Square Enix has revealed more details about its upcoming HD-2D remake of mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, dubbed Final Fantasy Resonance. During a panel at Japan Expo 2026, producer Kiseki Nakashima revealed that the developers had to work quite hard to translate the game into the company’s HD-2D art style. This meant that there was plenty of experimentation before the studio settled on the art style, and ultimately, even that took quite a bit of effort.
“We did a lot of experiments, including voxel representations (3D cubic pixels). We also tried superimposing 2D effects on other 2D effects,” said Nakashima, according to a transcription by Reddit user Confident-Line5916.
“But ultimately, we felt that HD-2D – this fusion of dots and 3D – was the most suitable way to represent both the challenge of new expressions and a cinematic game experience. We wanted to go further in representing things. We played with scale for enormous creatures like Bahamut or airship arrivals, and we also played with camera work, which we didn’t think was possible in 2D.”
When discussing the challenges faced by the team during the development of Final Fantasy Resonance, Nakashima said that, along with making sure that all of the game’s characters feel appropriately balanced, getting the camera to work with the HD-2D style was quite tough. The art style led to the development team needing to make sure that its camera angles were on point, since even slight changes could potentially break the game’s look.
“The biggest challenge was balancing,” said Nakashima. “There are 26 Visions, all beloved characters, and we couldn’t have any of them feel weaker than the others. Every single one had to be interesting and well-balanced.”
“The other major difficulty was blending 2D and 3D. Adjusting the camera even slightly could break the 2D look, so we had to adjust everything pixel by pixel. It was real craftsmanship.”
On the subject of core gameplay, Nakashima said that the focus was on staying with the franchise’s traditional turn-based action, albeit with a few modern touches. This was achieved by focusing on two key concepts: satisfaction and fun, and team building.
“I obviously wanted to keep the traditional side of turn-based combat, but I also wanted to modernize it, so we added two key concepts. The first was satisfaction and fun. I want players to pick up a battle and immediately feel great about how fluid the actions are and how you can chain super attacks,” he explained.
“The second important point for me was team building. As I mentioned earlier, I’m a big fan of Final Fantasy V and its job system. That’s why we made the system of customizing your team very deep and detailed so you can create unique abilities.”
Nakashima ended the panel by talking about how confident he is in Final Fantasy Resonance. “It’s a game I genuinely find enjoyable,” he said, thanks to how it taps into the classic Final Fantasy tropes that fans of the franchise will get to rediscover. “For newcomers, it contains everything that makes the series charming.”
With Final Fantasy Resonance slated to offer a taste of the classic Final Fantasy style of gameplay and storytelling when it comes to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2 on October 22nd, Square Enix was asked whether this is a sign that the series might be returning to its roots in the future. In a Q&A with its shareholder, the company said that its approach tends to revolve around what “truly resonates” with the market.
“While specific titles may call for specific mechanics, we will continue our development efforts by assessing what truly resonates within the current market environment for both original titles and new remakes.”
In the meantime, the company is also gearing up for the Spring 2027 release of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2.
