| Final Fantasy Type-0 HD is True New-Gen Material |
| E-Gamerz |
| WRITTEN BY MATT CLEMENTS JR. |
|
Final Fantasy Type-0 has a bit of history behind it having already been released for PSP in Japan exclusively and being very well received by its audience. The fact that it never made its way to the states inspired many English speaking fans to go so far as to mod the game to include English subtitles, which was subsequently shut down for obvious legal reasons. In all honesty, I believe if western audiences want to appreciate the true scale and abilities of Tabata and his team, it’s certainly coming. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One version blows the PSP’s out of the water. Being built with DirectX 11, and solely focusing on new-fen technology, I was stunned to see the first Final Fantasy to hit these systems being played right before me by Tabata himself. I saw him peruse soldier infested streets of what I assumed to be Rubrum, one of four nation holding the power of the world’s power infused crystals, seamlessly entering enemy encounters with an open world vibe. For being a game, that’s claimed to be nearly 80% done, I was ready to throw my wallet down right then and there. It ran so buttery smooth with such visual fidelity that it puts many other titles currently available on new-gen to shame. For many, this release will be the first time experiencing Type-0. The story is quite unique in its historical documentary style approach and takes a much more mature stance compared to previous Final Fantasy entries. Two countries struggle for power in an all out war to control the magic crystals of the world, crystals that can be harvested to create summonable monster forms for players to morph into in the heat of battle. Rubrum holds the Suzaku Crystal and the power of the Magic while Milites controls the Byakko Crystal and the power of science and weapons. Magic and science obviously clash and as Milites rules as more of a military state, they pose a threat to the Rubrum way of life.
Following the journey of 14 characters, Final Fantasy Type-0 shows both sides of the conflict, neither wrong nor right. Something unique to the Final Fantasy series which is typically sword and sorcery, good versus evil. This entry is approached as something a bit more modern and recognizable to our generation and less medieval in nature. Characters fight to the death in this world and until you finish a mission, you won’t be seeing them come back. Fair to say we won’t be stocking up on Pheonix Down and when characters perish, you’ll feel the struggle. Your active party at any given time is limited to three as we’re accustomed to in the RPG genre, but don’t start stressing immediately when one or two of your party members drop. Others amongst your overall 14-man party will join you in combat. The combat itself is like nothing before seen in a Final Fantasy game. One hundred percent real time, Type-0 focuses on a more open active combat style letting players leap into battle with special moves and abilities for each character. As I mentioned before about summonable forms for your human characters, you’ll encounter massive foes that will require a bit more power behind your punch. After the hands-off live demo, I was shown gameplay footage of what this might look like in just a slice of a battle in which the active character turned into series fan favorite Ifrit. He began pounding on a very large foe and was able to use his signature move from Final Fantasy VIII’s combat cinema tics hurling a molten boulder down on the creature. Some players of the original PSP version of Type-0 had previously said these summonable forms were not quite strong enough and will be happy to hear that they have been rebalanced and significantly more powerful for the wester audience debut. With Ifrit appearing on screen, I asked if we might see any other reoccurring characters or references to past Final Fantasy games. While Tabata explained to me that players will travel around the world on the back of a Chocobo, I witnessed a Moogle appear in the corner of the screen with some mission details and advice in the vain of Zelda’s Navi. On top of having two forms for your active character, you’ll be able to swap instantly to the other two members of your active party complete with their own human form abilities as well as their equipped summonable creature. Combat is fast, chaotic and on the largest scale I’ve ever seen in the Final Fantasy series outside of the latest MMO offering, A Realm Reborn. I was concerned seeing more hectic hack and slash style gameplay in that it might be too dumbed down and lose all the fantastic RPG elements I’ve grown to love since the early NES days of my gaming career. Tabata assured me that behind the fast paced combat still lies a deep equipment and stat management element to the game should players wish to really crunch the numbers and get the most out of their characters, but also more casual players can get by mostly ignoring such elements. This is also no beat ‘em up 8 or less hour affair. The main story of the game will take around 40 hours to complete and should players feel the urge to see all of the side-story material beyond the campaign, maxing out their characters to the fullest, they can expect up to 80 to 100 hours of content. Final Fantasy Type-0 is far from a typical up-resed “HD Remastered” port. Being rebuilt from the ground up with DirectX 11 for new-gen consoles exclusively is giving this cult classic a worthy re-release. Surely, I amongst many other fans would enjoy a portable version of the game on PlayStation Vita, but the grand scale Tabata and his team are orchestrating would not be able to run on the handheld as it does on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. At least not for now. This is a day one purchase in my book and should be for anyone looking to see an RPG spice things up with fast action, mature story and a whole lot of love for one of the longest running RPG franchises in gaming history. Final Fantasy Type-0 HD is due out for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with a release date TBD. |
For my very first PAX Prime interview, I was nervous as all hell. The idea that I’d be sitting down with anyone that works on the legendary Final Fantasy series, let alone the man that directed such brilliant offshoots of everyone’s favorite, Final Fantasy VII, is still hard to fathom. But what was even more overwhelming was the hands-off demo I was given while chatting with Hajime Tabata.
