Final Fantasies Fulfilled

No gaming franchise offers the visual scope and mix of action and role playing like the Final Fantasy series, and the latest installment Dissidia: Final Fantasy is certainly no exception. Packed with stunning graphics, entertaining and fulfilling fight sequences, and more unlockable features than a lot of people will know what to do with, this game is a great addition to an already flourishing series.

Using characters from Final Fantasy I – X, the crossovers in this game delight old time fans while still being entertaining for newcomers to the series. Play multiple heroes trying to save the world from devolving into Chaos all the while making in character side comments. Just when you think you’re finished, the game unlocks entirely new chapters and options for play, allowing even more immersion into this enthralling world.

Predictably, most of the graphics in Dissidia will cause your jaw to drop. Large fighting arenas in particular offer some great options for enjoying varied fighting game play as well as unrestricted views of the action. Unfortunately, in some of the smaller arenas, camera angles can be a problem, sometimes darting behind a wall or something comparably irritating and deadly. However, the minor inconvenience doesn’t strip the many virtues from the game’s tense and gripping action.

If Dissidia falls short at all, it’s in a surprising area: story. While the franchise as a whole is known for epic, twisting, and involving tales, the story here is short, melodramatic, and not particularly interesting. This is made worse by uneven and indifferent voice acting that’s loaded with clichés and character stereotypes. Still, the wealth of variety in game play options more than makes up for this fault – while the story isn’t the best in Final Fantasy history, there’s just so many ways to play it that it doesn’t really seem to matter.