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.