Final Fantasy. It isn't a very fitting tittle for the series. It's definitely 'Fantasy', but with fourteen titles in the main series as I write this, how can that possibly define 'Final'? Back in the 1980's, a small Japanese company in Yokohama named Square made games which sold very poorly worldwide. Because they weren't fishing very much profit in, Square would be kissing the game life sayonara. Hironobu Sakaguchi is man we have to thank, however. In 1987, Square made their 'Final Fantasy' for Nintendo, with Sakaguchi being the key creator. The feedback was fantastic, and Final Fantasy saved the company. Because it was so successful, they made Final Fantasy II, along with the other countless games bearing the Final Fantasy title. We have Sakaguchi to thank, for some really awesome games over the years which range from more than FF (along with making the company as huge as it is today), and other RPGs which have possibly been inspirations from the Final Fantasy franchise. And here we are today, with RPG fanatics, such as myself, sharing the excitement for the upcoming thirteenth game, which I predict will rock 2010 (or December 2009, if you're one of the lucky bastards living in Japan).

A lot of you people reading this are most likely aware of Super Smash Brothers. A party fighting game of which Nintendo worlds collide, and fight. I happen to be an avid player of this franchise as well, which gave me the dream of a Final Fantasy style Smash Brothers. I think I nearly had a heart attack when Dissidia got announced. Worlds from Final Fantasy would collide, with the main protagonists from I-X joining forces to wage war with the main antagonists from I-X. So, now it's available in all gaming retail stores on the PSP. What do I think about this spin-off of the colliding worlds? Well...

To sum it all up, Dissidia: Final Fantasy is a really enjoyable RPG-fighter that should please any fan of the franchise. However, I can only recommend this colliding spin-off to the more avid fans. There isn't really much in there that makes it worth the full retail price for those who only briefly like Final Fantasy. Of course, if you like the Final Fantasy series as much as I do, then definitely go out and buy this game as soon as you possibly can.

I suppose I should start out with the plot. Yes, they actually wrote a storyline based on if the universes of the fantasies collided. There are two newly introduced key characters, which have never appeared in any other title. These are the characters that appear on Amano's logo. Cosmos is the goddess of light, who represents the protagonists. Chaos is the god of darkness, who represents the antagonists. These two supernatural beings guide their respective side to their victory in the war of.......Dissidia. The ten protagonists are on a mission to find their own respective crystals, which can be used to contribute to the defeat of Chaos. So that's pretty much the main basis of the plot, with a fair bit of character detail throughout Story Mode. I couldn't really get into the plot, to be honest. Some of the backplots didn't really fit with the protagonists, and it felt like it borrowed key elements from Kingdom Hearts. Next time, they really need to make the protagonists more like what they were in their original games, instead of cloning Sora and the gang.

The fighting in Dissidia is rather exciting. It isn't turn-based, like the games these characters came from. It isn't fighting in an arcade sense either, so it doesn't show any Capcom fighter resemblances. It's third-person, action-based and feels kind of like the fighting in Advent Children. There have also been some RPG elements injected into the battles. You characters have stats, which can be enhanced by levelling up, and equipping various weapons, armour and accessories. When your defeat your opponent by getting their HP down to zero, you win the battle. When your HP reaches zero, you've lost. Attacks are fairly interesting. The two attack buttons are Circle and Square. Circle doesn't deal damage, but increases the number of your hit. Square uses the contributions from Circle, and deals the damage. Therefore, it's good to build up with Circle, and execute with Square. Summons can also be used to enhance your stats temporarily, which can be found in certain areas of Story Mode (which I will talk about further down the review). One other key feature in the battles is Ex Mode. As well as HP, there is another gauge. It is not MP, which is absent in this game. This extra bar is the Ex bar, which also enhances your character when it's full. If R and Square are pressed at the same time when this happens, you can go into Ex Mode. Once you use a Square attack, you can pull off a special ability which is relevant to the character, and deals massive damage. Some of these include Limit Breaks/Trances/Overdrives from the more recent fantasies. The battling in Dissidia is really good, and is some of the most fun I've had in a while.

Dissidia offers a large variety of game modes. First, there's the Story Mode, which allows you to play the ten separate stories which represent the ten main characters, and their quest on finding their own crystals. All ten stories have a total of five stages each. Each stage is set out on a square grid, in which you move your character's statue towards the end of the stage. Of course, it isn't as simple as that. There will be obstacles, whether they're enemies, locked areas, or treasure. For every enemy you come by, you will fight it. Enemies come with various stats, and can serve you some experience if you successfully defeat them. Treasure chests contain various items, which are usually rather useful equipment. You can also pick up summonstones, which can increase your arsenal of summons (eidolons, guardian forces, aeons, whatever you wanna call them). At the end of the stages are strange looking symbols (which remind me of the Dirge of Cerberus logo for some reason) which you need to reach. If the symbol's colour is red, then there is no enemy to fight at the end of the stage. If the symbol is black, then there will be an antagonist before advancing on the the next stage. If the symbol looks a little different, and is white, then you'll be facing a protagonist before advancing.

One thing to also mention is the point system. At the end of every stage of a story, you'll be awarded points. It all depends on how many battles you won and lost, and how much DP remain (I don't know much about the DP system at this time). Every point you received during the story will be counted up at the end. A certain number of points can unlock certain benefits for the story, if you were to play through it again, such as unlocking new areas or a new item.

When it comes to the difficulty, it all depends on what level your character is, and how good you are. Dissidia has a bit of a learning curve, and is hard to figure out at first. Once you've got the hang of it, you'll find it a bit easier to defeat opponents. There's a lot of hours to it. The story adds a significant amount. The ten separate stories got me to the 20 hour mark, while the final chapters added yet more hours. I also found the battles in general to be rather addictive, which also consumes hours. You'll definitely be satisfied with how much time you spend on it.

Other modes in Dissidia include the Arcade mode, which doesn't offer any EXP, but plays like the Arcade mode of any other fighting game where you have a set amount of battles with random opponents. There are also the single battles. You choose your fighter. You choose your opponent. You choose the setup. There is indeed EXP involved. It's good for bonus training when not in Story Mode. When it comes to multiplayer, you can play with local players wirelessly. You have to make your own friend card, and swap it with another player in order to play with them. There is a mode where you can put your PSP in sleep mode, and find other friend cards locally. There is also an online feature, which you can proceed to via PS3. However, I don't think you can go online without one though.

Many little extras are offered in Dissidia as well. One thing to mention is the "accomplishments", which is the equivalent to PS3's trophy system and X360's achievement system. You get them by achieving certain goals, and prizes include a variety of different items. There is a currency in the game called "PP" which is used to unlock some of these bonus items. Bonus items include unlockable characters, new costumes, bonus icons, bonus gil/EXP benefits etc. There is also a museum section, which has info on all the characters, a sound test, and a replay theatre. You are able to record replays of your favourite battles, which is my personal favourite of the extras. You can turn them into AVI files, and transfer them from your memory stick onto your computer. If you think you're the best at Dissidia, then share your skills with the rest of the world on YouTube.

The graphics in Dissidia are very impressive, and some of the best that I have encountered in a portable game. I found a lot of the character rendering very nice, and it's good to see some of the older characters in their classic outfits come to life in full 3D (particularly Terra and Kefka). Some of the cutscenes looked really good, especially the surprisingly rare cinematics. There is a lot of colour used, but in a beautiful way. I can't really say much about the graphics, but I can easily say that they're rather impressive.

Let's be honest here. The music in Final Fantasy hasn't been anywhere as good as it was when Nobuo Uematsu was in charge of the soundtracks of the main franchise. He fully composed the soundtracks of the original up until IX. He did indeed compose the soundtracks of X and XI, but not of their entirety. I was hoping Uematsu would return to compose Dissidia's soundtrack, but a man can only dream. Takeharu Ishimoto composed the soundtrack (previously known for composing the soundtracks of Crisis Core and The World Ends With You). Dissidia mainly consists of arranged versions of tracks from the previous games in the franchise, and I've always found Ishimoto's arranges to be better than his original work. While some of his arranged stuff in Dissidia wasn't too bad, most of it was mediocre at best. I found that the soundtrack lacked quality and quantity. There were a few original songs in there, (particularly FFX) but not enough to keep me satisfied. The original pieces were rather enjoyable, and catchy. One clever aspect that I must mention is the fact that he used the respective world map themes for when you play story mode with the main characters. Very clever. Overall, I wasn't too much of a fan of the soundtrack, but it still has it's moments.

Now for the voice acting. I have not heard the original Japanese voices, but I found the English dub to be pretty bad. Final Fantasy X was the first of it's kind to have voices. Therefore, I could only imagine what some of the protagonists from the previous titles would sound like. Kingdom Hearts did "most" of it right, so why couldn't Dissidia? Some of the characters voices were well off what I imagined, and they didn't fit the characters particularly well. I'm talking especially FFIX in this case, as Zidane and Kuja sound downright awful, and nothing like what I thought. Some of the other character voices sounded alright, (mainly Terra, Cloud and Squall) but there is room for improvement.

Before I conclude this review, I have a few suggestions to make if Square Enix happen to make a follow up to Dissidia. Firstly, a better plot; The plot didn't suit such a game, and it made some of my more favourite characters look bad. Secondly, more playable characters; It's good to finally be able to play as the likes of Garland, Golbez, Kefka and Sephiroth, but I would've liked to see more supporting allies in it, particularly Kain, Shadow, Vivi and Auron. Penultimately, a bigger soundtrack selection; Whether they're arranged versions, or original versions. More songs. Finally, better voices. Enough said. While it's great to see a fighting game colliding FF universes, these particular suggestions can improve it.

I can only recommend Dissidia: Final Fantasy to avid fans of the franchise. If you don't fall under that type of person, then you may want to wait until the price drops first. If you like FF as much as I do (or more) then definitely purchase it. While it does have a fair bit of entertainment, it can get frustrating at times, and can get really cheesy. The bonus features are really good extras, and significantly add to the game. The graphics are amazing, and the soundtrack is a bit on the mediocre side. Overall, I quite enjoyed Dissidia, but I suppose that was because of my long time love for the franchise. Dissidia is a fun game with nostalgic moments, followed by the minor disappointments.