Dissidia: Final Fantasy

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Dissidia: Final Fantasy
Reversable cover of the NA/EU/AUS version of Dissidia: Final Fantasy
Developer(s)	Square Enix
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Artist(s)	Tetsuya Nomura Yoshitaka Amano
Composer(s)	Takeharu Ishimoto
Series	Final Fantasy
Platform(s)	PlayStation Portable
Release date(s)	JP December 18, 2008 NA August 25, 2009[1] EU September 4, 2009[2] AUS September 3, 2009[3]
Genre(s)	Action role-playing game Fighting game
Mode(s)	Single-player, two-player
Rating(s)	CERO: C ESRB: T OFLC: PG PEGI: 12
Media	UMD, Download

Dissidia: Final Fantasy (ディシディア ファイナルファンタジー, Dishidia Fainaru Fantajī^?) is an action RPG/fighting game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable as part of the campaign of the Final Fantasy series 20th anniversary. Information on the game was first released during the "Square Enix Party" event of May 2008. The game features characters from different Final Fantasy games and centers around a great conflict between the heroes and villains, as the god of discord, Chaos, tries to wrest control of their worlds from the forces of good. It was released in Japan on December 18, 2008, in North America on August 25, 2009, in Australia on September 3, 2009 and in Europe on September 4, 2009. It was then re-released as an international version in Japan, based on the North American port, as Dissidia Final Fantasy: Universal Tuning, on November 1, 2009.^[4] Dissidia was well-received commercially and critically, with positive reviews and sales of over 1 million copies worldwide.

Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Plot 3 Characters 4 Development 5 Audio 6 Merchandise 7 Reception 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Gameplay

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Dissidia: Final Fantasy's genre has been described as "dramatic progressive action" and its graphics are in three dimensions. It has wireless one-on-one multiplayer and fights revolving around the use of individual special skills of characters to do damage to opponents. Players can also customize their characters with equipment.^[5]

Character movement is fully functional within the three-dimensional field map. Characters are able to perform special maneuvers using the environment, similar to the Reaction Command feature of Kingdom Hearts II. Traps with a variety of ill effects can be found throughout the arena.

Similar to many fighting games, the aim is for the player to reduce their opponent’s HP to zero. A character's offensive (and, to a lesser extent, defensive) power is shown in numerical form called BRV or "Bravery Points". Both characters start out with a set amount of BRV, and each must steal BRV from their opponent by attacking them with the basic "BRV attack" to add it to their own total and gain the upper hand. Players can then use the "HP attack" to cause direct damage to their opponent; HP damage is equal to the player's current amount of Bravery. However, once an HP attack is used, the character's own BRV is reduced to 0 and then slowly recovers to its starting amount. A character whose BRV total has been depleted (past 0 BRV and into the negatives) is forced into "Break mode", where, aside from not being able to cause HP damage, all attacks made against them cause critical damage and the opponent gets all of the BRV in the "Bravery Pool" (a number that can be seen at the bottom of the screen), massively boosting their BRV amount.

One main feature of the combat system is the "EX Gauge", which can be filled in a variety of ways, such as inflicting damage on opponents, taking damage from opponents, and obtaining EX cores scattered around the field of play. Once the EX Gauge is filled, the character can enter their "EX Mode", significantly increasing their power and enabling new attacks, including the "EX Burst", an unavoidable special attack similar to the Limit Break mechanic seen in many games in the series. The player on the offense charges up the attack by following the on-screen instructions, while the player on the defense can reduce the amount of damage taken by continuously pressing the circle button.

In a gameplay mode exclusive to Western releases, the Arcade mode converts the game in a traditional fighting game, with all RPG elements removed and characters' abilities being stripped down to the basics to balance the playing field. The Arcade mode puts the player against a random gauntlet of five characters; beating arcade mode will reward the player with special items that can be used in story mode. All characters, including villains, are playable in Arcade mode; for example, Golbez and Sephiroth are avaliable for use in this mode from the start, but they still need to be bought via the PP Catalog for use in other modes.^[6]

[edit] Plot

The story revolves around two gods—Cosmos, the goddess of harmony, and Chaos, the god of discord—who have been locked in eternal conflict, summoning several warriors to battle in a never-ending cycle of death and rebirth until the balance tipped in favor of Chaos. As the war seems to be nearing its end, the ten warriors of Cosmos band together to strike back at Chaos's minions and restore harmony.^[7]

Cosmos gives the ten warriors the task of retrieving the ten crystals that will help them defeat Chaos. They each set out on a journey called a "Destiny Odyssey," where their respective stories are told and interlink with one another. During their "Destiny Odysseys," the heroes encounter their personal villains opposing them and defeat them through epiphanies that help them obtain their crystals.

Following the "Destiny Odysseys" is the "Shade Impulse," where all ten warriors are in possession of their crystals, but arrive too late to save Cosmos, who is apparently killed by Chaos. The heroes begin to fade away, but are saved by the power of the crystals, allowing the heroes to strike back against the villains and defeat Chaos once and for all. In the end, the warriors return to their respective worlds, allowing harmony to reign under Cosmos, who somehow survived Chaos's attack and has a new-found sense of faith in the future.

[edit] Characters

The game unites both protagonists and antagonists from installments of the main Final Fantasy series, their stories narrated by the first Final Fantasy game's Cid of the Lufaine (voiced by Bunta Sugawara in the Japanese version, and Rodger Parsons in the English version). Other than the gods and their champions, the player also deals with crystal-like dopplegangers called Manikins. The game has an overarching storyline that requires playing through all of the characters to complete. The game contains twenty-two total playable characters: eleven heroes and eleven villains, one of each representing Final Fantasy through Final Fantasy X, and two secret characters: a heroine representing Final Fantasy XI, and a villain representing Final Fantasy XII. Initially, only the ten main heroes will be playable in all gameplay modes; the ten main villains are playable in Arcade mode, but must still be unlocked for access in all other gameplay modes. All characters' lip movements are in-sync with spoken dialogue in both Japanese and English. Interestingly, in all Western releases of the game, no matter what language the game text may be in, the audio is always in English, with subtitles in the player's native language; there are no voices in any other language.

Characters' equipment can be customized, and they can gain EXP and gil from battles.^[8]

Many of the characters can transform into different forms, mostly as part of their EX Modes. For example, Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII transforms into his One-Winged Angel form as seen in Final Fantasy VII Advent Children when entering EX Mode, where as Cecil from Final Fantasy IV can switch between his Dark Knight and Paladin forms at any time.^[9] All characters have an alternate costume; examples include a design for the Onion Knight that makes him resemble Luneth from the Nintendo DS version of Final Fantasy III^[10], Terra with her original green hair as she appeared in her original game, Cloud in his Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children outfit and Squall's SeeD uniform as seen in Final Fantasy VIII.^[11]

Summons are accessible using Summon Stones. There are forty different summons, each with a different effect on Bravery Points.^[12]

Hero	Original game	Japanese Voice actor	English Voice actor
Warrior of Light	Final Fantasy	Toshihiko Seki	Grant George
Firion	Final Fantasy II	Hikaru Midorikawa	Johnny Yong Bosch
Onion Knight	Final Fantasy III	Jun Fukuyama	Aaron Spann
Cecil Harvey	Final Fantasy IV	Shizuma Hodoshima	Yuri Lowenthal
Bartz Klauser	Final Fantasy V	Sōichirō Hoshi	Jason Spisak
Terra Branford	Final Fantasy VI	Yukari Fukui	Natalie Lander
Cloud Strife	Final Fantasy VII	Takahiro Sakurai	Steve Burton
Squall Leonheart	Final Fantasy VIII	Hideo Ishikawa	Doug Erholtz
Zidane Tribal	Final Fantasy IX	Romi Park	Bryce Papenbrook
Tidus	Final Fantasy X	Masakazu Morita	James Arnold Taylor
Shantotto	Final Fantasy XI	Megumi Hayashibara	Candi Milo
Cosmos	Dissidia: Final Fantasy	Sumi Shimamoto	Kathleen McInerney

Villain	Original game	Japanese Voice actor	English Voice actor
Garland	Final Fantasy	Kenji Utsumi	Christopher Sabat
The Emperor	Final Fantasy II	Kenyu Horiuchi	Christopher Corey Smith
Cloud of Darkness	Final Fantasy III	Masako Ikeda	Laura Bailey
Golbez	Final Fantasy IV	Takeshi Kaga	Peter Beckman
Exdeath	Final Fantasy V	Tarō Ishida	Gerald C. Rivers
Kefka Palazzo	Final Fantasy VI	Shigeru Chiba	Dave Wittenberg
Sephiroth	Final Fantasy VII	Toshiyuki Morikawa	George Newbern
Ultimecia	Final Fantasy VIII	Atsuko Tanaka	Tasia Valenza
Kuja	Final Fantasy IX	Akira Ishida	JD Cullum
Jecht	Final Fantasy X	Masuo Amada	Gregg Berger
Gabranth	Final Fantasy XII	Akio Ohtsuka	Keith Ferguson
Chaos	Dissidia: Final Fantasy	Norio Wakamoto	Keith David

[edit] Development

On April 6, 2007, Square Enix filed for United States trademark registration of "DISSIDIA"; the mark's relation to Final Fantasy was omitted.^[13][14] Some sites speculated this was an edition of Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII.^[15][16] The title was connected with Final Fantasy when Square Enix introduced Dissidia: Final Fantasy on May 8, 2007 with an official Japanese website. The game was produced by Yoshinori Kitase and directed by Yousuke Shiokawa^[17] and features music by Takeharu Ishimoto. Takeshi Nozue being the movie director.^[18]

Tetsuya Nomura is responsible for the character designs, which retain much of the look and style of Yoshitaka Amano's illustrations.^[19][20] Nomura comments to the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu that Tidus is designed to look younger than he was in Final Fantasy X to "match the design touch of the rest of the Dissidia" cast.^[21] Jecht was chosen instead of Seymour to be the villain representing Final Fantasy X because Seymour has little in-game interaction with Tidus, whereas Jecht, as Tidus' father, would prove much more suitable.

On May 8, for its western localization, director Takeshi Arakawa and producer Yoshinori Kitase announced that the release date for the Western world would be August 25, 2009 (starting in North America), and that it will include a number of tweaks, including re-adjustments in gameplay, new gameplay events, an arcade gameplay mode, a shortened tutorial, new moves for playable characters, and extra cutscenes featuring cameos from several other characters from the main characters' original games that do not appear in the Japanese version.^[22]

On May 14, SCEA announced a Dissidia: Final Fantasy-themed PSP bundle. This includes a "Mystic Silver" PSP system, a copy of Dissidia: Final Fantasy, a 2GB memory stick, and a copy of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. It was also released on August 25, 2009.^[23]

For the Dissidia: Final Fantasy US release, Gamestop released the game with two additional covers for anyone who reserved it before it came out.^[24]

On August 24, 2009, it was announced that there will be an international version of the game. Named Dissidia Final Fantasy: Universal Tuning, this revision of the game will be a direct port of the North American version of the game, retaining all the extra features added, and was released in Japan on November 1, 2009. Both English and Japanese voices are available in battle, with the player deciding which language the characters will speak.^[4]

[edit] Audio

The Dissidia: Final Fantasy Original Soundtrack was released on December 24, 2008,^[25] and is available in both regular and special editions, similar to the game itself. The main theme of the game is "The Messenger" by Your Favorite Enemies. In one interview with the developers, it was stated that the game contains twice the amount of dialogue featured in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.^[8]

The tracks "Cosmos" and "Chaos - Last Battle 1" are also performed by Your Favorite Enemies. "The Messenger" is the main theme song of the game, with lyrics from both "Cosmos" and "Chaos - Last Battle 1." "Cosmos" features female vocals, while "Chaos" is dominated by male vocals. In YFE's documentary on the conception of the songs for Dissidia, lyricist and vocalist Alex Foster admitted that the lyrics have no direct connection to themes of the game; rather, he left it up to the listeners to interpret the lyrics based on their own thoughts and ideas.^[26] Other tracks are often remixes done by Ishimoto of past Final Fantasy music originally composed by Nobuo Uematsu.

For the North American release of Dissidia Final Fantasy, Amazon.com offered a 10-track soundtrack sampler disc with pre-orders.

Tracklist

[edit] Merchandise

Studio BentStuff published the Dissidia Final Fantasy Ultimania α as the initial reference guide for the game. Released on December 4, 2008, this book became part of the Ultimania series, which includes the Kingdom Hearts Ultimania α.^[27]

Suntory Ltd. also collaborated with Square Enix to create the "Dissidia: Final Fantasy Potion" drinks which were released on December 9, 2008 in Japan to promote the game's release.

Square Enix is releasing a line of Trading Arts figures in early 2009 with Series 1 containing Cloud Strife, Squall Leonhart, Zidane Tribal, Tidus, and the Warrior of Light.

Best Buy has announced that when the game is released, a desktop calendar will be available for anyone who purchases the game.

[edit] Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	81% [28]
GameStats	8.6/10 [29]
Metacritic	80/100 [30]
Review scores
Publication	Score
1UP.com	A-[31]
Eurogamer	8/10[32]
Game Informer	6.5/10
GameSpot	8.5/10[33]
GameSpy
GamesTM	8/10[32]
GameTrailers	8.7/10[34]
IGN	8.9/10[35]
X-Play	[36]

With individual scores of 9/9/10/8, the game received an overall rating of 36/40 points from Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, earning the game a place in its "Best Picks of This Week" feature as well as its "Platinum Hall of Fame." The game's battle system was described as fast paced and exhilarating, with simple controls capable of producing battles like those found in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, though it was noted that the action can become difficult to follow when things get hectic and that some of the more technical aspects of the game can be hard to grasp. Also cited were extensive character customization options befitting a Final Fantasy title, and a leveling system that allows the game's difficulty to scale with the strength of the character. The game was also praised for its story and cutscenes, with one reviewer noting that the history was "exacting".^[37] The game scored 90/95/85/85 on Dengeki PlayStation. RandomNPC called the game "one of the few must-have games for the PSP.^[38]"

As of August 17, 2009, Dissidia: Final Fantasy has sold 910,000 copies in Japan,^[39] making it the fourth best-selling game for the PSP in Japan.^[40] It was the 12th best-selling game in Japan in 2008, selling 660,262 copies.^[41] In the United States, Dissidia debuted at the 7th place of the August 2009 charts with 130,000 copies, despite only four days of availability.^[42]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official North American website
• Official Japanese website
• Official UK website
• Official "Universal Tuning" website
• Dissidia: Final Fantasy at the Final Fantasy Wiki (Wikia)

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