Review: Final Fantasy Type-0
Type Zero suffers from a sort of identity crisis. HD remakes are normally reserved for the best and brightest among a given category. Timeless classics that feel just as good with a fresh coat of paint, even 20 years later. The trouble with Type-0 is that it's just okay.
We start with one of the most interesting setups in a Final Fantasy game in recent memories. Instantly, you are thrown into a massive tapestry of already established characters, places and idea that exciting to explore. There's an invasion and a desperate struggle between two nations. You get glimpses of two other nations as well, all with their own mystery. My head was spinning before I got control of my character. I wanted to explore this battle and find out how to take part. Then the trouble began.
I never enjoyed camera control on the PSP, or the Vita for that matter. It always felt like the camera was an excited child, waiting to wow me with how far it would move with the slightest touch. This was the first jarring feeling in Type 0, as not only does the camera move like it's life depends on it, but it gains a motion blur that accentuates the speed. I never felt like I could swing the camera to where I want it, without doing a 360. I was not playing this on the PSP, like the original Type-0. Gone are the tiny sticks with millimeters of throw distance, so every degree counted for considerable distance. I cradled an Xbox One controller in my hands. I know those sticks through hundreds of hours of play, and my fingers know instinctively how far to press to get the desired movement. But something felt off. My character has the same ungodly momentum, as he darted around. Foes routinely found themselves behind me, and behind the camera, where they were safe from my attacks. I could swap to locking on, but that came with it's own discomfort. Rather than use the cushy triggers, I had to use the considerably less comfortable bumpers, which are not idea to hold. This would not be the case on the PS4 with it's better triggers, but it's an oversight for platform parity.
Gameplay normally devolved into [attack, attack, dodge] with enemy patterns that quickly grew stale. Early encounters all had a certain "Three soldiers" or "Two soldiers and a big guy" grouping that was uninspired. That's all I saw for the first 2 hours. It's not bad, but it's nothing to write home about.
The team customization was a high point, with over a dozen characters from the outset. Each character looks and plays different enough to be memorable, so you'll grow favorites quickly. Shout-outs to the scythe wielding girl. Right off the bat, a character with an eerie resemblance to Chrom from Fire Emblem Awakening joined my team. He was a welcome addition, because he had his own name, instead of Ace, Queen and Deuce. Yes, Final Fantasy actually ran out of names in this iteration.
Speaking of lack of design effort, this game could really have used a bit more time in the oven to earn that HD moniker. Textures are washed out and in some places, laughably poor. Doors in the main hub city, I am glaring at you. Character models on the main cast look well designed, if woefully unanimated. This just serves to make the backgrounds and overworlds look flat and dull. Some NPCs have a great design, but suffer from the same still mannequin style spinning that some 3d games are known for when you approach them from another angle. Main NPCs stand out as pleasing to look at, even cool looking but side characters come off as filler. There was one room in the HQ that saw the same may standing on two opposite sides. Both were qust givers and they felt kind of thrown in. One character, your team's 'mother', stands out in particular, for her over the top (Read: Par for the Final Fantasy course) outfit and cleavage. Normally, fan service characters like that are a joy to look at, if she didn't look like she was from the PS2 era. Picture Lulu from FFX and you know what I am talking about.
The up scaling from PSP really shows in some places, and it hurts the game overall. The overworld feels like an homage to older games, kind of like VII. Large basic green fields that have nothing on them except a town or your next objective. I wanted more live, not a tacked on overworld.
Since we’re on the subject of the overworld, you'll be spending significant time on it, as you fight to take of the region from the invading country. You'll play what amounts to a very basic DOTA or MOBA, where you assist friendly soldier platoons to take over bases in some very simple strategy games. While the change of pace from "Fight in this box area, then move to the next one" was nice, these sections felt tacked on.
Lastly, this game lacks all of the connected multiplayer that was present in the original Type-0. When you look for help, you'll get what appears to be generic NPCs using the dev team members name and job. I had a Texture Artist join me on my first mission. Cool, I guess? Maybe? You also gain the ability early on to level up your party while logged off, through secret training. Leave the game saved at a certain point, and come back to free exp. That's a cardinal sin in my book. There's just something not right about rewarding a player for not playing.
Fans into a story will have their work cut out for them in this installment, even more so than some of the main series' entries. For those that choose to enjoy it, there's a deep weave of mythology and a clash of ideals between nations. Each worship a Crystal and it's deity protector. If you guessed crystals were going to lose their power… you've played one of these games before! L'Cie also return as this game exists in the same universe as 13. This was also the first time I honestly cared about a Chocobo in my lifetime playing Final Fantasy. And I hate Chocobos.
The documentary style retelling of the plot also gets a special nodd for a novel way to retell a story on a budget. There's no flashy CG, but still narration over an image gets the job done when you go for the mood Type-0 is. It's somber, and occasionally haunting. The last thing that crossed my mind after most was "….wow. This is heavy."
All in all, the game is solid. It's got a great story, even if you don't play much of the actual story. It plays smoothly enough to warrant a purchase, but I would not rush to pick this one up just yet. Wait for a price drop, or borrow it form a friend. If you like it, it will be cheap enough soon.
