quote Article

Eyes-On Final Fantasy Dissidia
The gang's all here. Let the battle begin!

Today at the Final Fantasy Anniversary party in Makuhari Japan, Square screened a brief but satisfying trailer in its Closed Mega Theatre. The video streamed in a small psp-scale-box on the screen, similar to how the Crisis Core trailer was done. The first scene opens with a pre-rendered CG shot of a brown and barren rocky terrain. The screen flashes white, and dissolves to a close-up of Cecil Harvey's face, the hero from Final Fantasy IV. A few moments later we see him fight in what looks to be gameplay footage. The battle itself feels very Kingdom Hearts. In fact, if I would have walked into the theatre at this exact moment and saw the footage at a glance, I would have assumed I was looking at a PSP version of Kingdom Hearts.

After several exciting exchanges between Cecil and his infamous enemy Kain Highwind, Zidane of Final Fantasy IX fame pops-up on screen. He's got a new PSP look, illustrated in hip Nomura-esque stylings, fighting for his life in a fast and vicious battle. His combos remind me of the maneuvers Sora pulls off mid-air in Kingdom Hearts II. When the action clears, we get a glance at Kuja, Zidane's nemesis from FF IX. The arenas they're fighting in are pretty non-descript between the flurry of the action, but according the press release, "the game takes players to unforgettable Final Fantasy locations."

When the CG returns to the trailer, we see a spring of fire gush out of the ground, only to reveal Sephiroth, the silver-haired baddie from Final Fantasy VII. First his silhouette appears, then that famous close-up of his face. Cecil appears to witness all of this from another vantage point. He unleashes a frosty magic spell and points his sword out in front of him, preparing for the battle at hand. But of course we don't get to see what happens next. The logo appears to punctuate everything we just saw, and then that's it. The anticipation begins.

There's no word on a release date in Japan, or word of any plans to release this game in the U.S. But don't worry too much. There's a good chance this will make it's way out here. There's a rabid Final Fantasy fan base all over the world that's way too big to ignore. As soon as we hear anything about the U.S. plans we'll let you know. Till then, you can start working your way through the Final Fantasy library and re-introduce yourself to all the main characters. That should keep you busy until this game makes its way to the west. Have fun

quote IGN Artcle

Dissidia Battle System Revealed
Find out what the Final Fantasy All Stars game is all about.

May 16, 2007 - While last week's announcement of Dissidia Final Fantasy (note the order of the name) was certainly a big surprise, Square Enix didn't really reveal too much about the title. Even after a short trailer at the Square Enix Party, all we could do was make guesses about the battle system.

Enter this week's issue of Famitsu, which provides a first full look at the game.

Believe it or not, they actually managed to put together a storyline for Dissidia in order to explain how all the Final Fantasy heroes and villains got together. It all has to do with the god of balance and harmony, Cosmos, and the god of disorder, Chaos. The eternal war between these two is struck with a slight imbalance, leading to chaos filling the world. All hope lies in 10 warriors brought forth by Cosmos.

The long and the short is, Cosmos has called upon a bunch of Final Fantasy warriors to do battle over a fully 3D battle field. Currently, we know that Warrior of Light (FF1) and Zidan (FF9) will appear in the game. Also appearing (apparently from the Chaos side) are their two greatest rivals, Garland (FF1) and Kuja (FF9). Sephiroth should also be making an appearance, based on what we saw in the Square Enix Party trailer.

As suggested by the storyline, there should be at least 10 heroes in the game. This number does not include characters from the villain side, with character designer and creative director Tetsuya Nomura admitting to Famitsu that the development team is currently simply working on getting as many characters as possible into the game.

The characters will feature in a storyline that players will be able to see by clearing the game's story mode with each one in turn. As this game is being made in celebration of the Final Fantasy series 20th anniversary, one of the hopes of the development staff is that fans will exclaim things like, "I was able to meet that character!".

Considering that this is a fighting game at heart, more important than the storyline is the combat system. Fights revolve around the use of an individual set of special skills to do damage to your rivals. Each character's skills are displayed through a command list on the bottom-left corner, which changes based on distance from your enemy and other special factors. The battle system also includes evasion and jumping, although the controls are said to be simple enough that even players who aren't into action games will be okay.

Players are encouraged to destroy the environments. Destroying pillars and other objects builds up your character's "Brave" meter, which gives you access to new attacks. You also gain an advantage by pounding your opponents, as this causes a special move gauge to build up.

Special moves include the skills that you'd expect to see given the background story of each character. Warrior of Light can transform using a Class Change command. So too can Zidane, making use of a Trance command. Warrior of Light also has an Excalibur command, and when facing off long range, gains access to a "Long Range" attack option.

You'll be able to build up experience through battle, growing stronger as you rise in level. You can also customize your characters with equipment. This should make for some interesting wireless fights against your buddies.

This strange twist of the Final Fantasy series is currently without a release date in Japan. However, as it is a 20th anniversary game, we're expecting to get our hands on it some time this year.

quote Why Dissidia is on the PSP

Japanese gaming magazine Dengeki PlayStation, through PSPHyper, finds out why Final Fantasy Dissidia's nature is to be an action game. According to the report, this was because it was thought that a 3D action game using the expertise of the team of Yousuke Shiokawa was "the best way to gather all the characters from the Final Fantasy series."

Who is Mr. Shiokawa? Square Enix's Yousuke Shiokawa was the lead programmer for boss battles in Kingdom Hearts II. He is now directing Final Fantasy Dissidia.

Anyhow, it was also revealed that the PlayStation Portable was the chosen one as the platform for the game because of the handheld's ad-hoc mode.

Nomura noted that if they went for aiming at a large user-base, they would have gone for the PS2 instead of the PSP. However, that route would mean that they would be forced to use split-screen for multiplayer, and they are of the belief that split-screen gaming would significantly diminish the fun factor.

It was also revealed that the game's battle system will take a lot of inspiration from the Kingdom Hearts franchise, but will introduce some new concepts. As mentioned in one of our previous reports, Shiokawa confirms that FF mainstays like levels, class, equipment, and weapon upgrades will all be in the game. What's more is that there are some character customization options available as well.

As for the game's setting, Shiokawa mentioned that the development team is concentrating on making each location as "natural" as possible. There may be plans for destructible environments, but the focus for now is more on making each location true to the original. From the images and scans we've seen so far, it was noted that some appear to be from Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy IX.

As mentioned before, this is a 20th Anniversary title, so even though there isn't an official date yet, most expect the game to hit retail this year.

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Text at the begining -

The world has been created 12 times, and the 13th time is beginning
Reality and destruction, are not defined by the Creator
That is decided, by each and every person who shares this world

And the in-battle dialogue -

Garland: Understand that there can never be harmony (I'm not 100% about that line, so that's only a loose interpretation. Sorry =\)
Garland: For eternity I will fight against fate!
Warrior of Light: It is fate that this ends here!

Kuja: I shall perform for you, your own requiem! Hahahahaha!
Zidane: After that, the climax!