If you’re a fan of the Final Fantasy series, you have a lot to look forward to over the coming months and years. Square Enix just released Final Fantasy Explorers, with Final Fantasy 15 and multiple episodes of Final Fantasy 7 Remake coming over the next few years. In addition to this is Dissidia Final Fantasy, which currently resides in Japanese arcades. A PlayStation 4 version is planned, although no release date has been set.
Final Fantasy 15 is a more traditional Final Fantasy title, while Final Fantasy 7 Remake offers a new twist on a classic Final Fantasy adventure. Dissidia Final Fantasy is essentially a Final Fantasy fighting game that resembles Powerstone more so than any typical Final Fantasy game. If you’ve played either PlayStation Portable version of the game you should have a general idea of how the upcoming title will play. However, we know that a lot of people have not played the PSP games, so let’s take a closer look at the gameplay elements of Dissidia Final Fantasy.
Dissidia is being developed by Team Ninja, the same people who brought you the Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden series of games. The development team has a fighting game background, and with this being the first Dissidia they’ve worked on, you can expect a few changes from the two PSP games. Over the coming years the plan is to use Dissidia like a platform, similar to Killer Instinct on the Xbox One and Street Fighter 5. The game will offer new characters and stages via periodic DLC, with over 50 characters planned.
The basic idea behind Dissidia is that you’re playing with a three-man team and you switch between characters as you please. Any character you’re not currently controlling is controlled by AI. There are a few different types of characters with some focusing on speed, others having high attack power and still more being so unique they don’t fit into a normal category. This allows for a considerable amount of variety when determining who the three characters on your team will be.
Once you have your team set you need to learn how to play. There are two main types of attacks, Brave Attacks and HP Attacks. The primary way you damage opponents is by using HP Attacks. You use Brave Attacks to essentially power up your HP attacks to inflict more damage to an opponent. As you attack and take damage you will your EX Gauge which gives you access to new attacks and abilities depending on your character of choice.
How you play the game will change depending on your selection of characters. At present the game includes Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy), Firion (Final Fantasy 2), Onion Knight (Final Fantasy 3), Cecil Harvey (Final Fantasy 4), Bartz Klauser (Final Fantasy 5), Terra Branford (Final Fantasy 6), Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy 7), Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy 8), Zidane Tribal (Final Fantasy 9), Tidus (Final Fantasy 10), Shantotto (Final Fantasy 11), Vaan (Final Fantasy 12), Lightning (Final Fantasy 13) and Y’shtola (Final Fantasy 14) and Ramza Beoulve (Final Fantasy Tactics).
A character like Shantotto must be played defensively. She needs to stay away from her opponent as often as possible and even has abilities to help her do just that. Meanwhile, a character such as Tidus is extremely fast and agile. If you’re playing Tidus you want to be in your opponent’s face as often as possible. If you’re using Tidus against a team with Shantotto you want to do everything you can to get close to Shantotto and take her down. Likewise, the Shantotto player should be using his other characters to get Tidus off of her.
As you can see, your team composition is important in Dissidia Final Fantasy. If you have a team composed of three ranged attackers, you may have difficulty against a team of rush down characters. While you can win in either scenario, it’s a difficult matchup. If you have a team that uses two ranged characters and one rush down character, you can use your more offensive character to pressure an opponent, while your ranged characters attack from a safe distance.
There are a number of gameplay styles you can use in Dissidia Final Fantasy, which makes it a very appealing game to both fighting game fans and Final Fantasy fans alike. As more characters are released for the arcade version of Dissidia, we’ll keep you updated on their abilities. In the meantime, you can check out our first look at the upcoming title.
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