Final Fantasy Tactics -The War Of The Lions

Final Fantasy Tactics -The War Of The Lions
Language: ENG | PSP | Developer: Square Enix | Publisher: Square Enix | Release Date: October 9, 2007 | 400 MB
Genre: Strategy RPG
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In days now long past, the War of the Lions rent the land of Ivalice in two. And it is here that two young men of note first stepped onto history's stage. The first is a man named Delita Heiral, the hero who would draw the curtain on the War of the Lions, this dark act of Ivalice's history. The other, whose role is now forgotten, is a man by the name of Ramza Beoulve. Peer through the eyes of these two young men, and uncover the secrets that lie hidden within history's darkened folds.Originally released in 1997, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is a portable update on the classic turn-based strategy game that gave birth to the world of Ivalice. New features include all-new CG sequences, all-new jobs, new 16:9 widescreen presentation, new head-to-head multiplayer and new storyline elements that refine the genesis of the Ivalice Alliance.

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Colonel Sanders Makes Guest Appearance in Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity Sega followup gets the eleven secret herbs and spices needed for success.

Guess who's guest starring in Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity?

Here's a hint:

He may have less polygons than you're used to seeing, but that is Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Sanders. Sega rendered a PSP model of the Colonel because they're going to be putting him in Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity. 

No wait... we're not joking! Here are some in-game screens. 

The Colonel, who stands guard outside KFCs throughout Japan and can occasionally be seen sporting a yukata, will be a partner character in the Phantasy Star Portable 2 followup. This means he'll fight alongside you... using magic balls of hot sauce apparently, if the screens are anything to go by. 

This was one of two PSP2i announcements Sega made at the Tokyo Game Show over the weekend. The other was a release date. Japan gets the followup on February 24.
   

Play as Solid Snake and The Boss in Monster Hunter A new tie-up for what could be the biggest PSP game ever.

Capcom leant its valuable Monster Hunter license to Konami forMetal Gear Solid Peace Walker. Now Konami is returning the favor.

At the Tokyo Game Show, Capcom announced that Monster Hunter Freedom 3 will have a crossover with Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker. The upcoming PSP title will give players access to Solid Snake and The Boss outfits for their hunters. In addition, your Felyne companions will be able to equip a bandanna and sneaking suit, and will hide in a box when you duck.

We don't have any in-game screens of the collaboration, but this official artwork Capcom shared should give you the idea: 

The Metal Gear Solid content will be offered as rewards for clearing post-release download quests. 

Having access to Solid Snake may seem like a big bonus for Monster Hunter, but Konami may actually be the one getting the exposure here. The last Monster Hunter PSP title sold over four million units in Japan alone.
   

Dissidia 012 Duodecim: Final Fantasy Hands-On

Lightning and Kain Highwind join the cast of Dissidia characters in this sequel.
It looks like the battle continues in Dissidia 012 Duodecim: Final Fantasy, which was recently announced as a follow-up to last year's action role-playing game and fighting game hybrid Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Also for the PlayStation Portable, Duodecim looks to follow the same formula more or less from a gameplay standpoint. However, a new assist feature has been added that allows you to summon an ally to help you in battle. At the 2010 Tokyo Game Show, Square Enix had a demo of the game on the show floor, so we got to play as the nimble and ever-so-moody protagonist from Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning. Also new to the game is Kain, the less nimble but possibly just as moody dragoon from Final Fantasy IV.
We weren't given a ton of time with the game (or any instructions in English), so we quickly jumped into a round using Lightning to get a sense of how she plays. Like in Final Fantasy XIII, she is fast and weaves around the screen easily, leaving a trail of rose petals behind her. She has a ranged gun attack, which can be used with the circle button, and the square button unleashes a devastating lightning attack that can end the battle rather quickly. Lightning can also use the paradigm shift feature in battle, which gives her the ability to swap between various roles on the fly.
While everyone has their own play style and preferences, we had more fun using the dragoon Kain. He was a bit slower than the acrobatic Lightning, but he had good range with his long spear and was able to cover a lot more ground by jabbing at the enemy. When you get a chance to toss someone in the air, the X button will appear so that if you hit it at the right time, you can get another attack in and keep juggling your opponent. The square button charges up Kain's signature jump attack, where he vaults high into the air and comes crashing down straight onto the enemy. If he doesn't recover as quickly as you would like, you can bring in what looks like a clone to help fight temporarily by using the L and circle button to use the new assist feature. It is a convenient feature when you want to take a step back.
It's called the FX mode here, but it's essentially the EX mode from the first game, where once your gauge is full, you can transform and execute new attacks. Kain ditches his dark armor and switches to a lighter blue armor and loses his helmet, which we've only ever seen once at the end of Final Fantasy IV. Like with the previous game, much of the appeal is really to see some of your favorite characters from past Final Fantasy games come out and fight with a new set of cool moves.
Along with the demo, we watched a new trailer of the game, which featured many of the characters you've seen before, like Cecil, Onion Knight, Golbez, Zidane, and Terra. More new faces are supposed to join the cast, and the last part of the trailer showed Sephiroth and Tifa, having what could be a heart-to-heart conversation (probably not). The entire trailer was in Japanese, so we can only guess as to what was going on. But it seems that the war between Chaos and Cosmos is not over.

The 3rd Birthday Hands-On

The star from the Parasite Eve series returns in this action role-playing spin-off.

While The 3rd Birthday may be the third game in the Parasite Eve series, this action game has been described as a spin-off, with significant enough changes from the previous games to garner a new title. At the 2010 Tokyo Game Show, Square Enix released a new trailer and had a playable demo of The 3rd Birthday, where we could step into the shoes of Aya Brea (and others) to get a feel for how the game plays.

Watch the trailer!

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The protagonist, Aya, is a CTI special agent in New York City who has the unique ability to use a system called "overdrive," which allows her to inhabit the body of someone else. The demo set us up in Episode One: The Past, where Aya is at a dance club right before an attack. It is December 24, 2012, and the enemy is known as the Twisted, an organic life-form that seems to spawn out of portals and come up from underground. Once the club cleared out, we were thrust into what seemed like a boss battle with one of the grotesque creatures from the trailer. At a glance, it looked like an overgrown piranha, but with long tentacles and a huge mouth that shoots harmful, spiked explosives.

Thankfully, there are well-placed barricades in front of the stage during the fight, which you can press up against to shield yourself from harm. The cover system works automatically, and you can leap over barriers with the X button. Aya heals over time, so seeking out shelter gives you time to regenerate before jumping out again. By holding the R button, you'll automatically lock on to any enemy in the room. No aiming is required as you dump your ammunition rounds with the square button. You're equipped with grenades and four weapons, which you can switch between using the L button and the face buttons to select.

The controls are easy once you realize which buttons to press (our instructions were in Japanese). With the lock-on, it's pretty hard to miss the target, unless you have something in your way. On top of the cover system, Aya is extremely agile; she has the ability to flip and dodge gracefully out of the way with the X button. After defeating the hideous monster, we headed toward the backstage area and had to clear out more misshapen creatures. We weren't alone, however. There were soldiers with us that looked like they were part of the National Guard. When we reached the hotel lobby, we regrouped with more soldiers and pressed on. Not all of them made it though, and one thing to note about the enemy is that it spits some kind of strange acid that burns and eats away at your flesh until you explode. The creatures themselves also burst into a gooey mess once you take them down, so we made a point to keep our distance.

That's right, she is now Horace Royle.

We didn't have a lot of time before we were ushered out of the demo, but we did get a chance to play with the linkage system, which lets Aya transport herself into the body of a nearby teammate and use that person's weapons. This is convenient when you're low on health or ammo, and we're sure that this will be used a lot more often later in the game. Based on what we gathered from the trailer, cutscenes, and gameplay, it looks like there is a much deeper story surrounding Aya than just a CTI agent looking to save the world from complete destruction. A young girl who could be a sister was shown in the trailer as well as in our demo. We couldn't make out the conversation, but the girl seems to be a part of Aya's dream or imagination.

We're curious to find out exactly what's happening beneath the city streets of NYC, so look for more updates on the game soon. The game is set to come out on December 22 in Japan, but no date has been announced for North America.

TGS: Little Battler Experience Preview

The year is 2050. Kids are super into this game called LBX – Little Battler Experience. Here's how it works. You buy a model mech from the toy shop and put it together. Then you get together with your friends and gather around the LBX board, which is really more like a tabletop gaming platform (think Warhammer) than a board-game board. Each of your little mechs has different capabilities and attributes, and you pit them against one another. Sounds pretty fun, right? Alright, time for some Inception s**t. We're going to go down a level. Ready? 

In this fictional world, something conspiratorial is happening. There's some sort of military group making little robots, and somehow they end up in the wrong hands (bear with me here, my Japanese is pretty much nonexistent). Fast-forward, and a group of little kids ends up actually piloting their LBX mechs in real battles. How did they get there? I don't really know, and I'm pretty sure Japanese kids won't really dwell on that either. All they will care about is what I'm about to say. 

They will not only be able to play a PSP game that takes them into this world and puts them in ths shoes of these ordinary-children-turned-mech-pilots. But they will also be able to buy actual plastic toy versions of the mechs they are using the game, which are themselves based on fictional toy mechs that are sold in the game world. I realize I just blew your mind right there, and I apologize. But it had to be done. 

Little Battler Experience is the newest PSP game from Level-5, and it's pretty much brilliant. Will it have any appeal in the west? Probably not. It's too squarely aimed at Japanese culture to have much of an impact outside of it. But it's a perfect example of the airtight integration of toys, games and entertainment (think there'll be an LBX anime?) in Japan. 

I spent a good half hour with LBX here at the Tokyo Game Show, and it was actually a lot of fun. The anime-style cutscenes are very well-produced, and the environments are bright and cheery. The combat is fairly standard, at least in the demo (lock onto target, attack, build up a meter to do special attack), but it was simple and satisfying. LBX won't be redefining handheld gaming any time soon, but it's a great idea and I imagine it will be hugely successful. But you never know. Kids are picky. If Level-5 misjudged the material or if kids turn up their noses at the robot designs, then it's game over. But if it hits, look out.

Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team First Look

We spike our hair, glow gold, and pulp some familiar faces with our first look the latest game based on the hit anime series.

Japan flies the flag proudly as the spiritual home of anime. But, while some of the more esoteric books and films are never released outside of the region, the ones that do go on to star in the West often brightly--a good case in point of which is Dragon Ball Z. During the 2010 Tokyo Game Show we had a chance to roll up our sleeves, spike our hair, and swing some fists with a look at the latest game outing adapted from the popular animated series.

Making its way to Sony’s PlayStation Portable handheld, Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team (referred to as Dragon Ball Tag Versus in Japan) is a two-versus-two beat ‘em with a range of your favourite characters, powers, and locations. Our demo included a handful of the playable faces and places that will be available, such as series mainstays Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Trunks, Goten, and Piccolo, as well as bad guys Frieza, Cell, and the various Androids. Many of the characters will include Super Saiyan transformation variations, either with the option to pick them from the character selection grid directly, or choose a base level character and scroll through the available evolution levels.

Namco has confirmed that the game will ship with over 70 playable characters, though from what we’ve already seen, we imagine a chunk of the roster will be made up of variations of the same people. Our play was limited to the single-player quick match option, but there’s already suggestion you will be able to play through classic brawler match-ups from the TV series story, or build your own fight cards with dream teams. Even during the most frenetic of combat, our game ran smoothly and did a good job of capturing the visual styling of the source material it’s so closely modelled on.

Visuals are always important, but what’s a brawler without a decent combat system? The button layout is simple and easy to navigate here, with the square button handling your punches and kicks when you’re within striking distance of your target. Triangle is your ranged Ki attack, and is useful as a quick jab on the move, or as an all-important interrupt while your opponent is charging up their biggest attacks. Guard is as important as offense, and when used carefully, can turn the tide of battle quickly as you transition from victim to aggressor. Though we didn’t see it in action, a trailer for the game showed the ability to combine powers of two characters for more powerful double attacks with your AI squad mate, or alongside a friend over an ad-hoc Wi-Fi connection.

From our time with the game it didn’t feel like the title reinvented the DBZ wheel, but we are keen to explore the option of multiplayer skirmishes with friends, and the chance to play the part of the lead role in some of the epic story fights for ourselves. Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team launches exclusively on the PSP later this month in Japan, with English versions targeting Europe, Australia, and North America in October this year.

TGS: Dissidia 2 At Last The Final Fantasy mash-up returns, now with 100 percent more Lightning.

Anyone that listens to IGN's Podcast Beyond knows by now that I'm the biggest Dissidia fan in the office. This doesn't mean I'm an expert at the game or I've reached the lofty status of "tournament level," but I've spent more than 100 hours with the first fighting game/RPG, and I still dig it. So you can imagine my excitement when we heard that Dissidia 2 (officially Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy... or Dissidia Duodecim Final Fantasy...) was going to be at this year's Tokyo Game Show. I was even more excited to get my hands on it, especially because the two new playable characters, Lightning and Kain, were available.

She doesn't look happy...

Unfortunately, the playing conditions for me were not ideal, as is usually the case here at TGS. The demo was in Japanese, I had a time limit of 15 minutes and there was no way for me to fully understand how the new characters work. But there were a few obvious features present that rekindled my love of the Dissidia experience; the first of which was a bit of a surprise: character assists. 

Now it's difficult for me to confirm specifics on this gameplay feature, but during one of my battles as I took control of Final Fantasy XIII heroine Lightning, my AI opponent called in a different character to catch me off guard. Just like the countless tag team abilities in such titles as Marvel vs. Capcom and Dead or Alive, it looks like players will be able to call in support during a match, which of course immediately adds a layer of complexity not seen in the original. 

I also noticed that the hang time experienced by a player immediately after a successful "chase" (when you fly after an opponent that has been knocked into the air) has been greatly reduced. This speeds up the pacing of the combat, especially for frequent chasers, though this could have been due to an extraneous circumstance like a special item or rule set in play -- there's no way to tell at this point in time. 

But playing as Lightning was a lot of fun. I've always thought that the Dissidia roster was seriously lacking female fighters, so having Lightning on board is excellent. Just like before, characters have access to Bravery attacks, which build up attack strength, and HP attacks, which act on that accumulated attack strength and damage your opponent. Lightning's attacks were mid to close range affairs, as she quickly charges her opponents, weapon in hand, and pounds on them with stylish combos. Lightning also has access to some recognizable magic from Final Fantasy XIII, which launches an enemy into the air. She can string this move together three times in a row at first, making it an especially promising technique. 

Lightning's HP attacks are nods to her summon abilities from Final Fantasy XIII, as she wields the massive blades of Odin and covers the screen in flower petals. Cool stuff, and powerful too. 

Duck and cover!

I didn't have as much time to play with Kain (or Cain, as it was spelled in the game), but he also felt like a melee character with a handy wind spell for launching opponents. I can only imagine that the dragoon's iconic Jump ability will somehow make an appearance, but I didn't have a chance to see it for myself. 

One of the most exciting things about the inclusion of new characters in Dissidia 2 is the obvious logic that follows: there will undoubtedly be more fighters announced down the line. Will we finally see Tifa enter the ring, or perhaps Ashe from XII? We're also missing a bevy of remarkable characters from Final Fantasy VI, so we'll have to keep our fingers crossed for more information in the months to come. 

As soon as we have more on Dissidia 2, you'll be the first to know. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to attempt to rip the demo PSP out of the kiosk and make a break for it.

Dissidia Final Fantasy Review Will it be Cosmos or Chaos? Either way, it's the ultimate crossover.

As excited as I was for Dissidia Final Fantasy, I certainly had my reservations. After all, developer Square Enix is quite well-versed in the art of crafting RPGs, but designing a fighting game? I feared that Dissidia would rely too heavily on its inclusion of classic Final Fantasy characters and fail to deliver a truly engaging gameplay experience. Fortunately, all my fears evaporated when I began playing Dissidia. This is one of the most robust, well-thought-out games on the PSP to date and my favorite game on the platform overall. Even if you're not a tremendous fan of the franchise, you'll be missing out if you leave this game on store shelves.

Dissidia Final Fantasy combines heroes and villains from the first 10 proper Final Fantasy titles (with some secret characters to boot) and mashes them together in a sprawling battle of light versus darkness. In the world of Dissidia, the Goddess of Harmony, Cosmos, is waging a desperate war against the God of Discord, Chaos. Cosmos and Chaos have summoned warriors from across time and space to do battle, but as the forces of Chaos employ sinister tactics, the warriors aligned with Cosmos are on the brink of defeat.

Our full video review.

Although Dissidia is most commonly referred to as a fighting game (I call it that myself), a more accurate classification of the game would be "one-on-one action." This is not a fighting game in the traditional sense, as it doesn't require elaborate directional inputs and it isn't quite as precise as modern fighters like Street Fighter IV and BlazBlue. It's not even similar to 3D fighters like Tekken, Dead or Alive and Soulcalibur. Instead, Dissidia plays like a fully realized version of Kingdom Hearts, but without the menu interface. You roam around a massive arena and send visually spectacular attacks at your opponent with just a few simple button presses. 

While this might sound like a shallow system, Dissidia requires a respectable amount of skill to play. Battles call for specific timing, especially when engaged in an attack/counterattack dynamic. Players must also learn to effectively dodge, block and gauge distances when executing special techniques. In this way, Dissidia is still very much like a fighting game, but the complete free-roaming nature of character movement gives it a unique feel. 

The battle system can be very overwhelming at first, but it becomes second nature after you spend a few hours with the game. Each character has a pool of Bravery Points and Hit Points to keep track of during a match. By using Bravery Attacks (with the Circle button), you increase your character's Bravery while lowering your opponent's Bravery. Once the time is right, you execute an HP Attack that damages your opponent's HP in the amount equal to your current Bravery. If the attack connects, your Bravery resets to zero and you start the cycle again. In this way, Dissidia is all about the constant balance between Bravery and HP as well as keeping the scales tipped in your favor. 

You must learn to navigate the tide of battle.

I found this Bravery/HP system to be very interesting and I think it suits Square Enix's style nicely. But of course this one system is just a very small piece of the entire experience. Characters also have an EX Gauge that fills gradually during battle (by collecting particles of light called Ex Force). Once this gauge is filled, each character can transform into his or her EX Mode and dramatically boost his or her stats and abilities. During EX Mode, if you land an HP Attack and follow-up with an additional tap of the Square Button, your character will perform a unique (and breathtaking) EX Burst attack, which -- nine times out of 10 -- can end the battle. 

These various systems, combined with the stylish wall-running, grinding and flying that characters can do, make Dissidia battles a real treat to play -- and even watch. These mechanics are brilliantly complemented by an incredible cast of familiar faces: one hero and one villain from Final Fantasy I through X. Legendary warriors like Terra, Cloud, Squall and Tidus will meet their equally reputable nemeses in the form of Kefka, Sephiroth, Ultimecia and Jecht. Their fame isn't the only thing to enjoy, though, as each character has a fairly unique play style to experiment with. For example, the Warrior of Light is best suited for close-range combat, while the Emperor sets traps in the ring and draws his foes closer with treachery galore. 

What makes Dissidia stand out from other fighting/action games is its tremendous RPG component, coupled with an insane amount of customization options. Characters can grind to level 99, armor and weapons can be equipped (purely for statistical purposes, not aesthetic), summons can be used and accessories can be discovered. As a character grows stronger, he or she will learn more abilities which can be equipped in the customization interface. Players can tweak a character to their liking, which is really great to see in a fighting game.


If there's anything about Dissidia that outshines the engaging battle mechanics and robust character customization, it's the overall presentation of the entire package. Dissidia has more modes, options and polish than any other PSP game I've ever played. To name just a select few examples, there's an in-game calendar (that rewards you for playing on certain days); a catalogue of unlockables to spend points on; a Museum filled with character files, moves and music; as well as a full replay editor (where you can actually edit the camera and cut up footage to make your own custom movies). To think that all of this content fits onto one UMD -- it boggles the mind.

Players will spend most of their time in the Story Mode, however, which is split into two main parts: Destiny Odyssey and Shade Impulse. Destiny Odyssey is broken up into 10 chapters and describes how each individual hero obtains his of her crystal of light. These all run parallel with each other, so it's really only telling one story -- but from 10 different perspectives.

Shade Impulse, however, is a linear story that takes place after the events of Destiny Odyssey. Although you're free to select your hero, you'll see the same basic outcome.

The biggest complaints I must level at Dissidia spring from these story modes. Playing Destiny Odyssey 10 times in a row (for hardcore folks like myself) just isn't that rewarding, as the stories all play out in a painfully similar fashion. I also found the entire plot setup to be poorly executed. Characters generally stand around very vapid environments and ruminate on their current condition, without developing any real personality or player/character attachment. Each hero almost sounds like an echo of the previous one. I think the developers relied too heavily on the fact that these characters all have complex histories outside of the Dissidia universe, and the game suffers because of it. 

So many options! And this is just the beginning.

However, once you enter Shade Impulse, things get really interesting. I won't go any further than that, but the plot felt much richer and the gameplay mechanics are made fresh in a variety of ways to keep you going. This was a huge relief, as the rest of Story Mode was somewhat disappointing to me.

I'd also like to note that Dissidia ends with one of the most frustrating (yet unbearably epic) boss battles I've ever fought. When I finally triumphed in battle, I felt like I just cured cancer. That's how frustrating (But rewarding?) it was.

The voice acting in Dissidia was also a sour point for me. Yes, there were some great performances speckled throughout, but I seriously had to question some of the talent involved. The overarching vocal narration is one of the most poorly paced voice tracks I've ever heard -- it was almost shocking. And as there's no option for a Japanese language track; gamers will just have to grin and bare it.

Dissidia also has some impressively rich multiplayer functionality to its name. Although everything you'll find here is Ad Hoc, being able to battle other players' customized characters is a huge draw and you'll even accumulate experience as you go. There are plenty of neat details to go along with these multiplayer matches too, like exchanging friend cards and earning artifacts. Artifacts are passed from player to player and the history of their creation is actually carried with the item, amazingly enough. So you can actually equip this special item and see all the hands it passed between to get to you. Awesome.

Multiplayer runs quite nicely, though there's noticeable slow-down when a good amount of EX Force is present on the battlefield. The slow-down, fortunately, is tolerable, so it won't ruin your experience. All in all, this multiplayer is an excellent addition to an already astounding package.

CLOSING COMMENTS

There's absolutely no way I can fully describe and discuss all the systems and details in the Dissidia Final Fantasy experience as this game is massive. All you need to know is that the battle's are engaging, there's plenty to unlock/customize and this is a very well-made game.

Although non-Final Fantasy fans might be uninterested in this title, I still recommend it to every PSP owner out there. Knowledge of the franchise is fairly unimportant (though it does enhance the in-jokes and series references) and the characters stand on their own as enjoyable members of a solid fighting game roster. Even if this game didn't occupy the Final Fantasy universe, the amount of content you're getting on one UMD is mind-numbing and well worth the investment.

And ultimately, this game is a touching tribute to the franchise and a great reward for devoted fans. Don't miss it.

IGN RATINGS FOR DISSIDIA FINAL FANTASY (PSP)