Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy

The mechanics of the battle system include "EX Revenge" and "Assist". EX Mode functions exactly the same as the first game by collecting EX Cores around the battle map to fill up the EX gauge and transform the character into a more powerful state, which allows players to perform a powerful EX Burst attack should an HP attack land during EX Mode. The Assist system is a new element to the game which allows the player to summon an additional ally into battle to either assist in attacking the enemy or defend from an oncoming attack. It is performed using the Assist Gauge, which is built up by using Bravery Attacks.[6] Both modes are supposed to balance each other, because when an EX Burst is executed, the opponent's Assist Gauge is reduced to zero.

The three main countering systems are Assist Breaks, EX Breaks and EX Revenge. An Assist Break is performed by attacking the opponent's Assist character while the player is in EX Mode, causing him/her to be unable to call out the Assist character for a brief period; this also passes the stage's Bravery points to the character. An EX Break is performed by stopping an opponent's EX Mode through the use of an Assist attack which forces the opponent out of EX Mode, additionally passing the stage's Bravery points to the player. Lastly, EX Revenge occurs when trying to activate EX Mode while being attacked. While in the first game it would simply halt the opponent's attack, it now slows down time allowing the player to pummel the opponent instead, though it sacrifices the player's ability to use an EX Burst as it uses up the entire EX Gauge.[6]

A screenshot showing the single-player mode of the game. The game's world map, with new characters Lightning, Kain and Tifa as the three-member party.

The biggest addition is within the single-player story mode of the game, taking place on a traditional-styled Final Fantasy world map, with players being able to experience a story while exploring a world with scenarios and events taking place as the story progresses. Players traverse the 3D world map with parties consisting of up to five characters, with players being able to interact in conversations with the characters. When roaming the map, players will encounter enemies known as "Manikins"; when attacked by an enemy, players will be transported to a battle map where battles will take place. There are specially marked shops on the map. The story mode is also party based, similar to the story progression of Final Fantasy VI. In certain scenarios, parties will be predetermined, but in most cases players are free to select their own party.[7] Alongside the game's new story mode, the game also includes the first game's story, which has been remade with the 3D world map as well as additional elements added for the new storyline. Tetsuya Nomura, producer and character designer for the game, has said that both storylines played together would result in approximately 60 hours of gameplay.[8]

The game's main story revolves around the twelfth cycle of the eternal conflict between the gods Cosmos and Chaos, who have both summoned several warriors from different worlds [9] to fight for them in "World B", a mirror dimension to the realm of World A.[10] It features the entire cast of the original Dissidia with new and tweaked abilities, and introduces nine new playable characters for a total of thirty-one. Six of the new characters are available from the start of the game: Lightning, a former soldier and the protagonist of Final Fantasy XIII; Vaan, a sky pirate and the protagonist of XII;[6][7] Laguna Loire, the man who appears in Squall's dreams and the secondary protagonist of VIII;[7] Yuna, Tidus's love interest and female protagonist of X;[11][12] Kain Highwind, Cecil Harvey's childhood friend and rival from IV;[13] and Tifa Lockhart, Cloud Strife's childhood friend from VII.[7][13] The remaining three characters, which can be unlocked through various means of gameplay, are Prishe, a supporting character from Final Fantasy XI; Gilgamesh, a recurring villain from Final Fantasy V; and Feral Chaos,[lower-alpha 2] an alternate form of Chaos. Final Fantasy VII's Aerith Gainsborough was available as an assist-only character (i.e. not fully playable in the game) through the purchase of Dissidia 012 Prologus Final Fantasy on the PlayStation Network.[14]

During the twelfth cycle, the war is turning in favor of Chaos. Therefore, Cosmos entrusts her warriors with the task of retrieving the crystals that will help them defeat Chaos.[15] However, Cosmos does not foresee Chaos's forces employing an unworldly army of crystalline soldiers known as Manikins, which pose a threat due to their ability to negate the gods' power to revive the warriors after they are killed.[16] Believing their defeat to be inevitable, Kain and the Warrior of Light defeat most of their own allies to stop them from fighting the Manikins and return in the upcoming cycle.[17] Lightning opposes this plan and leads the other active warriors—Vaan, Yuna, Laguna, and Tifa—to stop the Manikins once and for all by sealing the portal from which they emerge, with Kain eventually joining them as well.[18] Though they succeed, Cosmos is reduced to a weakened state after using much of her power to diminish the Manikin army when they attempt to kill her and the Warrior of Light,[19] while Lightning and her group succumb to the Manikins' power and fade away.[20]

From there, the game retells the events of Dissidia Final Fantasy where returning warriors for Cosmos participate in the thirteenth cycle that ends the conflict between the gods. Once completing the thirteenth cycle, the player also has access to the third and final arc "Confessions of the Creator", in which Shinryu—a powerful entity that absorbs the warriors' memories and experiences following each cycle—traps Cosmos' comrade, Cid of the Lufaine, in a nightmare world where the cycles never end as punishment for saving Cosmos' warriors from the thirteenth cycle following Chaos' defeat. The player selects five characters to fight Feral Chaos, a stronger incarnation of Chaos, and save the imprisoned Cid from the nightmare world.[21][22]

In addition to the main story is a set of "Reports", most of which follow the other warriors who participate in the thirteenth cycle, explaining their roles before and during that cycle. Prominent characters in these reports include warriors of Cosmos—Terra, Cloud and Tidus—who fight for the side of Chaos during the twelfth cycle, and Chaos's warrior Jecht, who appears on the side of Cosmos, with the reports detailing how these characters came to switch sides. Furthermore, the Reports cover other events such as how the Warrior of Light enters the conflict and meets Cosmos's previous warriors Prishe and Shantotto, along with Gilgamesh's misadventures upon stumbling into World B.

Three other Square Enix games, Final Fantasy Trading Card Game, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix, and The 3rd Birthday, give players access to downloadable content in the form of alternate outfits for Vaan, Cloud Strife, and Lightning, respectively.[32][33] As of June 2011, the PlayStation Network has featured downloadable content for Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, including character costumes, avatars, and BGM packs.[34]