Dissidia PSP
Wow… that Final Fantasy film was crazy, all those guys flying about sword fighting. Wish they could make a game like that with all the characters from the old and great of the Final Fantasy series and possibly a little window in the bottom right with a Chocobo in it… wait a minute, they have!
Square Enix have been experimenting with the fighting game format for sometime – Bouncers and Ehrgeiz come to mind – and both are valid attempts at changing the direction of the fighting game category, but not really reaching a wider audience. Dissidia changed all that when it was released back in August 2009.
The basic premise of Dissidia is that Chaos (the Lord of Darkness) and Cosmos (the Guardian of Light) have been fighting with each other for aeons and have finally decided to have a rest, so they call upon the heroes/heroins and villians from Final Fantasy to battle it out for them – don’t know why they couldn’t get Superman or the X-men, but hey, beggers can’t be choosers.
Ten heroes and ten villains from Final Fantasy 1 through to Final Fantasy 10 have been chosen to battle for both sides. Familiar faces such as the Warrior of Light from FF1 through to Tidus and Jecht from FF10 are all here ready to give you some really cool, over the top anime fighting action!
Square Enix will always try to reinvent conventional ways of playing games, and Dissidia is no different. From the start the game is quite eccentric, asking you what type of gamer you are and what day you’ll be playing Dissidia the most, but all have a reason which could help you in the game and tie in to neat little side elements that Square Enix are famous for and will be explained later.
Square Enix will always try to reinvent conventional ways of playing games, and Dissidia is no different.
Once you have chosen your favourite hero, you find yourself on a chess board with knights helms which differ in level and difficulty, which you challenge in order to progress to the exit point at the other end of the board.
The fights themselves are easy enough to get to grips with. Hit points(HP) are still used but can only be depleted with enough Bravery points(BP). Bravery attacks build up BP which are then released with a HP attack which then depletes the opponents HP to 0 resulting in victory.
The control system is also very simple and shares some similarities with Super Smash Bros. with different directions resulting in different moves being executed. The fighting itself seems very simple at first but as you play through the story mode, levelling up reveals hidden depth and you realise that each character has different moves to suit different ways of defeating opponents. Fights are based in large arenas with two single opponents who don’t like walking, so like the rest of us they think ‘Hey, I’ll just invoke my power of super-flight’ except unlike us mere mortals, these characters can actually do it.
Another original aspect of the fighting is the ‘chase’ element, where certain moves execute a slow motion close-up midair sequence in which each fighter looks into each others eyes and decides whether their love will ever be accepted outside of their own universe, then deciding that it won’t, smacks the opponent either with a BP or HP attack, which has different timings. If dodged, this gives the opponent a chance to counter-attack. The chase sequences are really a lot of fun and unfortunately tap out at 4 before both fighters give up and return to normal time again.
The RPG elements are put in the game to primarily enhance replay value but are very original so they don’t seem like they’ve just been shoehorned in to fatten up the title. Levelling up reveals new moves and abilities for each character. Depending on what you choose at the ‘what type of gamer are you?’ screen depends on how the Chocobo in the window acts. Win a lot of battles and you are rewarded with EXP multipliers or accessories and items. DP points – mentioned earlier – deplete as you move across the board. The amount remaining depends on what items you get. PP points can be used in the PP catalogue to purchase the villains so they are playable and also buy a ton of other stuff which is too much to go into right now.
The soundtrack is a collection of all the best tracks from each Final Fantasy and also includes originals composed for Dissidia which also sound great.
That’s all the good points out the way…now the bad. There isn’t that much actually, but they are noticeable. Executing moves is frustrating sometimes as the camera is constantly changing so working out what direction is away from the opponent is annoying and results in a lot of accidental moves being executed. Some levels obscure the action a lot and I’ve been caught in situations where I’ve been hit with a chase attack and can’t see when I’m supposed to dodge, so I get walloped. All the characters have been created with different tactics in mind but some just don’t work that well. Characters can be made completely redundant if they face-off against certain characters and also levelling up can become laborious and a chore, but regular RPG players will be prepared for that aspect of the game.
Dissidia is an inventive, original shake up of the fighting genre, or extension of Dragon Ball Z (depending on what way you look at it). It will appeal to gamers who like to try something different and are willing to put in the time needed for RPG’s and of course the Final Fantasy fans.
The Bad: May be better suited to fans of the Final Fantasy series.; Leveling up characters may become laborious.; execution of moves can be frustrating sometimes
Gold Y Award