Posted on: March 30, 2011 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

This latest Final Fantasy title takes place before the events that occurred in 2009’s Dissidia. The gameplay is based on solo (1v1) battles, which have players deciding between a buff (Bravery attacks) and an HP-reducing attack. This strategy is further varied with the inclusion of EX Cores on the battle field, which further buff characters’ attacks. What represents a new addition to the Dissidia line with Dissidia 012 is the Assist mode. This mode brings in an additional character to the battle which can either pile-on to the players’ attack or block some incoming damage from hitting the players’ character. The amount of strategy present in Dissidia 012 is simply stunning, but is done at a level that players of all age brackets and skill sets will be able to succeed.

The story in which players will find themselves – as part of a permanent battle between the gods of Chaos and Cosmos – will keep the gameplay interesting throughout. Thrown against a new force – the Manikins – players will gradually learn the back story of each of the characters from Dissidia through the inclusion of Reports. The sheer amount of characters that players can familiarize themselves with – a list that includes Gilgamesh (from Final Fantasy V), Vaan (XII), Prishe (XI) and even Tifa (VII) – further increases the amount of play time present from Dissidia 012.

Dissidia 012’s storyline flows well into the later events players will take on in Dissidia, and creates for me a better meshed Final Fantasy universe. The title itself has the gaming chops to be continually in players’ PSPs but will utterly titillate fans of lore. This may just be the best RPG title that we’ve gotten our hands on so far in 2011.

Rating: 9.4/10

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy (Sony PSP) / 2011 Square Enix / http://www.square-enix.com/na /

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