Final Fantasy Type-0

Final Fantasy Type-0 is a video game for PlayStation Portable and is a part of Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy. Unveiled at E3 2006, the game "[offers] players easy on-the-go access to the Final Fantasy XIII universe". The game was originally announced for mobile phones, but was re-announced for the PlayStation Portable at DKΣ3713 2008. A downloadable version of Final Fantasy Type-0 was released available on the same day as the Japanese UMD release on October 27th.

A passage from the Final Fantasy Type-0 Ultimania suggests work on an overseas release was underway, but it never came into fruition, and Type-0 remained the single highest-profile Final Fantasy title in over two decades to not be released internationally (the last major passed-over release being the Super Nintendo version of Final Fantasy V). However, due to a strong fan response in asking for a localization, during E3 2014 on June 10, an HD version for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One was announced for North America and Europe.

A prequel called Final Fantasy Agito was released for iOS and Android systems in May 2014 in Japan, with a localization underway.

Gameplay
The battle system is an evolution of the "ATB Kai" system created by Takatsugu Nakazawa for Final Fantasy X-2, and later refined in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-. Unlike Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, the combat in Final Fantasy Type-0 is party-based. Instead of navigating through menus, actions are mapped to the face buttons for quick access. Nakazawa says he wants it to be the fastest version of ATB ever created. It supports both Ad-hoc multiplayer for up to three players, and online Square Enix membership connection. The multiplayer option is removed from the upcoming HD version.

This is manifested not in full-scale multiplayer, but as an emergency backup when the player's party is about to be wiped out. Multiplayer will normally last for three minutes, but time can be increased through the gathering of SP. The players can determine the enemies' weak points with Kill Sight, allowing them to deal a deathblow for an Instant Death. There are some fighting game style elements like movement canceling for skilled action players.

Also, like Final Fantasy XIII, the game has a Crystarium system, called Alto Crystarium that powers up the characters' magic using an energy called Phantoma drawn from defeated enemies to restore or fortify magic. When a character absorbs this energy their magic recovers a bit. The amount of recovery depends on the type of Phantoma, as indicated by the color.

The Phantoma is used in the Alto Crystarium to power up the characters' magic. Depending on the type of magic, the character can power up their magic in different areas. For example, a character's Fire RF magic can be powered up in strength, MP usage, call time, projectile distance and speed. Increasing the Fire RF magic's strength parameter requires six red Phantomas.

Magic comes in three elemental types: fire, ice, and thunder. The various spells differ in attack pattern and call method.
 * Shotgun (SHG): This type spreads at multiple height levels. It doesn't travel far, but is powerful against close enemies.
 * Rifle (RF): This type shoots out straight in the direction of the target. It travels far but has narrow range.
 * Bomb (BOM): This type is effective in the player's immediate surroundings. It can be useful against quick enemies and small enemies.
 * Missile (MIS): This type chases after the enemy before releasing its magic. The higher level (that is, the magic with the "ra" and "ga" at the end of their names) will expand to encompass surroundings.
 * Rocket Launcher (ROK): When the player begins casting this type, a target will appear. The magic will fire in the direction that the player aims. When it strikes, it will explode and damage enemies in the surroundings.

Furthermore, characters and summons can learn their individual abilities by using AP won through leveling. Acquiring new abilities may unveil more advanced abilities that will strengthen each character or summon according to their fighting style.

Like Final Fantasy XII, the player can choose the leader of their party of three and party members can be changed manually or when the leading member is KO'd. During each mission the player can call in aid from another player (or NPC) for a duration of three minutes, with bonus time granted through good play. In some cases the victory can be decided in other ways, such as defeating the enemy leader, which will trigger the surrender of its minions.

Summons, called Eidolons, play a role in the characters' growth, though they gain EXP and AP separately from the summoner. When summoned, they replace the summoner and the player can't have the summoner again in the party until the mission is finished. The summons work as a normal party member and can be directly controlled by the player or by the AI, much like in Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System.

Another feature from the game is the Trinity Attack system. These are group combination skills that require three members to pull-off. They are weaker than summons, but can be used multiple times without needing to sacrifice a character.

The game's structure is mission-based. There are also sub-objectives in battle to strive for. The game has a world map, and the player can ride chocobos or fly an airship and use its weapons in an aerial battle. Battles are initiated by random encounters and the monsters roam around the world map.

Final Fantasy Type-0's world map, known as the "Active World Map", features two minigame style elements: War battles, called Skirmishes, and Airship Dogfights. Skirmishes involve moving troops around and capturing areas in an RTS styled manner. Different troops have different strong points e.g. specialized against machines. Special missions give encampments to control and more troops to take charge of. In Airship Combat, the airship the player controls has machine guns and the player can take on mounted dragons controlled by Concordia in dog fights. There are various kinds of dragons, including larger ones used by the Royal Guard. The player also fights them on the deck.

There is an Arena that features two types of training available to the players:
 * Simulation Battles – The player can progress through 20 rounds of fighting to level up their characters and get them Phantoma. The player still keeps the experience if they die part way through.
 * Secret Training – The controlled character will be trained while the player's PlayStation Portable is in sleep mode. The more time the PlayStation Portable is in sleep mode, the more EXP the character gets.

Director Hajime Tabata also says that Final Fantasy Type-0 is similar to The 3rd Birthday, saying that while they are two different games in terms of content, the core of what the staff can do on the PlayStation Portable in terms of gameplay is similar between the two games.

Playable Characters
Final Fantasy Type-0 features fourteen playable characters, all of whom are cadets at Magic Academy Peristylium Suzaku as Class Zero. Each character wields a different weapon and a unique fighting style. Aside from Machina and Rem, the members of Class Zero are named after the Japanese pronunciations of "trumps" or playing cards.


 * Ace - A blond-haired boy who wields a deck of cards. Despite his youthful appearance, his speech and actions are exceptionally impressive. Though usually calm, he has a reckless side and will sometimes rush off and act out of anger.
 * Deuce - A brunette girl who plays the flute. As the youngest member of Class Zero, she is diligent and kind, but can also be stubborn.
 * Trey - A blond-haired boy who wields a bow. He takes pride in being a well-mannered and knowledgeable person, and can be very talkative as a result.
 * Cater - A red-haired girl who wields a magic gun. She is confident and direct, and tends to be competitive and face things head-on.
 * Cinque - A ginger-haired girl who wields a mace. Although innocent and naive, she tends to react unusually and with unpredictable actions.
 * Sice - A silver-haired girl who wields a scythe. Her rough speech gives her a tomboy-like personality, but she has good judgment and determination and can also be practical.
 * Seven - A silver-haired girl who wields a whip. As the eldest member of her class, her caring nature and ability to understand others make her very popular among the underclassmen.
 * Eight - A red-haired boy who fights with his fists. Calm and serious, his combat style reflects his dislike of weapons, which he believes take lives too easily.
 * Nine - A blond-haired boy who wields a spear. Impulsive and straightforward, he sees the world in black and white and only feels satisfied when things aren't complicated.
 * Jack - A blond-haired boy who wields a katana. Upbeat and humorous, he often keeps a smile on his face and encourages others to look on the positive side.
 * Queen - A black-haired girl who wields a sword. Her dignified appearance and intelligence suit her name, and she often carries a leader-like personality.
 * King - A blond-haired boy who wields a pair of handguns. He seldom speaks, but possesses a serious demeanor and strong common sense.
 * Machina Kunagiri - A dark-haired boy who wields a pair of rapiers, and was transferred into Class Zero alongside his childhood friend, Rem. In spite of his proficiency and straightforwardness, Machina fears war and his inability to protect Rem. His elder brother, Izana, was stationed as a soldier for the Suzaku army.
 * Rem Tokimiya - A brunette girl who wields a pair of daggers, and was transferred into Class Zero along with Machina. She is moral, kind, and honest, and has an outstanding talent for magic. However, she suffers from an unknown illness, a fact she keeps from Machina and her classmates to avoid worrying them.

Setting
Final Fantasy Type-0 takes place in Orience, which is divided into four nations known as the Dominion of Rubrum, the Milites Empire, the Lorican Alliance, and the Kingdom of Concordia. Each of the nations is blessed with a crystal that grants them unique powers: Rubrum controls the Vermillion Bird Crystal containing the power of Magic, Milites controls the Byakko Crystal containing the power of Weapons, Lorica controls the Genbu Crystal containing the power of the Shield, and Concordia controls the Sōryū Crystal containing the power of the Dragon.

The four nations coexisted peacefully under the Pax Codex until Cid Aulstyne, Imperial Marshal of the Milites Empire, broke the peace treaty and staged an invasion using advanced military technology developed with the power of the Byakko Crystal. With his armada of airships and magitek armor, Cid conquered Lorica and Concordia, then moved on to Rubrum where he staged an attack on all sides.

However, Cid's actual assault was on Rubrum's Magic Academy, the Vermillion Peristylium where he used the Crystal jammer to render its defense powerless as he forces the nation's leaders to comply with his demands. But a small group of skilled students belonging to the Peristylium's Class Zero have retained the powers from their pact with the Vermillion Bird Crystal. While Cid attempts to negotiate with Rubrum's president, the students of Class Zero are busy organizing Operation Apostle, a covert mission to recapture the crystal and defeat the Milites forces.

Final Fantasy Type-0 draws heavily from Eastern Asian mythology, particularly from the Four Symbols: Suzaku the, Byakko the , Genbu the , and Sōryū (or Seiryū) the. Tabata described Final Fantasy Type-0 as "a major title that's formed from a variety of concepts". These include "Collision of four fantasies (the world view)", "Killing match between magic and weapons (battle)", "The Ordinary and Unordinary (the two sides of reality)".

Story
Though a peace treaty is supposed to be in effect with the world's four countries, Cid Aulstyne has sent his l'Cie soldiers to intercontinental war with the neighboring countries. Conquering Lorica for its crystal, the Milites military focuses its attack on the Kingdom of Concordia and the Suzaku Dominion of Rubrum. However, with Byakko's newly developed weapon named Crystal Jammer, the Suzaku crystal that kept Milites at bay at Rubrum shatters, leaving the nation vulnerable to attack and is forced to surrender to the superior nation. However, still possessing the powers the crystals gave them, the students of Class Zero refuse to surrender and proceed to fight back.

Final Fantasy Type-0 opens as the Milites Empire begins their assault on the Suzaku Peristylium, the academy where candidates striving to become Agito are trained. When the mysterious Class Zero enters the conflict, a soldier named Izana Kunagiri dies attempting to aid them on their first mission. The class is soon joined by Machina Kunagiri and Rem Tokimiya, who share Class Zero's determination to end the war. However, Machina's fear of losing the people he loves drives a wedge between himself and the senior members of Class Zero when he learns that they were indirectly responsible for the death of Izana, who was Machina's older brother.

The game features two endings. The true ending involves Class Zero successfully defeating Cid Aulstyne and preventing Finis, the cataclysmic event that has always destroyed Orience each time the history of the world has repeated itself as the result of Arecia Al-Rashia's experiment to open Etro's Gate. Class Zero breaks the cycle of war with help of Rem and Machina, whose influence had not been included in previous cycles when Class Zero attempted to stop Finis. In response, Arecia allows Machina and Rem to remember Class Zero's sacrifice and rebuild Orience. The Secret Ending depicts each character living ordinary and happy lives under circumstances where wars have not occurred because the crystals have been removed from Orience's history.

Music
The music for the game is composed by Takeharu Ishimoto. It features performances by T$UYO$HI and ZAX from the Japanese rock band, Rieko Mikoshiba, Yuko Shimazaki, Cantillation, Yuriko Kaida and the.

The main theme for the game, "Zero", is performed by the Japanese band. The song is prominently featured in the game's plot; frequently sung by Ace during the course of the game. The song is not included in the game's official soundtrack and was instead released as Bump of Chicken's 21st single.

Development
Originally titled Final Fantasy Agito XIII, the game was announced for mobile phones but was re-announced for the PlayStation Portable at DKΣ3713 2008. Developers stated the reason for the move was that they did not want to wait for cell phones to be advanced enough to handle the game. According to the developers, the PlayStation Portable version was planned from the start and was meant to be revealed sometime after progress on the mobile version. The game drew more attention after being announced for the PlayStation Portable, since mobile phone games are usually not released outside Japan.

At the Square Enix 1st Production Department Premiere event on January 18, 2011, the game was retitled Final Fantasy Type-0 because Hajime Tabata did not think it was similar enough to Final Fantasy XIII to warrant the old title. Square Enix had trademarked the title in December 2010, along with Type-1, Type-2 , and Type-3.

Tabata explained in a Famitsu interview the game would ship in two UMDs because he does not want to cut any content. He wanted to keep the cutscenes' visual quality on par with PlayStation 3 titles, so they had to take the game's real time cutscenes and convert them into movie files so they can be further polished and edited. The disc switch is unusual, making the player have to go from Disc 1 to Disc 2 and then back to Disc 1 again, due to the prologue and final portions of the game being on the first UMD and the rest residing in the second, including the multiplayer mode. Tabata feels the game's ending turned out especially well and that it was a technical masterpiece that goes beyond the specs of the PlayStation Portable.

On September 10, 2011 during the Final Fantasy XIII-2 fan meeting, producer Yoshinori Kitase was questioned about the development of Final Fantasy Type-0 and Final Fantasy Versus XIII. His answer, "for Final Fantasy Type-0 and Final Fantasy Versus XIII we are giving 100% to development", thanks to the knowledge and experienced gained from developing Final Fantasy XIII.

Scenario
The envisioned theme was "a real war within a fantasy world," and Tabata worked on the title as a documentary that records the account within a fictitious world, so the team built various elements on that template.

Final Fantasy Type-0 was intended explore a more mature direction for the franchise and to be Square Enix's effort to create "something for adults". As the game has no main hero, Square Enix referenced Hollywood movies for an idea on how to distribute the focus among the cast equally. "We see a lot of movies that put a focus on numerous characters vs. one protagonist," Tabata has said. "[I] really wanted to focus on the unit as an entity ... really put a spotlight on the unit as a whole and view their actions from slightly afar."

The "school of magic" aspect of Final Fantasy Type-0 has been compared to Harry Potter, but Hajime Tabata has said the other settings are drastically different, and that he personally was not influenced by Harry Potter when working on the title.

After the game's release Tabata has said he would have liked to be more thorough with the storytelling and make it easier to comprehend.

Battle System
Hajime Tabata said in a Famitsu interview that "it's becoming an intense experience where you do gun shooting with fire." On the subject of multiplayer, he added "Agito XIII will not have the standard multiplayer style of everyone gathering together to play. It will be a multiplayer system unique to this game".

The combat in Final Fantasy Type-0 was meant to be filled with tension and portray each playable character's personality on the battlefield. The battles are more brutal and make an effort to show the physical consequences of conflict. "We've really tried to focus on the true nature of battle — what a realistic type of magic vs. weaponry type of battle might unfold like," Tabata has said. "If you're hit by fire, you burn. If you're cut, you bleed. It's approaching those realistic type of expressions within the Final Fantasy world atmosphere ... It's more of a realistic blow vs. just scraping away HP."

After the game's release Tabata has reflected that he would have wanted to add ad-hoc capabilities and a co-op mode where players could help each other at any time and to adjust the leveling curve and balance of the magic.

Localization
In the Final Fantasy Type-0 Ultimania it was hinted that Square Enix was looking to localize the game for international audiences, but it never materialized. On October 13, 2012 Jeremy Parish provided an update in regards to the possible localization for Final Fantasy Type-0: the editor-in-chief of 1UP relayed pessimistic news from Tokyo Game Show 2012 event. "...no less than four people I talked to at TGS (both inside and outside of Square Enix) made it very clear that the English version of Type-0 is moribund, at least in its current form."

On November 1, 2012 Tabata said to Gamespot that: "Due to market reasons, we are taking a clean slate in terms of our plans. We feel strongly about bringing this title to the fans in North America and Europe, so if an opportunity arises that can become a conclusive factor, we are prepared to go into consideration right away."

Though never officially confirmed, some sources claim that by 2012 Square Enix had shelved a near-complete localization that included an English script and voice recording work, because although the company had planned on localizing the game it was not deemed profitable due to PSP's poor standing in Europe and North America. In July 2014 director Hajime Tabata confirmed that Square had done the bulk of localization work on Final Fantasy Type-0 back in 2011, but the PlayStation Portable's sinking overseas popularity led the company to put a hold on the release outside of Japan as the marketplace wasn't viable anymore.

In August 2013 Square Enix America and Europe CEO, Phil Rogers, posted an open letter encouraging fans to share their questions, comments and other feedback with him via email. This was in response to Operation Suzaku, a fan movement to get Final Fantasy Type-0 localized in the west. Rogers promised to look into the matter but didn't want fans to get their hopes up, as localizing previously released games sometimes isn't possible when the team have moved onto other projects.

On May 15, 2014 Square Enix's French Twitter hinted a Final Fantasy Type-0 localization would be announced at the upcoming E3. This happened on June 10th when the HD remaster version for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One was announced.

Fan translations
A partial fan translation patch for the game was made by Truthkey, released in November 2011. It is a patch update for disc 2 and only the main menu has been translated.

SkyBladeCloud and his team of translators and programmers announced in mid-2012 they were working on an English patch. In March 2014 the team announced it would be released August 8, 2014. Not long after Square Enix representatives warned the team the company intended to protect its copyrights, and asked if they would like to discuss further about mutual solutions to leave both parties happy. The team speculated Square was reaching out because they were going to announce a western release of Final Fantasy Type-0 and the other members of the translation team discussed the possibility of not releasing the patch to avoid hurting sales. In early June, SkyBladeCloud announced the patch was coming two months early, and would be available on Sunday, June 8—the day before E3 2014 when Square was rumored to announce the official localization. The patch was immediately popular, SkyBladeCloud estimating 100,000 downloads in four days.

The rest of the team was dissatisfied, some feeling the patch wasn't ready for release. In the coming days and weeks the release decision fractured the group. In E3 Square announced an official localization in a press release with no video footage. Within the next few weeks Square Enix started sending legal requests to SkyBladeCloud, and eventually asked him to take down the patch, and the fan translation and all content associated with it was removed from his website.

Themes
Final Fantasy Type-0 explores the life and death of humans, as well as mortality and the weight it carries. Each character is treated as an individual, and the game has no true hero. Instead, all fourteen of the game's characters are given an equal spotlight.

The most prominent theme in Final Fantasy Type-0 is war and the results it brings to the world. The historical progression of a war and its effects on the younger generation is the main focus of the story. Tabata has cited several underlying themes in the world and story of Final Fantasy Type-0; one of the story themes revolves around death and its effects: a key aspect of the story is the memories of the dead being removed from the living by the Crystals. This scenario was crated to make people feel their hatred of death. Others included the collision of four "fantasies" (the nations of Orience), a battle between magic and technology, and the two sides of the world (the mortal world and Unseen Realm). During its original form, Final Fantasy Type-0 primarily revolved around challenging the gods. Another underlying theme is a cycle of Orience's death and rebirth and the effort to break that cycle.

Voice Cast

 * Additional Voices (Japanese)
 * Ryōta Asari, Riho Fujida, Eri Gōda, Wataru Hatano, Kei Hayami, Yū Hayashi, Tomoyuki Higuchi, Yōko Hikasa, Chiemi Ishimatsu, Miyako Itō, Yoshimasa Kawata, Tomoko Kobashi, Minako Kotobuki, Tsuguo Mogami, Seirō Ogino, Tōru Sakurai, Rei Shimoda, Kenji Takahashi, Shūhei Takubo

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD
On June 10, 2014 Square Enix officially announced Final Fantasy Type-0 HD for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The English localization was confirmed within the same announcement. On August 27, 2014 Tabata confirmed at PAX 2014 event that the HD remaster was about 80% completed. A demo version was available for the fans who attended the event.

Development on Final Fantasy Type-0 HD started mid-2012 when Square Enix shifted development of Final Fantasy XV to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and started getting a feel for the new consoles, which at that point had not yet been announced. After director Hajime Tabata gained a better understanding of the next generation of video gaming consoles, and liked the environment of the platform itself, he believed it would be a good fit for Final Fantasy Type-0. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were chosen over PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 because Square Enix was concerned about Final Fantasy XV and wanted to ensure fans own the latest consoles, with Final Fantasy Type-0 being their way of helping get people to segue into them. Tabata mentioned that when Final Fantasy Type-0 was released on the PlayStation Portable in Japan Square Enix could garner a new, younger user-base. As Final Fantasy Type-0 brought a many new fans to the series in Japan, Square Enix is hoping it'll be the same for the overseas market.

Though Final Fantasy Type-0 was a portable game, the HD version is being developed exclusively for home consoles. Square had considered a PlayStation Vita version, but Tabata has mentioned he had only realized when making the original Final Fantasy Type-0 that to bring out the best in the title a bigger screen would be more appropriate for the depth it provides and the distance between the enemies and party members. However, Tabata told GameSpot that a PC version is up for discussion and the PAX 2014 demo is running on PC.

Sony Computer Entertainment Japan's Tokyo Game Show 2014 website accidentally leaked a number of unannounced exhibiting titles before the show, including a previously missing Final Fantasy Type-0 HD. Release information came to light the next day: The game would be released in March 2015, and every copy would include voucher code for Final Fantasy XV: Episode Duscae (a playable demo for Final Fantasy XV).

As the bulk of the content already exists and no new content is being added, the team is at the point of fine-tuning and balancing the game. The three main differences to the original are the new high-definition graphics, new controls for traditional controllers and new difficulty modes, as many Japanese fans have given feedback on the game being too hard. The multiplayer option is being removed from the HD version.

The first gameplay trailer was released on September 17, 2014. Footage of the English version was also released.

Trivia

 * The game was originally named Final Fantasy Agito XIII. Even though the title has changed, the term "Agito" still appears within the story. Square Enix has also released a prequel mobile game called Final Fantasy Agito.
 * In Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy Player Icons of Ace are still referred to as being from Final Fantasy Agito XIII, even though it was released after the name change to Final Fantasy Type-0. This is due to their appearance as such in Dissidia Final Fantasy, and the fact that the Data Transfer option between the two also transfers Player Icon data demands consistency between the two games.
 * The menu cursor in Final Fantasy Type-0 is the same as the one used in the original Final Fantasy X announcement trailer.