... and the (Not So) Mini-Review gets even less Mini.

I had one more point I wanted to tell you about Dissidia: Final Fantasy that didn't quite fit with the actual review, hence more text. I'll try to keep it brief.

When you first insert the Dissidia UMD and fire up your PSP the game shows you three options alongside the strains of Final Fantasy's classic "Here's a Save Point" theme song. The first two, New Game and Load Game, are pretty standard, but the third is an option that I hope starts popping up in all PSP games: Install Data.

Like most PlayStation 3 and all Xbox 360 games, Dissidia gives you the option of installing a big chunk of the UMD's data to the Memory Stick your handheld normally uses to store saved games and downloadable content. Three different install options are offered (224MB, 371MB and 542MB) each of which promises to reduce the load times in-game.

PSP owners know how annoying the often way-too-long load times are on the handheld's games and listening to the system pull data off of the UMD is like crushing gravel into your ear. I never attempted to play the game without installing data to the Memory Stick, but I can attest that after selecting the largest option and sitting through a one time 45-minute-long install, the game was almost completely devoid of load times, and I only rarely had to listen to the UMD shrieking as my PSP sucked data off of its delicate face.

A gold star for Square Enix and double bonus points for any developers who lift this idea in the future.