Played the Dissidia Final Fantasy Demo…

… and well, it was okay. You get several characters (Cloud, Terra, Sephiroth among others) whom you take through several fights, each one teaching you the basics like Brave Attacks, HP Attacks, Quick Moves, Power Moves and so forth. To call this a Final Fantasy Fighting Game would not be totally wrong, however it’s also not totally right. It seems to be as much a real-time strategy/RPG as it is a fighting game; it’s not so much your use of combos and quick reflexes as it is getting your character into the right position, using the right moves and building up your powers with customizations. If you expect to blow through this with button-mashing, you’re gonna be very surprised as your character flounders about in floaty jumps, swinging at the air while the enemy pelts you with spells or missiles, then summons a super-attack to Ultima your ass.

Still, it was pretty entertaining to beat the heck out of Tidus and Squall (although Cloud always expressed regret at the end of the round) and later the heavily armored Garland. It’s not a Tekken or Soulcalibur- that much players have to realize going in. If you’re looking for more conventional beat ’em up action, wait for Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny. For those wanting to lay the smackdown on FF’s Finest with quite a bit of RPG-esque micromanagement, Dissidia is out later this month.

FFVII Advent Children Completed this June

For the FFVII completist who doesn’t know Japanese, the US blu-ray release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete will be out this coming June 2. The disc will contain the new HD cut of the CG FFVII feature, with 26 minutes of all-new scenes and footage. Also included will be an anime entitled One the Way to a Smile: Denzel’s Story, which will show the origin of Cloud’s little ward (yeah, yeah, who the freak cares about Denzel, but hey- it’s actually a nice little aside story). Also included will be a sneak peek at FFXIII and a Story Digest.

I’ll probably be picking this up, mostly as something to test out on my HDTV and upcoming home theater setup. Should be nice.

Dealing with a Crisis

I got my copy of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core for the PSP, and it looks pretty awesome. The game is the latest and perhaps last part of the Compilation of FFVII series, which has so far not gained the total respect of critics to say the least. But the reviews for Crisis Core seem to be pretty good, and the game looks to have the same drama, tragedy, action and wonder that permeated the original game, which should make for some tearful but engrossing RPG action. The story, of course, involves the player putting on the boots of Soldier 2nd-Class Zack Fair. Aside from his tour of duty as Shinra special operative, Zack has to contend with a mysterious rebellion among Soldier, conflict with his mentor and friend Angeal, potentially lethal run-ins with a pre-psychotic Sephiroth and an inevitable fate that is sure to be not pretty. Still, it looks to be an awesome ride.

The combat seems pretty cool, combining real-time running around with weapon/attack/move selection, and some odd factors like a slots-like interface in the side affecting the course of combat. The presentation is excellent, with Advent Children-esque CG movies and superior PSP graphics for the real-time parts. All in all, this is probably one game FFVII fans should not miss if they have Sony’s portable… just prepare the tissues. Full review once I get around to it then.

Final Fantasy VII Play Arts

The Flower Girl returns!

Over the weekend, I went over to the mall and what do I find in the hobby shops? A wave of new Final Fantasy VII Play Arts figures! These are lovely, lovely toys, and it only took one look-over for me to know that they really capture the beauty and personality of the characters they represent. At first, I was only getting my favorite, Aerith Gainsborough (truly a beautiful figure), but I eventually decided she should have a friend along so I got Tifa Lockhart as well (who is quite fine as well). The figures sport 20 points of articulation so should make for some wonderful poses- once I muster the strength to open the boxes, that is. I also got for myself the Yuffie Kisaragi FFVII Advent Children Play Arts figure, which is my favorite from that neck of the FFVII mythos.I’m quite dead-set on keeping both Aerith and Tifa in The Sanctum, but I’m deciding whether or not I should take Yuffie to the Salt Mines at work, or keep her with the other FFVII girls. It’ll all be dictated eventually by space, I realize, but what the heck. For now, It’s nice to have them all. Wonderful stuff.

If Tifa had been wearing THIS oufit instead of that Rinoa knock-off, she would have kicked Loz’s arse…