Dissida: An alternate Final Fantasy
http://www.rarityguide.com/articles/articles/145/1/Dissida-An-alternate-Final-Fantasy/Page1.html
By Douglas Shepard (Editor in Chief, RarityGuide.com)
Published on 09/8/2009
Final Fantasy moves beyond its traditional RPG style into newer realms of Fighters. The Heroes of Order and Discord prepare for their final brawl.
System: Playstation Portable
Title: Dissida: Final Fantasy
Publisher: Square Enix
Circa: 2009
Intro
Dissida: Final Fantasy was a game I first heard about through friends and got to try as a free demo through the Playstation Network. It was interesting, as it was a Final Fantasy fighting game, but seemed shallow as the characters had limited moves and it did not seem like there was much room for change at all. When I finally was able to play the game, my opinion changed greatly about it. While it remained a decent game, I saw that it offered a lot more than what most were saying.
Story
The two deities, Cosmos and Chaos have been locked in combat for eons past. Until recently, both have been considered each other’s equal, no one ever gaining a hand over the other. Now, someone on Chaos’s side has managed to tip the scales in favor of darkness and the world has begun to fall into ruin. The Warriors of Cosmos must square off against the Villains of Chaos to find their crystals and have a chance at defeating Chaos to restore order to the world.
Each of the Heroes also has their own story in their Destiny Odysseys. Each Odyssey is a simple 5 stage progression in which the heroes fight increasingly stronger foes to attain their crystal, by squaring off against their corresponding Villain. Many look into the same themes that the game itself featured around the character. Also, no character is completely alone as many of the cut scenes tie into others in different Hero’s Destiny Odysseys. Getting the full story of the Heroes’ struggle requires playing through all of the Destiny Odysseys.
Gameplay
There are a few modes of gameplay in Dissida. The main one is Story Mode, with the previously mentioned Destiny Odysseys for each of the Heroes, and eventually Shade Impulse and some hidden stories. There is also Arcade Mode, where pre-made characters will run a 5 (, 8 or even more) battle gauntlet to get rewards and items. There is also Quick Battle, which can be very useful for raising Character’s levels, as it uses your Customized characters. There are various factors (stemming from items and play plans) which can be used to augment many aspects of the grinding.
Each of the characters has a fairly unique feel to them. There are a number of short range combatants; however, each of them handles the matter different. Zidane, of Final Fantasy IX, excels at getting opponents airborne and chasing after them. Terra, of Final Fantasy VI, is the only real Cosmos Magic User and she excels at ranged combat with her spells. Cloud of Darkness, from Final Fantasy III, has varying short/mid range combos depending on the button sequencing.
Each character can also be customized with their various attacks and abilities from the game. These are acquired as the character levels up across the course of the game. There are also numerous features and items which can be used to augment the “grind” of leveling and mastering abilities. Players will also find achievements as they play through the game, giving them very useful items.
Multiplayer
In this mode, you can exchange Friend Cards and take on a Ghost of your friend’s favorite hero or villain. You can also just engage in a simple 1 on 1 battle between each other.
Controls
While the controls are honestly quite simple, either of the two modes of control take some time to master. By default, you will be using Square and Circle to attack. Circle is different in that it attacks Bravery, however much Bravery a character has will determine how much damage the characters do with their Square attacks. Square attacks will drain Hit Points. These two attack buttons, when mixed with directional input for the default mode of combat will result in different attacks. This part of the game takes some practice to begin to get the attacks reliably.
There are also two control styles in this game: Action and Command. Action is where the player is in full control of the character, maneuvering, dodging, blocking, etc. Command style is more the traditional Final Fantasy means of controlling your character through the use of a command menu. Here, you tell your character what to do and they will automatically seek out their target to execute the command. A nice traditional touch is the use of L+R for the run away command. Either of these are solid means of controlling your character, so this is largely up to the player’s preference.
Graphics
As the character illustrations are based on Yoshitaka Amano’s artwork, it is quite a beautiful game. Amano is famous for all his illustration work done for the series. The characters also have 1 alternate costume, so there is some variety in what you will find in the game. The stages vary in size, but all are well done and there is a decided beauty about them.
Sound Effects & Music
Much of the music comes from the respective games, sometimes with a bit of remixing. In a few modes, you can choose which track to listen to while fighting. There are 2 tracks from each game by default and after certain conditions are met, more can be unlocked for purchase.
The voice acting can be somewhat annoying, even if some of the characters are getting voices for the first time, they did not always match a good voice actor to the character. Still, the sound effects work well and make the game that much better.
Obscurity
This is a decently well known title right now. Over time perhaps it will get more so.
Summary/Author’s Take
There has only been one other fighting game to prominently feature Final Fantasy character, Ergeiz, which many consider to be a mediocre game. This game offers something different in the Final Fantasy series which is very refreshing. It is a fighter with a good bit of depth while using familiar characters ranging across the entirety of the series.
Story: 82% Complex and interwoven
Gameplay: 90% Varied style characters, much to master
Multiplayer: 81% A different, interactive twist
Controls: 75% While simple, can be hard to execute. 2 modes of control
Graphics: 92% Yoshitaka Amano always does great stuff, and that was faithfully carried into the game.
SFX & Music: 79% Not always great voice acting, but solid most elsewhere
Obscurity: 40% Moderately known title at present
Overall: 87% A different sort of Final Fantasy Game at last
Title: Dissida: Final Fantasy
Publisher: Square Enix
Circa: 2009
Intro
Dissida: Final Fantasy was a game I first heard about through friends and got to try as a free demo through the Playstation Network. It was interesting, as it was a Final Fantasy fighting game, but seemed shallow as the characters had limited moves and it did not seem like there was much room for change at all. When I finally was able to play the game, my opinion changed greatly about it. While it remained a decent game, I saw that it offered a lot more than what most were saying.
Story
The two deities, Cosmos and Chaos have been locked in combat for eons past. Until recently, both have been considered each other’s equal, no one ever gaining a hand over the other. Now, someone on Chaos’s side has managed to tip the scales in favor of darkness and the world has begun to fall into ruin. The Warriors of Cosmos must square off against the Villains of Chaos to find their crystals and have a chance at defeating Chaos to restore order to the world.
Each of the Heroes also has their own story in their Destiny Odysseys. Each Odyssey is a simple 5 stage progression in which the heroes fight increasingly stronger foes to attain their crystal, by squaring off against their corresponding Villain. Many look into the same themes that the game itself featured around the character. Also, no character is completely alone as many of the cut scenes tie into others in different Hero’s Destiny Odysseys. Getting the full story of the Heroes’ struggle requires playing through all of the Destiny Odysseys.
Gameplay
There are a few modes of gameplay in Dissida. The main one is Story Mode, with the previously mentioned Destiny Odysseys for each of the Heroes, and eventually Shade Impulse and some hidden stories. There is also Arcade Mode, where pre-made characters will run a 5 (, 8 or even more) battle gauntlet to get rewards and items. There is also Quick Battle, which can be very useful for raising Character’s levels, as it uses your Customized characters. There are various factors (stemming from items and play plans) which can be used to augment many aspects of the grinding.
Each of the characters has a fairly unique feel to them. There are a number of short range combatants; however, each of them handles the matter different. Zidane, of Final Fantasy IX, excels at getting opponents airborne and chasing after them. Terra, of Final Fantasy VI, is the only real Cosmos Magic User and she excels at ranged combat with her spells. Cloud of Darkness, from Final Fantasy III, has varying short/mid range combos depending on the button sequencing.
Each character can also be customized with their various attacks and abilities from the game. These are acquired as the character levels up across the course of the game. There are also numerous features and items which can be used to augment the “grind” of leveling and mastering abilities. Players will also find achievements as they play through the game, giving them very useful items.
Multiplayer
In this mode, you can exchange Friend Cards and take on a Ghost of your friend’s favorite hero or villain. You can also just engage in a simple 1 on 1 battle between each other.
Controls
While the controls are honestly quite simple, either of the two modes of control take some time to master. By default, you will be using Square and Circle to attack. Circle is different in that it attacks Bravery, however much Bravery a character has will determine how much damage the characters do with their Square attacks. Square attacks will drain Hit Points. These two attack buttons, when mixed with directional input for the default mode of combat will result in different attacks. This part of the game takes some practice to begin to get the attacks reliably.
There are also two control styles in this game: Action and Command. Action is where the player is in full control of the character, maneuvering, dodging, blocking, etc. Command style is more the traditional Final Fantasy means of controlling your character through the use of a command menu. Here, you tell your character what to do and they will automatically seek out their target to execute the command. A nice traditional touch is the use of L+R for the run away command. Either of these are solid means of controlling your character, so this is largely up to the player’s preference.
Graphics
As the character illustrations are based on Yoshitaka Amano’s artwork, it is quite a beautiful game. Amano is famous for all his illustration work done for the series. The characters also have 1 alternate costume, so there is some variety in what you will find in the game. The stages vary in size, but all are well done and there is a decided beauty about them.
Sound Effects & Music
Much of the music comes from the respective games, sometimes with a bit of remixing. In a few modes, you can choose which track to listen to while fighting. There are 2 tracks from each game by default and after certain conditions are met, more can be unlocked for purchase.
The voice acting can be somewhat annoying, even if some of the characters are getting voices for the first time, they did not always match a good voice actor to the character. Still, the sound effects work well and make the game that much better.
Obscurity
This is a decently well known title right now. Over time perhaps it will get more so.
Summary/Author’s Take
There has only been one other fighting game to prominently feature Final Fantasy character, Ergeiz, which many consider to be a mediocre game. This game offers something different in the Final Fantasy series which is very refreshing. It is a fighter with a good bit of depth while using familiar characters ranging across the entirety of the series.
Story: 82% Complex and interwoven
Gameplay: 90% Varied style characters, much to master
Multiplayer: 81% A different, interactive twist
Controls: 75% While simple, can be hard to execute. 2 modes of control
Graphics: 92% Yoshitaka Amano always does great stuff, and that was faithfully carried into the game.
SFX & Music: 79% Not always great voice acting, but solid most elsewhere
Obscurity: 40% Moderately known title at present
Overall: 87% A different sort of Final Fantasy Game at last