Dissidia Final Fantasy

Dissidia Final Fantasy
North American box art
Developer(s)	Square Enix
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Director(s)	Takeshi Arakawa
Producer(s)	Yoshinori Kitase Tetsuya Nomura
Artist(s)	Tetsuya Nomura Takayuki Odachi
Writer(s)	Harunori Sakemi Daisuke Watanabe Motomu Toriyama
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/distribution	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.

A follow-up titled Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy was released in March 2011, and features several new characters and gameplay features.^[5]

Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Synopsis 3 Characters 4 Development 5 Music 6 Merchandise 7 Reception 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

Gameplay

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.^[6]

Character movement is fully functional within the three-dimensional field map. Characters are able to perform special maneuvers using the environment by pressing the Triangle button, similar in function 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 reduce their health to 0 by attacking them with a HP attack. Players can 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 and BRV damage (But being able to gain BRV), 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 and very damaging 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. Once the EX Burst is executed, EX Mode ends. For the characters from the games that had a Limit Break system, their EX Bursts are based on their most powerful attacks (such as Cloud's Omnislash); for the other characters hailing from the games that did not have a Limit Break system, their EX Burst is more original.

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. Within the Arcade Mode, there are three tiers: Normal, Hard, and Time Attack; beating any tier of the Arcade mode will reward the player with PP (player points) and special items that can be used in story mode. All characters, including villains, are playable in Arcade mode; for example, Golbez, Sephiroth, Kuja, and Jecht are available for use in this mode from the start, but they still need to be bought via the PP Catalog for use in other modes.^[7]

Synopsis

The story revolves around two gods: Cosmos, the goddess of harmony, and Chaos, the god of discord. The two have been locked in eternal conflict with "World B", a mirror dimension to the realm of "World A" where the first Final Fantasy takes place, summoning several warriors from other worlds from the main series 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 balance.^[8]

Having lost much of her power in the previous cycle, 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, defeating them through epiphanies about themselves 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 killed by Chaos. The heroes begin to fade away, but are saved by the power of the crystals, allowing them to use what time they have left to strike back against the villains and defeat Chaos once and for all. In the end, finding themselves in World A, the other warriors return to their respective worlds while the Warrior of Light embarks on another adventure (possibly foreshadowing Final Fantasy) , while Cosmos revives to reign over World B.

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 are 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.

Characters' equipment can be customized, and they can gain EXP and gil from battles.^[9]

Protagonist	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 Leonhart	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	Veronica Taylor

Antagonist	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 Ōtsuka	Keith Ferguson
Chaos	Final Fantasy	Norio Wakamoto	Keith David

Development

Dissidia: Final Fantasy was originally envisioned by director Tetsuya Nomura as a Kingdom Hearts spin-off featuring a cast of Disney characters. Nomura later felt uncomfortable with the Disney characters fighting each other and instead opted to use Final Fantasy characters, although the original idea eventually gave rise to the development of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, with the game's multiplayer mode inspired by Dissidia's gameplay.^[10]

On April 6, 2007, Square Enix filed for United States trademark registration of "DISSIDIA"; the mark's relation to Final Fantasy was omitted.^[11][12] Some sites speculated this was an edition of Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII.^[13][14] 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,^[15] with music by Takeharu Ishimoto and Takeshi Nozue as the movie director.^[16]

Nomura was responsible for the character designs, which changed much of the look and style of Yoshitaka Amano's illustrations.^[17][18] Nomura's own original illustrations were also redesigned for Dissidia; Nomura commented to the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu that Tidus was designed to look younger than he was in Final Fantasy X to "match the design touch of the rest of the Dissidia" cast.^[19]

For the 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 small changes, 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.^[20]

SCEA later announced a Dissidia Final Fantasy-themed PSP bundle, which included 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.^[21]

For the Dissidia Final Fantasy US release, Gamestop released the game with two additional covers for anyone who reserved it before it came out.^[22]

On August 24, 2009, it was announced that there would an international version of the game. Named Dissidia Final Fantasy: Universal Tuning, this revision of the game would 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]

Music

The Dissidia Final Fantasy Original Soundtrack was released on December 24, 2008,^[23] 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.^[9]

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.^[24] Other tracks are often remixes done by Ishimoto of past Final Fantasy music originally composed by Nobuo Uematsu.

Tracklist

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.^[25]

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 released 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 had available when the game was released a desktop calendar for anyone who purchased the game.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	81%[26]
Metacritic	79/100[27]
Review scores
Publication	Score
1UP.com	A-[28]
Eurogamer	8/10[29]
Game Informer	6.5/10 (Second Opinion: 6.5)
GameSpot	8.5/10[30]
GameSpy
GamesTM	8/10[29]
GameTrailers	8.7/10[31]
IGN	8.9/10[32]
X-Play	[33]

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".^[34] The game scored 90/95/85/85 on Dengeki PlayStation. RandomNPC called the game "one of the few must-have games for the PSP."^[35] In contrast to most reviewers, Game Informer gave a 6.5/10 for both the main and second opinion reviews, with both reviewers citing shallow mechanics, unreliable controls, an erratic camera, and a cut-and-paste story ("...I suspect [the dialogue] might be random lines cut from previous Final Fantasy games jammed together."), ultimately concluding that the game was really only worth buying for diehard fans of the Final Fantasy franchise.^[36]

As of August 17, 2009, Dissidia Final Fantasy has sold 910,000 copies in Japan,^[37] making it the fourth best-selling game for the PSP in Japan.^[38] It was the 12th best-selling game in Japan in 2008, selling 660,262 copies.^[39] 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.^[40] Figures from the NPD Group list Dissidia Final Fantasy as the best-selling PSP game of 2009.^[41] Dissidia also received a nomination for PSP Game of the Year at IGN's Best of 2009.

See also

	Book: Final Fantasy series
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

References

External links

• Dissidia Final Fantasy European site
• Dissidia Final Fantasy North American site
• Dissidia Final Fantasy Japanese site (Japanese)
• Dissidia Final Fantasy Universal Tuning site (Japanese)

Final Fantasy series Main games Final Fantasy • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII • VIII • IX • X • XI • XII • XIII • XIV Related games Ehrgeiz • Mystic Quest • Dissidia (012) • The 4 Heroes of Light • Legends • Theatrhythm • Brigade Related series Chocobo • Crystal Chronicles • Itadaki Street • Kingdom Hearts • Mana • SaGa Films and animation The Spirits Within • Unlimited Media (video games) • Character design • Gameplay (character jobs) • Music