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Final Fantasy Resonance modders have already reinstated the original mobile game’s biggest icon, Ariana Grande
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
Modders have used the demo of Final Fantasy Resonance, a reimagined take on the defunct mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, to restore nearly all of the original title's guest characters, including the widely mocked Ariana Grande unit. The mod, called FFR Vision Studio, matters because it runs directly counter to the developers' stated creative direction, reinstating content that producer Keisuke Nakashima had deliberately left out, and highlights how attached fans remain to Brave Exvius's odd, campy crossovers years after the mobile game's shutdown.
The mod adds almost 1,300 Brave Exvius units to Resonance's "Visions" summon system, meaning guest characters such as Kingdom Hearts' Sora and Nier Automata's 2B can theoretically appear alongside series regulars like Cloud, Lightning and Cecil. Nakashima had told Kotaku that Ariana Grande's character "would not fit within the vibe" of the new game, but the mod's creator has continued refining the project regardless, with a recent blog post and roadmap outlining plans to improve animations, add a skill dictionary for Brave Exvius abilities, and potentially build side quests for certain Visions ahead of the full game's launch next month.
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In short
- Modders restored Ariana Grande and ~1,300 other cut characters via FFR Vision Studio
- The mod defies developer Keisuke Nakashima's decision to drop her character
- Further updates, including animations and side quests, are still planned
How this story developed
- 2 months ago Modders have used the new demo of Final Fantasy Resonance, a reimagined take on the defunct mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, to bring back nearly all of the original title's guest characters, including the widely mocked Ariana Grande unit.
- 2 months ago Modders have used the new demo of Final Fantasy Resonance, a reimagining of the defunct mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, to restore nearly all of the original title's guest characters, including the much-mocked Ariana Grande unit.
- 2 months ago Modders have used the demo of Final Fantasy Resonance, a reimagined take on the defunct mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, to restore nearly all of the original title's guest characters, including the widely mocked Ariana Grande unit.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The modders are honouring the legacy of the original game by preserving beloved content that would otherwise be lost to time. Since this is a community mod rather than official content, it offers players the choice to experience Resonance whilst maintaining connection to Brave Exvius's distinctive charm and crossovers—those who prefer the developer's intended direction can simply ignore the mod. Fan preservation through modding represents a legitimate form of cultural stewardship and creative expression.
The case against
The developer has explicitly stated these guest characters would not fit Resonance's intended vibe, and the modders' wholesale restoration directly contradicts that carefully considered creative vision. A reimagining necessarily means moving beyond its predecessor, and allowing mods to retroactively restore prior content transforms the game into something fundamentally different from what was designed. Respecting artistic intent means accepting that some deliberate choices are final, and bypassing the creator's authority undermines their ability to realise their intended work.
Explained simply
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius was a mobile role-playing game that ran for several years before its developers shut it down. It was known partly for its main storyline and characters, and partly for unusual limited-time crossovers that let players use guest characters from other games and even celebrities, most memorably a playable version of pop singer Ariana Grande. Final Fantasy Resonance is a new game built as a successor to Brave Exvius, and its developers, led by producer Keisuke Nakashima, have been reworking its content and tone rather than simply recreating the old game.
A "mod" is an unofficial modification made by fans that changes how a game works, usually without the original developers' permission or involvement. In this case, a fan-made tool called FFR Vision Studio has been used on a public demo of Resonance to add back nearly all of the old guest characters that Brave Exvius once featured, including Ariana Grande, even though the developers had chosen to leave several of them out of the new game.
The situation is a notable example of the tension that can arise between a game's official creative direction and the wishes of a dedicated fan community, who in this case have gone as far as building their own tools to restore content the developers deliberately removed.