Final Fantasy Celebrates 20 Years in Style

Since the debut of Final Fantasy over two decades ago, many gamers have turned to the franchise for epic role-playing games. Over the past decade though, the gap between entries in the main series has been widening, extending the wait time. In an attempt to satisfy die-hard fans of the series, Square Enix started releasing spin-offs on a variety of platforms. Though not quite the caliber of entries in the main series, some spin-offs have proved to be must-haves.

Last year, Final Fantasy celebrated its 20th anniversary in Japan. To commemorate this event, Square Enix announced a slew of new titles to celebrate. One of them is Dissidia: Final Fantasy. In a nutshell, the game centers around characters from different Final Fantasy games battling it out in one-on-one battles. Yeah, it is not your traditional role-playing game, but once you delve a little deeper, you will discover that the game has some RPG elements incorporated into it.

Gameplay

If you were to think of what a fighting game should be like, you would probably picture a one-on-one battle viewed from the side. Though Dissidia follows in line with the first tidbit of information, it doesn't with the second. The camera in the game doesn't always stay fixed to a specific character, or in a certain direction. This basically means there are going to be times when your enemy is out of sight.

Each battle is played on a three-dimensional field where characters duke it out to see who can knock their opponent's Health Points (HP) to zero first. Characters are capable of performing special maneuvers using the environment, as well as luring opponents into traps scattered across the battlefield. The primary use of traps is to decrease the Brave Points (your character's attack power) of the character that activated them.

As mentioned before, the main goal of each battle is to knock your opponent's HP to zero. And how exactly do you do that you ask? For starters, there are two attack styles - the single-hit HP attack (drains the opponent's HP) and combo-able assist attack (lowers your opponent's Brave points and raises yours), using the square and circle buttons on the handheld respectively.

While in combat, there are several techniques that will prove vital to master. Jumping and always moving about are probably two of the easiest to think of that any character can learn, but learning each character's special skills is probably the most important thing. Some characters for instance have triple jumps while others have different sets of attacks.

Cast of Characters

And what would a combat game be like without an all-star cast of characters? By uniting the protagonists and antagonists of various Final Fantasy games, Dissidia promises to deliver an experience like no other. If that wasn't enough, Dissidia also introduces a couple of characters new to the series, such as Cosmos, goddess of light. At this point in time though, it remains to be seen whether or not Cosmos will be playable. What we do know, however, is that the final build of the game promises at least twenty playable characters and unlockable characters are being taken into consideration.

Leaving Japan?

By now you are probably wondering what sets Dissidia apart from other action role-playing games. Well besides the game being centered around the Final Fantasy universe, the game also allows characters to gain customizable content, as well as gain experience points, levels, and gil. Some characters even have unlockable costumes, such as one that allows the Onion Knight to change to resemble Luneth from Final Fantasy III DS.

At the end of the day though, it remains to been seen whether or not the Final Fantasy franchise's dive into the fighting territory has paid off or not. What can be determined though is that if Square Enix successfully pulls it off, this will be a must-have game. Then again, almost any game Square Enix develops or publishes is a must-have, isn't it?