Wrap Up: Final Fantasy Type-0 HD is a flawed but appreciated push in a new directionĪfter years of finding myself increasingly let down by each new Final Fantasy game, I'm as surprised as anyone that Final Fantasy Type-0 succeeds in so many ways. The tactics aren't particularly intense here, and the slow pacing can be tedious, but I enjoyed how they made me think in a completely different mindset from regular missions. You have to control which armies of what types march on which enemy domains, slowly taking over town after town as you build momentum toward your main goal. Rather than letting you slice through whole armies on your own as usual, these side missions bear the structure of a light strategy game. The most interesting of these gameplay switch-ups comes in the form of optional missions to retake lost territory. From aerial shootouts to breakneck timed escapes, you're rarely just fighting through waves of bad guys for a whole mission. These diversions helped me avoid feeling like I was becoming burnt out on the moment-to-moment combat. Type-0 also mixes up the gameplay at key moments. While everything else about the game surpasses other recent Final Fantasy titles, the presentation is a frustrating black mark. Final Fantasy Type-0's war drama feels like something that could have stuck with me long-term, but it's hampered by a really awkward translation and subpar anime voice acting. More bothersome yet, these quality issues extend to the story itself. There's no effort made to hide the fact that everything about this game was designed to work on a low-power handheld. This is especially obvious (and annoying) in cutscenes, where characters loop the same three-second animation while they talk for minutes, and the camera fades to black each time it has to switch angles. Square Enix clearly put the bare minimum amount of effort into porting it to the most powerful console hardware available right now.įrom muddy background textures to character models that look as smooth as porcelain due to their lack of detail, nothing in Type-0 HD could be mistaken for a game built from the ground up for PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. If you knew that Final Fantasy Type-0 HD is based on a PSP game, you may be concerned that the graphics won't look very good. It warned me to use my academy time wisely, and I failed to listen. The game allows you to replay previously completed missions and carry over any experience or items you earn to your current save, which was my only escape from underleveled hell.īeing left to grind out experience on old missions for an hour or two was frustrating, but I also couldn't fault the game. In one embarrassing situation in the game's back half, I rushed through the academy segment only to discover I hadn't prepared nearly enough for the level 30 mission awaiting me. The game doesn't provide any easy answers, and choosing poorly can have a negative impact. Should you go out and grind to prepare for the next, higher-level challenge? Or would you rather focus on expanding the backstory by seeking out characters who want to engage you in conversation? There's a push and pull for what you do between missions. The academy segments add a slight but satisfying layer of time management to the game. These examples are all in the game's first half, if you can believe that.Ī chocobo's death sets the tone for a dark war story where horrible shit is going to happen Just when I thought things couldn't get worse for our heroes, someone contracted a life-threatening illness or the group was backstabbed or framed for a huge crime. While Final Fantasy Type-0 has a few light-hearted skits here and there, the general direction of the story is ever downward. So does his adorable chocobo mount, a death which sets the tone for a dark war story where horrible shit is going to happen.Īnd so it does. In the first on-the-ground scene of the Militesi invasion, one of the cadets working with Class Zero dies slowly and painfully. The protagonists at the heart of this war are a group of powerful schoolchildren known as Class Zero. Each nation is built around a powerful crystal that gives its soldiers the ability to use magic, but the Empire has developed a new technology called the "Crystal Jammer" that prevents its opponents from casting spells. A History Channel-esque documentary voice-over sets the scene while grainy CG war footage plays: The Militesi Empire has broken a peace treaty and invaded the three other nations of the world of Orience. Final Fantasy Type-0 sets itself apart from its namesake almost immediately with a grim opening cutscene.
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