Final Fantasy Resonance Demo Out Now, Saves Carry Over

Square Enix also spent part of today’s State of Play on Final Fantasy Resonance, the series’ first HD-2D game, and unlike the Revelation news, this one comes with something you can play right now. A free demo is live today on PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X|S, Switch, Switch 2, and PC via Steam and XBOX on PC, covering the game’s opening through the end of the first chapter. Square Enix puts that at roughly three to five hours, and save data carries over to the full game when it launches on October 22, 2026.

The new gameplay trailer also confirmed that Sephiroth is in the game, and he’s not just a cameo. Players will be able to track him down and challenge him, with a special reward on the line for anyone who wins. He joins the previously announced roster of crossover characters, which includes the Warrior of Light, Cloud, Tidus, Firion, Lightning Noctis, and more—all rendered in the same retro-inspired HD-2D pixel art as the rest of the game.

For anyone who missed the June reveal, Resonance is built on the first story arc of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, the mobile RPG that ran for roughly eight years before Square Enix shut down its global servers in 2024. Square Enix has been careful to position it as a ground-up rebuild into a full console RPG rather than a port. When Resonance was revealed, I compared it to Octopath Traveler 0, which took the mobile gacha Champions of the Continent and turned it into a well-received, budget-priced console JRPG, and Resonance looks to be running the same play for the Final Fantasy name. Octopath Traveler 0 also got a free three-hour demo, so the approach here is familiar. The game itself is a tale of Crystals set in the Kingdom of Grandshelt, with a strategic turn-based battle system and the return of chocobos, espers, and airships.

Preorders are open on all platforms, with the standard game at $49.99, a Digital Deluxe Edition at $59.99 that adds in-game items, and a $209.99 Collector’s Edition that bundles those extras with an artbook, a soundtrack, and a Final Fantasy Trading Card Game promo card. The demo is free and your progress carries over, so anyone curious can start in Grandshelt this weekend instead of waiting for October 22. More details are on the official Final Fantasy Resonance page.

FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE – Official Gameplay Trailer