Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Review - Fresh and fun gameplay

The long wait is finally over. Almost ten years ago we have released with the extremely original fighting game of Square-Enix, Dissidia Final Fantasy for the PSP. In this game the protagonists and antagonists from various Final Fantasy parts were thrown together to fight for Cosmos and Chaos. Now we can enjoy that concept again, but then on the PlayStation 4. Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is currently available and we have looked at whether this game is as impressive as the game of almost ten years ago.

Bravery brawl

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is a slightly different type of fighting game than you are used to. Games like Tekken or Street Fighter have a traditional 2D design, in which two characters break each other until the life bar hits zero. In Dissidia Final Fantasy NT it is all a lot more dynamic and chaotic. A fight consists of three against three characters in a large arena. Before you can completely break loose as Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII or the bad guy Kefka from Final Fantasy VI, you will have to master the basic gameplay. A beginner will have to sit down here for a while, because there is a lot to see. But do not worry, the game has an extensive tutorial where you can find and learn everything.

The principle is as follows: you have two kinds of attacks. These are the so-called 'Bravery Attacks' and 'HP Attacks'. Bravery Attacks ensure that you get a certain number of points if you hit an opponent with these attacks. This number of points is actually the number of damage points that you can cause if you subsequently perform an HP Attack. Suppose you do not have Bravery points, you can not do any damage with an HP Attack. It is therefore important that you have sufficient Bravery points before you can place an effective attack.

You fight in a set-up of three against three and the goal is of course to defeat the three opponents. The game offers two possibilities to enter the fight. You have a standard match and a 'Core Battle'. In a standard match, each team has a total of three lives. If three random opponents are defeated, the opposing team wins. At the Core Battle, however, the two parties have a crystal in their possession and it is important that you destroy the crystal of the opponent in order to win, instead of fighting directly on the man. So there is some variation in the fights and that is the gameplay for good. Unfortunately, this is also the only variation you have in game rules, which in the end makes the game a bit monotonous.

Somewhat incomplete

The concept on which this game is built makes us very enthusiastic, because it really is something different in the genre. It feels like a fresh alternative and it is of course great to see various Final Fantasy characters together. The roster consists of 26 characters, which come from Final Fantasy I through XV, as well as two spin-offs. In this way there is a wide choice of different characters, so you have enough diversity in playing styles. What is striking is that part I to X are neatly provided in protagonists and antagonists. But from part XI to XV, Tactics and Type-0, the antagonists are completely missing.

Characters like Ardyn from Final Fantasy XV and Grabranth from Final Fantasy XII feel like a loss. The absence of Ardyn is particularly unfortunate. This mainly because Final Fantasy XV is still very important for Square Enix today. So there are quite a few characters missing, despite the relatively full roster. Unfortunately, it is not possible to free these missing characters, so you may be on the Season Pass, who will add new characters to the game. We hope they are added, but that does not mean that this is not the way we would have liked it.

What can be unlocked in a traditional way is a backward amount of avatars for your profile, music and crazy costumes for the characters. You can unlock these items by Dissidia's variation on loot boxes or with Gil that you can earn by playing pots, although that is not a grease pot. With a huge amount of items there is enough to play freely in the entire game, but precisely because it is such an enormous amount, it feels almost as superfluous. It is fun, but actually we prefer to play characters rather than avatars or costumes, although that is of course a matter of taste.

Short but sweet

In Dissidia Final Fantasy NT you will find a story, but not in the usual way. By collecting 'Memoire' points - which you get by playing the game - you can unlock cut scenes in the Story mode that give you more information. These scenes serve to tell you how all the characters have come together and you follow the story of Materia, the goddess of goodness, and Spiritus, the god of evil. So simply put: it is a battle between good and evil and that must be fought between the iconic characters from the different Final Fantasy parts. We will not reveal much more, because that would be a shame. The cut scenes are also very short and present in a limited amount. However, they always offer a nice motivation to keep playing the game, so you can see everything,

The concept has an important gameplay element in collaboration, both offline and online. All characters have their own class; Assassin, Vanguard, Marksmen and Special. Each of the classes has a strength and a weakness that is attuned to other classes, so that a varied team of characters is very important. If you have found a good team that can work well together, your opponents can beat in no time. But if you have a well-balanced team in front of you, it can also take half an hour before the end is there. And that is now such a nice aspect of the Bravery system, because fights can last as long as you want or it goes much faster than expected.

It is a bit of a mess

So far, in general, a hymn of praise for Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, but now we come to a crucial point. The fights look great, because the various special effects that make the moves of the Final Fantasy characters iconic, are incredibly cool to see. However, playing is not that easy, because every move you use has to be used carefully, because every action takes time. If you miss an attack, your opponent has plenty of room to attack you. Playing very strategically is therefore a requirement and a mistake is punished very hard.

If you are knocked out because you miss an attack and the opponent places well, you can really do nothing and your opponent will not do anything with you. The result is that you are waiting until you can continue playing, while the spectacle continues in the background. This interrupts the flow of the gameplay during fights, because the seconds that you remain in a quick fight feel like an eternity. In addition, the lock-on system is not very reliable. With L2 and R2 you can scroll past your opponents until you get the right one. In a very chaotic fight, where you often have your opponents out of the picture, it is not really an intuitive system. A fight is therefore inadvertently soon more search than a real strategic battle.

Maybe something more finesse

The mechanics of the game all feel somewhat stiff. We understand that Dissidia Final Fantasy NT has the goal to be a strategic fighting game, but somewhat more fluency in the gameplay was definitely the game. With every action you do, be it something or attack, it feels like you have a set of 100 kilograms of weight on your back. As a result, every action feels like a slight pause before you can take the next action. All in all, it makes sure that the playing feels somewhat heavy. This is at odds with how the game wants to happen, namely with fast and smooth action that is now somewhat hindered by the somewhat cumbersome gameplay.

What is central to this game is the online multiplayer. Together with a team of three you have to deal with your opponents with good communication. And as described earlier, Dissidia lends itself well for that. We have to say that we occasionally had some connection problems, but for the most part everything went fine. If you are fed up online and want to play the game more casual, you can do that in an offline mode. The teams are then filled by AI players. But outside of that you do not do much else in the game. Although this is almost a tribute to the Final Fantasy fans, it all feels somewhat limited. It is as if the bottom is not taken out of the can, where that would absolutely be possible with the gameplay, characters and background.

Conclusion

The Bravery concept that underlies the gameplay feels very fresh and also provides fun gameplay. In our opinion it is an exceptionally interesting setup for a fighting game. The gameplay can go very deep due to the strategic approach of a fight, but at the same time it lacks real finesse, which makes it not excellent. With some updates here and there can be much smoothed. For now, however, it is not optimal. The atmosphere on the other hand fits well with the whole and will undoubtedly please a Final Fantasy fan, especially because of the diversity in characters. The roster is decent, but unfortunately there are still some iconic figures that may be held hostage by a Season Pass. Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is a decent game.

Pros

➕ The Bravery system is a great concept
➕ Story mode offers nice variety
➕ Strategic gameplay
➕ Just roster...

Cons

➖ ...but not every iconic character is present
➖ Little variation in modes
➖ Gameplay could have used more finishing
➖ Quantity of fan content is quantity over quality

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