RE: Final Fantasy Type-0

WELP.

Confession time: I pretty much completely forgot about this game.  Not necessarily that it exists, but everything else related to it -- the release date chief among them.  I knew months ago that it had a slot in March, but I wasn’t exactly marking it on my calendar.  So I guess you could say I stopped caring -- an unfair assessment, but in some ways understandable.  I mean, really, just look at the facts.

Type-0 -- or Agito 13, if you remember the time before some aggressive backpedaling -- was announced back in 2006 for mobile devices.  I don’t think I need to tell you how well that went, but for perspective’s sake?  It saw release in 2011.  On the PSP.  In Japan only.  Anyone living even a foot further west would have to wait until this month in 2015 to play an English version.  Ignoring the nine year gap between announcement and sale, those who bought into the PSP version have…what to say, exactly?

I honestly don’t know.  I’ve heard plenty of conflicting opinions, both in the past and with the recent batch of reviews/opinions.  It’s the best.  No wait, it’s the worst.  It’s good.  No, actually it’s bad.  The gameplay’s great.  The gameplay’s a mess.  It’s a return to form.  It’s Squeenix scrambling for salvation.  Scores aside, it’s hard to know for sure if the game’s actually worthwhile.

And I guess you know what that means, right?

Metaphor.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends.  Now, whether you’ve been reading this blog or not (especially if you’ve been reading this blog, given previous…content), you’re probably saying that it’s not worth it.  Final Fantasy is dead, and nothing can bring it back.  Anyone who buys any game in the franchise at this point is pretty much enabling Squeenix -- and giving them full reign to deliver unto us another game with Lightning.  And in a lot of ways, that’s true. 

That really is the ultimate negative with arts and entertainment, isn’t it?  If you’re the negative sort, you could say (with borderline-irrefutable evidence) that Squeenix only cares up to a certain point.  As soon as Jimmy Gamer buys the latest FF game, it doesn’t matter if he enjoys or even plays the game.  They’ve already got what matters most straight from his pockets.  And sure, Jimmy might not be back for the next game, but Jacky Gamer will gladly pick up the slack.  Arguably, Squeenix’s past failures make an even stronger argument for people to pick up the slack; we’re out of the poisonous swamp that was The Lightning Saga.  Now that it’s safe to breathe again, why not see waiting for us?  With a bonus demo to boot?

I have mixed feelings.  I’ve unloaded metric tons of rage thanks to The Lightning Saga, and while playing through 13 and 13-2 was about as pleasant as swallowing a pizza cutter, I imagine that my written fury managed to entertain as well as inform.  I guess that’s understandable, but you know me, I hope; I would much rather talk about things that I enjoy -- and are good -- than go on a rant about how much something sucks.  That’s why I went all in with a post on Gundam Build Fighters; while I’m thankful that it’s taken a top-ranking spot on the blog, something tells me that a post where I went into rage mode on an easy target would garner some much bigger responses.  And by “something tells me”, I mean “there’s pretty much historical precedents on this blog that say as much”.  It’s an unfortunate reality of the internet, I think; sometimes it seems like people would rather see that rage and that assault on a target (easy or otherwise) than they would celebrate a story that earns top marks.  But I digress.

To be honest?  I hate that I (or anyone else) has every right to assume that any FF that comes out these days is terrible unless proven otherwise.  I hate that about modern-day games in general.  What does it say about the medium when we have to regularly prepare for disappointment and betrayal?  Not good things, I imagine.  So you know what?  Forget it.  Forget the baggage, the low expectations, and the hate.  I’m ready to believe in games that don’t have Nintendo’s logo on the box.  I want to see FF rise up and regain its honor. 

So I guess I want to play this game.  And inevitably, that means I’m going to end up talking about it.

You can consider this a formal declaration, but I’ll say right now that you shouldn’t expect a level of anger that I once put on display.  There is nothing Type-0 can do to be as bad as The Lightning Saga.  Nothing.  It’s a game that deserves a fair shake -- and while that means I won’t hold back on harsh judgments, that also means that it’s not exempt from praise.  I want to find the good in the franchise again, and highlight it for all of you to read.

There’s enough hatred, cynicism, and negativity out there -- on the internet or otherwise -- so that even if one guy doesn’t poo-poo all over the latest (asterisk) video game, people will be all right.  That’s my guess, but more importantly it’s my hope.  So let’s all be willing to get into Type-0 with cool heads and clear hearts.  For good or for ill, I want you guys to take this ride with me.

For our Final Fantasy.

See you guys soon.

Next: The descent begins >>