There’s something magical about fighting games that features an array of characters spanning different games. You’ve got Marvel VS Capcom, Capcom VS SNK, Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe and of course Super Smash Bros to name a few. It’s like a nerd fest all packed in a single game. So when Dissidia: Final Fantasy came out way back in 2009 I was ecstatic. Jamming up all those Final Fantasy characters in one game was pure fan service for die-hard Final Fantasy fans. Squall VS Sephiroth? Tidus VS Kefka? Zidane VS Cloud? All my wildest Final Fantasy fantasies (no pun intended) came true. Naturally, when the North American version of Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy came out last week, again I was ecstatic.
The gameplay overall is pretty much similar to the first Dissidia with a few minor adjustments. Players can do either one of two attacks, a HP attack which deals damage to your opponent and a bravery attack which determines the strength of your HP attack with each bravery attack increasing the numbers in the HP attack. This time around however, the game includes assist attacks which heavily changes the strategy of the game and can turn the tides of a battle. Assist attacks also come in the form of bravery and HP attacks with bravery attacks being usable with one full bar of the assist gauge and the HP attack being ready with two bars. You can use these assists for any number of tactics from creating an opening for your next attack to delivering a blow in the enemy once you’re in a tight situation. Other gameplay elements such as EX mode and summons are also still in place. With the inclusion of the assist system, the whole fighting gameplay has received a pretty much welcome improvement, bringing about new strategies in which you can utilize to take down the enemy as opposed to the first game where the fighting mechanics was just too simple.
Of course, any new installment of a fighting game isn’t complete without the inclusion of new characters to the roster. New players include Lightning, the female protagonist of FFXIII, Vaan, the protagonist of FFXII, Yuna, of the main characters of FFX and female lead of FFX-2, Laguna Loire the secondary protagonist in FFVIII, Tifa Lockhart, one of the main characters in FFVII, and finally Kain Highwind, the commander of the dragoons and one of the major characters in FFIV. There are also several other hidden characters included though I’m not gonna spoil that here.
Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy (pronounced Dissidia Duodecim: Final Fantasy) is the second installment in the Dissidia series. The story of the game follows the battle between Cosmos the goddess of Harmony and Chaos the god of discord (which you’ll hear the narrator repeat a lot throughout the story mode) just like in the first game. This time around however the main story details on the 12th cycle of their battle which leads to events taking place in the first game, hence the 012 numbering in the title. The plot of Dissidia 012 revolves around the increase in numbers of manikins; Chaos’s army of cloned Final Fantasy characters and the quest to eliminate this threat in order to gain a winning chance in the battle against Chaos. The story in the end will explain on why the new characters included in this game didn’t make it in the first one. The story mode still retains the grid layout featured in the previous game but this time around players get to traverse an open world reminiscent of old Final Fantasy titles and also being able to interact with other characters giving more of a depth in the story and character development which was lacking in the first game. If you came in head first into game with the mind set of it being an RPG game though, you’ll probably find fighting the manikins gets real repetitive real quick.
Equipment is a heavy factor in this game that influences the outcome of your battles. Stronger of higher level opponents can only dealt with on a fair level with proper equipment and accessories that you can purchase with gil you collect through winning matches, treasure chests and selling items and also KP or Kupo points that you get by defeating enemies under certain set conditions. Matches can also be influenced by certain rule sets that determines the condition of a battle such as rules that discourage running away from your enemies and one that continually decreases the bravery of both players.
The meat of the game however is in the battle mode where you can go up against a computer or another player via the PSP’s ad-hoc connection. This is where the game truly shines. Like I said earlier, being able to pit your favorite characters against one another in a battle for supremacy is going to be the main interest of the game for fans. There are also party battles where you fight an opponent with a number of characters in each party. You can commence the battle in one of either two modes which are round robin or tournament mode. In tournament mode, you control the first character in your party for the whole duration of the party battle until your controlled characters loses in which case you’ll replace that character with the next one. In round robin mode, the battle commences according to the pre-designated positions of each party.
The aesthetics of the game didn’t really change all that much though this is probably due to the limitations of the PSP with it already nearing the end of its life span. Still, the graphics of the game are at the top of its class making full use of the PSP’s hardware. If you enjoy the music of past Final Fantasy games, you’ll most likely enjoy the music featured in the game with it being a recollection of all the past Final Fantasy titles from Final Fantasy up until FFXIII. The cinematics of the game are generally what you’d expect from a Square Enix game
So overall, it’s a solid game worthy of anyone’s PSP game collection. The game is pretty much an improvement on the first game in terms of the plot of the story mode and the overall fighting experience. For those of you who haven’t played Dissidia: Final Fantasy, you can skip that game and straight away purchase this one which contains everything in the first game. But that’s also where I found the game to be slightly disappointing as the whole game apart from the improved fighting system feels like one huge DLC instead of a new game. Nevertheless, Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy is a great game with hours of fun and nostalgia packed inside.
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