More FF Type-0 details emerge

January 31, 2011 3:33PM PST

By Jonathan Leo Toyad

Next PSP Final Fantasy game to ship in two UMDs; multiplayer a key focus.

With plenty of recent news about Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2, it was only a matter of time until more information was revealed about the next Final Fantasy game on the PSP, subtitled Type-0. Originally dubbed Final Fantasy Agito XIII, game director Hajime Tabata revealed more details about the game to Japanese magazine Famitsu (translated via Andriasang).

According to the Famitsu article, the game was built with multiplayer in mind. Single-player mode pits players with 12 characters heading out into the battlefield, with only four of them able to participate in battle. When a team member is down, another team member on the bench will take over; the game is over when all 12 members are defeated. The other three party members will be controlled by the AI. Multiplayer in the game is handled in three-minute bursts: Up to four players participate in a traditional instance that lasts for a short time. This mode will retain the team-member-switching mechanic of single-player mode, only with actual players instead of the AI. Players will connect to a multiplayer session via ad hoc.

When it comes to narrative, director Tabata said that since it differs from past Final Fantasy games, the Type-0 subtitle is meant to classify the game as a separate family member. The game is set in a world of four countries, each of them with their own crystal to protect that’s housed in their respective magic academies. Type-0's story begins with the Milites Empire invading Rubrum to render its crystal powerless with its new invention so that Rubrum is ripe for conquest. Players will assume the role of a group of Rubrum academy students dedicated to protecting their country from the warship-equipped invaders. While the Milites empire has steampunk weapons like mecha and guns, Rubrum has magic and magical beasts called Summons. Two characters from Rubrum, Rem, and Machina will be considered as the story’s main characters, though at this point in time, little is divulged.

While it’s clear from the recent trailer that the game is an action role-playing game, the battle system still remains a mystery. Tabata did say that characters in Type-0 will level up as per the standard Japanese RPG rules and can be buffed with abilities and accessories. Magic is handled differently; gamers can cast a powerful version of a spell simply by holding down the button assigned to a spell. For instance, a blizzard spell can become a blizzaga when the spell is charged. Players can customize each assortment of spell so that they have additional properties, like reduced charge time or increased strength and trajectory speed.

In the gameworld, players can conjure up a summon to tag along with them. The catch is that they can only bring in one summon for each battle. When calling out a summon, gamers will take full control of it at the cost of appearing for a limited amount of time. Think of this like an extension of Final Fantasy XII’s espers.

Because of the game’s focus on quality HD output in terms of graphics and cutscenes, Tabata said that the game will come in two UMDs. This will be the very first game in the PSP library to be shipped with two UMDs.

Final Fantasy Type-0 will be out in the second quarter of 2011.

21 comments

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1okami

fkbwii i think its only for four people

MaddogQ80

this has potential. square enix should just drop everything they are doing until versus 13 comes out. then they can work on this other crap

rayjapan

I'm surprised at the number of people complaining about "disc swaps". It's a story-based game...I am sure they know how to split it so that you swap once half-way in the game. I doubt they would be so sloppy that you enter a room, and have to swap discs and when you go back, you swap back to the first. Personally, I'll never forget the disc 1 to disc 2 swap of Final Fantasy 7... ;)

xds7

What!!! Two UMD's I bet the quality of the game will be very good. And the story will be long and that is a good thing

zer0ne

Two UMDs = estimate 3.2 Gigabyte of data.

blue_francis14

*sigh* another reason why the UMD technology won't catch up... disk swaps.

soulless4now

Does this mean we'll have to pay double the Square Enix tax since it comes on two UMDs?!

Kleeyook

Will it be available on PSN store as well? I don't want 2 UMDs. No more disc swap!

fend_oblivion ranger

I loved Crisis Core so I'm definitely getting Agito XIII (now Type-0). Also, the fact that it comes on 2 UMDs makes me even more excited :) I hope it's a fantastic game and truly worth the wait.

Double_Wide

Did anyone seem to catch the detail about AI controled party members?! This is one of the reason's why FFXIII failed as a Final Fantasy! D@mn, when are we going to have another FF where we can fully control our entire party?! Is that really so much to ask for?

Wakasenshi

with the UMD being removed in the NGP (PSP2). I might pick this up from the PSN store.

QtrArt

look the game play is so great

Pete5506

Sounds great, looking forward to seeing more news

Falcon084

Will the party members in the single mode have personalities or just be blank like in the Baldurs Gate II break away series Icewind Dale?

StraferBiz

This is gonna be awesome i can just tell it. Been waiting for ahwhile for this

fkbwii

only ad-hoc? Can you imagine 12 people sitting playing the same game. Would've been better online with that many people.

twztid13

man i hope i can play this on NGP, cuz no way i'm buying a another psp for this one game (1 psp was hard enough to sell for a decent price). i waited & waited for info on this game before selling my psp 6? months ago. i assumed it would be a psp2 title. sucks cuz i know so many people w/ modded psp's & play EVERY psp game free (even sorry ones). i decided i didn't want to hurt anyone in the industry i love and didn't homebrew my psp. many like me got tired of trying to play handicapped ps3 IPs (one nub), so they sell their systems. sucks the we will miss out on this & the people that don't buy the games get to play it. i know there's no logic in my point, it just SUCKS for me cuz i really wanted to play a portable FF game that didn't look like a SNES game. i preordered the 3ds because of Ninty's track record on delivering rpgs for the fans (esp KH & FF). the graphics on DS sucked (i'm a graphics person), so i thought the 3DS solved all my issues (and no doubt they will deliver, but i don't want to miss out on such a big entry in the FF world that has been in development for several years). what a conundrum! a 3DS port would be GREAT!

blacknight06

It's not the first game with two UMDs... >.>

mariomaster16

I'm really glad they changed it. Playing XIII on PSP would've sucked. It was too big and looked too good to squish on the PSP. I can't wait for this game, it looks pretty sick.

XragnaX

Wooooo this is gonna be awesome, now if only there give me a FF13 Versus my 2011 would complete but doubt am seeing that game this year T__T

davidyang1123

nice cant wait

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