When comparing Dissidia Final Fantasy NT vs Middle-earth: Shadow of War, the Slant community recommends Middle-earth: Shadow of War for most people. In the question“What are the best fantasy games for PS4?” Middle-earth: Shadow of War is ranked 19th while Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is ranked 28th. The most important reason people chose Middle-earth: Shadow of War is:
Shadow of War uses the Nemesis system to create a more immersive and alive-feeling world. Thanks to it, orc leaders have names, ranks, titles, tribes they belong to, and most importantly, connections to other orc leaders. For example, an orc leader might be at war with another orc leader. This conflict won't end until one of them dies. There are also orcs that are considered blood brothers, having unwavering loyalty to each other. Because of this, don't be too surprised if you ever get betrayed by one of your followers that's trying to do right by his blood brother. Additionally, the leaders you fight will also develop connections with you. Orcs that you've killed or spared, may come back with scars, recalling your previous encounter and vowing to exact vengeance. Orcs that you've escaped from will mock you for being a chicken, and so forth. The gradual creation of this web of connections is very enjoyable and sometimes even more compelling than the game's main story.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Characters are balanced
The Final Fantasy fighters are separated into different types of specialties: assassins, vanguards, and marksmen who all have strengths and weaknesses relative to one another, as well as specialists who fall into a category of their own. Characters like Cloud who wield huge, powerful swords as vanguards are effective at punishing lighter assassin-type fighters. Marksmen cast barrages of spells from afar, like Y'shtola with her black and white magic. They're great at against vanguards who move slowly, but weak against assassins like Lightning who are adept at quickly getting in close and interrupting their casts.
Meanwhile, specialists are more versatile in their move sets, but they require a lot of time before unlocking their full potential, without any major strengths or weaknesses. This rock, paper, scissors-type of gameplay balance helps to solidify everyone's identity as a fighter based on their weapons and personal style.
Pro You can summon giant guardian deities to help you pull off victories in cool ways
After filling the summon bar by hitting enemies, players can choose to summon these giant Final Fantasy guardian deities who stay on the battlefield and deal constant damage to the enemies, often able to help a losing team pull through to a victory. The water serpent Leviathan loops dangerous tides of water throughout the field to trap the other team, while the intimidating dragon Bahamut fires down powerful beams of energy that explode, severely wounding anyone caught nearby. Each summon also grants special passive effects to their team during battle: Alexander, the great protector, raises HP and defense, while the fiery demon Ifrit helps players quickly reduce their foe's stamina.
Pro Polished graphics and designs
Each of the Final Fantasy characters have flashy battle styles, and their gargantuan summon deities are slick, clean and full of detail. Particle effects and vibrant, colorful magic spells look impressive on the battlefield, and characters look great casting them. Older series characters look stunning with modern PlayStation 4 graphics, such as Kefka from Final Fantasy VI on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System with his menacing face paint and gaudy, circus-like outfit reminiscent of a court jester.
Pro Plenty of fan-service
Dissidia Final Fantasy NT features protagonists and antagonists from each mainline Final Fantasy game, like Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII and Noctis from Final Fantasy XV. During story cutscenes, characters from different games interact with one another, like Lightning from the Final Fantasy XIII games agreeing to team up with Squall from Final Fantasy VIII. In battle, they can summon the classic guardians like Bahamut and Ifrit. Victories in battle earn currency and unlocks, like as cosmetic upgrades to change the color of a character's clothes or their official alternate designs, such as Lightning's red and black outfit from the third game in the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy.
Pro Character connections make for a compelling experience
Shadow of War uses the Nemesis system to create a more immersive and alive-feeling world. Thanks to it, orc leaders have names, ranks, titles, tribes they belong to, and most importantly, connections to other orc leaders.
For example, an orc leader might be at war with another orc leader. This conflict won't end until one of them dies. There are also orcs that are considered blood brothers, having unwavering loyalty to each other. Because of this, don't be too surprised if you ever get betrayed by one of your followers that's trying to do right by his blood brother.
Additionally, the leaders you fight will also develop connections with you. Orcs that you've killed or spared, may come back with scars, recalling your previous encounter and vowing to exact vengeance. Orcs that you've escaped from will mock you for being a chicken, and so forth. The gradual creation of this web of connections is very enjoyable and sometimes even more compelling than the game's main story.
Pro Addictive gear collection fuels your thirst for orc blood
As you kill orc leaders, they'll drop random quality gear items, ranging from common rarity every-orc weapons/armor to legendary rarity artifacts with unique names. Each item serves to improve your character, providing various stat increases and damage bonuses. You can also upgrade gear with gems or via challenges that usually involve killing orcs, bolstering your strength even further. On top of that, there are set bonuses for legendary items, giving you special abilities such as your hits applying explosive poison on regular enemies. It's very exciting seeing what gear piece an orc leader will drop once you lob his head off, causing you to constantly seek out new victims.
Pro Satisfying combat
Shadow of War gives one of the better feeling combat systems in recent times, allowing you to be either stealthy or go for direct confrontations.
If you choose to be stealthy, you can skewer unsuspecting orcs from behind with your dagger, drop onto them from a building while impaling them with your sword, or just pierce them from afar with your bow.
If you choose a direct confrontation, it's a really quick-paced and brutal showdown against your enemies with your chosen melee weapon. You weave combos against enemies, dodging, parrying, and countering enemy attacks, which ends in a devastating finishing move, resulting in a mutilated or decapitated orc.
Whichever method you choose, the combat flows really well and you always feel like a force to be reckoned with.
Pro You can lead an orc army and expand your own dominion
As part of the Nemesis system, you can recruit orc leaders after you've bested them in combat. Each one has his own unique strengths and weaknesses, so making the best possible army for conquering enemy territories might take a while.
For example, an orc leader can be completely immune to ranged attacks, but can take increased damage from explosions. You should take such an orc leader on assaults against fortresses filled with archers but be wary of the slightest hints of any bombs.
Once you've finished building a sizeable force, you can assault a fortresses. If you succeed in the assault, you'll take over a territory, allowing you to install your own orc leader as the ruler. With enough effort you'll gradually take over Mordor and its surrounding lands.
Shadow of War makes you feel like a recruiter, general, and a ruler, which is very empowering and a lot of fun.
Cons
Con Awful story mode progression
Story mode cutscenes can only be unlocked one by one after fighting dozens of arcade or multiplayer battles first, causing a terrible stop-and-go pace for watching the plot unfold. Sometimes the cutscenes are only 20-30 seconds long, and then you're forced back into more battles before you're allowed to progress to the next scene.
Con Soundtrack is subpar
Remixes of tracks from the original Final Fantasy games for Dissidia NT are considerably lacking, sounding like mere demos or unfinished pieces. Songs such as The Extreme, the final battle track from Final Fantasy VIII, feel empty and soulless, not at all like the larger-than-life theme with the eerie female chorus chanting in Latin and the energy of the piano backing the vocals. Almost every song in NT lacks what made the original tracks so great.
Con Gameplay speed slowed down from previous Dissidia titles
The flow of battle in Dissidia NT is noticeably slower than in the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita games, with dashes bogged down by stamina bars, and downed combatants given periods of invincibility while they recover. There's a frustrating pace to combat where you can't freely travel around the field without pausing to recover stamina, and successful barrages of attacks on enemies are interrupted by their free seconds of invincibility until they're able to be targeted again.
Con Battles are too chaotic
With six players on the field at one time, all of them performing flashy attacks, chaining huge casts of magic one after another, and zipping and dashing around the field, there's too much to keep track of at once. There are arcs of red and blue lines meant to denote who's targeting you and who you're targeting, respectively, but these can get lost amid the chaos of particle effects, smoke, and obstacles such as cliffs and walls. It can be difficult to quickly notice when you're targeted by two or three players at once if you're not already a safe distance away, leading to sudden, irritating defeats.
Con No dedicated servers for online matches
Multiplayer battles run on peer-to-peer connections instead of dedicated servers, meaning that one of the six players in the battle acts as the host for the match. The quality of everyone's connection depends on the host's internet. If host's connection is bad, they may not notice too many issues on their end. If you're the host, and you're running a wired connection from your router or modem to your PS4, then you have little to worry about. If someone else is the host and they have an awful connection, then be prepared for a lot of lag.
Con Can get repetitive
The overall gameplay formula doesn't change much over the course of the game. You fight orcs, take over strongholds, upgrade your character, and collect blips on the world map. After a while it can start feeling like a grind, especially during long play sessions. This is made worse in the final stretch of the game where you have to fight through 20 consecutive stronghold battles without any story segments or exposition.
Con Unskippable cutscenes disrupt the flow of the gameplay
Every time an orc leader enters the screen, there is an unskippable cutscene where he rambles a bit, focusing the camera on him and halting combat until the cutscene ends. This usually happens as you're fighting another enemy, potentially disrupting your rhythm, which can be really frustrating, especially if mess up your combo or take an unnecessary hit after the cutscene.