The argument over which Final Fantasy is the best will never end, but the fact of the matter is there are tons of memorable characters in the series, each having their own qualities that make them memorable.  Of course, the most memorable characters in the games in the series all have insane fighting skills, and no game can make that more evident than Dissidia.

Dissidia pits the best Final Fantasy characters from the flagship games against each other in an action-packed 3D fighting game.  While the game definitely makes you think somewhere along the lines of Soul Calibur, it’s actually really tough to find a game thats plays like Dissidia because its unlike any fighting game to ever come out before it.  Aside from just floating around and hitting each other, your characters can also run up and down walls wreaking havoc on each other–it’s kind of like the Ninja Gaiden games on the Xbox with more limitations.

Combat is done using both the square and circle buttons.  The square button depletes your opponent’s HP, which is your primary concern, because that’s how you win.  The circle button depletes your opponent’s brave points or BP, which determine how strong his or her primary attacks will be.  So in short, most of the time you’ll be charging at your opponent while tapping the circle button, because the more BP you have, the more devastating your opponents become.  Think of special modes in other fighting games where whoever lands the most hits and collects the most coins wins.  In Dissidia, you’ll constantly be swapping BP amounts, which will keep battles fast-paced, but at the same time–if both you and your opponent are competent, battles can drag for long periods of time.  If you’re skilled enough to deplete your opponent’s BP completely, you’ll go into what’s called Brave Break, which is a period of time in which your opponent can’t accumulate anymore BP, allowing you to square up and hit him or her with devastating HP strike combos.

That’s where the EX gauges come in.  For every hit you land or parry, the EX gauge will continue to rise.  There are also items in the various maps that can allow your EX gauge to fill, and when it’s filled completely, you can unleash your character’s special attack.  Cloud can use Omnislash, Tidus can use his Jecht shot blitzball move, and all the other limit breaks you’ve grown accustomed to seeing.  In addition, the EX gauge allows you to change class which makes certain attacks more powerful than the rest.

Since the game came out in Japan in December, Dissidia game is pretty much done except with the few kinks Square Enix has to work out with the game’s translation.  The game looks great, as you can tell with the cutscenes, but the one issue we already have is with the camera, especially when you’re backed up against a wall.  Also, when you go to the very edge of every map, there’s a lot of white space that makes you wonder what the developers were planning on the visuals.  We won’t pass judgment until the game comes out, but visually the game looks simply okay and the game’s soundtrack from what we’ve heard is already terrific.

As stated earlier, Dissidia: Final Fantasy is already out in Japan and is almost done with localization.  Expect to see it on shelves by August 25th, and as usual, we’ll have a review at around that time.  Stay tuned to Gamer 2.0’s SmashPad for more from E3.

Related posts:

1. Impressions: Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP)
2. Review: Dissidia Final Fantasy (PSP)
3. Don’t You Disappoint Me, Final Fantasy XIII
4. UPDATE: New Final Fantasy XIII Screens & Videos Surface, Agito and Versus XIII as Well
5. E3 2009: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Preview (DS)

About This Author: Danreb Victorio

This 20-year old Associate Editor at Gamer 2.0 covers the latest and greatest in handheld gaming as well as has an active voice with Gamer 2.0's reviews at SmashPad plog.

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