Final Fantasy Resonance's latest trailer showcases more of its gorgeous HD-2D pixel art — I wish future games would adopt it - Technology News

Call me old-fashioned, but this HD-2D Final Fantasy game somehow has a more charming and eye-pleasing art direction than most of Final Fantasy's mainline 3D games.

My hype for Final Fantasy Resonance continues to build as Square Enix has released a new gameplay trailer showcasing more of its HD-2D pixel art style in its cinematic cutscenes, environments, and turn-based combat system.

I was already sold on the game for bringing back turn-based combat to the Final Fantasy franchise, but this trailer has cemented it on my wishlist.

It's a montage of various scenes from Final Fantasy Resonance. These include exploring towns and a classic open-world map seen in old-school Final Fantasy games from the NES to PS1 era, characters interacting with each other, and scenes of the turn-based combat system where the heroes summon spirits of previous Final Fantasy protagonists to aid them in battle.

All the while, it's all presented in an absolutely beautiful HD-2D pixel art style (a blend of 2D animated character sprites set against 3D animated backgrounds) that was made popular by Square Enix's Octopath Traveler series.

Windows Central's take

A group of three characters stands in front of a large, illuminated statue within a dimly lit environment. There are torches casting a flickering light, and water is visible in the basin surrounding the statue.

Being 2D makes characters somehow more expressive than most Final Fantasy characters in 3D(Image

credit: Square Enix)

A large, muscular mythical figure with long hair and a warrior's demeanor stands prominently, surrounded by swirling clouds and a cosmic background, while a smaller armored character observes.

Bow overdweller before the might of Titan.

(Image credit: Square Enix)

A turn-based battle scene from a fantasy RPG, featuring characters and gameplay elements like health points (HP), magic abilities, and enemy units in a dark environment with glowing crystals.

Tonberries are a Final Fantasy fan's worst monster (aside from Malboros)

(Image credit: Square Enix)

A colorful and dynamic turn-based combat scene featuring characters in a fantasy setting, battling a large dragon-like creature with various magical effects and skills being utilized.

A scene where a player summons the Vision of Final Fantasy 3's Onion Knight to unleash their ultimate attack

(Image credit: Square Enix)

As someone who grew up playing 16-bit pixel-art games on the Super Nintendo and Sega Mega Drive and is a fan of other HD-2D games like Live a Live Remake and Dragon Quest 3 Remake, I absolutely adore this game's pixel-art.

It looks so clean, vibrant, and detailed, and superbly animated to boot. Not to mention, it gives the characters so much personality with their exaggerated, intimidating, or silly pixel-art facial expressions depending on the situation.

I honestly prefer this art style to recent mainline 3D Final Fantasy games, which tried to blend realistic graphics with fantastical aesthetics, with mixed results that sometimes either dull the contrast of the environments to make it look boringly dreary (e.g., Final Fantasy XVI) or make characters look bland (or, in some worse cases, look like lifeless dolls, like in Final Fantasy XIII).

In fact, it looks so good that it makes me wish Square Enix used this art style for its . Not that it's needed, as its PS1-era graphics have held up extremely well, but I would've loved to see what it would've looked like with HD-2D pixel art and modern animations for its over-the-top special attacks and summon spells.

Though I guess Square Enix wanted to play it safe with Final Fantasy Tactics since it's such a beloved game in the franchise, and they're probably using Final Fantasy Resonance to test the waters to see if people would want more HD-2D Final Fantasy games if it does well; I know I certainly do (here's hoping for an HD-2D remake of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance).

Either way, I can't wait to see more of Final Fantasy Resonance (or hopefully, a playable demo) before it releases on October 22, 2026, for |, , & , PC via Steam.

What do you think of Final Fantasy Resonance? Do you think its turn-based combat looks cool, or do you prefer Final Fantasy games with real-time combat, like the Final Fantasy VII Remake series?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the comments section.

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Hope you enjoyed this news post. Feedback welcome.

Posted Friday 17 July 2026 at 7:20 am AEST (my time).

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Final Fantasy Resonance's latest trailer showcases more of its gorgeous HD-2D pixel art — I wish future games would adopt it

Call me old-fashioned, but this HD-2D Final Fantasy game somehow has a more charming and eye-pleasing art direction than most of Final Fantasy's mainline 3D games.

Windows Central's take

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