FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE Demo: How Far It Goes and Save Carry-Over

Three answers up front: the demo runs to the end of Chapter 1, Square Enix estimates 3–5 hours, and the save carries into the full game. That carry-over applies to the same platform version. It does not mean Switch and Switch 2, or different platforms, can exchange saves.

Where to get it

PS5, Switch 2, Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Steam and Xbox on PC. The 3–5 hours is an estimate, not a cap: some players clear the story and side quests in six and a half hours, while others are still levelling Visions at eleven. Difficulty and how much you want to collect drive the difference.

How to download it

Open your platform’s official store and pick the entry with DEMO in the name. The full game is a separate, paid entry and has been on sale since October 22, 2026, so the DEMO entry is never the one you pay for. If you want to understand the combat rhythm first. Read the timeline and stagger sections in Combat & growth.

Steam players also ask whether the demo can be modified. The community mods tool targets this Steam demo build only — it is third-party, not Square Enix content.

What happens to your save

The demo save carries into the full release. Follow your platform’s prompt for the exact steps. Nintendo has confirmed that Switch and Switch 2 saves cannot be transferred between the two, and cross-save between other platforms is unconfirmed. One more common mix-up: Square Enix announced Sephiroth content the same day the demo launched. Which does not mean that challenge is in the public Chapter 1 demo — don’t go hunting for a reward a trailer implied.

What you can pick up in the demo

Everything below was collected by players who went through the demo. We have not re-verified each line and Square Enix has not published a demo checklist. So use it as a “did I miss something?” reference rather than as full-game data.

• Visions: five are obtainable in the demo — Warrior of Light, Terra, Cloud, Tronn and Leah. Levelling is per character per Vision, so “I finished levelling” usually means the characters you are fielding.
• Vision level: Level 5 is the demo cap. Levelling consumes Magicite-type resources; see Vision awakening for how to spend them.
• Tablet Shards: one player handed in twelve, a third-party guide says seventeen. The numbers disagree, so trust your in-game hand-in count.
• Two rare drops: the one-time citrine pot in Siren’s Tower drops an Elixir, and the Skuldier near the trees outside Kolobos Ruins drops a Knife of Paralysis (a consumable, not equipment). Both are low-chance, so repeat kills are normal.
• Easy to miss: Black Garb is only obtainable the first time you enter Grandshelt Castle. Miss it and there is no known second chance.
• Out of reach: Earth Scroll 1 and Ring of Rage come from stealing from the Dhome Chimera near Esper’s Dwelling in the desert, and the demo has no steal command, so you cannot get them yet.
• Currency: MRP is its own currency, commonly earned by farming tough enemies and repeat fights.

Rough Chapter 1 route (third-party, for orientation only)

The third-party site MeowDB recorded this order for the Steam demo (build 24032336): leave Grandshelt to investigate the Earth Shrine, pass through Mitra into the Vision tutorial, return to Grandshelt, push between Felicitas and Kol, cross the Kolobos Ruins to Grandport, then head for the Siren objective. It is a orientation aid, not a room-by-room walkthrough. And it does not list every chest or boss.

Sources：

• Square Enix demo press release
• PlayStation Blog demo introduction
• Nintendo Switch 2 listing
• player-maintained demo item checklist
• player-maintained demo side-content checklist
• MeowDB Chapter 1 route