The final fantasy series is my all time favorite video game series so I take talks about it serious. This awesome game is slowly making an argument to be the best Final Fantasy ever in my opinion. It gives Final Fantasy VII a run for it money. If you are a causal or hardcore RPG gamer. Square Enix originally coined this game as Final Fantasy XIII Verses but later renamed the project to Type 0. This game is for both the XboxOne and the PS4 there is a Japanese PSP version which it originally came out on. This game is also available or the PC on steam. So, the games is a PSP high definition remake for the consoles. Graphically it will not knock your socks off but it gets the job done. Despite being a PSP remake some of the cut scene and environments are breathe taking. There is a mobile version for smartphones and tablets which is different than the PS4, Steam and XboxOne versions of the game. I have not play the mobile version yet but I plan to play it soon and will give my honest opinion of it at a later date.
The story line of this epic game is some of the best storytelling in all of video games. Very deep story line ties in well with the rest of the lore of the “fabula nova crystallis” Final Fantasy XIII universe. This story is very war based both the casualties and the psychological affects. You are military cadet college students trained in the subjects of weaponry and magic. You are at war with Cid Aulstyne and the Milites Empire a neighboring Crystal-State to Dominion of Rubrum. The underlying theme of this war is the classic magic verses technology that we get in a lot of Final Fantasy titles. The only difference with Type 0 is magic vs tech is the entire plot. The Rubrum cadets are apart of a magic based culture while the Militie empire is a Mech based culture. Through out the game you see the elements of war. Tied heavily into the story line is the usage of your time management skills. When you are back at Akademeia you are allotted a certain amount of time before the next mission. Each time you speak to particular people you spend hours allotted. You can chose to go on side missions to pass time and level up your characters and get items and weapons or stay in Akademeia and delve deeper in the story plot. Type 0 is the first and only Final Fantasy game with a “Mature” rating. There is a very present sexual undertone to this game. A lot of the female character are dressed pretty provocative. This is by far the darkest game of the long storied franchise. This game gives you lots of blood in battles. The level of realism makes sense compared to other final fantasy games. When you slay an enemy with a sword or any other weapon instead of the enemy bursting into beautiful light particles and vanishing; one gets to really see what happens when you hit somebody in the chest with a sword. Blood flies and rather than the enemy disappearing they fall to the ground in a pool of blood and stay there. The story is about the stress of war and being a hero Class-0 is the envy of every class in the school. Through the course of this epic game you will experiencing every emotion before its said and done. Class Zero Cadets have a very unique relationship with Dr. Arecia Al-Rashia whom they call mother. In many respects she is their mother. You get the feeling that she created them through magic or science and she seem to be responsible for their well being and development. She is a member of the Consortium of Eight the governing body of Orience. Dr. AreciaAl-Rashia heads the Sorcery division. The Dominion leader of Rubrum is Chancellor Khalia Chival VI.
The battle system is not a turn-based game like the majority of the franchise. I don’t have a problem with RPGs/JRPGs not being turned based. If done correctly and if the storyline is compelling enough a real time RPG can be just as fun Type 0 certainly accomplishes this. Another such game that is a real time battle system is the classic game Jade Empire which is one of my favorite all-time RPG games for the Original Xbox and the PC. There are large portions of Type 0 where you feel unstoppable almost god like. Another awesome part of this game is they brought back the world map for this final fantasy installment. We have not seen a world map in quite awhile most of the newer games have been predominately linear. This is a open world game for the most but you do have to unlock certain areas. Also back alongside the World Map are random battles. This world is enormous giving you quite the task of walking from town to town. Type 0 solves this issue with a fun and engaging Chocobo solution. Riding a chocobo you can get to one end of the map to the other in no time. Throughout the Final Fantasy franchises the Chocobo parts are hit and miss with me. Sometimes the Chocobo sections are just a unwanted task that slows the game down but this is definitely not the case with type 0. There are various breeds of chocobo running around on the world map. It is a lot fun strategically chasing these chocobo and capturing them to add to your stable. And of course like all final fantasy games you can breed these giant birds. The chocobos are scattered throughout the map in large numbers maybe three or four per every other screen. I chased them around while leveling up my characters. This Final Fantasy installment got another aspect of the Final Fantasy correct as well and this is in the area of the eidolons. You have full control over the Eidolon and can level them up to 99 and unlock various spell and fighting techniques. You can use them throughout enitire sections of the game. There is a price pay off when summoning. It is seems to parallel with Final Fantasy X with lady Yuna and the concept of the Final Summon. On Type 0 when you summon a eidolon the character that summons dies until you go back to school or a town or village. There are a few magic tricks you can use to avoid dying while summoning also.
There are 14 playable characters each one has a specialized weapon. The weapons have a arsenal of physical and magical attacks. Each character is named after a card in a playing deck. The story is as such that you really don’t really have a main character. But Everybody’s favorite character seems to be Ace and of all the characters he is the one the game seems to push the most with the storyline. He uses a deck of cards as his weapon a lot like Gambit of the X-men. Ace is one of my least favorite to use. Every player is going to have their favorite character. Ace if used correctly and mastered will be extremely formidable. Don't get me wrong I can kick ass with Ace because I have mastered all the characters. Its just I find other characters more engaging to use. Not only do players have their favorite characters to play with they have their favorite squads. In type 0 you use a party of three characters. Each character has their strengths and weaknesses. Some cadets use range attacks from a distance while others prefer close quarter battles. Its all a matter of taste I like to my squad balanced. My favorite three cadets to use are Trey, Deuce and the chick with the mace it's. My favorite character in the whole game is Deuce. She uses range attack with her magic flute. When she plays her flute it gives off energy waves that does considerable damage to enemies. Trey is another range character that uses a bow and arrow. This archer is very fun to use. I like to pretend like this character is Oliver Queen “The Green Arrow.” My striker is Cinque she uses a giant blunt mace that larger than her body. Cinque is super strong her mace demolishes monsters, troopers and mech much of the time with one hit. Her only draw back is this giant weapon slows her down considerably. Each character has their strengths and weaknesses and you will find yourself mastering and feeling at one with your chosen character and squad. Overall with Final Fantasy Type 0’s engaging story line and characters this is definitely a game worth playing and I am confident this game will be around for quite some time.
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