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Dissidia Final Fantasy NT isn’t your regular Final Fantasy game. If anything, it’s a fighting game which is a love letter to the franchise, adding characters from every game released in the cannon, from the original NES game to Final Fantasy XV and Zero. This is not the greatest Final Fantasy game in the World, no… This is just a tribute!
This is a game ported from the arcade, made by not only Square Enix, but was actually developed by Team Ninja, who were behind Ninja Gaiden and the Dead or Alive series. But does the game itself hold up?
The story mode wasn’t what I was hoping for. I cannot help but judge fighter story modes against what we now get from Netherealm since Mortal Kombat 9. Here, it’s nothing but CGI sequences which you unlock through the offline/online gameplay modes. The story reminds me a little of the Project X Zone games where it shows you a few characters at a time until it gets to a battle, then the final battle, making it a bit too straight-forward with very little thought.
For the gameplay, you can play offline or online modes: select 3 characters for your team to go up against 3 other characters. If online, it becomes a fun 6-player mash-up, but offline it’s very much a grind to unlock treasure and gil to unlock items in the shop including tracks from all the games.
You have two methods of attack: there are no combos, just an attack and strong attack. You can dash, select an enemy to focus upon, and a special button for healing or drawing magic which depends on selected character. The gameplay feels very lacking in combos and strategy, feeling more like launching towards an enemy and hoping to hit them before they hit you.
With 29 playable characters, the roster has quite the selection including many fan favourites such as Cloud, Sephiroth and Zadane, but the developers are hoping to add more in the future to get the total up to 50, which would be very impressive.
Graphically, the game is originally an arcade title from 2015, ported to the PS4 and the graphics do hold up very well in FMV and gameplay. They’re not perfect and, in fact, as nice as some of the arenas in the game, are there are some which are just too barren and lifeless. I find this a problem in fighting games at times. Having a background too busy isn’t ideal, but at least better than having stages without much going on.
The soundtrack hits you right in the nostalgia regions if you are a long time fan. You can unlock different music from all of the games, from either purchasing them in the shop, or unlocking them by playing well and getting treasure unlocks. The music and sound effects are fantastic, but there is one huge let down: I really wish Kup -o would shut up. He is a guide through both the game menu and the game itself, letting you know of events, item drops and advising on attacking during gameplay. It gets very old very quick as Ku -po keeps repeating his name after every sentence. Yes, I know this is a character trait and one loved in Final Fantasy games, but its too much too often.
The game, for an arcade port, has added a nice amount of content to keep a player – who enjoys Final Fantasy and this game – engaged to unlock treasure and obtain gil to acquire the new soundtracks, character profile pics and character weapons. Unfortunately, this did not keep me engaged as I find the gameplay very lacking, so it kept me from wanting to progress in unlocking any further content.
Final thoughts: The game is very much a love letter to Final Fantasy fans, but unless you enjoy the gameplay on offer, it’s maybe a short letter at that… perhaps, just a postcard. I think its worth a try and one to have in your Final Fantasy collection, but at a cheaper price down the line.
- Graphics: 7/10 – Looks great but games from the PS1 days are more engaging, graphics are not everything.
Sound: 7/10 – Music is fantastic but voice overs and Kupo especially are meh.
Gameplay: 4/10 – Again basic, very few attack buttons with confusing gameplay and hit detection.
Enjoyment: 3/10 – Basic and tired, not enough effort on Story, looks great but visual quality doesnt matter when it comes to story. As for how long it’ll last, there’s not enough content or good enough gameplay to keep a player engaged or interested.
Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is out now on PS4, PS4 Steelbook Edition and there’s a Hardback Art Book, and click on the packshot for the full-size version.
Important info:
- Publisher: Square Enix and Koei Tecmo
- Developer: Team Ninja
- Players: single-player, multiplayer
- HDTV options: up to 1080p
- Sound: DTS 5.1
|
GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
7 7 4 3 |
| OVERALL | 5 |
Retro game fan, comic book reader, board game lover and film fanatic. I have loved videogames since I was 5 years old after visiting my first arcade, I have grown up with gaming since having my Atari 2600 then Commodore 64. I ended up building my own career crafting pixelised characters and have had the pleasure of meeting many of my retro gaming heroes who developed some of my absolute favourite games.