The Japanese RPG surge that took off on Playstation 2 has somewhat died off a lot over the years on the side of the Xbox. Final Fantasy Type 0 HD is a remaster of a PSP title that was released 4 years ago in Japan only. The sales have been boosted with the clever addition of the Final Fantasy XV demo, but should we sit up and take notice of this game in its own right, or is the added extra the only real reason to pick the title up in the first place?
The first thing you notice is that this is a much more gritty FF than any I’ve certainly played over the years. The start sees you slap bang in the middle of an all out war between two of the major world factions, resulting in much death and destruction (including a rather eye watering Chcocbo casualty) From the embers of this war though come the Type 0 force, made up of a bunch of extraordinarily powerful teens capable of bringing down mechs, warriors and much more with the powers given to them. This does lend to a more engaging and attachable timeline and canon, but sadly the franchise still can’t get the voice acting right. It has always, and continues to, sound like a really dodgy B-movie, with the characters voices being blown over the top, out of proportion and making them feel like they’re shoehorned in, rather than a natural fit.
The gameplay is a little into the unknown for a lot of us too. There is more of a leaning towards the more modern day Final Fantasy games with a non stop fighting section which is more like a hack and slash than JRPG. These are mixed with the more conventional weapons upgrades and stat modifications, which will keep the traditionalists happy, including me. The control system is pretty decent and isn’t too overly complicated, resulting in a fluid enough game that can give you a great chance of a half hour play between saves, rather than the usual few hour grind that you needed to do in the past. The only gripes I have in this side of FF Type 0 are the camera, which at times can be a little hard to keep under control when battles get a bit hectic, and the breaking of fluidity that is caused by the incredibly short play areas. If I’m honest, I don’t ever remember the map sizes ever being this small in any FF games of times gone by. I’m all for having short playing periods if you’re in a pinch for time, but free roam aside this goes beyond the taking of urine.
There is one really good trait that Final Fantasy Type 0 HD has in the arsenal at it’s disposal and that is the amount of intricacy that lies beneath the surface. The ability to gain what is known as SPP points by allowing NPC characters into your missions to help you, hence giving you points to spend on buying exclusive weapons and armour you wouldn’t normally be able to get is pretty cool, as is a clever time management system, giving you small periods of free time in between missions. This makes you have to decide whether it is best travelling the free roam sections to level up characters in your squad or maybe talk to non playable characters that will give you things, but sacrifice two hours before another sortie. It is all of this hidden depth that is made all the more impressive by the fact you sometimes forget that it is an RPG and think of it as something more arcadey.
Graphically it is better than I was expecting. Taking into consideration that this is a port of a handheld from the end of it’s life, you can see the massive amount of effort that has gone into making this a bit more presentable on bigger consoles. It may still have leanings of what the 360 and PS3 were churning out at the end of their lives, but it still looks pretty enough and definitely has that traditional Final Fantasy look to it, which Square Enix have always stuck to. It is on par, in my eyes, with FInal Fantasy X/X2 Remaster, as there are some very well represented lighting and shading sections thrown at you, resulting in some really simple, yet beautiful moments. It is only let down with a few slips in textures, in particular in some of the outfits, which have been probably left from the PSP port over.
As I said earlier there is a certain degree of depth to the game, and as much as this is a welcome addition to proceedings, I did find myself getting a little lost in all of the things you can manage and manipulate. It kind of feels a bit strange going from one button smashes to more complicated setups, but the more the time goes on you do begin to get your brain around it and it is once this happens you really get the most out of Type 0.
These are just minor gripes in a game that is actually fun enough to get into. The story itself is not too bad if you can get past the bad voice acting and the way it plays remains solid and doesn’t swamp you in overly complicated stats and worryingly complex controls, so giving FF Type 0 HD a chance is certainly an option for all you RPG fans out there. A lot will have bought it just for the demo, but I hope they give this a chance as it has had enough care and attention lavished onto it to warrant a good go. There’s a lot of gameplay in amongst the heady mix of simple battles and complex tactics and after 40 to 50 hours of sweeping through the story you will feel good about it all. Overall, it’s a well executed port of a game the west may never have seen at all, but those niggling camera controls and some mind numbing story slightly dampen the overall sense of goodness. Thankfully not enough to deter from buying at the right price.
Distributor and Publisher - Square Enix
A big thanks to the Xbox Community for giving us the chance to review this game.