Dissidia Final Fantasy is a real-time combat game by Square Enix. Square have never been very adept at making fighting games. Most gamers try to forget the tragic entry “Bouncer” on the PS2 that bombed, and bombed hard.
The game could be compared more closely to Super Smash Bros, or Powerstone – only in this title your choice of fighters are the main heroes and villains from Final Fantasy 1 to 10. The main plot of any Final Fantasy game is usually something to do with world domination and destruction. So imagine the sheer intensity of this theme, in a game where characters from every single Final Fantasy world (from 1-10) are actively engaged in battle.
That's right – it's a complete mess.
The protagonists (Cloud, Squall, Terra, etc.) represent the goddess Cosmos in the eternal struggle against Chaos, the god of the antagonists (Sephiroth, Ultimecia, Kefka, etc.). Putting his evil schemes into action, Choas is attempting to defeat Cosmos once and for all.
As a game, what emerges is 10 separate story modes where each character needs to find their light and defeat their darkness. Each suffers from their own struggles as they fight against Chaos. Terra isn't confident in her powers of magic, and worries that she will be used for evil. Cloud can't find a reason to fight, and Squall feels duty bound to fight alone. It's all very emo.
Each story is split into levels where a selection of battles take place, along with segments of story. A level is like a chess board, with enemy pieces blocking your path. You move your piece to an enemy and engage in a battle. As you defeat pieces, the board clears and you complete the level to obtain rewards. The process seems strange at first but once you get into it you almost forget about it. There is strategy involved, as your standing at the end of each board determines what rewards you get.
The battles are the main focus of the game. You are placed in an arena with a Final Fantasy theme, to engage in a one-on-one fight with another character. The worlds will give Final Fantasy fanatics a twinge of nostalgia, as they even follow the appropriate battle music relating to the game they originate from. The goal of each fight is to bring the enemies Health Points down to 0 using HP attacks. In order to deal HP damage, you need to stack Bravery Points. BP basically equal your attack power, so you begin by casting BP Attacks, that deal no damage but increase your attack power, and then decimate your target with a hard hitting HP attack. You can also use the environments against your foes to deal more damage.
The characters have traditional attacks from the Final Fantasy series, and just to add another pinch of nostalgia, they even get limit breaks. The battles are ridiculously fast paced, and can switch between victory and defeat in a single attack. It's volatile, unpredictable... and totally addictive. If you wanted – you could stage a battle between Sephiroth and Cloud Strife in which Sephiroth actually wins. Shocking stuff.
The justification for all these characters coming together may be completely ridiculous and confusing, but the pay off is the awesomely fun battle system, over-the-top visual combat, and a nostalgic return of some of our favourite characters from Final Fantasy's past.
0 comments:
Post a Comment