Dissidia: Final Fantasy Review

This role-playing/fighting hybrid is more than just fan service: it is a fun and flashy game that keeps on giving.

Fan service? Absolutely. Fun? Unquestionably. Dissidia is a Final Fantasy fan's dream come true, the kind of crossover that's sure to make franchise aficionados giddy. Yet it's far more than just a love letter to series fanatics. Dissidia: Final Fantasy is an exuberant and addictive game in which showy one-on-one fighting and role-playing mingle so effortlessly that it's hard to pull yourself away. And the more you play, the more Dissidia keeps giving, showering you with extra features and in-game rewards as if you were in the center of a ticker-tape parade. The visual drama of battles is unfortunately undercut by some camera foibles, and the feeble narrative is out of step for a series renowned for excellent storytelling. Yet this is a generous package that offers untold hours of over-the-top spectacle that almost anyone can appreciate, even if they've never played or cared to play a Final Fantasy game. 

If you are a fan of the series, however, you're probably curious about the story that confines the heroes of Square Enix's famous role-playing game series to a single universe. Heroes and villains from Final Fantasies I-X roam this world, where the gods Chaos and Cosmos have provided the balance that supports reality. When Chaos gains an upper hand, 10 brave warriors clash with 10 nefarious rivals in the hopes of saving the world as they know it. This is your opportunity to revisit old rivals on the battlefield--and to experience some unlikely possibilities. Cloud versus Sephiroth and Tidus versus Jecht are natural choices; but have you considered the idea of pitting Squall against Golbez, or Bartz against Ultimecia? Dissidia's story modes are crammed with such improbable scenarios, though the tale they tell is a disappointing mess of shallow cliches and awkward voice acting, stripping each character to the barest essentials. You'll follow each hero as he or she take parallel journeys, which involve finding Cosmos-curing crystals while occasionally stopping to hear Firion reminisce about roses and Squall grumble about, well, everything. The aftermath of this search is told through an additional story mode called Shade Impulse, in which you can choose your own playable hero in each chapter. And once you complete this story, Dissidia gifts you with even more chapters, more playable characters (it's best to discover who they are on your own), and much more. It isn't an involving tale, but there's a lot of it, and the more you play, the more the game gives you.

While the story won't be enough to captivate you, Dissidia's mix of role-playing and fighting will keep you hooked for some time. In the story modes, you move a battle piece that represents your fighter across a game grid where treasure chests and enemy engagements await. Each move on the grid consumes a destiny point; completionists will want to clear each board of all items and foes without overspending the allotted points, though doing so isn't necessary to progress. It's simply a contrivance (and a good one at that) to move you from one encounter to the next so that you can level up your character, earn funds (Gil, of course) used for purchasing new equipment, and unlock hundreds of new items, moves, and accessories. This constant flow of rewards is the basis of Dissidia's addictive nature. It starts with the promise of a better sword for Cloud and becomes an obsession with unlocking new voice samples for your fighters, multiplayer fighting arenas, and even enhancements to how quickly you receive other enhancements. It's an embarrassment of pleasures. 

 

But even this muscular network of rewards wouldn't be able to support weak combat, and fortunately, Dissidia's fighting system is great fun even when taken on its own terms. You won't find all the subtleties and tight balancing of a traditional fighter, but the combat is vibrant and exciting, and the fighting system is intricate enough to keep battles tense and dynamic. Your attack power is represented by bravery points; brave attacks steal points from your opponent's pool and add them to yours. The higher your bravery total climbs, the more damage you'll do when landing a standard attack. Battles often begin as a nervous dance as you and your opponent spar, trying to pilfer each other's brave points, and then lead to all-out offensive collisions when one fighter gains enough confidence to move in for a heavy blow.

The battle arenas are large, and most offer the freedom of movement necessary for clashes both on the ground and above it. Each character has different attacks whether they are hovering in the air or their feet are planted on terra firma. The swift speed at which you can dash through the air and your ability to grind on rails that wind through most of the arenas lead to liberating and occasionally breathless fights. The beautiful and bright visuals make clashes look extravagant, and culminate with EX attacks. Such attacks are governed by your EX meter, which can most quickly be filled by obtaining glowing cores that will appear periodically on the battlefield. Once the meter is full, you can activate EX mode; if you land an attack while it's activated, you initiate a stunning and colorful burst attack. This initiates an awesome scene that dramatizes the incredible amount of harm your opponent is sustaining, and it's accompanied by a quick-time event that determines how much damage you will do. In many (but not all) cases, a burst attack provides the battle-ending blow. And what a stirring way to do it.  

The visual drama of battles is further elevated by Dissidia's cinematic camera, which valiantly tries to frame the action appropriately and does a good job of it in large exterior arenas. It's not nearly as successful in enclosed spaces, however. Claustrophobic stages like Pandaemonium can be a struggle to navigate, and skirmishes take you into corners and near ceilings, where the camera is simply incapable of showing you exactly what's going on. Certain successful blows may initiate a chase sequence, which is a timing-based tug-of-war in which fighters take turns landing or evading a single attack at a time. In some circumstances, the camera will position itself behind a wall or in some other equally unhelpful position during chases. That's disastrous in a one-on-one fighting game; Dissidia should have stuck with expansive arenas. Lunar Subterrane and Order's Sanctuary, for example, are absolute joys to play in and are unfettered by camera issues.

 

 

The story chapters offer a lot of bang for their buck just on their own. You won't find as much variety among characters as you would in a traditional fighting game, but the differences are just substantial enough to inspire you to level up multiple fighters. And because you can earn and equip new attacks, individual fighters evolve over time and thus offer a bit of variety even when you're sticking to a single character. But there's a lot to keep you occupied outside of Story mode. There is Arcade mode, which then splinters into multiple sub-modes in which you take on sequences of opponents. In Duel Colosseum mode, you shuffle through various cards to earn loot and equipment upgrades, and fight enemies. And as you'd expect, you can also fight stand-alone battles against AI opponents and other players.

Dissidia doesn't offer online play, but you can take the fight to others in ad hoc mode, using characters you have leveled and customized or an arcade mode character that puts both players on equal footing. As in any fighting game, playing against a buddy can be both more challenging and more rewarding; Dissidia's AI is respectable, but real players can become more attuned to your play style--and are more likely to get distracted by occasional camera issues than the AI, which is completely unhindered by such quirks. You may encounter small bouts of lag at the very beginning of matches and when initiating burst attacks, but the smoothness necessary for an even fight is there when you need it. And if there's no one nearby to challenge to a battle, you can fight ghosts of your previous opponents, which are AI profiles that attempt to mimic their moves. 

 

Fights provide some of the finest displays of visual energy you'll see on the system. Characters move fluidly throughout the arena, and there's a nice feeling of violent contact when your blade finds its mark. Exaggerated animations and boisterous sound effects make every fight feel as if the weight of the world hangs in the balance. Battle stages look mostly fantastic and are based on famous Final Fantasy locales that may have already carved out a place in your own imagination. The frame rate has no trouble keeping up; gameplay is slick and smooth, and the result is a technically impressive game that's hard not to marvel at. And while the story may not amount to much, prerendered cutscenes are staged well, and the opening cinematic is jaw-dropping in the overdramatic Final Fantasy tradition.

Dissidia: Final Fantasy is a joyful experience that piles on the pleasures, within both its gameplay and its feature set. You earn real-time rewards represented by a Chocobo's journey; you can save battle replays, edit them, and export them as video files; and Moogles send you bizarre messages with points included to spend on more unlockables. In other words, there's a lot of game in here, more than some people will know what to do with. It's disappointing that some of the arenas don't seem to have been created with the cinematic camera in mind and that the story seems more like mediocre fan fiction than it does a true Final Fantasy epic. But if you came just for the fun and the frenzy, Dissidia offers plenty of both, supported by a framework of tangible rewards that deepens the more you play.  

By Kevin VanOrd

Devil Summoner 2 Review

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Fun combat and an intriguing story make up for the dull detective drudgery in this atmospheric period adventure.

The Japan of the mid to late 1920s was a unique blend of the old and the new as the island nation struggled to maintain its traditions in the face of rampant modernization. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon uses this turbulent period of history to great effect, crafting a moody and atmospheric world to tell an intriguing and stylish story. Though the game suffers from inconsistent and sometimes confusing gameplay and a flawed exploratory camera, its engaging battles, addictive devil management system, and low price point make a solid case for role-playing game fans to plug their PlayStation 2 consoles back in to make a deal with a devil. 

When the Yatagarasu, the shadowy organization that watches over the sanctity of Japan, has reason to believe an imminent threat is approaching Tokyo, it's up to Raidou Kuzunoha to step in and save the day once again. The young Raidou--the 14th person to assume the title of the greatest devil summoner--is dispatched to the capital to keep an eye on it and take what steps are necessary to avert disaster and maintain the balance of the supernatural world. Along for the ride is Raidou's chatty and often sarcastic feline companion-slash-mentor, Gouto, and serving as the cover for their operations once again is the Narumi Detective Agency, which is run by the carefree and decidedly dapper modern gent Shouhei Narumi. When a lovely but suspicious dame hires you to find a man named Dahn, what looks like a simple missing-persons case turns out to be anything but, and Raidou is thrust into the middle of a mystery that involves masked ninjas, giant insects, and a whole lot of bad luck.

As a devil summoner, dealing with the supernatural is Raidou's specialty, and with all the strange happenings in the capital, there's no shortage of it. While investigating for clues, he frequently stumbles across wandering devils that need to be put in their places, and calling in demonic backup of his own is where Raidou's talents really lie. Up to two devils can be summoned at a time, and by paying careful attention to your enemies' weaknesses and calling upon the right friends to take advantage of them, you can dish out some serious damage. Watch out, though, because your devils have their own weaknesses, and enemies won't hesitate to take advantage of them. You can't just let your devils do all the work, and thankfully Raidou is more than equipped to hold his own in a tussle. Getting up close and personal to show off his swordplay is his primary source of damage, and he's also a crack shot with a revolver, which hits for less damage but can stun rogue devils. Combat is in real time, and Raidou is surprisingly nimble on his feet, which makes dodging incoming hits as easy as dive-rolling out of the way.

Though pursuing the path of violence is fun with this battle system, it's not always the best course of action: sometimes it's better to chat up your enemies instead. Through careful application of the art of negotiation, you can recruit a devil to your side, provided it's in the mood and you satisfactorily answer its line of questions and comply with its demands. Constantly expanding your chthonian roster is important, because you grow as a devil summoner by gaining loyalty from your devils. Loyalty is earned by taking your devils into battle, which in turn increases the number of devils you can keep at a single time and grants Raidou higher ranks (which determines what side quests you can accept). It's also important to keep a diverse portfolio of devils, because each one has different field abilities that help with your detective work--the pagan Lilim, for example, can read minds, a power that helps you glean information that you would otherwise be unable to obtain.

When not sweet-talking or pounding on devils, Raidou busies himself by running around the various districts of the capital searching for clues. Despite the detective shtick Devil Summoner 2 has going for it, these are the weakest parts of the gameplay because your immediate goals often aren't well communicated, and there are often long stretches without combat. Furthermore, each area is displayed from a fixed camera location, and every so many steps the camera moves to a different spot. Seeing the same scene from multiple different angles can be disorienting, which makes even navigating around the world an exercise in frustration.

If you need a break from mundane story investigations, you can always return to the detective agency and pick up some of the extra case files that build up on your desk and gather dust. While most of these side quests are simple fetch missions, some of them send you to specific locations to track down and dispatch more powerful devils, and others reward you with new abilities you'll need in order to push on in the main game. You can also spend time in the dark versions of the capital to tame more devils to add to your collection, which can then be fused together two at a time to create entirely new ones in the laboratory of the Dr. Frankenstein-ish Victor, a quirky but friendly demonologist. Victor can also synthesize new weapons for you, and using either of his services can be fun and rewarding in and of itself.

 

The rich game world is brought to life with the Shin Megami Tensei series' trademark stylized designs and a jazzy, upbeat soundtrack. Unlike in the recent Persona games, which favored an anime look and feel for the characters, everyone in Devil Summoner 2 is rendered and animated in full 3D. Though Raidou and company look great, they're all suspiciously silent due to a complete lack of voice acting, which makes for some awkward moments during conversations. Nonetheless, the entire game positively oozes with style, which more than makes up for this and the slightly aged graphics produced by the PS2 hardware.

Though it suffers some missteps from the lackluster investigation sequences and poor camera, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon is an engaging and suspenseful adventure through an atmospheric world filled with supernatural intrigue. Fusing devils or recruiting new ones is addictive, defeating powerful fiends is rewarding, and unraveling the story is entertaining. If you're looking for a quirky and fun game to slake your thirst for an RPG, Devil Summoner 2 may be just what you're looking for. 

By Lark Anderson

The Beatles: Rock Band Review

Stellar presentation and vocal harmonies help make The Beatles: Rock Band something special in the world of music games.

It has been just under two years since Rock Band ushered in the era of full-band rhythm games. Subsequent games have refined the formula, offering increased accessibility, new songs, and sharper visuals, but they all still rest on the same basic appeal: it's a lot of fun to rock out, especially with your friends. The Beatles: Rock Band stands out from its peers because it magnifies this basic appeal by better channeling the excitement and camaraderie of being in an actual band. The all-Beatles songlist creates a strong sense of continuity between songs, yet it is musically diverse enough to keep things lively and varied. Follow the Beatles' career in the excellent Story mode, and you'll unlock a bevy of photographs and videos that give you an endearingly human look at the larger-than-life stars. These bonuses, along with the beautifully creative artistic design, help you identify with the Fab Four and engender a sense of unity within your own band. When you have a few members singing in harmony, the bonds grow even stronger and you have that much more fun. While it may not have all the bells and whistles of other music games, The Beatles: Rock Band brings you and your bandmates together in joyful musical partnership and makes your living room rock sessions uniquely rewarding and entertaining. 

From the first moments you fire up The Beatles: Rock Band, it's clear this is a different breed of music game. You are treated to a lengthy animated video that charts the arc of the Beatles' career both musically and artistically, connecting you to the world you are about to dive into. Throughout the Story mode this connection to the band is reinforced as you play in iconic venues, from the small, raucous Cavern Club, to the massive, screaming Shea Stadium, to the intimate, introspective Abbey Road studios. Stylish cutscenes bridge the different chapters in Story mode, and unlockable photos and movies provide interesting snippets from the Beatles' career. Whether you are a Beatles scholar or can't even name all the band members, these bonuses help draw you into the experience by showing you a more casual side of the superstars themselves. A video of the guys playing with headphones and a boom mic on their first trip to the US offers a quirky glimpse of the youthful energy that suffused their early songs, while the background studio noise that precedes their later songs gives you a window into their more mellow mind-set.

Every song has a unique video to accompany it that reflects the song's themes and its place in the Beatles' career. The bouncy energy of "Paperback Writer" is mirrored by the animated Paul McCartney's brisk strumming and singing in front of thousands of screaming fans, while the whimsical "Octopus's Garden" video transports the boys to the ocean floor, where big colorful lyrics appear all around them. This intertwining of music and art is unmatched by any other game in the genre, and it makes the game a lot more fun for players and spectators alike. You will actually want to look at what's going on behind your note highway, not only because it looks great, but also because it adds a new dimension to your own performance. The artistic elements complement the music beautifully, and the game looks great on every console.

The gameplay elements are very similar to those of Rock Band 2, with a few notable differences. Gone are the sweet freestyle drum fills and end-of-song jam sessions; you can only play the music as it was recorded. Almost all of the songs are immediately available in Quickplay mode, and the one exception is unlocked by completing Story mode. There is no character creation, and you can't customize your band's appearance because you always play as the Beatles. Songs you have downloaded for previous Rock Band games are not compatible here, and you will probably find that some of your favorite Beatles songs are missing from the songlist, though there are at least three full Beatles albums planned for future downloadable release. There are cooperative and competitive online modes, but, like any Rock Band game, The Beatles: Rock Band really shines when played locally.

 

The most significant new gameplay feature is vocal harmonies. Every song in the game contains one, two, or three vocal tracks, and before playing you choose your vocal style, either "solo" or "harmonies." Harmony parts are displayed in the same area as the lead vocals. Harmony parts are orange and red bars, and the lead part is blue; harmony lyrics are displayed on the top of the note highway, and lead lyrics are on the bottom. The display does a good job of visually differentiating the parts, but it's up to you to sing them. Folks who like to sing along to Beatles songs will have little trouble with the lead vocal parts, and many of the harmonies are easily identifiable. Some are so clear that your lead singer might naturally jump up to the harmony part in a certain section. It doesn't matter which microphone is receiving which vocal part; as long as you have all the parts covered, your score won't suffer. If you are having trouble picking out a harmony or staying on your part, Practice mode is a great place to sort things out. You can highlight the part you want to learn by assigning a guide pitch to play that part, and then you can drop the pitch out to make sure you've got it.

Practice mode is great for experienced and only-in-the-shower singers alike, and even if you are a shy singer, The Beatles: Rock Band is a fun, encouraging place to overcome your reluctance. With up to three vocalists, a guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer available, you can have six players in your band for the first time in a music game. The added members make your sessions more rockin', and the three-part vocals are a great way to get instrument-averse friends to join. Having multiple vocalists takes the pressure off of individual performance, because they are essentially teaming up to play one instrument (vocals). This creates a feeling of unity that spreads to the other players and makes your band camaraderie stronger. One of the best ways to capitalize on vocal harmonies is to get a few mic stands and then have band members play an instrument and sing at the same time. You can do this with other Rock Band games, but it's more thrilling when you're playing Beatles songs because you share the vocal part with your bandmates. Belting out a solo while playing guitar is great fun, but having your drummer join you on a harmony part is a whole different kind of awesome. Strumming, drumming, and singing just like John, Paul, George, and Ringo used to do is an absolute blast and is one of the richest music game experiences to date.

To a certain extent, this game is great because Beatles music is great. The Beatles: Rock Band is packed to the gills with excellent songs, but its real genius is the way it captures the excitement of playing in a cohesive band. Following the arc of the Beatles' career wouldn't be as engaging without the interesting bonuses and the stunning art design that so elegantly complements the music. Vocal harmonies add an invigorating new dimension to the gameplay, encouraging you to either get more people involved or challenge yourself to be all the rockstar you can be. The Beatles: Rock Band doesn't just let you play the music of one of the greatest bands in history; it knits your band closer together so that you can better experience the camaraderie and excitement of playing in a unified, talented group. This makes any Beatles session great fun and makes The Beatles: Rock Band something special in the world of plastic living room rock.  

By Chris Watters