Back in 2009, Square Enix released a game that many Final Fantasy fans were eager to see: a fighter consisting the villains and heroes from all 12 Final Fantasy games, doing battle over saving/destroying the world. Due to its unique controls and the strong requirement for level grinding (just like a Final Fantasy game!), Final Fantasy Dissidia was met with mixed emotions. Many thought it was brilliant, and just as many thought it was horrible.

Square Enix has taken another crack at the idea behind Dissidia with a prequel to the original game. Yes, it is a prequel despite what the title with the number 12 suggests. While Final Fantasy Dissidia Duodecim has many welcome improvements from the first game, one thing it did not improve upon was appealing to others outside of its narrow niche.

Game: Final Fantasy Dissidia Duodecim
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix
Genre: Fighting
Price: $29.99
Verdict: An incredibly niche title that will appeal to one type of fan.
Pros: It presents unique gameplay for a fighting game and lots of little nods toward FF games that will make any FF fan grin.
Cons: It presents unique gameplay for a fighting game and lots of little nods toward FF games that will confuse non-fans.
Acquired via Publisher

Simply put, if you aren’t both a fan of the fighting genre and of Final Fantasy games, don’t even bother renting Final Fantasy Dissidia Duodecim, let alone buy it.

Many of those who will seek out this game will do so because they are passionate about the Final Fantasy series. For these players, there’s little else the game could offer you to make you happy. Fan favorites from the thirteen FF games are all present (except for Zack Fair, dammit!), and all have their original (from the games with actual speaking) voice actors. Some of the characters are wearing far less clothing–Tidus–and others can be dressed up in different costumes that cover up less than their original get-ups–Tifa. With all of the classic FF RPG elements included such as weapons, accessories, armor, powers, and leveling up, it’s easy to see how this game would appeal to the RPG fan over the typical fighting game fan. Oh, and don’t even start about all of the points you can obtain! Character points, Player points, Ability points, Kupo points, HP…you can almost hear the hardcore JRPG fan squealing with delight without even knowing what these points are for.

With most fighting games, players have to hone their combo techniques. With FFDD, it takes a more RPG approach in that players will have to hone their overall character as well as their familiarity with said character’s play style. All of the characters have some unique flair that provides a far different experience in using them for battle versus others. For example, players can activate the infamous Paradigm Shift with Final Fantasy XIII‘s Lightning. Shifting her paradigm will cause her to switch between her Commando (physical, close-range attacks), Ravager (magic, long-range attacks), and even Medic paradigms, which boosts her bravery, but sadly not her HP (more on that in a minute). In another example, Yuna relies pretty much only on summoning very familiar Aeons from Final Fantasy X to do all her dirty work.

To further appease Final Fantasy fans, and even those who aren’t into the fighting genre, players can opt to play the game in RPG Mode instead of Action Mode. Action Mode pits characters against each other like one would usually find in a traditional fighting game–using attack, block, and dodge by tapping commands at the right moment–except that everything is rendered in a 3D world rather than 2D. So chasing down your opponent is often difficult, annoying, and at times the camera angles will induce moments of nausea. Usually in these situations though, you won’t be suffering for long, because the AI has no problems hunting you down, landing every attack, and dodging all of your counters with ease.

For those who don’t think this sounds like fun, there is the RPG Mode that allows players to send out orders for what the character should do (attack, defend, run) much like one would find in an action turn-based RPG like Dragon Age: Origins. If you tell your character to attack, your character will continue to do so until you tell him or her to do something else, which includes chasing your opponent down and dodging attacks. This may sound like it’s cheating, but in all reality, selecting this mode does not equal instant win. You still need to employ plenty of strategy to win in battle, especially when it comes to boss fights. If you want your character to initiate a certain attack, you will still have to trigger this manually. I see RPG Mode more as a way of removing the frustration of fighting in a 3D arena, particularly for those who aren’t die-hard fans of fighting games.

As for the actual fighting portion of the game, FFDD implements many of the same techniques that the first game presented. Characters have two types of attacks: bravery and HP attacks. HP attacks are the only way to land damage, and your HP attacks will only do damage if your bravery is greater than your opponent’s. The larger the difference between bravery, the greater potential for damage. Ideally, you want to hit your opponent with so many bravery attacks that you “break” their bravery, eventually reducing their bravery to zero, while you absorb all the bravery they once possessed. At this point, your opponent can’t damage you at all, and any HP attacks you land will have a devastating effect. The most powerful HP attack occurs when the character is in EX Mode; this HP attack will activate a Limit Break of sorts for the character. It’s great if you’re giving, but if you’re on the receiving end…better hope your bravery is greater than your opponent’s. To make a long story short, if this was one aspect of the first game you didn’t like, you aren’t going to like it this time around either.

There are a few very welcome changes, though. The first modification is to the overworld your characters traverse before engaging in battle. In the overworld, characters can talk to other characters, shop at Kupo shops for powerful accessories, obtain useful skills and items from chests, and level grind a little with the occasional roaming enemy. Roaming around the FFDD world in this matter makes players feel a little more attached to the world and the overall story, whereas the first game only tossed characters onto a game board (for those unfamiliar with the first game, it’s literally a game board like one would see in chess or checkers that you have to navigate to pick your fights and clear the level) to fight through. Don’t misunderstand; you will still have to fight your way through game board after game board, but now you have something to do in between boards. The second change is probably the most welcome: players can now call on other characters to assist them in fights. These assists don’t last very long, but they’re often lifesavers when the enemy is pummeling you and you can’t get a break. A last addition is the introduction of the six new characters, particularly Lightning, Yuna, and Laguna. Their unique methods of attacking are a breath of fresh air from the rest of the line-up’s typical jabs and throws.

However, none of these changes take away from the fact that the game is not enjoyable unless players can appreciate both the fighting genre and Final Fantasy brand. To progress through the story–which is the weakest part of the entire game–players will have to level grind their characters A LOT. They can do this by fighting through the game boards in the blue gateways (the red disappear after they are complete) and by using this character in Battle Mode, which is exactly what it sounds like. All of your characters’ levels carry across all modes of the game, so any levels gained in the story or in simple vs. fights will cross over. This is where fighting game fans will adore FFDD, and it’s also where non-fans will lose interest from the sheer repetitive method of level grinding. One could argue that FF fans should be used to repetitive level grinding, which is true, but even this gets boring after a few fights.

The only element that will keep FF fans trudging forward are the numerous references to a characters’ past FF games. In my experience, I completed the initial chapter with Yuna and Tidus in record time just because I wanted to see how the little love story between them would pan out. Likewise, these subtle nods will be lost on players who have little to no knowledge of the FF universe (if the strange fighting techniques haven’t lost them already).

Final Fantasy Dissidia Duodecim is not a bad game in the slightest; it’s just a game that caters to a very small and specific group of people. Taken in small doses, it’s enjoyable for any FF fan, but only a smidgen of fans will find true bliss in fighting the eternal war between Discord and Cosmos.