Parent's Guide: Dissidia Final Fantasy NT - Age rating, mature content and difficulty

What is Dissidia Final Fantasy NT?

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is a frantic Final Fantasy-themed beat 'em up, bringing a wide range of perennial series favourites together for one massive brawl. With everyone from recent FFXV protagonist Noctis to old favourites like Cloud Strife, Squall Leonhart and a handful of bad guys (Sephiroth, Kefka) all finding themselves transported to a mysterious realm, it falls to them to help save it from the brink of destruction by fighting amongst themselves - because apparently the world requires the power from battles to survive. As such, it's up to you and your dream team of Final Fantasy stars to set about duking it out with our big names from the Final Fantasy world, in fast and frantic three-on-three battles, working together to win the match - and save the world in the process.

How do you play Dissidia Final Fantasy NT?

At its most basic, fighting in Dissidia is all about making good use of your two main types of attack for maximum damage - your Bravery attacks, and HP attacks. Every character has two main bars - their Bravery, and their health, or HP. Hitting enemies with your standard 'Bravery' attack will let you sap their bravery and add it to your own, which in turn will boost the amount of damage your HP attacks do. HP attacks do what they say on the tin, and are the only way to drain your opponent's health. If you build up enough Bravery that it starts glowing purple, that signals you'll be able to take out your opponent with just one HP move. The alternative 'Core Battle' mode adds a bit of variety, seeing you and your team working to defend a crystal core whilst trying to destroy your enemies' core to win, but the specifics of the battle system stay the same.

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT doesn't really have a specific story mode as such, with the section of the menu labelled as 'Story Mode' simply hosting a collection of cutscenes, along with the odd single player battle. To unlock both these battles and the cutscenes, you'll need to earn 'Memoria' crystals in the main single player mode, Gauntlet Mode. Here you and your team of three face off against a series of other teams of steadily increasing difficulty, one after the other, as you try to fight your way to the end of the series. NT also has support for online multiplayer, either against strangers of a similar skill level or with friends.

How easy is Dissidia Final Fantasy NT to pick up and play?

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is one of those games that is designed to be pretty tricky, requiring you to properly get to grips with your chosen character and the ins and outs of the battle system before you'll manage to reach the end of even the first fight in Gauntlet Mode. Fortunately, you'll still unlock new moves for your characters and earn Memoria to unlock cutscenes even if you fail, but the game is set up to be a pretty tough ride from the off - and with no adjustable difficulty mode, and no real other single player modes to play instead, it's definitely one for those who appreciate a tough challenge. There is a lengthy tutorial that talks you through the basics, but despite its length, you'll still need to figure out how the game's systems all fit together on your own.

Outside of the tutorial segments, which explain the game entirely through text, there's not a great deal of reading to be done in Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, and all the cutscenes are fully voiced. Subtitles do exist, but they'll need to be turned on via the Options menu.

Sample Sentences:

• "While you can't defeat an opponent with bravery attacks alone, you can leave them broken by reducing their bravery below zero. As a bonus for doing so, your bravery will increase by the amount indicated by the break bonus number."
• "Now, let's learn about summons - powerful beings who bestow blessings upon your party and unleash fury upon your enemies. Summons can be called forth once the summon gauge is full. Attacking foes will fill the gauge slightly, but it fills faster when you destroy summoning cores."
• "Recover memories of what transpired in this realm by expending memoria and unlocking panels. The blue panels represent cutscenes, meaning you will not encounter any foes by selecting them. Sit back and enjoy."

On the whole, Dissidia Final Fantasy is a fairly middle of the road game as far as mature content goes.

In terms of violence, characters will attack each other with weapons (swords, staffs, packs of cards) and various magical spells (fire balls, ice shards, summoned creatures), accompanied by explosions, bright flashes of light and cries of pain, with no blood and gore shown.

A fair few of the characters wear revealing outfits that barely cover breasts and buttocks, often just about obscuring anything too 'naughty' behind a thin wisp of fabric. One character can transform into a pink glowing version of herself, which appears to be naked, although the glow obscures any discernible details such as nipples. As for bad language, the word 'b*stard' crops up on occasion.

Online multiplayer lets you battle against both friends and strangers over the internet, and while there is an in-game communication system, it's also limited to a set of stock phrases.

Age Ratings

Format Reviewed: Playstation 4