Dissidia Final Fantasy Play Arts Kai 02: Squall

This is the review for the Dissidia Play Arts Kai 02: Squall produced by Square Enix.

Dissidia Play Arts Kai 02: Squall
http://www.hlj.com/product/ENX31539


The price 4,800 yen is indeed quite high (roughly about SGD 75.00 before adding shipment charges and thus the average price you pay for this should be around SGD95.00 or somewhere near there depending on your location).

Squall Leonheart (that's the full name) is the hero in the popular Sony PS One video game Final Fantasy VIII. That game it the first in the franchise to use realistically proportioned characters - a departure from the super deformed designs used in the previous title. Final Fantasy VIII received positive reviews and though it is somehow cannot beat the overall success of Final Fantasy VII but in many ways, the VIII is indeed a step towards a bigger revolution within the Final Fantasy franchise and many praise the improvement achieved in this game though they are many also complaining about the new confusing "GF / junctioning" thingy. The Moon Waltz seems to be one of the best memorable moment from Final Fantasy VIII and probably the game FMV ending sequence is one of the best (at least) at that point of time.

OK, let's start the review now;



The box;






Out of the box;






You will only get all these - the figure, a pair of extra hands and the sword (a.k.a GunBlade - some sort of ridiculous sword with a built in gun)







Let's have a look at the figure;















Not much to say, it is the way you would expect it. The face is quite accurate in accordance to the video game image - that sulky face....







Nice necklace..... he is the "lone wolf" after all....





Nice belt with some sort of lion head there?









The ridiculous "GunBlade" or should we say sword with built in gun - what ever;








And for all that money that we paid, we only got 1 pair of lousy extra hands, especially the right hand, it doesn't really grab the "GunBlade" accordingly.... just a bit of shake and tilt the sword can easily fall down....





Articulation is decent, nothing spectacular, the usual kneeling pose is never a problem;





While doing the kneeling pose, I can sense that the leg is actually kind of too long.... reminded me of that Sinanju or Gundam Unicorn.



And now, some action pose;

















And that's about it.... just like the "Dissidia Play Arts Kai 01: Cloud", we do have some issues with the weak wrist joint system but fortunately the "GunBlade" or the sword of this guy is not as heavy but even so, the lousy hand design which failed to grip the sword handle properly will add a little frustration, again some white glue might be helpful to fix this situation.


At first I was so excited to finally have an action figure of Squall Leonhart (スコール・レオンハート Sukōru Reonhāto) but after I reviewed this figure I feel disappointed with it. In a way, if you are new to action figure, you might feel that this is a nice figure with accurate face rendition of Squall and in fact it is indeed a good figure but frankly speaking at such price, I would demand more than just "good".





In fact, if you want to know, this particular figure that I got, the right leg is kind of loss, the joint system on the hip/pelvis is sucks and I have to spent some 2 hours doing some modification involving super glue to make it tight again, it's tough but I'm glad that I managed to solve it. Not a good start for what supposed to be a good action figure huh. I also dig and check out the arms/shoulder joint system, and nothing spectacular there, its the typical old fashion kind of design which I predict from the very beginning.

The technology and the way they build this figure.... no innovation what so ever, it's just the normal way. Yes I give credit to the face but I would hope for some sort of new joint system maybe or more additional accessories instead of just a plain big size. Maybe a nice display base with name on it will be a nice bonus to justified the price but that is not happening.


If this is all what Square Enix could offer, I'm not sure if I would even look at their future offering no matter how attractive they could be....



I think Square Enix should really learn from Wave when it comes to producing a wonderful high price action figure...


Click the link below to read the earlier review;

Dissidia Play Arts Kai 01: Cloud







end