Dissidia scans: FF12 representation confirmed, Cloud’s Advent Children outfit, Sephiroth topless, Ultros summoned, more *Update*
New Dissidia scans from Famitsu! And they aren’t your usual weekly character spotlight either. With the Japanese release looming ever so close now, it looks like Famitsu is milking everything they can from Square Enix: this Dissidia feature is huge. Like… Huge huge! Tentacled baddies, geostigma’ed dudes, some fanservice for the females, EX modes and the lot of ’em, plus… probably the greatest secret of all: FFXII getting some representation in Dissidia!
*Update* Epic translations finally surface!
New Dissidia scans from Famitsu! And they aren’t your usual character spotlight either. With the Japanese release looming ever so close now, it looks like Famitsu is milking everything they can from the devs: this Dissidia feature is huge.
The only bad thing is we can’t translate much. Which means… you can trust your ever loyal QJ.NET Final Fantasy geek (i.e. yours truly) to bring some details to light.
- Cloud Strife‘s getting his Advent Children alternate costume (I still wish we had his outfit for Don Corneo as another alt)
- Sephiroth is getting his… uh… fanservice-for-the-females alt-costume (or the lack thereof, rather)
- Ultros is BACK! (…as a summon)
- The EX modes of Zidane and Kuja are shown (go, monkey boys!)
- The EX modes of Bartz and Exdeath are also shown
Meanwhile, tipster jack_gllghr points out via email that the scans also confirm the following:
- There will be no Final Fantasy XIII representation in Dissidia
- FFXII gets representation though – we’re just not sure who yet (oooh, I love secrets!)
- as jack_gllghr clarifies, “representation” doesn’t automatically equate to character; it could be a summon or a stage or something totally useless… (err, like Penelo – cardboard character, par exellence?) Chances are though, it’s a character, seeing as there’s one more left that’s not yet been revealed.
- Only Cosmos’ army (i.e. the heroes) get story mode campaigns, villains don’t
- There’s a feature to save Replays on your PSP memstick
I cast my vote: my guess is it’s going to be Gabranth to represent FFXII! My guess would have originally be Balthier, but… Gabranth’s one of the few characters that remotely suits the “both good and bad at the same time” trend that FFXI‘s Shantotto already set for Easter egg playables. So there. My guess is Gabranth. I could be wrong. Maybe FFXII representation comes in the form of the License Board. Oh. Wait.
Square Enix‘s Dissidia: Final Fantasy for the PSP is to be released in Japan on December 18.
Thanks to heiwa_ryu jack_gllghr for the heads up!
* Article originally posted Dec 03, 2008 at 09:10AM
*Update* We finally found some translations care of 1Up. This covers only the round-table interview with the devs (creative producer Tetsuya Nomura, senior director Takeshi Arakawa, planning director Mitsunori Takahashi, main programmer Ryuji Ikeda).
Most of the details above remain the same though. We just get more clarifications on certain manners. On the other side of things though, they made matters even worse by hinting at unspoken things. I think it’s an unwritten rule somewhere in Game Development 101 that torturing the fans with sentences ending in ellipses and what not is perfectly OK. Sigh. On with the show!
On the introduction of Shantotto, a black mage NPC from Final Fantasy XI, to the lineup
Takahashi: There were assorted candidates to choose from [in FFXI], like Prishe. We wound up asking the FFXI fans on the staff what character would make them the most happy to see in the game, and they all said “something Tarutaru”! Shantotto wound up being the choice from the Tarutaru available. They’re a small target to strike, so balancing their hit detection was a difficult process — we can’t let Shantotto have a unique advantage, so we were messing with her right to the very end.
So where are the Final Fantasy XII characters at?
Nomura: Introducing Shantotto and not one of the FFXI player-characters was one of the surprises we’ve given people in interviews from the beginning of the project. As for FFXII, just stay tuned for now (laughs). One idea we had was to include an FFXIII character, but having one debut in Dissidia would lock down the image of his or her skills and so forth, perhaps affecting FFXIII in the process. As a result, we couldn’t get permission.
On the pleasures of being an evil character in Dissidia
Takahashi:There isn’t a story mode for the Chaos side, but that doesn’t mean the story’s weaker for those characters. If you play from the Cosmos side, you’ll get to see the Chaos story along the way.
Arakawa: If you’re trying to raise all the Chaos characters, I’d recommend waiting until after you complete all the Cosmos characters and see the ending. Exactly why I say this is a secret, but…
Takahashi: You can always use PP to access the Chaos characters early on, but you can use a certain mode after viewing the ending that will make raising them a lot more fun.
Ikeda: The Chaos story events are great, too. Basically, one side wants to destroy the world and the other wants to rule over it, and they have conferences and things.
Thoughts on completing the project
Arakawa: I’m just happy to see everything work out. It’s a relief that we made the 20th anniversary safely.
Takahashi: [The hardest part] was balancing — not just between characters, but between all 100 levels and the equipment they may be carrying. It took a long time, and there’s really no good ending point to it, but I think we’re pretty confident about the results.
Related articles:
- Dissidia: Final Fantasy guidebook to be released alongside game
- More Dissidia pwnage: Cloud vs Sephiroth gameplay video
- Dissidia scans introduce FFXI’s Shantotto, Firion and Emperor’s EX mode; official PSP box art revealed
- FFXI, represent: Dissidia gets first non-main character confirmed
Via VideoGamerX
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