How can I describe Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy(D12)? Say these words with me:
Fan Service
For those that don’t know what that means here is the Wiki Definition. No, there are no gratuitous panty or breast shots, but to me, this game is Final Fantasy Fan Porn. Everything any fan of the series could possibly love about almost any Final Fantasy game is here. The creators made sure that just like the first Dissidia: Final Fantasy game, all of the main characters from every Final Fantasy game are present here. To better envision this game, ask yourself “what would FF: Advent Children or any other over-the-top anime look like as a fighting game?” The answer to the question is D12.
This game is as over top with action as the first one and has absolutely gorgeous graphics. Come to think of it, it’s almost the same as the first game. In either Dissidia, you play a Final Fantasy hero character (Cloud, Squall, Zidane, Terra, etc.) and battle it out with either another hero character or a villain character (Sephiroth Sir Jecht, Kefka, etc). The battles involve you smashing up another fighter and both of you are trading hits with Bravery attacks, stealing each others HP (hit points, if you really didn’t know). At anytime, a player can do a HP attack, which takes all of your HP stored up and damages the opponents health (yes, in this game, health and hit points are two separate things, so try not to get lost here). You can gather an infinite amount of hit points, but both players have a finite amount of health, so your goal is to smack up you opponent with Bravery attacks to get more HP stored, so when you do a HP attack, it drains your opponents health to nothing. To hasten this, you can steal all of your opponents HP away to gain put them into Break status, which means you gain the “stage HP”. The stage HP is equivalent to the free parking-pot-money rule in Monopoly, where there is just a set amount of HP lying around for grabs for the first person to put their opponent in Break status.
So, if that didn’t sound like the most complicated explanation of a fighting game. Trust me when I say it makes more sense in practice than in text. When I read about the game a couple of years ago, I had no idea what was going on then either, until I picked it up and played it. It really is a beautiful system that allows you to continuously attack or be attacked, knowing that the tables could be turned at any moment, so you don’t quit until the fight’s over. Also in these games are EX Bursts, which is the equivalent of a Super combo from a Street Fighter game. Much like super combo these can be battle ending attacks if used properly, so it’s always best to use them as quickly as you can if you have it, or avoid your opponent like the damn plague if the are charged up and ready to use it.
A big change from the first Dissidia, is that the ability to do these EX Bursts have been severely limited. It used to be in the first game that 80% of all rounds ended with an EX Burst. With the new game (it’s actually a prequel, but more on that later), doing an EX Burst is much more rare and exciting, thus the game becomes more of a test of skill instead of a power struggle to see who does an EX Burst the fastest.
Another big change is that the more you attack, the more you build an Assist meter, in which you can call out an ally to attack your opponent briefly. This adds a bit of strategy to the game and allows you to chain stronger combos together, kind of like Marvel Vs. Capcom games, but not as crazy.
Ok, I might have to retract that last comment…the crazy part I mean. You can fly, smash characters thru walls and buildings, slam them against the ground, slide on rails, run along walls, and oh so much more. The more you play this game like an over-the-top anime, the more you will enjoy it and actually do more damage. Slamming opponents against walls? That’s actually a tactic needed to do more damage. Flying? Well, how else are you going to get around these, absolutely HUGE stages that demand you to do battle across them? Not to mention that the more you play the game, the more the game rewards you by giving you just random goodies.
Ok, enough flaunting my love for this game, how about I talk about what I don’t like? Well, I am not in love with the story. I mean, I have yet to encounter a fighting game where the story was mesmerizing, and I am sure I never will. I would get into what the finer points of the story is, but it’s seriously ludicrous when you get right down to it. Two Gods have summoned the greatest Warriors from the Final Fantasy universes to do battle in…YAWN! My goodness does SquareEnix LOVE to pad out a story and take itself way too seriously. I mean, I consider myself a true Final Fantasy Fan (having beaten ever game except FFVIII because I hate the combat system), but holy crap does the story just drag on and on about WHO CARES! I didn’t even know that this game was technically a prequel of the first, and frankly I don’t care. Do I go into Street Fighter IV hoping that “the epic between Ryu and M.Bison may one day be resoled?” Hell no! I want to throw fireballs at beat the crap out of people in a skillful fashion, story be damned! This game actually crams so much story into here you will be tempted to skip the whole story mode, but you can’t because it’s honestly the fastest way to level up your characters, and higher level characters mean moves (yes, you have to unlock move by earning levels, as in the first game), and more interesting fights. The fights are subpar at level 1, but trust me, when you have two level 50+ characters going at it is a fight to behold.
Oh, as for the multiplayer, local wi-fi only.(Author' Note: Apparently, the game does have online multiplayer, unfortunately, no one is ever online. That may say something about the game's popularity). This seems to be a re-occuring problem with the PSP. It just doesn’t do online that well, if at all.
Well…honestly, that’s the only thing I don’t like about this game. The story sucks, but that should NEVER detour you from buying a fighting game. Ever. This game is the only reason I still have a PSP, honest. This game is worth buying a PSP for, actually. Don’t rent this game, buy it. It is, bar none, that best PSP game I have played since Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core.
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