Lets get this out of the way first. Instead of a cohesive story mode where it's integrated into the gameplay, you have to grind for cutscenes through playing multiple battles. Depending how well you do in each round of battle you play, you earn memory shards/memoria (in-game currency) to spend on cutscenes. Average I say you have to do around 5-10 rounds (depending how good you are) before you can purchase a 30 second cutscene. Each round lasting around 2 minutes (unless you do a lot of hit-and-run tactics) Story itself is okay. There's an alternate dimension where someone summons all the notable Final Fantasy characters to save the their universe. Fun that we get characters interacting from different games, but they amount to one-liners, scripted philosophical saying, and fan service lines at best. Story is a sequel to the PSP games, but it's a standalone tale so playing the prior installment is not necessary. Most characters seem to know each other, so there's no miscommunication battles or test of strength for friendship this time around. Gameplay: The core hook is the gameplay. If the gameplay doesn't interest you or if you're not a hardcore Final Fantasy fan, this game may not be for you. The Dissidia series is a 3D arena fighting game where you are free to move around a 3D space while attacking your enemies. Think Kindom Hearts but multiplayer 3v3 battles. In this game you have to manage two meters. You health meter and your brave meter. There are 2 different types of attacks one that drains HP and one that drains brave meter. Brave meter is essentially how much damage you can do to the health, so if you do a move that effects the brave meter it drains your opponents brave meter while increasing your own. Basically you're just buffing/debuffing each others attack. There's a huge risk, tug-of-war rewards system here as if you max out your brave meter while completely draining your opponents you can do a one-hit KO. There's also a team life system. Aside from the one life you start with, you get 3 additional lives shared among your party...which can be a good or bad thing depending on what side you're on. If you pair up with a noob, the other team may beat up on the weakest link and make you lose the game. This may end up being toxic as you can be screaming to your team to git gud. There's also a summons that appear as EX crystals in the map which you have to break to access. Once you unleash summon it'll do a devastating AOE attack There's also a class system. Each class has a specific attribute to them. They essentially suppose to be a rock-paper-scissors effectiveness, but there's no super effective moves, just those who are better utilized over the other. Also there's a huge gap in stats in the roster as there are characters that are overpowered over the others. Seems like those who are most popular as more overpowered than those lesser known ones for some reason. They are overpowered in the sense that moves are easier to pull off, but theoretically everyone is balanced if you have perfect game sense and button execution. Classes include: Assassins: Fast characters, but low defense Marksmen: Range attackers Vanguards: practically close combat brawlers. Easy for beginners to pick up Specialists: Combination of all 3 classes Online. Runs smooth, but takes a long time for the game to partner you up with 2 other people. Sometimes the wait times are shorter than the matches depending on the time of day you're playing There are two types of in-game currency in the game. Gil and Memoria. Memoria as mentioned before are used to purchase cutscenes, while Gil is used to purchase player icons, character greetings, costumes/skins, and music. There are also treasure chests you can obtain, which are the game's loot box system. You get random drops of 3 items mentioned before with gil. You earn memoria, Gil and treasure chests through playing gauntlet mode and playing online. Gauntlet mode is essentially survival mode with a AI. Overall, good game if you have competitive friends to play with, or like to grind for cutscenes. There are ways to watch all cutscenes online, but you don't get the satisfaction of earning them I guess. Excellent game for hardcore fans of the Final Fantasy series