Dissidia, is the latest in final fantasy spin offs. FF has taken its fair share of spin off titles in the last couple of years ranging from racing games, dungeon crawlers, and party games. Dissidia is part grindfest RPG, part cinematic fight simulator, and all fan service. the basic idea of the game is solid, take fan favorite heroes and villains from final fantasy games, and let them wail on each other. the game takes itself seriously, even if the story is less than spectacular.
GAMEPLAY:
Dissidia's battle system plays like kingdom hearts but with the flashy, colorful, and gravitationally impossible presentation of the fights represented in FF7 Advent Children. you pick a character, some basic settings, and then pick an opponent. the opponents start out easy and get harder as you level yourself up. most of the leveling up is done in the story mode where you move pieces around a chess-style-board and then have battles when you encounter foes. certain achievements are also thrown into the mix making your battles less of a button mash, and more of a goal. all this leveling up and story nonsense can be ignored, which is nice, because the games story is nothing to write home about. leveling up can be done by playing through arcade mode, or fighting enemies with quick battle. simply put, you get a lot of content on one UMD. battles are simplistic but offer depth simultaneously, base stats can be increased just like in any RPG and it really helps to get your stats perfect for that big fight ahead. battles take place on huge fight grounds that allow you to jump, run up walls, and grind anywhere you can think of. essentially you do two styles of attack, HP attacks (which inflict HP damage) and bravery attacks (which increase your bravery points, and inflict more damage when you HP attack). getting the timing down on your attacks can be rewarding because it never feels like just pushing buttons, battles are always smooth like butter and great to look at. to put it simply, no two battles are the same, and that makes Dissidia awesome.
PRESENTATION:
Dissidia's graphics are stylish and amazing, featuring crisp character models and incredible moves and limit breaks. each character plays differently, and none ever feel like a palette swap of another. each character's move set includes moves from different final fantasy games and here's the kicker, each is custom built. say your not pleased with sephiroth's ridiculous hells rain attack, (an attack i can never land) so you can switch it out for something that works a little better. the game is content heavy and includes features like an advanced replay editor and a museum of all things final fantasy.
THE BAD:
While i can't say much about anything bad in this game i can tell you that the story is ridiculously over the top, and not on purpose. it takes itself way to seriously when it really is just a throwaway story involving a bunch of characters collecting magic rocks (spoiler?). The last thing thats bad, the camera freaks out A LOT. i've had the camera snap behind my character during crucial moments in battle that have left me at a disadvantage and its one of the few times i can say that the game has cheated. Battle was designed for big outdoor arenas and the few indoor arenas will drive you crazy. i find it a little hard to do aerial combat, in kefka's lab.
VERDICT:
i love this game, it often finds its way back into my PSP because i cant get enough of it. there is so much to be played, leveled up, and discovered that its almost a game with unlimited content. with its few problems it manages to take all the big name final fantasy characters (while leaving some out for the sequel) and make a game for the fans. It's probably one of the lasting games in the PSP library, dont expect this one to be a quick play-and-trade adventure. This one will stay in your library.
RATING: 9/10
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