For this week's iPhone Friday i tried DISSIDIA DUELLUM FINAL FANTASY, from Square Enix, on my iPhone 17e. This was recorded using the phone's screen recorder function with my audio recorded onto my laptop.
As a fan of the series, more so the PSP games than the PS4 version, i was eager to try out this mobile version. from the screenshots on the App Store page it seemed like some aspects of the gameplay had been simplified and built around mobile play. but the icons on the screen did give me some doubt about whether the mechanics were complicated.
There is a data download at the start. thankfully there's a cinematic video to watch whilst it's happening in the background. i enjoyed it but felt that it finished too soon as i wanted to see more of the fight, like with the PSP games having fighting cinematics at the start of them. the video is also too short, i had to skip over the rest of the download.
The way the game starts is a little weird. we're introduced to the story and just before it gets to the fight, it stops and the game begins it's tutorial. When that's finished, the game returns back to the story and instead of it being another video we're now in control of one of the characters. With the fight done, the game opens up and reveals it's home screen. most of the icons on the screen are detailed and when we go into them there's a decent tutorial.
For some, i can see how this tutorial might feel lengthy and at times it repeats itself as a reminder to the player. But when it's compared to some of the other tutorials in mobile games it's up there as one of the best. it will help people adjust to this game's mechanics, which are different from those on PSP and PS4. If i were to pick a fault with the tutorial is that it doesn't offer suggestions. for people new to Final Fantasy or the Dissidia series some terms may not be familiar. When the game asks us to equip moves to our character, it will auto select the passive ones, but when it comes to the active moves it's down to us. in there's not a lot of choice but there's also no suggestion as to what's best out of what we've got. if the game isn't going to auto pick our active moves it would be nice if it could suggest some, explain why they may work, and maybe even give us a training room to test them out.
the music is a different spin from previous Dissidia games. the PSP ones were a little more heavy, leaning into the Black Mages style of music. the PS4 version felt more like remixes that kept things sounding familiar. in DISSIDIA DUELLUM FINAL FANTASY the music feels a little "brighter" or "happier" whilst also sounding familiar enough to be recognised. i did enjoy this take on the music enough to want to get the soundtrack to the game.
The one aspect of gameplay i don't think DISSIDIA DUELLUM FINAL FANTASY has got quite right is the camera. i fully understood how to control and do moves and such, but the one thing i had trouble with throughout this video is the camera. i wonder if gyro controls would be one way to alleviate some of my issues with it. I found the camera awkward to control and at times a little unpredictable. it's such a issue that it may be the thing that takes DISSIDIA DUELLUM FINAL FANTASY out of Game of the Year contention. it gets soo much right and it does feel like it's been designed from the bottom up for phones. and yet it's camera feels like an issue that's not yet been solved.
There is a lot to like with DISSIDIA DUELLUM FINAL FANTASY but at times it does feel a little too dense. there is a tutorial but because the game's mechanics are dense it too can feel dense. for those who have played previous Dissidia games, most of it makes sense and is similar to what has been before, even the bad camera as on PSP it was rough at times. so for fans, DISSIDIA DUELLUM FINAL FANTASY is a must play. but for new comers it may take some time and effort to fully get it.
Version 1.8.1 Played
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