Final Fantasy Type-0 Review (PS4)

It's Final Fantasy, but not quite the way you know it.  Final Fantasy Type-0 is a different kind of Final Fantasy.   Put down your textbooks, don your red cape, and take up your sword for this one.  It's time to dole out some ass-whuppins.

Final Fantasy Type-0 is kind of like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on the Gamecube.  That's to say, you roam around free, beating the crap out of anything that dares to call itself an enemy.  Fortunately, Type-0 does what Crystal Chronicles did and vastly improves on it.

First off, you play Class 0, an entire classroom of badass teenagers in red capes.  These kids are so badass, an entire military of armed and trained grown men can't stand up to them.  Each kid has their own weapons and skill that can be upgraded with AP.  These bloodthirsty teens can also be customized with any skills and magic.  Once you've customized the kids to you liking, trot of into battle, kill people and monsters, and steal their souls, which causes the enemies to explode for reason.

Check out that epic cape.

The graphics are...meh.  This game is a port from the PSP game and it shows.  The playable characters and Akademia (the school Class 0 attends) look good.  The towns, battlefields, enemies, and NPC look like they were ripped straight from the PSP version.  That's not to say they look bad, but you can tell this wasn't originally a PS4 game.  Maybe the Xbox One version looks better.

The school is epic.

Akademia on the world map.  As you can see, the school is pretty much a city.

This classroom is too darned big for only fifteen students.

The music is pretty good.  The sound track goes perfectly with sending high school kids off to war to murder people (or get murdered themselves).  It's better the Final Fantasy 8, which also has the high school kids going to war them.  There's some pretty epic stuff here.  From that chilling opening menu theme, to the battle preparation theme, and some of the battle themes will have you thanking God for YouTube.  Final Fantasy usually sets a high bar for music and Type-0 makes the cut.

The gameplay is solid, but can be subpar sometimes.  As mentioned before, battle is like Crystal Chronicles on steroids.  You can roam freely on the battlefield, beating whichever ass is close enough to kick.  Some characters are better suited for melee combat, while others are better from long range.  Be careful, though, because the enemy will fight back and some of them pretty hard.  Your kids can die pretty easily.  Get too greedy in battle and you'll be dead faster than you can say, "I've got a pimple".  But you have fourteen kids at your disposal, so you can send as many as you need to their deaths until you win (or lose).  The students on AI duty tend to be sturdy and smart, so they won't keel over unless the enemy is particular tough.  If combat is really tough, you can always sacrifice (yes, you kill them) your entire threesome to summon super monster called an Eidolon to dish out beatings.  In all honesty, combat can be tough to adjust to, be it can be addictive once you adjust.

Combat does have its flaws.  First, there is the three-member party system.  This system has always sucked and hopefully future RPGs pull away from this.  Also, players who dislike random encounters should stay away, because this game follows that RPG tradition, as well.

Surveying the field before battle.

Then, melee combat doesn't always feel right.  It just doesn't feel as good as it should.  Your kids will usually get knocked down with one hit, taking their sweet time getting up, which will allow your enemies to size up the next hit.  So you might get caught in a situation where your kid will get hit and fall down screaming, only to get up right into the next hit and be sent back to the ground screaming.  This doesn't usually happen with long range characters because you're likely not close enough to be hit.

Ranged combat isn't without its flaws, though.  It's not just as simple as sitting back and shooting while your melee fighters rush in and beat ass.  Fast enemies can dodge your shots and hit you, sending your character to the ground squealing just like melee fighter.  Nothing's wrong with missing a few shots, but sometimes the circumstances under which you'll miss are BS.  Some enemies will be in your direct line of fire, yet you'll still miss them for some strange reason.

Cater, a member of Class 0, having fun with her guns.

Finally, the camera be an issue in combat, especially when you lock on to fast enemies.  When the enemies zip around the screen like they're on speed, so does the camera.  It's not game breaking, but it can take players out of the action.

Outside of the main story, there are quest you can do.  You can replay any missions you've beaten or study the characters and history of the world if you're interested.  Heck, you can even raise and breed chocobos.

Chocobos are so cute when they're little...

...but they grow up.

In the end, Final Fantasy Type-0 is a flawed, but good experience.  It is the game Crystal Chronicles should have been.  Decent graphics, epic music, and solid gameplay help the game overcome the flaws.  Players looking for a different kind of Final Fantasy should check this one out.