Part of the reason this game is so addictive is because the computer is constantly giving you something. Not only do you earn money and experience after each battle, but you are also finding cool items, new moves and special summons. I found myself always wanting to play one more round, if only to find out what special item I earned next.
And that's just the start of it, the further you dig into the game the more ways there are to earn money, points and experience. The game offers a unique email-style service that will ask you Final Fantasy-related questions and reward points. You'll find that you earn extra experience on certain days of the way. You'll discover that you will get more points for simply playing several days in a row. The game has a thousand little incentives to keep you playing, some of which I've never seen before in a fighting game.
It's not a stretch to say that there are hundreds of hours of gameplay in the game's story mode. If you're the type of person that wants to see everything there is to see, then you'll be at this game for months. On top of the campaign, there's also an arcade mode and quick battle, which allow you to play as the villains and customize your levels. There's also a ton of content, achievements and settings for you to buy. It all adds up to a massive single-player game.
But you don't have to play it all by yourself. If you have a friend nearby you can check out the game's Ad Hoc multiplayer mode. Unfortunately you can't take the game online, but you can swap friend cards. This friend card allows you to fight a computer-controlled version of your friend's character, a cool mode we've seen in a number of other portable games recently. This friend card system isn't a good replacement for an online option, but I would rather have it than nothing at all.
Unfortunately the game does have two minor problems. The first issue involves the voice acting and storytelling, both of which are sub-par. Given Square Enix's amazing work on Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, it's disappointing to hear the shoddy writing come over my headphones. I also found the story to be something of a bore, though I will admit that it picks up steam after you start the Shade Impulse stages. I know this is nothing more than a silly fighting game spin-off, but part of me wishes that more time was put into making each of the storylines unique and interesting.
The other big problem with the game is that the camera will occasionally fight you. For the most part the camera does what it's supposed to do, but I found that on certain levels I would get stuck behind something and have no idea where I was or what I was doing. I certainly wouldn't call Dissidia a frustrating game, but it's certainly aggravating to battle somebody you cannot see. Thankfully there is a work around for this problem, so don't feel like you're constantly going to be fighting a lousy camera system.
It's rare to find a fighting game that brings so many fresh new ideas to the table. Dissidia: Final Fantasy is so different from the Tekkens and Street Fighters of the world that I wonder if I'm doing it a disservice by simply calling it a fighting game. What you have here is one of the most exciting action games of the year, a genuine classic that flips a genre right on its head. It's easy to be impressed by Dissidia, the only hard part is putting it down.
A
Dissidia: Final Fantasy manages to marry at least two completely disparate genres into one of the best games of the year. Not only is it exciting and full of fast-paced action, but it's also deep and full of replay value. I could gush about Dissidia all day long, but I would rather spend my time leveling up my character!
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