After the resounding success that was Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD my interest in Final Fantasy has certainly been renewed. It’s a shame making new titles doesn’t have the same effect but never the less Square finally seem to be getting the idea. Type-0 was originally released on the PSP back in 2011 and now you can enjoy it in the glory of HD. Sure there are other Final Fantasy games I’d rather see in HD but ah well.
Right from the word go Type-0 concentrates almost all of its attention on characterization and plot. And it doesn’t do a bad job of it either. For Final Fantasy the story is reasonably realistic and focuses on military campaigns rather than apocalyptic monsters and world ending magic. Type-0 certainly doesn’t hold back and isn’t afraid to lay the emotion on thick. The characters are just interesting enough to keep it all together but it’s cutscenes and the strong soundtrack that really sell the emotion.
The plot itself is much less interesting. It never develops into anything even close to complicated enough to really suck you in. There’s definitely some interesting characters and emotional set pieces but getting involved in the larger story takes too much effort without any real reward. There isn’t enough complexity to allow the connections with characters to become anything significant.
Despite the undoubtedly good soundtrack that reminds us why we all love the music of Final Fantasy the visuals just aren’t good enough to let Type-0 feel at home on the big screen. Admittedly there’s only so much you can expect when coming from a PSP but it’s all too obvious that Type-0 doesn’t belong. It’s not just the visuals either that are low quality and dated but the controls and mechanics at the core of the game.
I regularly had to battle with the camera which constantly thought it knew better and decided to centre itself at will. More often than not pointing me away from my enemies and towards nothing at all interesting. It doesn’t complement the action well to be continuously fighting the camera and at times it became a significant problem.
The action itself is light and fast paced in a way only a Japanese game knows how. And Type-0 knows how to use it well. Battles are short but lively and always keep the excitement high. If you’re wanting fast paced, cinematic action then Type-0 doesn’t disappoint. There isn’t much in the way of depth so don’t expect much difficulty or strategy to become part of your fighting.
Favouring impossibly quick, and unnecessary, flips and rolls isn’t a problem at all but forgetting about adding any tactical depth to the fighting is a big turn off for me. There’s also a timing system that allows you to perform much stronger attacks with the use of a bit of precision but it’s no replacement for strategy. Although it does lend a sense of character connection and power when you get it just right.
One of FFXIII-2’s biggest most ridiculous sins for me was enforcing the totally arbitrary time limit that forced you to chose what to do. For some reason Type-0 does the same thing, although it was technically made first. I absolutely hate exploring an area and knowing that I can’t complete everything just because the game says so. In something like XCOM were decisions are tactical fair enough. Here in an RPG having to miss sections of the game for no reason is just ridiculous. There’s no risk/reward, you just miss something no matter what you do.
Not all sections suffer from the time limit and when you’re left to enjoy and explore at your own pace the environments are well designed – at least enough that you feel there is a world here somewhere. Being an action based title there clearly wasn’t much in the way of priority given to exploration and world creation but during those moments Type-0 does a decent job of allowing you to enjoy the world.
For me Type-0 has almost nothing I want in a Final Fantasy game. It favours button mashing and spectacle over thoughtful battles. It puts limits on the amount of extras you can complete in a single playthrough. The plot is solid but underdeveloped and doesn’t make enough use of the characters. There are also issues derived from Type-0’s PSP origins. The camera is awkward and rarely helps you see anything important. Plus visuals don’t feel like they received enough HD treatment to belong on consoles – which is particularly irritating considering what Square managed to do with the X/X-2 HD remaster.
Where Type-0 excels is perhaps the last place you might expect, in evoking emotion and making good use of a fully fledged soundtrack. The more realistic (everything is relative) story of war is met head on and I was surprised at how well it was represented. For a game usually concerned with demons and gods I was pleasantly surprised by Type-0’s fresh outlook.
Unfortunately there are too many missteps for me to forgive. I enjoyed the cutscenes, listening to the music and summons are definitely back on form but getting back to the gameplay drained any remaining enthusiasm. It’s too difficult to enjoy button mashing and get involved in the battles. A serious battles system would have done a lot to get me more involved. If you want fast, satisfying action, heaps of emotion and a simple plot Type-0 is your game. If you’re looking for a serious RPG sadly you’ll need to look elsewhere.
