Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

Dissidia Final Fantasy

1. Official Site
2. Platform: PSP
3. Publisher: Square Enix
4. Developer: Square Enix
5. Release Date: 08/25/09
6. Genre: Action/Adventure

by Chris Miller

There have been few reviews I have approached with as much trepidation as Dissidia Final Fantasy.   On the one hand, I am an absolute sucker for anything Final Fantasy related – especially when it involves the characters from the main entries in the series.  Squeenix’s track record has been hit and miss with these spin offs, sometimes ratcheting up the fanservice to 11 and hitting on all cylinders (FF VII:  Crisis Core), but sometimes completely missing on every conceivable level, and actually marring the impact of the original game (FF X-2 - which is, in this reviewers opinion, the low point in SquareEnix’s history).  While the idea of bringing together characters from multiple FF games into a single game had been done already in Kingdom Hearts, it had never been with this much ambition.  Dissidia brings together both the heroes and the villains we’ve come to know and love (or hate), and square them off in a battle-royale fighting game to decide the fate of the universe.  How could any self-respecting FF fan pass that up, right?

The problem, however, is that the last fighting game I was even remotely successful at was the original Mortal Kombat back on my Sega Genesis.  I simply don’t have either the twitch reflexes needed to pull off the moves in most fighters, nor do I have the patience to practice them over and over again in order to memorize the split second timing required.  I recently purchased Street Fighter IV due to the stellar reviews, and was so frustrated within the first two days that I immediately traded it away.  When you can’t beat a game on “very easy” mode, that’s typically its way of saying you should probably move on to easier things.  So while the idea of playing my favorite FF characters again was tremendously exciting, that excitement was tempered by the fact that I was expecting to be an abject failure as a brawler.

Thankfully, Dissidia succeeds – nay, excels - at being both a superb fighting game, and a deep, compelling, and engaging RPG.  .While this isn’t a combination I’ve seen work before, Squeenix managed to pull it off with flying colors.  Dissidia isn’t completely perfect, mind you, but it’s about as close as you can get given its uniqueness in the marketplace.

The setup for Dissidia is the story of two gods, Chaos (evil) and Cosmos (good), that are eternally locked in a power struggle to control the universe.  While this struggle has always been balanced, the scales have finally begun to shift in Chaos’ direction, namely because he has recruited an ensemble of the baddest mofos that ever lived to do his nefarious bidding.  We’re talking about some serious heavy-hitters on the evil team here:  Kefka, Garland, Ultimecia, Kuja (OK, his bad-assery is a bit suspect), Jecht, and of course Sephiroth.  In order to combat these villains in the ultimate battle, Cosmos has put together an all-star lineup of her own.  Cloud, Firion, Cecil, Terra, Zidane, Tidus, Squall, the Warrior of Light, and a couple others.  I suppose this is a good a place as any to throw out one huge caveat to Dissidia.  If the above names mean nothing to you, then you probably aren’t going to enjoy this game nearly as much as I did.  The entire setup is simply a way to bring together the favorite characters from the FF universe in one place and let them duke it out.  It’s the ultimate exercise in fanservice, and if you don’t have any attachment to the original games, much of it will fall flat for you.

However, for those of us who have invested hundreds of hours into the FF series, it is truly a treat to see all these familiar faces again.  Every character is rendered in full 3D, and looks absolutely incredible.  I’d go so far as to say Dissidia is the best looking game on the PSP, and rivals the graphics found in most late-gen PS2 titles.  Each one is lovingly crafted with an amazing amount of detail that we’ve never before seen.  Gone are the 8 or 16-bit sprites for Firion and Onion Knight, replaced by fully animated and realized depictions.  None of these characters have ever looked this good before, and I doubt they will again.  Each one is also fully voiced, with the original actors revising their roles from previously voiced games (i.e. Tidus, Cloud, Sephiroth).  It was neat to hear some of the formerly mute protagonists finally get a chance to speak their piece.

Not content with simply knocking the character design out of the park, Squeenix also created 12 different fighting arenas based on the respective games.  You’ll fight in the Planet’s Core from FF VII’s, Kefka’s tower from FF VI (or III), Ultimecia’s Castle from FF VIII, the Zanarkand Ruins from FF X, and many other locales that are sure to bring smiles to fans faces.  Each of these arenas have multiple levels that provide both ground and aerial combat, and most are filled with destructible columns, pillars, and walls.  It’s truly astounding to watch your battle progress around the arena, leaving clouds of dust and debris in their wake.  Unfortunately, a few of the levels are real clunkers in their design, especially those that are indoors (Pandemonium especially made me cringe every time I had to fight there).  While the camera typically does an admirable job at capturing the action, it would often get stuck behind a wall or around a corner during these indoor levels, causing you to lose sight of your character and/or the enemy.  This was sometimes a recipe for instant defeat, and could be extremely frustrating.  Thankfully, these problems were limited to just a couple of the dozen levels.  In another excellent nod to the series, each arena comes with it’s own remixed version of that particular game’s theme song, and even the in-battle notification boxes match the look and feel of the original.  When fighting Ultimecia, all the notifications will be in grey boxes will small white text, while Sephiroth will see blue boxes with white outlines.  It’s a small touch that probably won’t be noticed by most folks, but I found it to be very cool.

While this is technically a fighting game, the actual combat feels far more like a fully fleshed-out version of Square’s action titles such as FF VII Crisis Core or Kingdom Hearts.  Each battle begins with a set pool of Bravery Points, which represent the character’s attack power.  Attacks made with the circle button increase your bravery, while sapping it from your opponent.  If either of you reaches 0 bravery, they go into Break status and their opponent gets a major Bravery boost.  Attacks made with the square button are HP attacks, and when they hit, deduct whatever Bravery points you have amassed from your opponents HP.  It’s a huge change from standard fighting games, and while keeping track of Bravery Points and Hit Points is initially very confusing, the system ends up adding a whole new strategic level to combat.   You are required to think about when and where to time your HP attacks to do the most damage, and can’t simply flail away at your opponent in the hopes of wearing them down.  At higher levels, most combats end up being a huge tug-of-war to accumulate Bravery, then explode into a massive damage dealing extravaganza once the HP attacks begin to flow.

Combat takes place both on the ground and in the air.  If you’ve seen the CGI movie FF VII:  Advent Children, you’ll have some idea of what to expect here.  The laws of physics do not apply in this world, and players will be swooping, flying, and jumping to ridiculous heights as the swords and spells fly.  Each character has a completely different set of moves for HP and Bravery attacks, further separated by ground and air attacks.  As they gain levels, additional attacks are gained, and you can end up completely customizing your moves sets to fit any given situation.  Thankfully, most of these moves are limited to very simple input commands (i.e. back and circle, up and square, etc.), so you won’t be required to memorize a ridiculous string of inputs to pull off these incredible moves.  This is a mixed blessing and I think it’s where Dissidia may fall down for some folks, especially those that are true fighting game aficionados.    Most Street Fighter fans take pride in being able to pull off crazy moves that require 14 different button combinations, and there’s none of that to be found here.  However, the simple inputs allow for far more fast-paced and exciting combat and while they are initially easy to learn, figuring out when and how to use them is a true challenge.  Add in blocks that reflect damage, quick dodge moves, and even an EX meter that, when full, unleashes a devastating “limit break” type attack, and you have a complex and flexible fighting system that is nothing short of brilliant.

Dissidia doesn't provide just solid action, it is also a fully realized RPG as well   In Story Mode, you take each character through their own portion of the tale.  These stories are decently told through in-game cutscenes and voice-overs, and basically tell the same narrative through a different lens for each character.  While it’s interesting to see how everyone’s journeys intertwine, the writing for these segments is, frankly, a bit cheesy.  It’s enough to keep you interested, but isn’t up to the level of the actual FF games.  Progression through the story is done via a chess-board of sorts, on which you move your character from one end of the board to the other with a certain amount of moves called Destiny Points (DP).  If you work your way through with DP remaining, it will lead to some excellent rewards but less XP, while taking your time and fighting every enemy and opening every chest on the map will level you up faster but lessen the rewards at the end of the level.  Each fight provides XP and characters will gain greater stats and attacks the higher level they are.  It provides another interesting level of strategy as you are forced to weight risk vs. reward while playing through each story.  Thankfully, you can run through each story as many times as you’d like, while keeping all your items and XP intact.  In fact, the game encourages this, as many of the best goodies are locked away by uber-tough enemies that you won’t be able to defeat the first time through.

In addition to gaining better stats through combat, you’ll also be able equip your fighters with all manner of weapons, armor, and trinkets that confer additional bonuses.  An extremely robust Accessory system can also boost stats such as air defense or attack strength, depending on what your character does during battle.   It’s a system that takes some getting used to, but you’ll soon learn how to accessorize each fighter to match their particular play style.  For example, Zidane is strongest with his air attacks, so accessories that add 1.4X strength while in mid-air will be far more useful than those that provide 1.2X HP when on the ground. 

If you don’t want to be bothered with a story and just want to knock some heads, Quick Battle will allow you set up a fight with any two characters in any of the battle arenas.  Ever wondered how Cloud would do against Kuja?  Terra against Tidus?  Cecil against Sephiroth?  Set it up for yourself and find out!  All these battles also add to your overall XP, so it’s entirely possible to level your character through the roof in Quick Battles, then breeze through the story segments with no problems.  There is also an Arcade mode that pits you against a series of 5 increasingly tougher fights with a good reward at the end.  Local multiplayer is solid, and even includes the ability to trade “friend cards” (i.e. character icons from the original games) with other players.

As you can tell, this is an incredibly deep and complex game.  Heck, I haven’t even touched on the in-combat crafting system, customizable summon attacks, accomplishment system (similar to Acheivements, but with in-game rewards), calendar that provides bonuses on specific days, moogle mail, or the PP system that allows you to purchase additional playable characters, abilities, and icons as you play.  The challenge with a game this complex is that the learning curve isn’t just steep…it’s damn near vertical.  There are a massive number of things to learn, and the in-game tutorials for them (all provided by supporting cast characters from the games) are about as clear as mud.  It took a good 10 hours before I could figure out how most of the mechanics work, especially with the ridiculous amount of “points” systems involved.  There’s Experience Points, Action Points, Capability Points, Destiny Points, Progress Points, Bravery Points, EX Points, and a couple others I’m probably forgetting.  Initially, combat will seem indescribably complex, with fast-paced action and a ton of messages flying through the screen that you don’t understand.  Dissidia takes some real work to be able to comprehend, and I wonder how many people will throw in the towel rather than take the time to learn it.  This is not an easy game to simply pick up and play, but once it “clicks”, there are few RPG’s that provide the same level of amazing depth and action.

I nearly skipped Dissidia because it had been marketed as a simple fighting game with FF characters.  To Squeenix’s credit, they took it much further than that and created a game that will appeal to fighting game fans, RPG fans, and especially Final Fantasy fans.  As of this writing, Dissidia is in the driver’s seat for my Game of the Year, and it’s going to take something awfully special to knock it off that perch.  If you have even a passing interest in Final Fantasy and are willing to put a little effort into learning some complex systems, Dissidia is an absolute must-buy.  Whatever you do, do not miss this game.

Gaming Trend Score

94

1. Graphics: 97
2. Audio: 92
3. Controls: 84
4. Gameplay: 96
5. Value/Replay: 96
6. OVERALL:94