Dissidia

[NabMaster]

Just adding a bit onto Josiah's guide, if you want to master your abilities instead of Quick Battling I recommend doing the Duel Colliseum on Airship mode, that way you'll get a bunch of items out of it as well which makes getting your good weapons/armor easier too.

[Josiah]

All the items are definately a plus. I like Quick Battle for AP since you can set all the enemies to level 1 and blow through them really quickly, but Duel Colliseum definately has its advantages.

[NabMaster]

Speaking of which, what's your favourite Job combo? I'm definitely liking Knight (+1 card in hand), Thief (more medallions per fight), and Red Mage (don't discard cards, all treasure is free).

[Josiah]

Haven't done much with Duel Colliseum yet so I don't have a strong opinion yet. Been focusing on mastering all the story modes. Done all of them except Inward Chaos (which is gonna wait till I get some max level gear) but I still need to clear Shade Impulse 4 with every character to get all the Cosmos Reports.

[Stevenson]

I've played a little of Dissidia in Japanese and it's pretty cool. I'll likely be playing as Squall a lot since he's one of my favorite FF characters, though I suppose I'll have to see how he handles in game before I decide.

That said, Ultimecia wasn't that good of a villian. The final battle was cool (though having your part members selected at random was just annoying) and yeah she has some ability to control time and space, but she's got virtually no backstory. She's some evil sorceress from the future who wants to control the world just because. And, she she doesn't even show up till nearly the end of the game (she's a mentioned a couple times, but you don't see her), there isn't even any time to develop her personality. Sephiroth is such a popular villian because of his tragic backstory and the history he shared with Cloud. On the opposite end, Kefka is such a popular villian because, despite a weak backstory, his crazy "watch the world burn" personality was so well done. Ultimecia lacked both of those elements and, as much as I like FFVIII (it's my second favorite FF after X), I've got to say that she's a disapointing weak point in it.

A final villain with no backstory in a Final Fantasy game? That's never happened before...except for in 1, 3, 4, and 9.

[Josiah]

FF: Choas has a little backstory. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but he does. And Dissidia actually expands on it.
FFII: Not that FFII had a very deep story, but the final boss's identity is pretty clear from early on, so that's good.
FFIII: Once again, the story in general is kinda shallow, as is the villian, but you still know who she is for a decent portion of the game.
FFIV: Kain's not really bad, he's just being controlled by Golbez, who is really being control by Zemus, who gets killed right before you can fight him and replaced with Zeromus who is something like Zemus's evil energy personified... Yeah, that was a mess.
FFV: The main villian is revealed early on and stays consistant. Too bad his "giant evil tree" form didn't make it into Dissidia.
FFVI: No surprises here. Kefka is clearly the main villian for most of the game and there's no sudden switch at the end.
FFVII: Same here. Sephiroth is the bad guy, no surprises.
FFVIII: Ultimecia has a little bit of a backstory but her motives are vague and you don't find out that she's been controlling things till near the end of the game. But she's still much better than...
FFIX: After you defeat the guy who was the main villian for the entire story, your party is immediately attacked by some random avatar of death and destruction that no one ever heard of before. That was lame.
FFX: It was an easy fight, and the true final boss of X is never going to have much popularity since he's a total wimp, but it fits the story and you knew it was coming for a decent amount of time.
FFXII: It takes a while before you really get a feel for who the final boss might be, and he just doesn't have enough backstory or personality (which can unfortunately be said of most of XII's characters), but at least he's around for most of the story.

[NabMaster]

FFX's final boss was incredibly lame - all of it's forms. I'm pretty sure any one of the Arena bosses could have destroyed him with ease and Nemesis wouldn't be a fair fight in the slightest.

[Josiah]

The US PS3 store finally got the PSP Ad Hoc upgrade. It's a free download that lets you play most local multiplayer PSP games over the internet, by going through your PS3. So, if anyone has both Dissidia and a PS3, we could get some multiplayer going sometime.

[NabMaster]

Awesome, we'll have to play when I get back home for Christmas!

[Josiah]

I'll be on vacation for part of Christmas break, but yeah, we should play if the timing works out.

[NabMaster]

Hm...well I have my 5th level 100 now (uber slow pace due to school) and I'm still having a ridiculous amount of trouble with Inward Chaos. I used Kuja on the final level, absolutely destroyed Ulti (I don't think she hit me once) but then it's Kuja's turn and I just can't get anywhere I've now tried that level with Firion (got to Chaos), Emperor Mateus (got to Chaos), Squall (got to Chaos), Ultimecia (got nowhere), and Kuja (got to 2nd enemy).

[Josiah]

Ya reelly be needin' ta learn how ta dodge that their Chaos fellow's attacks if you be wantin' to clear that stage. Bettin that Magic Pawt summon and level 99 equipment may give ya a leg up too.

[NabMaster]

Welp, I gots ter that Kay-aws feller an' he's puttin' up quite the fight! It's always that whatchamacallit, the horizontal brav'ry attack that whups me. That an' Condemn if ah'm not quite fast enough on the dodgin'. Got ter form 3 wiv Koo-jah though.

[Josiah]

Don't dispair! Ignore reality and breakthrough with the power of your fighting spirit!!! Fight back using everything you have, including single use accessories! If you have a high brave and use the accessory that lets you start each round with the mighty power of a full EX Guage, nothing will be able to stand against you! Rise up and pierce Chaos with the blade of justice!!!

[NabMaster]

Ha! With Squall's mighty blade, IC Chaos has been given the chance to quote Shakespeare and speak aloud, "O! I am dead!" This darkest of obstacles has at last been felled; come my fellows, tonight we celebrate with a feast!