The Final Fantasy series boasts a vast library of titles, shaping diverse incarnations of Cid, introducing a rich variety of jobs and Limit Breaks, and establishing numerous iconic hallmarks. The series was once renowned for pushing the boundaries of the RPG genre, but in recent years it has leaned more into nostalgia and revisiting past experiences to find its way forward. After years of leaning toward action-oriented development, the series has finally returned to its turn-based roots.
As the first turn-based standalone title in years, Final Fantasy: Echoes of Mana faces the tricky task of balancing novelty with nostalgia. Adapted from the mobile game Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius, it follows the development approach of Triangle Strategy, which was itself adapted from a mobile game. The game was co-developed by Square Enix's Asano Team, the creators of HD-2D games, and similarly adopts this visual style: retro 16-bit pixel characters combined with modern graphical effects.
In an interview with Kotaku, Hiroyuki Furuya, director of Final Fantasy: Echoes of Mana, stated, "As a creative foundation, understanding the history and legacy of Final Fantasy is crucial. But we are also gamers ourselves, so we naturally play the latest games beyond just Final Fantasy. We are deeply familiar with the series' heritage as well as the general experience of modern games."
The team's attempt to blend legendary gaming heritage with modern experiences is reflected in multiple aspects of Echoes of Mana. The most central of these is the battle system, which the developers describe as an "experiment."
Keisuke Nakajima, producer of Echoes of Mana, stated, "Simply put, our initial concept was to explore what would happen if we combined the job system from Final Fantasy V with the unique character traits from Final Fantasy VI. This had never been attempted before, so it required considerable research and innovation. We introduced a stagger system, reorganized all the mechanics, and integrated them into what you see today—preserving distinct character identities while adding extra customization options."
Another core "legacy" element in Echoes of Mana is the "Vision" system, which essentially consists of equippable summon units. Players can summon characters from across the series' history during battle—one character from each title, from the original Final Fantasy all the way to Final Fantasy XVI. These Vision characters first appeared in War of the Visions and had narrative justification there, but they were nearly cut during the adaptation of the mobile game into a standalone title.
Hiroyuki Furuya said, "During development, we considered removing the legacy characters from the Final Fantasy series. Although merging their worlds with this game's setting presented challenges, we ultimately decided to keep them. Just imagine being able to unleash Cloud's 'Omnislash' and experiencing those stunning CG cutscenes—that visual impact and fun are exactly what we wanted to deliver."
Although the team once considered significant cuts, they ultimately opted for an additive approach to the adaptation. The storyline of War of the Visions was preserved in its entirety, with only the order of certain events adjusted and some scenes expanded in scale. The battle system was naturally redesigned as well. Reportedly, new story segments have also been added.
The overall story of Echoes of Mana is consistent with War of the Visions, but has undergone minor adjustments for a smoother narrative pace. Keisuke Nakajima also mentioned that the original mobile game was known for its dark tone, featuring many scenes he described as "negative." Although the main storyline hasn't been drastically changed, the team made some fine-tuning to address this. He stated, "We kept the complete main story but interspersed it with more neutral or positive episodes to achieve balance."
This is evident in how characters are presented in the public demo. In War of the Visions, being a gacha mobile game, characters had "character episodes" separate from the main storyline, allowing players to learn more about their backgrounds. However, in Echoes of Mana, the team needed to integrate these details and story beats directly into the main narrative. Keisuke Nakajima cited two examples: the summon Siren and Grandshelt Knight Emma, who are now directly woven into the Chapter 1 storyline. These characters' stories are no longer independent "episodes" detached from the main plot; instead, the most emotionally charged moments were selected and integrated into Echoes of Mana's main narrative.
The game features many such refinements and adjustments, but the most striking new additions are the several high-quality animated cutscenes crafted for key story moments. The quality of these cutscenes is noticeably higher than that of regular in-game scenes, and Keisuke Nakajima confirmed that their design was inspired by the CG cutscenes from older Final Fantasy titles, used to highlight major plot points.
The demo opens with just such a cutscene, grand and impactful, setting the game's scale and tone with a very novel presentation. Hiroyuki Furuya explained that to achieve this effect, the team first built 3D environments, then placed pixel characters within them, and finally designed the camera movements. Additionally, they employed a small trick to synchronize scene dynamics with character actions.
Furuya said, "Our production approach involves adjusting pixel art to match character movements, aligning them with camera motion to create a dynamic 3D feel. Once we finalized the actions and scene layouts, we added post-processing effects like lighting, blur, and shadows. We fully leveraged 3D technology in these cutscenes, ultimately creating the unique blend of pixel art and 3D visuals you see today."
Since Echoes of Mana stems from War of the Visions, its visual style differs significantly from most HD-2D games, easily leading people to believe that this title represents the team's vision for the "future" of the genre. However, Hiroyuki Furuya and Keisuke Nakajima do not share this view.
Keisuke Nakajima stated, "Whether it's the HD-2D team or other teams developing similar titles, we don't believe we should repeat the same visual experiences. We need to bring something fresh and unprecedented."
However, he quickly added with a laugh, "Then again, seeing the story presentations we've created for Final Fantasy: Echoes of Mana, I feel we may have raised the bar a bit for other HD-2D games."
Final Fantasy: Echoes of Mana will be officially released on October 22.