Facebook – Top 100 FAVORITE Video Games: 76

76: Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP)
Developer: Square-Enix
Year: 2009

 My first, immediate thought when I heard about this game was: “Super Smash Bros.: Final Fantasy?” A game that allowed people to pit FF character against FF character, ranging from the original game all the way through to some of the most recent ones? And it was being developed by the portion of SE that handles Kingdom Hearts? How could this game NOT rule? As time went on, eventually the game came out, and what a game it was.

Taking place in, really, none of the game worlds from which the featured characters hail from, D:FF has ten warriors of darkness facing off against ten warriors of light, both sides fighting to regain some kind of balance of power, or to upset it. Cosmos and Chaos, representing the “god like forces” of light and dark (respectively) encourage their combatants to traverse the realms and collect the magical crystals, each character coming face-to-face with their own respective worst enemy (Cloud/Sephiroth, Bartz/Ex-Death, Warrior of Light/Garland, etc.) and coming to terms with, well, whatever it is that they had to come to terms with in their own games. While the story itself is loose and intentionally devoid of any real solid narrative structure, what is there (including the secret ending’s ties to the first FF that are actually surprisingly cool) is solid enough to make the characters and their plight seem meaningful. In a game where you have mad clowns teaming up with cross-dressing pretty boys to take out the moodiest of the moody FF protagonists, that’s saying something.

But the real reason anyone comes into this game isn’t for the story, its to have Kefka fight the Onion Knight, or Cloud fight Squall, and to finally brag about who wins, in the end. And, to this, the game comes through immensely for itself, presenting a tight-as-fuck battle system with constant upgrade capabilities, never-ending power-ups to collect, a level-raising system that is addictive as sin, and combos and items to invest time and money in. One person’s level 40 Tidus is likely to be completely different than someone else’s level 40 Tidus (although, honestly, if you purchased this game to play as Tidus, fuck you). Combat is fun and a button-mashingly great time, featuring rapid battle sequences that require skill, great timing, and accuracy. You can blindly mash your way through the storyline section of the game, sure, but to do any real damage in either the game’s challenges or against other humans online, learning your chosen character perfectly is essential.

The best part of the game is how diverse it is, then, with its presentation. While the art style for the characters is fairly constant across each game’s settings and style of character model, each person looks like they come from their own world, and each world looks vastly different. This helps in creating some really cool scenarios for characters and levels during battles, as mix-and-match style presentation is featured heavily throughout the game. Some more variety, however, in levels would have been fantastic. Also of note is the music, which I can’t really describe accurately. As a lover of FF soundtracks, a game featuring hits from every game that has ever come out in the main, numbered series is a must have.

All in all, Dissida hasn’t even really been touched upon, here. There’s tons of shit to do in this game, including never-ending battle sequences, challenge modes, greater difficulty, too many characters to play through and master, and unlockables to spend your hard-earned points on. Some of it is pretty goofy, sure, but it is addictive and really fun at the same time. A sequel, I’m sure, will be coming out in the next few years, featuring a returning line-up of characters, plus – I hope I hope I hope I hope – some secondary good and bad guys from the series or, if the game stays on PSP, some downloadable content in the form of extra characters, songs, and maps. As it stands now, however, this game is one of the best reasons to get a PSP. And there really aren’t that many great reasons to do so, even today.

Classic Moment:
This is so simple, yet so important for me; you can collect summons throughout the game which act as buffs or curses depending on the individual summon’s use. One such summon, though, is fucking Ultros, from FFVI. One fo the best side-characters in Final Fantasy history gets an amazing cameo appearance in the game and, even though he doesn’t do anything that great (its actually worthless, really, against a computer-controlled enemy) its a real treat to see him up and running, these days.

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Added September 30, 2016
Side note: One of the two game pictures in all these Top 100 Game entries  is new. I thought it would break up the block of text a bit better.
This is another game that wouldn’t make it on the list, I’m pretty sure, if I did one today. Hope that arcade one hits PS4 though, with a story mode, even if it is as bonkers and incomprehensible as this title’s was. I’ll buy that in a split second.