Fans can expect new additions to Dissidia 012 Duodeceim Final Fantasy’s fighting system as well as changes to characters from the original Dissidia. Fans may be glad to hear that all of the original characters will be returning for round two.

Last week, gamers found out that Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII and Kain from Final Fantasy IV will be making an appearance in the upcoming sequel. According to designer Tetsuya Nomura, Kain's jump skill, which was originally in Final Fantasy IV, will incorporate well into Dissidia's gameplay. It will allow him to position himself above enemies, which will definitely be an advantage. Lightning’s combat abilities will be based on the paradigm system in Final Fantasy XIII. Players will be able to switch between battle roles like commando, ravager and medic. With the paradigm shift system, Lightning should be able to change strategy according to the situation.

There is still a lot of mystery surrounding the changes made for Duodeceim, but Nomura promised there will definitely be an assortment of new characters. Nomura claimed they are limited on how much more content they can fit on the UMD, which may lead gamers to speculate on a possible format change in the future. Hopefully, fans will see the Dissidia series hit consoles. Director Mitsunori Takahashi also stated that owners of the original Dissidia will be able to import their saved files to the new game, but he will not say how it will affect gameplay. Most likely, Duodeceim players will be able to play leveled up version of Final Fantasy characters from Dissidia.

Dissidia is a fighting game that spans the entire Final Fantasy series. The original game featured characters from Final Fantasy games up to Final Fantasy X. Unlike more conventional fighting games like BlazBlue or Tekken, Dissidia is played from a 3rd person perspective, making the gameplay feel more like an action game than fighting. Stages were huge, featured multitier levels, and unique, making every stage a different experience. Dissidia features ten different story lines – one for every protagonist.

Duodeceim will make an appearance this year at the Tokyo Game Show before its release next year in Japan. It’s still too early for a North American release date, but it is likely to happen given Square Enix’s track record of releasing most of their games stateside.

[Source: 1UP.com]