by Julius Albert Custodio

Created on: March 11, 2009

Is it an RPG or is it a fighting game?

That's the usual question of a first-time Dissidia: Final Fantasy player. Be it a Final Fantasy fanboy or just a casual fan of the genre, Dissidia has been one of the most talked-about PSP game even before it was released. Now how does Dissidia: Final Fantasy really compare to the other games in the series? In this review, I will dissect this cross-breed of a game and see through the hype that is Dissidia.

Simply put, Dissidia: Final Fantasy is a fighting game with some RPG elements. The main game itself is divided into several parts. There's this gameboard. Here you have a set piece representing one of the ten major characters of the ten Final Fantasy games. By using what the game calls as Destiny Points, your piece travels around the gameboard fighting enemies and gathering treasures inside FF-staple treasure boxes. Of course your freedom is only limited by the number of Destiny Points you currently have.

The meat of the game, of course, is the combat. Dissidia plays a bit like other fighting games, although it has a lot more elaborate mechanics. First, there's the Brave Points system. As you fight with your enemy and your attacks connect, you will be draining of their pool of Brave Points and keep it as your own. When you manage to drain off all of your enemy's points, they will be in a status called "Break". In this state, the enemy won't be able to affect your Brave Point pool any longer.

What does this have to do with defeating the enemy exactly?

Well, for one, if you have collected enough Brave Points (the total of which surpasses your Enemy's health points), you will be able to damage his health points (at last!). Furthermore, the enemy will also be dropping these small blue orbs which fills up one of your gauges. If it gets filled up to the brim, a winged bell icon will appear in the play area. You must then get that bell before the enemy in order to unleash one of the more powerful moves in the game. Simple, right? Well, not really. You must remember that as much as you can do all of these moves, the enemy can also act the same way. So over-all, the game is pretty balanced in the difficulty aspect.

Are the graphics and sound at par with the previous Final Fantasy games in the franchise?

Well, what can you expect from Square Enix right? Of course it is! You're bound to get your "eyecandy" and "earcandy" galore. This game is fantastic to look at and to listen to. There's no surprises here. After all, Square Enix is well-known for its excellent production values and the amount of work they put into this game just cements that notion.

With this game, does Square Enix finally have a tight hold on the fighting genre as well?

It may not win over a lot of new fans to the franchise, but by itself, Dissidia proves that Square Enix isn't all about high-quality RPGs only, they can also make superb games on the other side of the fence. This game will probably stay in my PSP for a long time just because it is so addictive to play. They just put the concept of leveling characters in an RPG in a whole new different light. With that said, Dissidia is a successful game through and through. Kudos to Square Enix!

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