Dissidia (Square Enix, 2009)
The SSBB of Final Fantasy (Up to X, not including X-II).
This is an arena based Final Fantasy game which allows players to select characters from the first ten Final Fantasy games, one each from the side of good and evil.
Visuals
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7 / 10
All the characters look great, for a handheld game with unlockable costumes. Clipping issues are hard to notice since the pace of the game counters that problem or is merely non-existent. It is a great pity that characters can’t be personalised in terms of appearance… Road less travel with no tumble weed
Audio
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7 / 10
Voice acting is fairly dull and unenjoyable. Can’t really say I really felt for the characters a single bit, so I’m just going to award it poor marks here. The Background music, oddly, I enjoyed and loved. Whether it has been remixed, remastered, retouched or nothing done to, don’t care because it sounds great
Gameplay
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8 / 15
Tutorial wasn’t too insightful and it felt like all the buttons in the game really hard to comprehend and most of the time, ignored. It wasn’t until later in the game where the game gets harder as you level up and must resort to using it to dodge some lethal blows, which makes you feel that the buttons then make sense and really pick it up.
Story mode takes you into the story mode (obviously) for each character (only side of good, well so far when I’ve been playing it) trying to save the world (cliché #1) with each battling their own personal demons (cliché #2) and stop the world from falling into chaos (cliché #3). Cliches counter time…
Since Cloud is popular, I’ll just talk about what I had to suffer playing him… so now… Cloud… He is being supported by friends but the weight on his shoulders (cliché #4) is so great he can’t focus his mind and wonders why he has to fight (cliché #5) he fights SSBB type battles one-on-one and encounters his nemesis Sephiroth (cliché #5) and coerced into looking for find for a fight to the death (cliché #6) and I have no interest in going any further for those who want to play the game.
There is a single player mode along with arcade mode for those that want to play that. Single Player or Custom Match allows you to set up matches against the CPU and the characters of your choice. Oddly, there isn’t a practice mode here… though, there’s a greater emphasis on actually levelling up because as you level up, you unlock new skills and abilities. During battles, you can randomly gain accessories, but most of the time, it is just too random.
This game does have unlockable, but they are all purchasable within game via the use of PPs and the PPs have no other function… though…. what do you exactly do after you’ve exhausted the PP store? O yeah… the villainous villains are all purchasable unlocks. Though, if you are after the true bosses of the game, you must actually finish the game. If you are after the exclusive character equips, you must play the story mode, though, you’ll rarely find it in the Inventory store, which can be found in the character customising section. There’s also a trading section if you want some exclusive items, though, I haven’t drummed up the desire to trade certain things for a level up, since I’d rather leave it for the near to impossible levels… if and when I do get there…
When playing, there was always the constant problem of camera angles being a main factor of frustration and causing anguish everywhere it goes such as walls and if someone is directly above or below. Even with the arrow pointing the direction of someone, it still doesn’t help the camera in its cause. I would of just preferred if the camera was focused right inside of keeping your eyes on the opponent and character than character with horizon.
The aerial combat is highly questionable since that kind of battle can be summarised as a game of slaps. If you miss, it is the other guy’s turn and there’s a possibility of pulling one attack or the other and the other can be delayed slightly.
I must say though, I loved the EX system and the ultimate attacks being tied in with it. Once you play it, you’ll learn to understand why it is actually…. really really good!
Don’t be even the chance fooled by the online feature as it is just… well… a complete and utter lie and when I checked the box, it ever claimed to be able to connect to the world wide web… perhaps then should of just considered calling the online game, not online and offline, nothing to do with internet… how stupid…
Longevity
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3 / 5
It is far too on and off and I’m constantly playing it on the move than at home… which is disappointing. If it can’t be played everywhere and anywhere, then I really can’t give it higher marks
Stabs
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7 / 10
Yay!
FFVII and FFVIII fans can rejoice again!
Ultimate attacks feel like it is proper
Challenges
Selectable unlocks
Almost an SSBB styled Final Fantasy bash-em up!
Equipment and Accessories system
Boo!
Online feature is a lie!
Story is a dull-eyed sleepsfest and 10 out of 10 for being unoriginal
Once everything is unlocked, it just feels disappointing after that
Pretty impossible to win higher level match
Exclusively just 1 on 1 match
Too reliant on spamming
The Grind!
AI seems to be programmed too well and will really start to kick you every time
Just two characters from each series
Not making me to want to play more
Poor camera angles during battles
Normally, I don’t have anyone else review this game and their own personal opinion, so here’s a new one to prop up, main issue is that he’s only played Custom matches only, which is about half the content of the game
4 / 5 – DevilKraven
Yay!
Play as hero & villains
Aerial combat
Simple attacks
Selection of characters
Unique character actions
Leveling during battles
Boo!
Camera during play
Repetitive aerial attacks
Simple Attack Scheme far too repetitive
Scores
V: 7 / 10
A: 7 / 10
G: 8 / 15
L: 3 / 5
S: 11 / 15
Total:
36 / 55 – Worth a go, but don’t hold your breath about this game
65%
If you are looking for a casual styled pick up and play to enjoy, go elsewhere since this is for the fans of both the SSBB crowd and FF fanatics
All the gloss of the game is just heavily countered with the stupidity of the down and no proper online feature… lie!
