Dissidia: Final Fantasy

Few game series have had as many memorable and iconic characters than the Final Fantasy franchise.  Where once Americans could only expect to play about 1/2 of the games the series had on offer, the miracles of modern gaming (and remakes/re-releases) has opened up the entire lineage to anyone wanting to get their RPG on.  With the launch of Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Square-Enix has essentially thrown us a crash course in FF history that is also the ultimate fan service;  a fighting game that is also an extremely deep RPG.  In short, Dissidia is one of the most unique games available for any system, and one that should not be missed. 
 
Despite its fighting game facade, there is actually a deep and worthwhile story within.  Dissidia is the tale of two gods, Cosmos and Chaos, and their eternal war to maintain balance in the universe.  With the war swaying in favor of Chaos, Cosmos summons her greatest warriors from across the universe in a last ditch effort to turn the tide of battle and restore harmony.  The story unfolds with each heroes quest for their Crystal, often mirroring their key story and inner conflict from their respective game, eventually culminating in a desperate battle to defeat their antagonists and eventually Chaos himself. 
 
There are many ways to erm... Dissidia.  You can tackle the extremely lengthy and deep Story Mode and its branching character paths, each of which has you leading a particularly character through a series of chessboard-like maps into

the inevitable face off against a sworn enemy.  It has moments of repetition, but the grinding for loot and leveling keeps each battle, at the very least, a reward-filled one.  There is also a standard Arcade mode that has pre-set characters (minus the upgrades and equipment you've earned) that is a decent enough distraction for short-bursts.  There are also customizeable quick battles that essentially lets you set up fights the way you want them to go down, and this also is essentially the same for Ad-Hoc play (which sadly, as I've no friends who have the game, I've not been able to play).  Aside from this, the in-game credits you win can be used to purchase new characters, costumes, and various other memorabilia in the game's PP Shop, and there is a Museum where you can view cutscenes, do sound tests, and even view (and cut) footage of your epic battles.  Calendar bonuses that track how much you play, tutorials and tips given by other familiar faces, and easter eggs scattered about are just the delicious chocolate sprinkles on this Final Fantasy sundae. 
 
Surely that is a lot of Dissidia, but HOW does one Dissidia you may ask?  Well it's complex in its simplicity.  I like to think of Dissidia as a hybrid fighting/dog-fighting/role-playing game.  The actual in-game action is set up and concluded much like a fighting game; two fighters enter an arena tasked with depleting the others health to zero in order to achieve victory.  What makes Dissidia different is in the way its moves are executed as well as a system known as "Bravery".  Every move in Dissidia is split into two sections.  HP moves deplete the opponents HP meter and allow you to actually claim victory, but how much damage is actually done is dictated by stats and the amount of Brave points your fighter has.  Brave points  are gained by collecting them around the stage, but also by sapping it from your opponent with Bravery attacks.  If you manage to reduce an opponents brave to zero, you'll engage a break state that will allow you a great opportunity to follow up or even score a critical hit, but to balance the tug of war, every HP attack that lands also drains YOUR bravery down to nothing.  This means every fight resembles more of a dog-fight with each player zipping around the stages' various, launching volleys to bait and keep the opponent off balance, and hunting and picking for an angle to strike from.  It may seem difficult to explain in text, but trust me that the battles in Dissidia are fast-paced and exhilirating. 
 
The role-playing elements in Dissidia mainly  only play into the Story Mode (and I'm sure Ad-Hoc if I could oh you know), but they are surprisingly deep.  As you fight, your character of choice levels up (like an RPG!) and his/her stats increase.  Eventually they will learn new abilities which can be assigned to a limited number of slots in both Brave and HP attacks (kinda like an RPG?).  As you earn Gil, you can purchase new equipment to add effects and up your characters stats, in turn making them more effective in battle.  Equipment can also be created in battle with a system known as Battlegen as well as found in chests placed in difficult corners of each of the game's many chessboard-like Story maps.  These elements really help to make Dissidia very customizeable, and by virtue, very addicting.  If you want a more balanced Cloud or a Cecil that focuses more on sapping Brave from your opponent, Dissidia gives you almost infinite options to play the way you want.  IT'S LIKE AN RPG!!!!! 
 
On the presentation front, Dissidia can keep up with its excellent gameplay with some rock-solid visuals and sound.  Although maybe

not as impressive as Crisis Core, the game's Kingdom Hearts-y art style and stellar in-battle animation and effects make it a forgiveable pseudo-offense (???).  The stages range from epic-ly set to somewhat uninspired, but the level of interactivity that the fighters have with them is impressive.  The voice-cast is as good as any Final Fantasy, with talented (and returning) voice actors delivering sometimes strangely paced dialogue.  It delivers the goods, and FF fans wouldn't have it any other way.  On top of that, many cutscenes show some impressive choreographed fights, and they can all be viewed over and over again from the game's Museum mode. 
 
If you've read this far, there really isn't much more I should need to say to convince you.  Dissidia: Final Fantasy is fan service, but it is also miles away from that.  Dissidia is a bold game that dared to combine almost ludicrously different elements and, best of all, it works.  Fans need not convincing; go out and buy this game, but even if you're a complete novice to the series, the compelling gameplay on offer warrants more than a passing glance from anyone even MILDLY interested.  You may find you never want this fantasy to reach its finale.