Enix’s recommended spec, aimed at 1080p and 60 fps with the Highest preset, is a Ryzen 5 2500X or Core i3-8100, 8 GB of RAM and a Radeon RX 5500 XT, Arc A580 or GeForce GTX 1650, with 15 GB of storage. That’s the publisher’s stated target, not a measured result: none of the review excerpts include PC benchmark figures. OpenCritic’s page also lists Nintendo Switch 2 alongside PC, but the store page we checked is Steam’s, so this roundup covers the PC version only. Not to be confused with Control Resonant, whose critics argued about something else entirely in our Control Resonant roundup.
Our take
We think the free demo is the real tiebreaker here. The critics are close to unanimous that the battles and the look are the draw, so a first chapter is enough to tell you whether that appeals. The story is the part we’d treat with caution, given that IGN and Eurogamer both mark it down and VGC calls the game non-essential.
- Buy if you want classic turn-based combat and HD-2D visuals, the two things IGN, Nintendo Life and Wccftech single out.
- Wait or skip if a strong script is what you want from a Final Fantasy, or you want something new rather than a return to old structure (VGC).
If you’re weighing it against this month’s other launches, our Phantom Blade Zero roundup covers the October release critics scored even higher, at 89. We’d play the demo first, and buy if the combat grabs you in chapter one.
