Mobile games are starting to look like the future of gaming because of how accessible and powerful smartphones have become. That’s why many beloved PC games have been branching out onto the mobile platform. What’s more, there has been a trend of crafting mobile games with good graphics and substantial stories. It’s no surprise, then, that Final Fantasy, a long-running franchise in the gaming industry, has done the same by bringing its beloved characters to the mobile platform with Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia.
Through Opera Omnia, you can get a feel for Final Fantasy’s rich worlds and characters. It’s even better if you’re already a fan of the franchise because of how it incorporates characters across the series. Opera Omnia brings you a Final Fantasy experience on-the-go with great combat and tons of characters and features. Here’s everything you need to know about it and why you should try it today.
What Is Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia?
Opera Omnia is a free, turn-based gacha JRPG, featuring traditional turn-based mechanics of many role-playing games in its main battles. You choose characters, form a party, and fight enemies as you progress through the game’s world and story. Opera Omnia does have unique features that make it stand out from the rest. For example, it follows the Dissidia Final Fantasy tradition of splitting attacks into Brave (Brv) and HP attacks. Brave attacks don’t directly deal damage, allowing you to stack numbers before delivering them as damage to your foes’ HP. This encourages you to strategize carefully about which characters to take into battles to maximize your damage output while also keeping your party alive.
If you’re a fan of the Final Fantasy franchise, then you shouldn’t miss out on Opera Omnia. That’s because it combines regular turn-based RPG gameplay with the Final Fantasy universe. It has everything you know and love (or hate) about turn-based RPGs like loot crates, thousands of items, and characters. It also features all the characters you love from the Final Fantasy franchise, including those absent from original titles. For example, Vivi, the precious black mage boy from Final Fantasy IX, is one of the playable characters in the world of Opera Omnia.
Opera Omnia Development
Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia is a mobile game that was developed for iOS and Android by Square Enix and Team Ninja. It’s set in the world of Dissidia Final Fantasy and is a turn-based RPG, complete with missions, battles, and stories. Opera Omnia was originally announced on August 27, 2016, accompanied by its initial trailer. This trailer introduced the fighting system, Bravery mechanic, and numerous characters that the game would include.
Opera Omnia was originally launched in late 2016. However, the release date for Opera Omnia was pushed back in Japan to February 1, 2017. The global version was subsequently announced on January 16, 2018, and released on January 30, 2018. Like many pre-announced games, Opera Omnia offered in-game freebies to players who pre-registered for the mobile game.
If you’re in Belgium, you might be wondering why the game is unavailable in your country. Well, this is because of the game’s loot boxes (and its gacha system), which meant that it was forced to withdraw from the country. Belgium’s regulations are unclear on whether Opera Omnia would be considered gambling, and so the developers made the call to withdraw on November 6, 2018.
Opera Omnia Story
Like other turn-based RPGs, there’s a main storyline that you follow along throughout the main quest. In the world of Opera Omnia, the story complements that of Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, featuring the same crystals and gods.
The basic premise of the story goes like this: The world of Opera Omnia was created by Materia and Spiritus. It was designed to be a place of respite for their champions, serving as a safe haven from their battles and fights. Unfortunately, the world was corrupted and started crumbling due to Torsions. These Torsions disrupt time and space to create portals from another dimension. Through these interdimensional Torsions, hoards of monsters emerged to wreck the world of Opera Omnia.
Of course, the crystals do not want this world to be disrupted and destroyed by these monsters. Thus, they called out for Mog, an ancient Moogle that can help restore balance and peace to the world. Mog then summoned champions from different worlds across the Final Fantasy universe to help gather light. Your initial battles in Opera Omnia thus revolve around saving the world before it ends completely.
Opera Omnia Gameplay And Mechanics
Opera Omnia has a story-based mission to save the world. Within the game, you’ll find multiple maps to traverse while following the story’s main narrative. You’ll fight battles, watch cutscenes, and explore the land as you defeat enemies and close the enemy Torsions.
Battles
No RPG is complete without its battles. That is why the gameplay revolves around enhancing your battle prowess. Basically, you collect items and materials to upgrade your gear and enhance your character abilities. There’s also the matter of unlocking and collecting multiple characters as you play. These characters fill different roles, with each one contributing a unique set of skills to your battles. All of these will help you as you strategize to win your next battle.
In Opera Omnia, you form a party of three for your battles. These come in waves of monsters that you must overcome to achieve victory. You have to use a combination of Brv and HP attacks to do so.
Bravery System
We’ve mentioned the Bravery system a few times now, and here we shall explain it in further detail. The Bravery system is similar to the one used in Dissidia 012 and NT, where you “break” your foes to gain a Bravery bonus. These attacks don’t deal direct damage; instead, it lets you accrue Bravery points which you can then convert into HP attacks to deplete your foes’ HP bar.
Once you use up your Bravery through HP attacks, you have to start collecting them again with Bravery attacks. This cycle repeats until you defeat your opponent or they defeat you.
Characters, Equipment, And Abilities
The Bravery system is a unique system that prompts you to think through your strategy before you start a battle. Do you bring a party with good healers? What about good attackers when you’ve accumulated enough Bravery? It’s all about planning and balancing your party. There are also bonuses in certain battles for using specific characters. Hence, you might want to strengthen more than the standard number of characters to increase your odds of winning.
When it comes to abilities, characters have a combination of active and passive abilities. Active abilities are categorized as such: 15 CP, 35 CP, EX, LD, and Burst. With the exception of EX abilities, the rest have a limited number of uses; you’ll have to plan their usage instead of spamming them haphazardly! Passive abilities, conversely, either provide your character with stat boosts or even buffs to your actives, making them perform better in battles.
Gacha System
Free mobile games tend to have in-app purchases in the form of micro-transactions and Opera Omnia is no different. Instead of characters behind a paywall, Opera Omnia’s gacha system has you roll for weapons. The active abilities we mentioned in the previous section? Enhancements for 15 CP and 35 CP abilities, along with EX, LD, and Burst abilities come from these weapons. To complete a character you love and/or want to use, you’ll need to pull all their weapons and fully upgrade them.
Co-Op Mode
While Opera Omnia is mainly a single-player game, you can also play it with other players in co-op events. This can be a good break from the regular gameplay that you get with the mobile game.
Opera Omnia Review: Is It Good?
Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia is a pretty decent game for Final Fantasy lovers who like turn-based RPGs. There are enough characters across the franchise to draw in the average fan; even if you’ve only played some of the games, chances are you’ll find your favorites already added to the game’s roster. Furthermore, the Bravery system, in conjunction with turn-based RPG battles, makes for more interesting gameplay compared to similar mobile games.
Story
Surprisingly, the story of Opera Omnia holds up pretty well for a gacha game. It is split into acts that are further divided into chapters, with each one focusing on a different numbered Final Fantasy title. Much of the story involves the heroes that Materia summons working together to defeat monsters and confront the antagonists that Spiritus calls into the world.
It is interesting to note that Materia’s warriors are summoned from different points of time in their respective stories. As an example, Ace from Type-0 is brought into the world before the ending sequence of the game, and this means he has no knowledge of both his and his classmates’ fates. This is different from his classmate Machina, who is brought into the world with all his memories intact—this opens up avenues for the characters to make repatriations or even seek vengeance.
Characters
It is also fun to watch the characters from different worlds interacting with each other. They will often try to understand each other’s idiosyncrasies and even the different ways that their worlds work. As an example, there is a point where summoners like Yuna, Eiko, and Rydia will gather together to understand how summoning works in each other’s worlds.
Of course, the story isn’t necessarily the best, since the game has a staggering cast of characters. This translates into the characters not being able to be fleshed out more than simple impressions that make them recognizable and familiar to players. After all, the game is meant to be a fan service to the devotees of the Final Fantasy franchise.
Regardless, the number of characters isn’t detrimental to the game. It does bring players some level of satisfaction, especially when known enemies and characters fight. Of course, fan service penetrates every crevice of the story just to tickle the player’s bones.
Gameplay
When it comes to gameplay, Opera Omnia boasts a truly unique system. There are also plenty of things that you can find within the game because of its many modes and challenges. If the story won’t keep you engaged, then the gameplay should suffice. There are tons of weapons and items you can unlock and characters to explore. You can even find info on each character in case you want to do a little digging on unfamiliar faces. Furthermore, the number of characters means there’s a wide variety of fighting styles and abilities to tinker with.
Apart from these, Opera Omnia also features good online mobile gaming. Although it’s mainly a single-player game, being able to play Final Fantasy with friends online is refreshing. The graphics are also pretty decent and the game comes with great music to enhance your experience.
And on top of that, the developers are known for their generosity. Apart from the huge number of tickets and gems you can normally gain from playing the game itself, they also periodically give out these resources—this means more free draws to help you increase your chances of getting hold of your favorite characters’ weapons.
The Verdict On Opera Omnia
Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia is a great mobile game to play if you’re a fan of Final Fantasy. It has enough characters and a solid turn-based battle mechanic to keep players occupied and entertained. Moreover, there are more than enough characters and items to keep you interested as you fight the in-game battles.
While you can’t expect a super compelling story or characters that are well fleshed out, Opera Omnia still does a decent job at bringing together the Final Fantasy franchise’s characters to tell a solid tale. Its gameplay is nothing to scoff at too, borrowing traditional turn-based RPG mechanics and adding its unique spin to the formula.
In a nutshell, if you love Final Fantasy and want to revisit your favorite characters, Opera Omnia is the game for you.
