Final Fantasy Dissidia NT Shows Esports Potential

Final Fantasy Dissidia NT seems like a fighting game dream come true for fans, taking some of the coolest heroes and villains from the vast Final Fantasy series and putting them head to head in an exchange of magic and steel. While there could have been a small competitive scene for the two PSP titles, the newest entry in the series has a good chance at seeing some high level competition. Final Fantasy Dissidia NT is a home port of the arcade game that’s been popular in Japan called Dissidia Final Fantasy. Now that it is available globally, the battles are starting to heat up.

Dissidia NT is an arena fighter that puts teams of three against each other. The battle system involves a lot of dodging, spacing, and timing all while keeping track of teammate actions and enemy moves. It looks super hectic on screen, but is actually fairly easy to understand after sitting through a tutorial or two.

The main draw for Dissidia NT though is the Final Fantasy brand, one of the most recognizable names in video games. This is similar to how Dragon Ball FighterZ was boosted into popularity by riding on that fandom, while also appealing to hardcore players. However, the combination of team play with an arena fighter could interest esports players and viewers in Dissidia NT for an interesting mix of a community. Right before the game was fully released, Amazon teamed up with Square Enix to put on a tournament, really showing that the game has some faith from those that are needed to organize and fund large events.

So, what sort of players could appear out of Dissidia NT tournaments and what sort of entertainment value is there for viewers?

To really get a bead on the Dissidia NT scene, we talked to all three members of Marvel is Anime, (MannyFresh, BeautifulDude, and Jona) the team that took first place at the Amazon x Square Enix Fantasy Tournament. Each of these players came from other competitive fighting games, coming together as friends to try something new. 

We asked MannyFresh what drew him to Dissidia NT. “For me, personally,” he began, “I've always been a fan of the series. I wasn't into the FGC at the time I played the prior ones, but I immediately fell in love with NT. It allows me to incorporate good defense, movement around the screen, and spacing just like any other fighting game.”

“I'd say the biggest appeal is the necessary awareness of everything going on around you. If your teammate slams an opponent against the wall near you, you have to be aware whether it's best for you to convert or your teammate. Same goes for the other side. If your teammate gets slammed against the wall, you have to have the awareness to save your teammate from taking damage.”

As far as the deeper mechanics at work in the game, we asked BeautifulDude what he enjoys about it, “Dissidia itself is very unique as its a 3v3 fighting game, which is also what I enjoy the most about it. You need to be very aware of what's going on around you, so you don't get hit, while also making sure your teammates are in trouble or not and helping as needed.”

Just watching clips from these tournaments, it seems like there is a lot of information to keep track of in a match. BeautifulDude explained, “I feel like Dissidia NT is a very difficult game at the high level because of what I just said, but that's also why I like it so much. It's a breath of fresh air for me!”

Jona also mentioned some of his thought process while in a match, as well as some tips for players looking to reach that level. 

“Awareness in neutral and knowing when it's safe to attack are absolutely key in NT. Without it, you'll just take damage constantly that could've been easily avoided.”

“NT is a new experience for many fighting game players in the sense that when you mess up and get hit, your team suffers with you. One wrong decision can shift the match in the opposing team's favor, which can result in a downward slope if the team doesn't pick up the slack. Getting hit by anything in this game is the equivalent to getting hit by a strong starter in most fighting games, due to the context of being in a team.”

“Upon getting hit by an HP attack, the victim is essentially out of the game for 10 seconds or so, leaving the remaining teammates to try to deal with a disadvantageous scenario.”

When it comes to actually participating in events, BeautifulDude talked about the challenges and the differences by region, “A lot of the stronger players do not or cannot come out to many events it seems, but at least southern California has a decent amount of people that can go to things including my teammate Jona In Japan, its hella popping with the arcade and console scene.” 

“Dissidia NT seems big in Japan when I was there, but I think a lot more needs to be done to ensure its active globally in my opinion. Maybe some sort of tournament mode to have everything unlocked for example.”

We asked Jona if he think that Dissidia NT could stick around and get more players and more community interaction. “I think the online scene will always flourish, due to how well the game's selling at the moment.”

Jona also mentioned the past PSP games. “The scene for Dissidia has always been online, since ad hoc party was the main way to play with other people. Dissidia didn't really have any offline tourneys back then.”

Much like Monster Hunter World's recent success, Dissidia NT is finding early success in part due to releasing on a main platform with much higher fidelity in the graphics. 

We asked the team what it was like to win the gold at that major tournament. MannyFresh responded, “It was a pretty remarkable experience. The pressure and nervousness didn't really hit until we were playing in Grand Finals. Prior to that it was smooth sailing as far as nerves go.”

Jona talked about the energy at the event, “I thought people were very fired up for the tournament, since I think teams always add a new layer of hype to a fighting game, like with team tournaments in other games.”

“It always feels awesome to compete with my team, so this tournament was no exception! The Grand Finals set was such a wave of emotions for all three of us, and it's an experience I'm sure we'll always remember.”

Lastly we asked if other esports players should look into Dissidia NT. “I think everyone should give the game a try,” said MannyFresh. “Fighting game players will be strong as an individual player, but will learn quickly that they need to coordinate with their team. As for MOBA players, they might not be strong individually, but with coordination they'll be able to overcome a less coordinated team.”

Jona did say that he wanted to keep playing Dissidia NT with his team. “I love the game a lot, so I mainly just want to keep playing it out of the sheer enjoyment of it! For now, we just want to level up and enjoy the game as much as possible!”

BeautifulDude wasn’t sure if the game would catch on as much as say Dragon Ball FighterZ has. “Competitively I'm not 100 percent sure where Dissidia is gonna be a year from now, but I know this game is gonna sell pretty dang well. In Japan it sold 100k units, or something like that, in its first week and I can only imagine something similar in America now that it is out here as well! The love for the Final Fantasy brand is super real and I also think it's an amazing game to boot!”

He added, “I definitely think everyone should give this game a shot including my fellow fighting game players. Dissidia is unique fighting game with it's team based 3v3 style but it also has a lot of depth. Also it's easy to get into at a baseline level, but quickly becomes a much bigger challenge at higher levels!”

Whether Final Fantasy Dissidia NT sticks around in the competitive scene or not, these players will likely never forget that moment of triumph.

For more content on the fighting game community, check out this piece on Marvel VS Capcom Infinite missing out at EVO.