Dissidia Impressions *MAJOR SPOILER*

[NeoCracker]

...Creepy.

BUt really, I think it's in part due to dialogue that is vastly superior to VIII's. For examnple, (This spoiler comes from a scene around the Middle of the Warrior of Light's Story)(SPOILER)WoL comes across Squall, who is traveling alone. They exchange a few brief words and squall says "We each must face our challanges alone. Thats what Cosmos told me." It wasn't exactly like that, and twas worded better, and when paired up with his English voice actor, comes across in the way they probably intended Squall to be, if that makes much sense. I can't really find good words to explain it. :P

You mean the way he's always been

Yeah, only far less forced and well written.

[Wolf Kanno]

You mean the way he's always been

Yeah, well written.

Fixed it for you

Just finished all ten heroes. Going to play through story mode again to collect extra stuff and level.

Bartz is tricky to use but he is fun (SPOILER)(though fighting that high level Kuja manikin sucked...).

Zidane is basically a cross between Tidus and OK. Very combo friendly, great aerial superiority, not very powerful but can Brave break surprisingly well. He's got quite a few tricky projectiles too which threw me off considering I never got to fight him with decent levels.

WoL, was very awkward after playing as all of the other specialty character for so long. It took awhile to adjust to him for me and he pretty much won my vote for hardest story mode.

I decided to play through all the story modes again to collect the sealed off loot and raise some levels. I also unlocked the villains. Kefka is fun to play but doesn't have access to all of his really nasty spells though his blizzard spell is pretty fun.

Golbez is a cheap SOB and I love him for it... I'll play the rest later, though leveling them might be a bit time consuming.

I just need to finish story mode and unlock Shantatto (sp?) and Gabranth (His voice seems a bit off or maybe I just haven't played XII in awhile...)

[NeoCracker]

You mean the way he's always been

Yeah, well written.

Broke it beyond repair, due to my strong desires to be penetrated by the gunblade, for you

Anyway, as I said, both Tidus and Squall have become decent characters, Squall consistantly showing a depth in his dialogue that completely lacked in his game. (The only thing I recall him saying in VIII that had any real meaning was the whole 'No right and wrong, only two sides' thing.)

Though yes, out of the three stories beaten, WoL is definately the biggest pain in the ass of them, and he's the first one I did. It's not that he's awkward to play as after playing the others, it's that he has no reliable HP attacks at early levels. Hell, he hasn't learned any and I have him at around 25 right now.

[Wolf Kanno]

I lucked out and got some really good equipment that he seems to be the only one able to wear which really boost his Brave stat and Hp. I wish I had discovered his long rang Hp attack earlier cause it would have saved me so much time.

The thing that makes his story mode so difficult (besides having the highest amount of battles next to Bartz) is that most of his random encounters are equiped with this obnoxious accessory that raises their Brave as they raise their EX gauge. It makes Brave Breaking damn near impossible and them acquiring an EX Core becomes an almost game over depending on who you are fighting against. (SPOILER)Not to mention his high level optional encounter is with CoD. That was fair, the most close range heavy character versus someone who has tons of long range Hp attacks and she gets to start with a huge boost of Brave at the start of the encounter... She just needs to break you once and then she will have enough Brave to instant kill you... Only Bartz and Tidus had similar broken fights against Kuja and Kefka respectively.

Playing through Cecil's story arc again with a better understanding of the combat system (and full dark gear) Cecil is just too much fun for me. He flows so much better and I now know how to counter his weaknesses better. Hopefully I can gain his uber powerful ground based Dark wave attack or his Paladin form's holy projectile.

[Skyblade]

...Creepy.

BUt really, I think it's in part due to dialogue that is vastly superior to VIII's. For examnple, (This spoiler comes from a scene around the Middle of the Warrior of Light's Story)(SPOILER)WoL comes across Squall, who is traveling alone. They exchange a few brief words and squall says "We each must face our challanges alone. Thats what Cosmos told me." It wasn't exactly like that, and twas worded better, and when paired up with his English voice actor, comes across in the way they probably intended Squall to be, if that makes much sense. I can't really find good words to explain it. :P

You mean the way he's always been

That scene is more amusing after you play through Squall's story. Anyway, I just finished Squall's chapter. I really like Squall, he's got some weakness' (made very apparent in his battle with Ultimecia) but overall, he's actually quite nasty though I was sad to learn that the Bahamut summon isn't nearly as good as it should be unless its got some exploitative ability I'm unaware of.

Bartz is definetly one of the funnier stories and unlike some of the other "funny" stories, its intentional!

Bartz has proven to be one of the hardest character to use. His chapter has also proven to be one of the most difficult for me. He doesn't seem to gain levels quickly like the others and I can't seem to get 2 AP from battles like the other characters despite having similar equipment set ups. His abilities also cost quite a bit so you quickly find yourself making really tough decisions. He's also cursed with every other mime class problem in the main series and has very "average" stats. On the bright side, he can equip almost anything except for character specific gear. His summon is also pretty neat. His starting skills seem quite good in the beginning but they lack the flow of other characters so you have to be really careful how you set him up. Hopefully, I'll finish his chapter in the morning once my PSP recharges and I get some rest.

Also, Favorite lines in the game so far...

(SPOILER)Kefka: (talking about Sephiroth) He's just another sadist with a god complex. Whats so special about that?

Bartz: Holy Cosmos! It's a talking rock!

Pay attention to your calendar bonuses. You probably had AP+ days when training the others.

Bartz is awesome. He is my best character so far (haven't played Terra, because I want to relish the anticipation of playing her awesomeness). He is a little more complex than the others, but he is massively overpowered when you know how to use him.

His EX mode seems pitiful. He has only 1 ability besides Regen. But that ability is Goblin Punch, which is the most overpowered Brave Attack in the game. Seriously. Do the Triangle dash toward your opponent, and trigger it. It has no cast time, at all, and, since it's a brave attack, it can't be blocked. If you're in close range, it always hits, and you can then cancel the EX burst, and use it again. It is a combo Brave and HP attack, so you can just spam the hell out of it. It will wipe lower level characters in a heartbeat, and anyone who is the same level as you suddenly finds out just how scary it's bonus (massive attack boost against same level enemies) is. Against higher level enemies, it is one of Bartz's best survivability because it can hit and knock them back, giving you time to Regen lost health or just take a breather from some of the psychotic attacks from the 80+ rare enemies in Shade Impulse.

[Wolf Kanno]

I noticed the AP thing later I'm afraid. :sweatdrop:

Bartz is fun but there are times I felt he just couldn't use some of the skills as well as his counterparts. For instance, he gets Terra's Holy spell but due to his lack of long range abilities beyond it, he suffered from its weaknesses more than Terra did since she has several other long range abilities that are good for accompanying it (or Tornado to block the reflected attacks and enemy counter attacks) so you really had to learn to use his skills a bit differently. Though Cloud and Firion's move seem to really compliment each other, though I would prefer having Squall's cause he's a beast on the ground.

Though I agree on Goblin Punch just owning

[Skyblade]

You get Flare to chain from Holy, eventually. Giving him an HP chain move (the only one he's gotten by level 85 so probably the only one he can get) to use at range, and there are times when it comes in handy.

His combos work differently than the characters they are derived from, but I don't think they're worse. Slidehazzard is an excellent air attack. It closes with the enemy, does good combo damage, and finishes with a wall rush. Climbarrel is a nice Cloud/Squall combo that does a rush toward his opponent, moving into Squall's gunblade combo.

Oh, and he also gets Terra's Flood Spam.

[McLovin']

These early levels are really hard. >.<

[NeoCracker]

I didn't get a damned second HP attack with Firion until level smurfing 30!

[Wolf Kanno]

You guys must be booking it with the game cause most of my characters are not even level 20 yet except for three of them.

[Masamunemaster]

Ive done everyones story twice except for tidus which Im in the middle of

[Crimson]

I didn't get a damned second HP attack with Firion until level smurfing 30!

Hate to break it to ya but Firion doesnt get much better either.


Straight Arrow is pathetically easy to dodge and is best used only as a block counter.

Weaponsmaster is only good if your opponent is stupid enough to get himself stuck in a corner, which is VERY rare on Ad Hoc.

Your only semi-decent moves are Double Trouble and Shield Bash, overall, poor Firion doesnt have much going for him.

[Skyblade]

Ooh, at level 100 you get three new abilities. You can only equip one at a time, but they convert the Exp you would have gotten into either HP, Brave, or EX Force. So each HP attack will revitalize your character a little.

In the case of Bartz, I'm trying Exp to EX Force first. It lets him last longer in EX Mode for his Goblin Spam.

[Wolf Kanno]

traight Arrow is pathetically easy to dodge and is best used only as a block counter.

Weaponsmaster is only good if your opponent is stupid enough to get himself stuck in a corner, which is VERY rare on Ad Hoc.

Your only semi-decent moves are Double Trouble and Shield Bash, overall, poor Firion doesnt have much going for him.

You know, I feel Firion is being underestimated cause Double Trouble is easily his best Hp attack since he combos into it with either Rope Blade or his Axe Throw move. He actually has a high chance of Brave Breaking and inflicting damage at once which is pretty neat. Not to mention if he's in EX Mode, his Blood Weapons will restore his health based on the damage he inflicts with his Hp attack. That combination makes him really nasty in my book. In the hands of a skilled player, he would be very difficult to deal with. It does suck that he has the worst starting HP attack in the game though...

[Crimson]

traight Arrow is pathetically easy to dodge and is best used only as a block counter.

Weaponsmaster is only good if your opponent is stupid enough to get himself stuck in a corner, which is VERY rare on Ad Hoc.

Your only semi-decent moves are Double Trouble and Shield Bash, overall, poor Firion doesnt have much going for him.

You know, I feel Firion is being underestimated cause Double Trouble is easily his best Hp attack since he combos into it with either Rope Blade or his Axe Throw move. He actually has a high chance of Brave Breaking and inflicting damage at once which is pretty neat. Not to mention if he's in EX Mode, his Blood Weapons will restore his health based on the damage he inflicts with his Hp attack. That combination makes him really nasty in my book. In the hands of a skilled player, he would be very difficult to deal with. It does suck that he has the worst starting HP attack in the game though...

I do agree up till the last part, Kuja by far has the worst starting HP attack. In any case, Firion could be good, but with the mandatory logic of how you play and win in Dissidia, he has far too many flaws and exploitable weaknesses which he would get severely punished for in Inward Chaos or Ad Hoc.