Dissidia: Final Fantasy is a fighting game developed by Square Enix for the Playstation Portable. You take control of one of the heroes of Cosmos and fight against the villains of Chaos in one-on-one matches that will decide the fate of the world.

As a former hardcore Final Fantasy player, I was very excited and a little skeptical when I heard Square Enix was going to release a fighting version of its Final Fantasy games. I loved the idea of fighting as any of the ten hero characters of the Final Fantasy series but I really didn’t know if Square Enix could pull it off. But as usual, Square pulls of a great game with quality gameplay and, as always, beautiful movies.

Introduction Video

Before I begin talking about the gameplay I’d first like to express just how awesome the introduction video is. I believe it was the same video as the teaser trailer with a few modifications. The music, the characters, the fighting: everything about this video draws you in. The graphics are as beautiful as always with Square Enix which, sadly, doesn’t translate into the actual gameplay. But disregarding that, the video is fantastic and I highly recommend watching it after you finish reading. That alone will probably make you want to play the game.

Storymode

As with most games, the story mode for Dissidia gives a quick little prologue explaining the how the game and battles work. The maps work like little chessboards where your character moves once per turn. On the map are enemy pieces, treasure chests, and items. You move your piece to the “Stigma of Chaos” and move onto the next map. You use a “destiny point” by stopping in a square that can be as far from your initial position as you want it to be, and interact with the pieces next to you. The whole point of this is to finish the map with as many destiny points as possible to get level bonus like money or equipment. You get more Destiny Points by completing some goals in a battle. After you reach the stigma of chaos there are little cutscenes that give you more on the story and maybe a boss battle.

Because this isn’t one of their usual long-term RPG’s, I think that Square Enix didn’t put as much effort into their storyline or they didn’t get to expand on it as much as they normally do. Either way, each character’s individual story runs in sync with others. Their timelines run parallel; each character is affected by the other’s action, which I found impressive. The storyline itself is linear, like I said its not an RPG, but it does revolve around each character’s original story. Their personalities and actions they take in Dissidia closely resemble how they were in their respective Final Fantasy games. For example, Squall takes off in his “loner” mood and tries to complete the mission he is given. On his quest he becomes friendlier and eventually joins the rest of the team. Square Enix does a great job in giving a small taste of each Final Fantasy conflict while staying within the Dissidia storyline.

Gameplay

The explanation of the gameplay can get really confusing, trust me, the first time I played I was completely lost. Basically you have two types of attacks, bravery attacks and HP attacks. You have three icons you need to pay attention to, your health, your bravery, and your EX gauge. You first attack using your bravery attacks, which absorb your opponent’s bravery and add to your own. How much damage your HP attacks do depends on how much bravery you have. The damage you do equals that to the amount of Bravery you have, so obviously you want to have as much as possible. If you hit your opponent with an HP attack your bravery temporarily goes to zero. Until your bravery comes back you’ll want to avoid being hit by bravery attacks because if your bravery goes below zero you become “broken” which leaves you without bravery and gives your opponent the “stage bravery” which adds up to extreme amount during the battle. Each blow you land on your opponent leaves behind small glowing orbs that you absorb until your EX gauge becomes full. When it becomes full your character can enter EX mode. EX mode changes your character’s look while giving them buffed stats and special effects like regen. If you manage to land a blow in EX mode you can unleash an EX Burst, which my generation may recognize as a limit break. You can also equip and use a summon each having their own individual effects. After each battle you get experience, gill and ability points. The is the RPG part of this game. You buy and give equipment to your characters. They also level up and learn new abilities and moves that are mastered by using them in battles and earning ability points.

These battles are one on one and they can get VERY intense, especially when you are playing against another person. They attack, you dodge, you attack, they dodge: its almost like an endless circle. Almost. The battles are fast-paced so you need to be one your toes the entire time. Winning requires a mastery of your character’s abilities (and in my case a working PSP.)

Details, Details….

With each map you complete you earn Player Points which can be used to buy more characters, items, and extras. Along with Storymode there is Arcade Mode, Duel Colosseum, Quick Battle, and Communications Mode. Aracde Mode gives you a pre-set character and a line of enemies to battle against. Because the characters are all pre-set, this mode isn’t as fun as the others and doesn’t rely on levels. I guess it puts everything on an even playing field, but I didn’t enjoy it at all. I like using my own customizations, making Duel Colosseum and Quick Battle much more enjoyable. Duel Colosseum puts you up against a list of enemies ranging from different levels based on what course you take. It is important to get familiar with Duel Colosseum because this is where you get most of the items you need for the best equipment. The “cards” you pick from the list either give you a battle or add to you “deck” as a special effect like expanding your hand or making a specific type of card appear more often. Quick Battle and Communications Mode are basically the same thing except in CM you fight someone on the network. You choose a character, the levels your characters are on, the map you fight on, and then get to it.

And I Think…?

There is a lot of technical stuff that goes into this game, even though all you are doing is battling one on one. Thankfully none of the enjoyment is lost. Each battle is as fun as the last, and you keep fighting until you thumbs get numb. This game creates an enjoyable battle system that allows for easy wins and devastating comebacks. Also, the extras are well worth playing for, we all have had that deep down urge to fight as Sephiroth, this game allows us to to that. It may take some serious long term commitment to get 100% on everything, but you don’t need to do that to really enjoy this game. My only recommendations for a sequel would be more characters, larger battles (3v3 would be sick!), and possibly a deeper story. All in all I really enjoyed Dissidia. I give this game an 8.5 out of ten.

Chaos? I’m more afraid of Sephiroth and Kefka….

Cloud versus Sephiroth: need I explain how epic this is going to get?

FINISH HIM!!!

Dream team? Almost, but we’re getting there.

Silver

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, Phase 2 Studio or the clients of Phase 2 Studio. Phase 2 Studio makes no representation concerning and does not guarantee the source, originality, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any statement, information, data, finding, interpretation, advice, opinion, or view presented.