[PSP] Dissidia Announced For The US

[Gorvi]

It was pretty much a sure thing anyway, but Siliconera (http://www.siliconera.com/2008/12/18/dont-worry-were-getting-dissidia-final-fantasy/) is reporting that SE has officially announced the Final Fantasy fighting game mashup Dissidia for the US.
The wait for Dissida: Final Fantasy won’t be too long either. Square Enix has Dissidia: Final Fantasy slotted for a “mid-year 2009″ release.

So, we’re talking summer-ish? That makes sense since it usually takes Square Enix USA six months to localize a game after it comes out in Japan. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII came out in Japan in September 2007 and North America got it in March 2008. We probably won’t get any Dissidia: Final Fantasy potion soft drinks, though. Instead Square Enix has a set of Dissidia: Final Fantasy Trading Arts planned. Volume one includes Cloud, Squall, Zidane, and Tidus.
Trading Arts? Cards, maybe?

[Urizen]

As a Smash Bros fan, I am intrigued by the concept. I'll be optimistic.

[Evil Avnovice]

Oh hai guyz! U can haz download my SE Dissidia custom themes? (Siliconera (http://www.siliconera.com/2008/12/11/download-a-bunch-of-dissidia-final-fantasy-custom-themes/))

[Xerxes]

The vids I seen look very promising.

[Evil Avnovice]

Hands-on impressions from Siliconera (http://www.siliconera.com/2008/12/18/dissidia-final-fantasy-destiny-odyssey-iv/).

The first episode is a prologue where you’re introduced to Cosmos’ plight and take control of the Warrior of Light. These missions are mind numbingly easy since you’re learning the basics from static screenshots shown before battles. Beat the prologue and you can choose one of ten “Destiny Odyssey” storylines and “Shape your destiny”, a quote flashed when a stage starts. Each character has their own Destiny Odyssey to play and they aren’t a standard difficulty. Frionel, Tidus, Cloud, and Cecil are some of the easier Destiny Odysseys to clear while Terra and the Warrior of Light’s arcs are tougher.

I jumped in with Cecil and was whisked away to an outer space-like game board. The goal in each of the stages is the same move Cecil or whatever character you’re controlling to a checkpoint. Touch it and you move on to the next stage. The only problem is metal helms representing fights block your path. At the start of each stage you get a set number of Destiny Points. Each time you pick up your Cecil game token you consume one Destiny Point. However, you can move Cecil as many squares as you want, providing that nothing is blocking you, and only use one Destiny Point. Since you’re rewarded with more gil or bonus PP you want to try to use less Destiny Points when you complete a level.

Now to fights. Dissidia: Final Fantasy looks like a fighting game, but it isn’t a Soulcalibur clone or Street Fighter like fighting game. Dissidia: Final Fantasy is something else, something unclassified. You have an upwards of twelve attacks and only two attack buttons to concern yourself with. The type of attack you do depends on the direction you’re facing and if you’re jumping. Let’s take Cecil as our example. Press circle and he slashes his sword. But, if your opponent is behind you and you press circle Cecil unleashes a blast of dark orbs, which is his Dark Cannon attack. In the air the circle button fires gravity balls.

The one thing that still surprises me about Dissidia: Final Fantasy is how large the stages are. Pandemonium and the Empire’s Magitek facility aren’t tiny arenas with ring out zones. Dissidia: Final Fantasy has enormous stages with areas you can’t even reach with basic jumps. The only way to get around levels is to use the triangle button which lets you run up walls, immediately jump from one platform to the next, and grind as if you had Soap shoes.

I mean grind like Tony Hawk skateboard grinding. You can grind on the surface of the moon and on the Lifestream. I don’t understand why, but it’s in the game.

[Disgustipated]

Sounds awesome and should make for some stylish fighting action.

[EWolfmanD]

Trading Arts? Cards, maybe?

Trading Arts is a line of figures.