Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy​ (ディシディア デュオデシム ファイナルファンタジー) is an upcoming 2011 fighting game published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable as part of the Final Fantasy series. It is currently being developed by the company's 1st Production Department. The game is a follow-up to Dissidia: Final Fantasy, revealing what occurred before the events of its predecessor, and is due for release March 22, 2011 in North America.


Release Dates:
*JP March 3, 2011
*NA March 22, 2011
*EU March 25, 2011


Gameplay:
Gameplay will be largely reminiscent of Dissidia: Final Fantasy along with a few changes. The game consists primarily of one-on-one battles, taking place on what's known as a battle map where the two characters duel. Players are able to perform two attacks, a Brave attack and a HP attack. Both characters start with a set amount of Brave points, the number of Brave points being equivalent to the amount of damage dealt by a HP attack. Thus, the player must perform several Brave attacks to steal Brave points from the opponent, so as to increase the power of their HP attack as Brave attacks do not cause any damage.


Additional Mechanics:
The mechanics of the battle system include the EX Mode and the Assist Mode. The EX Mode functions exactly the same as the first, by collecting EX Cores around the battle map to fill up the gauge to transform the character into a more powerful state, which would unleash a powerful EX Burst attack in the end should an HP attack land during EX Mode. The new element is the Assist Mode, which allows the player to summon an additional ally into battle to either assist you in attacking the enemy or defend you from an oncoming attack. The Assist Mode is done using the Assist Gauge which is built up by using Brave Attacks. Both modes are supposed to balance each other, because when an EX Burst is executed the opponent's Assist Gauge is reduced to zero. The three main countering systems are Assist Breaks, EX Breaks and EX Revenge. An EX Break is performed by stopping your opponent's EX Mode through the use of an Assist Attack which forces your opponent out of EX Mode, additionally passing the opponent's Brave points to the player. An Assist Break is performed by attacking the opponent's Assist Character, causing him/her to be unable to call out the Assist Character for a brief period; this also passes the opponent's brave points to the character. Lastly, EX Revenge occurs when trying to activate EX Mode while being attacked. Originally, in the first game it would simply halt the opponent's attack, instead it now slows down time allowing the player to pummel the opponent, though it sacrifices the player's ability to use an EX Burst as it uses up the entire EX Gauge.


Single-Player Mode:
The biggest change is within the single-player story mode of the game, which no longer occurs on a chess-like map. Instead it is replaced by an RPG-like story mode taking place on a traditional-styled Final Fantasy world map, with players being able to experience a story while exploring a world with scenarios and events taking place as the story progresses. Players will traverse the 3D world map with 3 character parties with players being able to interact in conversations with the characters. When roaming the map, players will encounter enemies known as the Manikins; when attacked by the enemy, players will be transported to a battle map where battles will take place. Due to the story's setting where the towns in the world no longer exist, there will not be any towns on the world map; instead there will be shops on the map which are specially marked. The story mode is also party based, similar to the story progression of Final Fantasy VI. In certain scenarios, parties will be predetermined, but in most cases players are free to select their own party. Alongside the game's new story mode, the game will also include the first game's story which will be remade with the 3D world map as well as additional elements added for the new storyline. Tetsuya Nomura, producer and character designer for the game, has said that both storylines played together would result in approximately 60 hours of gameplay hours.


New Characters:
The entire cast of the original Dissidia will be returning, along with several new characters. Returning characters will get a third costume and are expected to have new and tweaked abilities.

To date, eight new playable characters have been announced, along with one Kain Highwind, Cecil Harvey's childhood friend and rival from Final Fantasy IV, Tifa Lockhart, Cloud Strife's childhood friend from Final Fantasy VII, Laguna Loire, the man who appears in Squall's dreams and the secondary protagonist of Final Fantasy VIII, Yuna, Tidus's love interest, female protagonist of Final Fantasy X, Vaan, a sky pirate and the protagonist of Final Fantasy XII, Lightning, a former soldier and the protagonist of Final Fantasy XIII. Kain is described as a specialist in high-speed aerial combat, while Lightning makes use of Final Fantasy XIII's' Paradigm Shift feature in battle, allowing her to switch between the Commando, Ravager, and Medic roles using the PSP's shoulder buttons. During Square-Enix's 1st Production Event on January 18, 2011, it was revealed that Gilgamesh from Final Fantasy V and Prishe from Final Fantasy XI would be playable. Downloading the demo unlocks Aerith as a character assist. (i.e. not fully playable in the game)
It has been reported there will be more than a handful of new characters - but not necessarily an equal number of heroes and villains or factions like in the first game. In fact, according to trailers and the demo that has been released, some of the characters on Cosmos' side in the first game are in fact on Chaos' side, namely Cloud, Terra, and Tidus. Also characters on Chaos' side in the first game are this time on Cosmos' side, namely Jecht.