Tomopop Review: Final Fantasy Dissidia Trading Arts Vol. 1

12:00 PM on 09.08.2009   |   Pedro Cortes

The opposing sides of Final Fantasy Dissidia make up the all star teams of the RPG genre. They are some of the most popular characters ever in all of videogames, and they are battling each other for the fate of reality as they know it. One side are the bravest souls to ever line up horizontally and swing a sword and the other  the biggest bastards to ever be put on silicon. A game with this kind of premise is bound to have more than a few figures come out, and what you see here are the first ones to be put out by Square-Enix.

Follow me after the jump to get a peek at the first four heroes to come out in the Trading Arts line of Dissidia.

A note to everybody, the Trading Arts figures always come out stateside in standard blister packages, so I'm not going to include any photos, as you've seen these a million times before. This is one of a very few list of complaints I have with the Trading Arts series in general, as it kind of cheapens the figures when they aren't given handsome packaging to go along with the great care and attention everything else is given.

Volume 1 of the Dissidia Trading Arts line is made up of Cloud Strife (of FF 7 fame), Squall Lionheart (taciturn protagonist of FF 8), Zidane Tribal (monkey-like thief from FF 9) and Tidus (cheerful protagonist of FF 10). Most of these guys have received the figure treatment before, however they all have received minor design adjustments going into Dissidia, so you have something new things to look at. Let's take Cloud first.

Cloud here returns to his original FF 7 look, shedding the Advent Children design that he's been carrying around now for a couple of years. The colors are darker than they were in his original outfit, but everything else is more or less the same, including the forever sad look on his face.

S-E have given texture to the Buster Sword, unlike previous blind box and trading figures. It makes the sword look substantial and less like a piece of cheap plastic, which this is not. The whole thing maybe small, but it feels solid for a trading figure.

I also like the detail on the glove. Details tend to disappear the small a figure gets, so I'm quite impressed that S-E molded the groves on the gloves fingertips.

After Cloud is Squall, yet another angst-ridden protagonist, only somehow less talkative.

This is one of my favorites of the Dissidia Trading Arts set. It captures what I like about Squall, including a new design that is less grounded in realism. I prefer an anime look to a realistic one. Squall also has a pretty bitchin' outfit, which has some great details here.

You can make out the various buckles that adorn his outfit, as well as the lion head that is his belt buckle.

His Gunblade also looks pretty sweet, with the design printed onto the blade. This weapon feels a bit weaker than the Buster Sword, so be aware of that.

Moving past the doom and gloom of Squall and Cloud is Zidane, the ever-positive thief lead of FF 9.

I can't quite explain what it is that I love about FF 9, but you could probably get some of it from how the characters are designed. While harboring quite a few dark story lines and brooding villains, there's just something upbeat and wonderful about the world of FF 9, something that hasn't been seen since FF 5. You get all of that in Zidane.

Once again, the Trading Arts does a hell of a job nailing small details, like the wrinkles in Zidane's leather straps, as well as the filigree on the blade of his daggers. They're also slightly opalescent, gleaming whenever the light hits them right.

Here you can see the detail and the sheen of the blade.

The last of the bunch is Meg Ryan Tidus from FF 10. While I don't find him particularly interesting, there are quite a few people who like his turn in the admittedly tragic FF 10. He also was designed by Tomopop favorite Shunya Yamashita, giving him a bit more cred in my book.

So, what you have here is the only figure that I'm disappointed in the entire set. While the outfit is done quite well, Tidus' face is pretty busted. I'm not quite sure what exactly is wrong, but it might have to do with not making him look animated enough. Much like the designs of FF 8, Tidus was designed to look more realistic, and these figures just don't look good if you make them look to much like the real thing.

Regardless, the attention to costume detail hasn't lessened, as looking at Tidus' Water Sword can tell.

S-E made the sword of a solid blue plastic that won't break unless you're determined to wrest it from Tidus' delicate hands. However, you'll notice that the blade goes beyond the first part of the stand, extending all the way to the floor. This is something you'll have to be careful, as you'll damage the blade if you're not careful.

A back shot of Tidus shows more of the wonderful work the sculptor did in recreating his outfit. In terms of detail, this is probably the most intricate of all the figures, though I'm still taking points off for the odd-looking face.

Overall, all of these figures would be worthy additions to your collection, with the exception of Tidus' face.  The attention to the costumes and the weapons in particular are excellent and make them all must haves if you dig the Final Fantasy series.