Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy Preview – Not Really a Dissidia or Duellum Game

Memories of flying around stages as Cecil Harvey and slamming into the likes of Gardland and Cloud, sending them flying into the far-off wall are what come to my mind when I hear the name “Dissidia” mentioned. The two initial entries were some of my most played on my beloved PSP, and I have been waiting for so long for another entry that manages to capture those same monolithic clashes. Sinking some time into a recent Closed Beta Test for next year’s free-to-play Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy, I get the feeling that I will still be waiting.

Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy is a new team-based mobile boss fighter coming to iOS and Android, where two teams of three will be racing to slay monsters and slow the other team down in an effort to level up and be the first ones to vanquish the boss of the stage. Not quite the Dissidia experience I remember. After booting up the game, I was treated to lavish visuals, picking my starting gacha character (opted for my boy, Cloud), and getting a quick primer on why Final Fantasy characters are fighting in modern-day Tokyo, I was off to work through the typical mobile game tutorials. 

Before I get to the gameplay side of things, I have to say that I really enjoy the artstyle that Duellum has gone with. Opting for realistic proportions, all of the characters have a subtle anime touch to them, with a light, almost watercolor, look to them. Aesthetically, the decision to place the game in the modern day with these classic characters wearing hip modern clothing doesn’t land for me as much. It reminds me of that weird time that Lightning had a real partnership with Lois Vuitton and gave me flashbacks to the Kingdom Hearts IV reveal trailer. Purists will be pleased to know, though, that everyone can also opt to wear their fantasy attire.

When it comes to how the game plays, outside of the obvious change of being focused on a boss battler rather than strictly a PVP game, other series staples like Bravery Attacks are missing, though Bravery as a resource remains. In order to actually damage the boss monster, you will need to gather 9,999 Bravery, which will allow you to trigger a Burst attack, rendering the foe vulnerable to damage. This resource is gained by taking out smaller critters around crystals, purifying them in the process, and attacking the opposing team. The interface works well enough, with Square Enix touting it can be played one-handed, and from what I could tell, they seem to be right.

With this shift to a boss battler, characters are now classified into various roles, including Ranged, Melee, Support, and Agile with Terra (FF6), Cloud (FF7), Hero of Light (FF1), and Lightning (FF13) filling those spots respectively. Between the roles and the sort of map layout in the corner of the game screen gave me far more of a MOBA-lite feeling to Duodellum than I was expecting. Honestly, the concept of a Final Fantasy MOBA could be pretty neat, and I could certainly feel that genre’s tendrils throughout the game like they were Ultros’ tentacles. The bosses Behemoth and Iron Giant reminded me of trying to fell Atakhan in League of Legends. 

Admittedly, my time with Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy has been brief, but I could never escape the feeling that this release feels like the result of a monkey paw wish. Basically, you get what you ask for (in this case, a new Dissidia game), but the result, while technically fulfilling the wish, isn’t what you actually wanted. Sure, Duellum is a Dissidia game, allowing you to run around and dish out the hurt with some of your favorite Final Fantasy characters, but what I played feels so detached and different that I find myself wondering if the Dissidia moniker has been attached for name recognition more than anything else. 

I have played enough of Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy to be intrigued enough to want to try more when it releases next year, but also enough to wish that this game dropped the “DISSIDIA” from the title. In fact, even "Duellum" is a bit of an odd choice too, with the common Latin translation referring to "combat between two contenders, or a duel," and this is a 3v3 boss battler, but I digress. As someone who is more at home with a controller or mouse + keyboard, I hope that this eventually gets a PC port announcement as well. Unfortunately, however, for those like me who are waiting patiently for a return of a classic Dissidia fighter, I’m sorry to say that it appears our watch hasn’t yet ended.

Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy launches on iOS and Android next year.