Dissidia 012 is actually a prequel to the original game. Warriors from other worlds

Dissidia 012 is actually a prequel to the original game. Warriors from other worlds have been summoned to this endless cycle of war between light and darkness by Cosmos the Goddess of Harmony and Chaos the God of Discord. Along with the returning cast of favorites from the first game, we are introduced to six new characters: Lightning, Vaan, Laguna, Kain, Tifa and Yuna. We see them on their quest to find a way to possibly break this endless battling. Out of the new characters, I find Lightning to be my favorite so far. With her ability to change to Commando, Ravager or Medic, she is given some pretty nice moves. http://jugar-online.blogspot.com/

For those of you who have played the original game there is not many differences. Two characters battle one-on-one in different Final Fantasy environments with two types of attacks, Bravery and HP (Health Points). By attacking with bravery, your points will raise while the opponents decreases. Deplete theirs completely and you trigger Bravery Break, granting you more points. Health Point attacks does damage to your opponents HP equivalent to how many bravery points you have. Gathering EX Forces and EX Cores from the field to fill up your EX Gauge will let you activate Ex Mode. Attacking with an HP move in this mode will unleash EX Burst, a powerful attack that has different instructions for each character to perform for that maximum power. There is that same strategy here to keep you on your toes with watching enemy moves, deciding the right time to dodge their attacks and the time for your move.

A new feature added to the battle is the Assist command. You may call forth another character to help you in battle. This is a great new addition to the battle experience. Another new thing is now in Story Mode you are actually exploring on a world map like any typical RPG. You may find treasure chests, enemies to battle with, Moogles to buy stuff and white orbs that grants you a skill when four of them are collected. Also two types of gateways are found on the map as well. Blue gateways may be entered as many times as you like and Red ones progress the story. Entering a gateway transports you to the chess-like board with treasure chests, enemy pieces and summon stones which also appeared in the first game. There have been improvements, as I like this new version a lot better. Now instead of earning DP (Destiny Points) you get KP that stands for Kupo. You can spend KP at the Moogle shops on the map for weapons, skills, etc.

Dissidia 012 gives us a great variety of Final Fantasy characters to play as. Some may seem flat compare to others at first but with a little patience you can really bring them to their full potential. If you are new to the Dissidia series don’t even bother buying the first game. Dissidia 012's original story and newly added world map is simply superior. This is a great game to have in your PSP collection that will have you playing for hours on end.

Graphics	10	Mostly everything has been carried over from the first but the graphics still look great and the little effects are awesome.
Audio	9.5	Some previous tracks but also great new addition of favorites. All actors reprise their roles and still some of them fall flat for me.
Single Player	10	Great character line up. Play story mode for a nice storyline. Quick Battle Mode or Arcade to have some more fun.
Multiplayer	9.0	Battle it out with friends as your favorite character.
Replay	10	If you pack in 80+ hours in the first, your more in likely to do it again.
Overall	9.5	A great PSP game for your collection. Anyone can really just jump in without knowing any of the characters history. Hopefully we will get to see some more DLC in the near future.