Dissidia Final Fantasy is one interesting series that was first made for handhelds, but has now became a game for the arcades and will soon have a home release on the PS4. Yet the most interesting decision Square Enix has made with the game is to finally bring the game to EVO, the premier fighting game tournament event, to showcase the upcoming PS4 release. They even had a panel to introduce and showcase the game to fighting game enthusiasts.
Ichiro Hazama, producer of Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, loved the crowd at Evo and hoped that their game can be a part of it. “The energy from the players is absolutely incredible. I wanted to build a title that could play a part in that atmosphere as well.”
The panel basically introduces the story of the game, its basic mechanics and character classes. While fans of the game should know of what is shared in the panel, the focus was to sell the game as a fighting game for the audience, and judging from the responses at the panel, it sure did the job.
When it comes to esports potential, Square Enix is taking a hands-off approach for now. “We currently don’t have a major goal in regards to esports, but we have come to understand that esports in general is far more community (rather than company) driven,” said Hazama. It’s better for the community to grow organically and have the publishers and developers come later on, there are examples of games being pushed for esports too early which failed hard.
The panel entirely can be viewed here (starts at 8:52, high-level gameplay footage can be found at 32:00)
There is a closed beta signup for Dissidia Final Fantasy NT. While it prioritise players from the Americas and Europe, but you could try and sign up here. The game will be out on the PS4 in 2018.