Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy!

Dissidia is returning…however.

Recently, Square Enix announced the newest entry to Final Fantasy’s Dissidia series. This entry is Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy. At the same time, it is good that the Dissidia franchise is still alive and kicking. There is one caveat: the game is coming to mobile via iOS and Android in 2026.

The game being mobile causes me to worry because Square Enix has axed a lot of their mobile games lately. The only exceptions have been FF7 Ever Crisis and Octopath Traveler’s mobile game. Square has also cancelled the development of Kingdom Hearts Missing Link.

So, there is cause to be concerned about Dissidia Duellum’s longevity. Hopefully, the game will have a long lifespan. Also, I hope the game comes to PC and console. That is my personal wish since I don’t like mobile games.

About Duellum

Now let’s talk about the game itself. Interestingly, the game is set in modern-day Tokyo. A large blue crystal appears in the city. While the crystal becomes a familiar staple of society in due time, monsters appear to pollute the crystal.

The monsters polluting the crystal are causing the citizens despair.  But not fear! Mysterious warriors appear to slay the monsters. With the monsters slain, the warriors disappear from the public’s sight. The citizens refer to these warriors as "Ghosts." These ghosts are our beloved FF heroes from different games.

Gameplay

These heroes are the likes of Cloud, Lightning, Terra, Zidane, Rinoa, and several others. The gameplay is similar to Dissidia NT, where you have 3v3 teams in boss area battles. Your team will be facing another team in a race to defeat the boss and its minions.

Defeating monsters near the crystal allows you to accumulate Bravery. When you max out bravery, you can release it with a powerful attack called Bravery Burst. You can attack with Bravely Burst or other powerful abilities to vanquish the boss.

There are four roles for each warrior. These types ranged from Melee, Range, Support, and Agile. Each role has a particular function. For example, melee characters have high offensive stats, so they can lead and help the frontline.  Ranged characters execute long-range attacks and abilities from the back.

Support characters have tools to support your other characters. These tools allow you to use your party members’ unique abilities to your advantage. Finally, agile fighters dash at high speeds with their abilities. They also cause some major damage in battle with high mobility.

In the trailer, various characters were using their limit breaks. Cloud unleashes his infamous Omnislash. Zidane transforming into his Trance. Whether limit breaks are special attacks or unique abilities is anyone’s guess.

Presentation

The art style of this game is a cel-shaded, realistic anime style. I am digging into this style. Also, some of the drips the characters are sporting are awesome. The only one I have mixed feelings about is Cloud with the ripped jeans and the hoodie. The hoodie looks cool, but I’m not feeling those jeans.

Lightning looks gorgeous and cool as always. Terra is rocking it with the schoolgirl outfit. While Rinoa and Prompto are looking good and cool with their modern ensembles.  They are already wearing modern threads since their games are in modern settings. But their Duellum outfits suit them. Players will be able to customize their characters’ fits with different variations.

New Ghosts

No doubt there will be more characters added to Duellum. This is confirmed in the trailer, as there was a panel with the feature: ever-expanding characters. There are a couple of silhouettes that look similar to FF10’s Rikku and FF16 protagonist Clive Rosfield.

Clive's move set for Duellum will be interesting. In FF16, he wields the powers of various summons in the game. Clive’s primary powers come from Ifrit. So how he plays on Duellum will be interesting.

I’m Conflicted

Don’t get me wrong. I am glad Dissidia is coming back. The game also has a cool concept with the crystal, the monsters, and modern-day Tokyo being the setting. The art of characters’ ability panels and their drip is being made by a lot of talented artists. Duellum has such beautiful and cool visuals.

This game being a mobile makes me conflicted about the whole thing. I am not a fan of mobile games.  More importantly, there are my earlier concerns about the lifespan of Duellum. I am hoping that Square Enix does not kill this game too quickly.

The only mobile gameI have ever played was Genshin Impact. But I didn’t know that the game was free to play, nor did I know it was a gacha game. Of course, I had fun with Genshin Impact. It’s a great game with a great overarching story, amazing characters with awesome designs, and a nice combat system.

I would have preferred Duellum to be on console, mobile, and PC like Genshin Impact. But I am still hoping that Duellum is a success. Since it is Dissidia, I want this game to be a success so Square Enix will bring back the franchise with more games.

I also hope the closed beta test will be a success. The closed beta test will be held from November 7^th to the 14^th. This will be our first sign of how well Duellum will perform. And I hope it's a good performance.

Sources: Gematsu