Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is a rapid-fire fighting game with featuring 3x3 battles via local and online multiplayer, as well as offline matches against the game’s AI. I got the chance to take the game for a spin at E3, and even though I was pretty awful at it, it was also a hell of a lot of fun.
Real talk: RPGs are kinda my thing, but fighting games really are not. I don’t think the two affinities necessarily are mutually exclusive, but I’ve just never had much patience -- or skill -- for memorizing combo patterns and the like. I’m just here for the Final Fantasy fanservice, okay?
After choosing whether to play online, with friends, or against the computer, your first order of business is deciding on a character to take into battle. The 20+ characters who comprise Dissidia NT’s roster are split into four categories: tanky Vanguards, speedy Assassins, long-range Marksmen and Specialists with their own unique combat styles.
I picked Cloud, because he is obviously the best character, and also seemed like a fairly straightforward brawler for a noob like myself. (Admittedly, I also chose Cloud to convey my saltiness about the lack of Final Fantasy VII Remake news at this year’s E3 in passive-aggressive fashion.)
After choosing your fighter, you’ll pick one of two movesets specific to that character, most of which will be familiar from their own Final Fantasy adventures. (One of Cloud’s attacks, for instance, is one of his FF7 limit breaks, Brave Blade.) Movesets consist of a Brave Attack, HP Attack and EX Skills. A Brave Attack is your basic melee attack, which will increase your Bravery by the damage done. Performing an HP Attack will inflict damage equal to the player’s current Bravery (the nomenclature is kind of confusing), and is best used after you’ve “charged” it by landing a series of successful Brave attacks. EX Skills are mainly buffs and debuffs, like healing and poison. Each character has an independent HP bar, along with a team HP bar and summon bar. If you get knocked out, you’ll respawn, but a portion of the team HP bar is erased. In other words, a weak player can drag down a whole team.
There’s a lot of depth to Dissidia NT’s combat system, and I only just began to get the hang of it toward the end of my brief demo. Perhaps the AI combat offers some training wheels, but in my 3x3 matches, the distinctions between experienced players and filthy casuals (like myself) became apparent immediately. This might make for better arcade or esports play, but could dissuade others from learning the ropes.
My team lost its first match in the blink of an eye, and adding insult to injury, I got wasted by Squall. I glanced over to hear my teammates grumbling. “I didn’t know how to block,” said one. “I didn’t know what the hell was going on,” said another. I managed to maintain some dignity in the next couple matches by mainly focusing my attacks on a single member of the enemy team, but the guys next to me had a fair point. There’s a lot to keep track of at any given moment, and the game pretty much throws you in at the deep end.
Clearly, Dissidia NT clearly aims to appeal to fighting game fans more than RPG devotees, but the final version of the game could benefit from a one-on-one mode to allow players to build their skill and familiarity with the combat system before stepping up to the 3x3 matches. After all, why bother drawing upon the Final Fantasy IP if you aren’t looking to appeal to a broad cross-section of gamers?
Check out the trailer for Dissidia Final Fantasy NT below.
Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is slated for a worldwide release in 2018. Will you be picking up a copy? Are you excited to test the mettle of your favorite Final Fantasy heroes in head-to-head combat? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
