FF Resonance Has 26 Visions — a Hero From Every Mainline FF, No DLC, Japan Reveals

While the West was busy with IGN’s hands-on, Square Enix ran a full press junket in Japan on June 10 — Famitsu, Dengeki, GAME Watch, AUTOMATON and more all published developer interviews and their own preview reports. Almost none of it has been covered in English. Here is everything the Japanese coverage just revealed.

26 Visions — every mainline Final Fantasy represented

The headline number, straight from the developers: 26 Visions appear in total. And the roster rule is now official — in GAME Watch’s interview, the team states that the protagonists of every mainline Final Fantasy from I through XVI appear. Only seven have been named so far (see our running Visions list); the rest are still under wraps, and we won’t speculate on names until Square Enix shows them.

Two more layers to the system:

• Some Brave Exvius characters also return as Visions, unlocked by clearing side quests that appear as the story progresses — a lovely nod for veterans.
• Visions grant concrete signature abilities: equip Cloud and that character can use his Cross Slash. The developers explicitly compare the ability mix-and-match to Final Fantasy V’s Job system.

Speaking of which: the official Japanese site confirms an “evolved job system” in Resonance — its exact shape, and how it interacts with Visions, is one of the biggest open questions left.

EXTRA PHASE: the stagger payoff has a name

Dengeki’s hands-on (a separate ~90-minute build from IGN’s) details the battle loop: enemies carry a break gauge, and breaking one skips its turn and triggers an officially-named EXTRA PHASE — a coordinated party assault during which Resonance finishers fire. The developers cite FFIV, FFV and FFVI as their turn-based references, with Octopath Traveler’s break system as the modern touchstone. The preview build’s prologue even includes a Bahamut summon sequence — and yes, that name means something to Brave Exvius veterans.

Old-school by conviction

The interviews read like a manifesto for a complete, self-contained RPG:

• No DLC. The producer is unambiguous: everything in the game can be earned by playing. Combined with IGN’s “no microtransactions” confirmation, Resonance is a full package, full stop.
• Random encounters — with a smart twist: the minimap glows yellow when enemies are near and red when a battle is imminent.
• No auto-battle, on purpose. The team decided the game is better without it — every turn should stay a decision. Impatient players get 1.5x and 2x battle speed instead.
• Three difficulty levels, reported as Casual, Normal and Hard.
• 30–40 all-new side quests written for Resonance (not lifted from FFBE), a complete ending, and what the developers describe as a substantial amount of endgame challenge content.

All of this is now in our Combat & Systems database, each entry sourced. For how it feels in play, IGN’s three-hour hands-on breakdown pairs perfectly with Japan’s interviews — and for the people behind these choices, our making-of digest covers the development story.