The first HD-2D game in Square Enix's long-running RPG series, Final Fantasy Resonance, has finally arrived on consoles and Windows PC. Resonance is a love letter to the franchise, and it's jam-packed with cameos and references to Final Fantasy heroes old and new. Once you've had your fill of this new adventure, you might find yourself itching to revisit the olden days — or dive into a newer installment you may have missed.
Here are three games that comprise a mini Final Fantasy retrospective, spanning the various phases of the franchise's history. Where to play: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X Sad to say, but we're probably not getting a remake of Final Fantasy 6. Back in 2024, FF6 director Yoshinori Kitase said a FF7 Remake-style reimagining of the SNES game would take "around 20 years" to make. (We'd happily take an HD-2D version instead, but Square Enix seems determined not to give us one.) So now's as good a time as any to take the Pixel Remaster version of the game for a spin FF6 departs from the rest of the series by not featuring one lead protagonist like Cloud or Noctis, instead shifting the focus over a large ensemble cast.
With a fantastic mid-game plot twist and one of the series' all-time best villains, there's a reason FF6 is regarded as the best of the series' 16-bit era. (An absolutely incredible soundtrack from Nobuo Uematsu doesn't hurt either.) Where to play: Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One Long before Resonance, FF9 was another retrospective celebration of the series' history. It's a deliberate departure from the modern settings and brooding protagonists seen in FF7 and FF8, featuring a more cheerful tone and a traditional high-fantasy world. Our hero is a chipper thief named Zidane, and his adventure kicks off in grand style when he kidnaps the sassy Princess Garnet. (Don't worry, she is actually fine with being abducted.) The unlikely pair and their allies soon find themselves swept up in a war started by Garnet's cuckoo-bananas mother, Queen Brahne of Alexandria.
Back in 2000, series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi told IGN, "it's closest to my ideal view of what Final Fantasy should be." Come for the spirit of whimsy, stay for one of the best supporting characters the series has ever created in Vivi, the young black mage in the midst of an existential crisis. A weekly cheat sheet to what you’ll eventually love to play. No buying, no commitment — just saving for later.
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X Resonance reminds us that the Final Fantasy series is in a state of perpetual reinvention. The creative teams at Square Enix are constantly thinking about how the franchise can evolve to match (or reshape) the industry's most influential trends. If FF9 is the "most Final Fantasy," FF16 is probably the least.
Rather than a turn-based RPG, it's a character-driven action game that has a great deal in common with Devil May Cry or God of War. It follows Clive Rosfield's expulsion from the nobility and his evolution into a freedom fighter on behalf of an oppressed group of magic users. Yes, there's a Cid, chocobos, and an airship.
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