Not quite as good as everyone says it is.
GAMEPLAY - Like Final Fantasy, you play a hero (one of the main ones from the first 10 games), and you go through each of their stories that culminate in a big final battle. There's also quickplay and multiplayer where you can be whoever you want, but I'm mainly focusing on the story mode here. You can equip, buy, and sell different things much like you can in Final Fantasy, but that's about where the similarities end. This game is comprised of one-on-one battles where you have less moves than any other fighting game I can think of. Granted you have moves that damage your opponent and ones that steal Bravery, which is basically the strength of your attacks. But still, there aren't a ton of moves for each character, and it often amounts to just stockpiling bravery until you can go into "EXP Mode" and annihilate your opponent in a single hit. Battles in this game feel more like they belong in an anime cartoon rather than a Final Fantasy game. However, they are still mildly entertaining fights, usually, and each character is pretty unique. Still, this game feels like an underdone fighting game and an underdone RPG thrown together. If it wasn't for the Final Fantasy name and characters here, I doubt this game would get as much praise as it has. - 7/10
STORY - Another reason why this game shouldn't be in the league of the older Final Fantasy games is its story. It's pretty weak for the most part, and it's also pretty predictable. Each hero fights their villain counterpart, and there's a huge battle once that's all done with. There's nothing worth noting going on besides that. - 5/10
GRAPHICS - This game actually has pretty nice graphics for the PSP. I think it could have used more in terms of variety with the fighting arenas, but it still looks great. - 8.5/10
SOUND - What voice actors and music were in the old Final Fantasy games are back here again, which really gives a nice sense of nostalgia for long-time fans. Nothing to complain about here. - 9/10
LENGTH/REPLAY VALUE - This is actually a pretty long game in terms of a fighting game. Even once you complete a character's story mode, there is still a lot left to go back and do. The only problem I have is the repetitiveness, because as I said earlier, you only have a few different attacks at your disposal, so unless you're switching characters out every battle, it gets pretty dry after awhile. - 7.5/10
BOTTOM LINE - Dissidia Final Fantasy is simply a very good-looking nostalgic experience for long-time Final Fantasy fans. It fails to satisfy both as an RPG and as a fighting game, but isn't so terrible that it's a bad game by any means. It just doesn't feel like either side of the coin is as advanced as it could have been. Still, if you're a fan of the older Final Fantasy games, I recommend picking this up. It's not the greatest Final Fantasy game to come out in recent years, like everyone says it is, but it's mildly entertaining for the long-time fan. - 7.5/10