Final Fantasy Resonance is shaping up to be a solid experience on Switch 2

What the report says

by Mikhail Madnani on 04 September, 2026 Square Enix announced and released a free demo for Final Fantasy Resonance on all platforms this week. I was curious to see how it ran across a few systems ahead of my full game comparison. Square Enix has been hit or miss with HD-2D game performance on Switch 2 since last year. Final Fantasy Resonance also looks like a bigger production. While I wanted to focus on the Switch 1/2 and PC handhelds, I also decided to do a quick PS5 and Switch 1/2 docked comparison for today's demo impressions and comparison article.

Note that the full game might change and these impressions and comparisons are based on the demo build.Advertisement. Keep scrolling for moreFinal Fantasy Resonance Switch 1, Switch 2, and Switch 1 on Switch 2 handheld boost mode impressionsI first tested the Switch 1 demo on Switch 1. It holds up quite well both docked and handheld given recent HD-2D games on Switch 1. I've played every single HD-2D game on Switch 1 and this one has the usual cuts. These range from shimmering while moving, sub-native resolutions, and a few post-processing cutbacks. It isn't anything unexpected at this point, but there are drops below 30fps in some locations and during some animations or cut-scenes.When playing the Switch 1 version on Switch 2, the frame rate is more steady, but it still targets 30fps.

The Switch 1 version played handheld on Switch 2 via boost mode gets a nice upgrade, but the end result is not as good as the Switch 2 version handheld. The overall image is less stable compared to the crisp Switch 2 version and obviously it runs at half the frame rate. The Switch 1 version also takes longer across the board. This also affects the load times in between areas while the Switch 2 version is a lot faster, but not as fast as PS5 or Steam.For some background, the Dragon Quest HD-2D remakes let you choose between crisp visuals at 30fps or soft and sometimes blurry visuals at 60fps.

Key details

Octopath Traveler 0 had hitching issues on Switch 2 and didn't feel or look as good as it should given the hardware. The Adventures of Elliot was the worst of the lot on Switch 2. Final Fantasy Resonance is a step above all of those, and generally great on Switch 2. If you wanted to play Final Fantasy Resonance purely on the go and wanted the physical copy with the game on cart, you are going to have to deal with a lot of cuts compared to the native Switch 2 release (Game-Key Card). I also want to remind you that there is no upgrade path.Final Fantasy Resonance Switch 2 vs PS5 and Switch 1 visual comparisonAdvertisement.

Keep scrolling for moreFinal Fantasy Resonance on Switch 2 holds up very well compared to the PS5 and PC versions. After being disappointed by the Octopath Traveler 0 and even the Dragon Quest HD-2D remakes given what the Switch 2 hardware is capable of as I covered above, I am confident in saying that Final Fantasy Resonance feels like the most-polished HD-2D game on Switch 2 yet. Not only does it deliver a bigger upgrade over Switch 1 than expected, but it also does it while running very well. The only real issue is the dithering that is very visible on Switch 2 in parts of the environment.

If you played the Atelier Ryza games on Switch, it is similar to that. Final Fantasy Resonance Switch 1 vs Switch 2 vs PS5Moving over to the PS5 version, it isn't listed as having any PS5 Pro enhancements, but I did my capture on PS5 Pro. The PS5 version on PS5 Pro is flawless when it comes to performance and has almost no load times compared to other versions. It isn't as big of an upgrade over Switch 2 docked though. The major improvements are to textures with filtering, shadows, and some ambient occlusion. Given the heavy post-processing on all platforms, you aren't losing much going for the Switch 2 version over PS5 in this case as far as I'm concerned and for many, including myself, having the portable option makes it even better.

More from the announcement

Given how good the Switch 2 version is, even if the PS5 port offered 120fps, I would stick to Switch 2 to have it on the go.Final Fantasy Resonance Switch 2, Switch 1, Steam Deck, and ROG Ally portable comparisonFinal Fantasy Resonance on Steam Deck on the high preset almost always runs above 60fps, but it drops below into the 50s during heavy particle effects when you cast spells.