Final Fantasy Type-0is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for PlayStation Portable, and later for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
The original version was released in Japan in October 2011. The high-definition port, Final Fantasy Type-0 HD,
is to be released worldwide in March 2015. Type-0is part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries, a set of games sharing a
common mythos which includes Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy
XV. The gameplay is reminiscent of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII,
with the player taking direct control of characters and taking them on missions
and large-scale battles. Some differences between the original and HD releases
are the removal of the original multiplayer feature and an easier difficulty
level.
The story focuses on
Class Zero, a group of twelve students from the Vermillion Peristylium, a
magical academy in the Dominion of Rubrum. One day, the Militesi Empire
launches an assault on the other Crystal States of Orience, seeking to control
their respective crystals. When Rubrum is attacked, Class Zero are called into
action and become entangled in both the efforts to push back and defeat the
forces of Militesi, and the secret behind the war and the existence of the
crystals. The setting and presentation were inspired by historical
documentaries, and the story itself was written to be darker than other Final Fantasy titles.
The game was
originally announced as a title for mobile phones and PSP called Final Fantasy Agito XIII . It is directed by Hajime Tabata, who
also directed Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII.
It was designed to provide players with easy access to the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythos. The mobile version was
eventually cancelled and its title was changed to distance it from Final Fantasy XIII, the
subseries' flagship title. Type-0
HD began development in
mid-2012 as part of a move to promote the next generation of gaming consoles.
The original game has received strong sales and positive reception in Japan,
inspiring multiple tie-in mangas. A prequel/companion game, Final Fantasy Agito, was released in May
2014 in Japan.
Fiinal Fantasy Type-0 is an action
role-playing video game in which the player controls the fourteen members of
Class Zero. Players can navigate Orience both a world map and environments
rendered to scale with the characters similar to Final Fantasy
XII and XIII. Class Zero are sent on missions
across Orience during the course of the game, both related to the story and
independent of it. The player originally travels to preset destinations in the
world on an airship supplied by the Vermillion Peristylium, but they eventually
gain their own airship which can freely navigate the world map, after defeating
a
powerful enemy guarding it. While outside combat, players can help breed chocobos, recurring galliform birds in the Final Fantasy series. Players must capture two chocobos on the world map and take them to a special ranch within the Peristylium: by pairing certain chocobos and adding specific items, a special chocobo can be bred for use. Players can visit the Suzaku Archives to review defeated enemies, character information, in-game lore and special video clips. After completing the game once, players unlock a New Game+ option: in this mode, people can keep their stats and weapons from the previous playthrough, while also unlocking story scenes and character-specific missions. A secret alternate ending is unlocked once certain conditions are met.
powerful enemy guarding it. While outside combat, players can help breed chocobos, recurring galliform birds in the Final Fantasy series. Players must capture two chocobos on the world map and take them to a special ranch within the Peristylium: by pairing certain chocobos and adding specific items, a special chocobo can be bred for use. Players can visit the Suzaku Archives to review defeated enemies, character information, in-game lore and special video clips. After completing the game once, players unlock a New Game+ option: in this mode, people can keep their stats and weapons from the previous playthrough, while also unlocking story scenes and character-specific missions. A secret alternate ending is unlocked once certain conditions are met.
The main gameplay is
split up into a mission-based structure. The
two types of missions encountered are the main, story-based missions and
"Practice" missions, which act as side-quests. Moogles, another recurring
creature in the series, hand out missions to the player: the objectives of
missions change during gameplay. Players can also engage in large-scale battles
on the world map, with the player taking control of large allied military
divisions. Missions also involve liberating cities and towns from enemy forces,
giving the player access to new shops and information from NPCs. The large-scale battles are most often
encountered in the "Practice" missions. The player also receives
optional orders: should they be accepted, the characters receive a temporary
power boost, and completing the objectives yields rewards. Timed aerial missions are also
available where the characters shoot down attacking dragons using their
airship's weapons.
Final Fantasy : Agito XIII
Type-0 uses a real-time, action-based battle system similar to Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.
The player is allowed control of three characters, being able to swap between
them at any time. Characters are given optional orders that can be obeyed or
ignored as the player chooses. Characters lock on to targets while attacking,
but can easily switch targets between attacks. Each character has a specific weapon,
and as the character levels up they can perform special attacks unique to them. During combat, characters are able to
perform precisely timed attacks during the period when an enemy unit is
attacking: the "Break Sight", which deals high damage, and the "Kill
Sight", which kills a standard enemy with a single blow. Three characters can also be commanded
to use a Trinity Attack, combining their attacks to deal higher damage to a
target. There is no limit placed on how many times the Trinity Attack can be
used in a mission. Aside from
human enemies, the game features recurring monsters in the series such as
Cactuar, Malboro and Tonberry. Alongside
enemies encountered in missions, there are special enemies that can be encountered
while exploring the world map.
Defeated enemy units
drop Phantoma: the color of the Phantoma indicates what aspect of the character
it will recharge, be it HP or magic points. Phantoma can also be used in the
game's leveling system, the Alto Crystarium, to strengthen a character's magic
skills. The game's magic skills
are split up into five basic groups named after types of guns:
"Rifle" fires the spell in a straight line, while "Missile"
homes in on and chases targeted enemies. Holding
down the assigned action button increases the power of the magical attack. Many combat situations involve timed
challenges: success rewards the character, while failure drains their health.
If a character is killed in battle, the player can instantly select another to
replace it. The game features an
arena where practice fights take place: while these fights are not against real
foes, the characters continue to level up and gain Phantoma after the battle,
and twenty battles can be arranged at any one time. Each character has their ownsummoned monsters called Eidolons (War Gods (軍神 Gunshin) in the original Japanese), which act
as playable characters and have their own set of skills: doing so empties the
selected character's health gauge, removing them from battle until they are
revived at the Peristylium: after a limited time in battle, the summons are
dismissed. Those available to players are series staples Shiva, Ifrit, Golem,
Odin, Diablos and Bahamut. Each
summon has variants of their original forms, many of which are unlocked as the
game progresses.
The story begins when High Commander Cid
Aulstyne leads the forces of the Milites Empire in a campaign against the other
three countries of Orience. The Milites forces attack Rubrum using a crystal
jammer, rendering Rubrum's crystal of magic useless and allowing easy entry.
This act provokes Class Zero, an elite class who draw magic from their souls
instead of the crystals, to drive back the Militesi forces from the Vermillion
Peristylium: during the conflict, Izana Kunagiri, Machina's older brother, is
killed. Class Zero defend their homeland under the guidance of Kurasame and
Arecia Al-Rashia, with Machina and Rem joining as new members of the Class.
Orience is soon consumed by war, with Milites devastating Locira's capital with
a magical bomb and Rubrum making an alliance with Concordia to force the
Militesi army into retreat. The fighting is temporarily stopped when Queen
Andoria uses the power of her nation's crystal to force a ceasefire. Class Zero
go to Milites for the signing of a peace treaty, and during their time there,
Machina learns that Class Zero are responsible for Izana's death, and that he
was planted in Class Zero by Rubrum's government to spy on Arecia. Following
these revelations, Machina vows to become strong and protect Rem from death,
who is secretly suffering from a severe illness. Andoria is assassinated by
Militesi in order to spark hostilities between Rubrum and Concordia. Framed for
Andoria's death, Class Zero goes on the run, managing to find refuge in Lorica
before being transported back to Rubrum. During this period, Machina becomes a
Militesi l'Cie to protect Rem, and is eventually forced to abandon Class Zero
by the White Tiger Crystal.
Concordia and Milites
form an alliance against Rubrum. Rubrum steadily pushes back their forces.
Finally, Caetuna summons the Grand Eidolon Alexander using the sacrificed lives
of Rubrum students and soldiers, including Kurasame. Though she dies, Alexander
decimates the forces of Concordia, Lorica and Milites, allowing Rubrum to
conquer the three nations and emerge as the victor of the war. Soon after this,
due to the imbalance caused by Rubrum's complete dominance, Gala arrives with
the Lulusath Army and begins slaughtering the population of Orience. Class Zero
go to the Palace of All Magic, where Gala has turned Cid into the Arbiter of
Lulusath, the instigator of Tempus Finis. The Arbiter puts them through trials
to test their worth. At this point, Class Zero are offered the chance to become
l'Cie by the Vermillion Bird Crystal: if they agree, they are thrown into battle
against the Lulusath Army and die. In the canon ending, the twelve main members
refuse, and Rem becomes a Rubrum l'Cie when the crystal's protector dies.
Machina and Rem end up fighting each other: Rem is mortally wounded, and she
and Machina turn to crystal. Severely weakened by the Arbiter's trials, Class
Zero are unable to defeat him: Machina and Rem's spirits give them the strength
they need to absorb the Arbiter's life force and halt Tempus Finis. Mortally
wounded by the conflict, Class Zero spend their final minutes imagining their
possible post-war lives.
On a second
playthrough, further plot elements are revealed. The land of Orience is trapped
in a stable timeloop created by Arecia and Gala, the respective servants of the
deities Pulse and Lindzei, as part
of an experiment to find the gateway to the afterlife: while Arecia tries to
use the souls of Class Zero to become the Agito and find the gateway, Gala's
Arbiter attempts to force it open by killing hundreds of people and creating a
flood of souls. The crystals were created to help in their plans erasing
memories of the dead from the living to remove emotional burdens and strengthen
their souls. Cid's actions in each cycle were motivated by his wish to free the
land from the crystals' control. Each time Tempus Finis arrived, both Arecia
and Gala failed, and the world was reset for another attempt, and by the events
of Type-0, the experiment
had already been performed over six hundred million times. After Class Zero
refuses to become l'Cie, altering the course of events, Arecia convinces Gala
to call off his warriors. After the Arbiter's defeat, the souls of Class Zero
speak to Arecia, who revives Machina and Rem and allows the people of Orience
to remember their past, ending the cycle of war. The crystals then lose their
power, Machina and Rem unite Orience and rebuild the world. Years later,
Machina records the events to ensure they are never repeated, and dies with Rem
by his side. In an alternate ending, Arecia chooses to remove the crystals from
Orience's history: this creates a new timeline where the war never occurred and
Class Zero, along with all the other characters, are able to have happy lives.
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