Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy Preview: Fashionable Factions

The Dissidia Final Fantasy spin-off series is making a return, but in a whole new form, as Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy is a free-to-play game coming to Android and iOS devices on March 24, 2026. DualShockers had a chance to preview Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy ahead of launch, which meant hands-on time with the new Final Fantasy crossover.

Dissidia has become a subseries of the Final Fantasy series, in which characters from across the franchise face each other on the battlefield. Usually, these are fighting games, translating the mechanics of each hero and villain into that genre, such as Tifa from Final Fantasy 7 as a fast brawler, or Terra from Final Fantasy 6 as a ranged character who blasts people with spells.

Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy is more of an action game, being closer to Ever Crisis than the original Dissidia Final Fantasy. Perhaps the biggest shake-up is the setting, as it's somewhere the Final Fantasy series has seldom gone before.

Dissidia Duellum Brings Final Fantasy Characters Into the Real World

Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy starts out by asking the player's favorite Final Fantasy, bringing up an absolutely gargantuan list of names. Unfortunately, this only seems to determine one of the titles on your character profile.

Once the profile is set up, the intro movie starts, and to the shock of no one, Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy 7 kicks things off, following Sephiroth through a portal. Instead of ending up in Kingdom Hearts or Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the two enter the real-world, or, more specifically, modern-day Japan.

The intro pits Cloud against an Iron Giant, one of the recurring elite monsters from the Final Fantasy series. Thus begins a lengthy tutorial for the battle system, which is discussed in greater detail below. Once Cloud is victorious, he's joined by the Warrior of Light from Final Fantasy (sadly, not Jack from Stranger of Paradise), Terra from Final Fantasy 6, and Lightning from Final Fantasy 13, and he's quickly recruited into their group.

The Final Fantasy characters interact with a human child, who refers to them as "Ghosts." The story segments mostly consist of messenger sequences, as the Final Fantasy cast join the same faux-WhatsApp group and start sharing GIFs with each other.

Who's Who In Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy

The preview build of Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy has ten characters, with more confirmed for the future. These characters are:

Each character has an outfit based on their appearance in their source game, as well as a modern outfit with several color variants. These modern outfits look great, with a surprising focus on fashion over fanservice, something that seems to have fallen to the wayside with Ever Crisis.

Characters are earned through Character Tickets, with their costume variants classed as separate entities. There are four separate combat roles that are tied to them, and while they don't have distinct equipment, they do have certain exclusive attacks that only they can use in battle.

Dissidia Duellum Pits Players Against Each Other (and a Boss)

So, how does the combat work in Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy? Each match features two teams of three players facing each other on small maps. There are several crystals spread across the map, which are guarded by monsters. Once a crystal's radius is free of enemies, a player can claim it, earning Bravery points.

A boss monster will appear on the stage, such as the Behemoth. To win the match, a team needs to kill the boss within the time limit. However, it's immune to attacks unless the Bravery meter is filled out, which they need to do by claiming crystals, all while the other team is competing for the same crystals. Once the Bravery meter is filled, characters can perform a Bravery Burst, where their attacks can damage the boss, which has a separate health meter for each team.

Players can (and should) attack the opposing team, as it's possible to kill them. This is only temporary, however, as they'll respawn at the edge of the battlefield, where they'll need to waste time returning to the battlefield.

The controls in Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy are finicky in touchscreen mode. The game is played vertically, with the player able to move the camera and the character by touching various parts of the screen. Fortunately, there are auto features that make it easier to target things, but it takes some getting used to.

The visuals in combat are surprisingly gorgeous for a mobile game, with the more realistic Final Fantasy 7 Remake/Ever Crisis aesthetic changed out for a cel-shaded look for the characters. The levels are based on real areas of Japan, and they look decent for what they're trying to portray. The soundtrack is composed of Final Fantasy hits, along with some new remixes, and nothing else needs to be said about its quality.

How the Gacha Mechanics Work in Dissidia Duellum

The main combat gimmick in Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy involves the Ability system. A character can take five Abilities into combat, some of which are shared among all of the same type, and some are exclusive. For example, Terra from Final Fantasy 6 can use the Fira spell shared by all Ranged characters, but Meltdown is exclusive to her.

Each Ability has a cooldown timer when used in combat, which means they can't be spammed. While Abilities are powerful tools to use against other players, they deal far more damage to bosses as part of a Bravery Burst, meaning players have to be very careful about when they use them.

It should be noted that not all Abilities are attacks. There are some that are movement-based, such as Minwu's Teleport, which puts a character next to the nearest crystal, while others heal or buff allies.

So, what about the Gacha mechanics? The player doesn't get access to all the Abilities straight away: they're drawn using a, you guessed it, special currency. This means the more powerful moves are locked behind random chance, or, you know, paying money for the chance of getting them. It's also possible to enhance Abilities using Growth Eggs, which are another resource the player needs to track.

The Ability system drastically changes how each character works, meaning the chances of playing opponents with identical builds are slim. The unique Abilities of each character mean there will almost certainly be a tier-list of heroes, especially when more are added to the game in the future, but the options offer all kinds of exciting options for builds.

The Specter of Dissidia NT Hangs Over Duellum

After playing the Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy preview, there was one burning question left in my mind — will it have the same problem as its spiritual predecessor, Dissidia Final Fantasy NT?

The first two Dissidia games were 1v1 fighting games, meaning players had only themselves to blame if they lost. Dissidia NT changed the formula, turning it into a 3v3 game. This decision killed the game, as it meant there needed to be six players of roughly equal skill to keep matches balanced and fun.

If one player was a newbie or if they quit mid-match, it was basically a loss for their team, as the other two members were outnumbered. This was the biggest design flaw with Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, and it feels like Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy is making the same mistake, especially as it's a mobile game.

This brings me to the second major issue with the preview — we never actually killed the bosses. Each game ended in a loss because the teams were too focused on killing each other and using up Abilities just to survive. A ton of cooperation is needed to take down a boss, and the timer becomes the biggest enemy, because matches just keep running out the clock.

Dropping the boss, the opposing team, and all the regular monsters/crystals into such a small arena means that it can be easy for things to get confusing, especially when trying to target foes with specific Abilities.

Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy can be played using AI companions against AI opponents, but most of the content is tied to competitive modes. I fear people trying to play it like a solo game are going to get frustrated when they're losing against opponents who are actively communicating, which, to be fair, is an issue with a lot of multiplayer titles.

All that being said, the Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy preview was played with a small group of people in a short period of time. If a competitive scene does build up around the game, then this will be less of an issue. When there are six players with fully optimized builds battling it out, Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy can be an exciting multiplayer experience. It just needs those specific conditions to get where it needs to be.