Final Fantasy Type-0 History
Final Fantasy Type-0 (ファイナルファンタジー 零式 Fainaru Fantajī Rei Shiki) is a video game for PlayStation Portable. Together with Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and Final Fantasy Versus XIII it makes up the compilation Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy.
The original Game Title was Final Fantasy XIII Agito, and was initially announced for mobile phones but was re-announced for the PSP in 2008.
The decision to create “Final Fantasy Type-0″, previously known as Final Fantasy Agito XIII was made after the other two Final Fantasy XIII games had already been decided upon, and was made in response to the popularity of the mobile phone game Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII.
First unveiled at E3 ’2006, the game promised players easy on-the-go access to the Final Fantasy XIII universe. Utilizing gameplay functions only available through mobile phones, it was supposed to provide players with a unique take on a story accessible anywhere their real-life adventures may take them.
Developers stated the reason for the move was that they did not want to wait for cell phones to be advanced enough to handle the game. An issue they had grappled with was whether or not to make the command buttons used in the game visible. The game was in development with the idea of making it a “full-fledged numbered game”
According to the developers, the PSP version of the game was planned from the start and was meant to be revealed sometime after progress on the mobile version.
It was drawing more attention since it has been re-announced to the PSP because usually mobile phone games produced in Japan won’t be released internationally.
The development was progressing slowly over the years without much new information. Some pictures leaked as well as the Logo and some statements from Tabata and Kitase.
Trailer from 2009
On December 30th, 2010 Final Fantasy Type-0 was registered as a new game title by Square Enix in Europe’s trademark database for alongside with a new Kanji logo.
On January 16th, 2011 a new image surfaced annotating “Type 1″, “Type 2″, and “Type 3″ as Square also trademarked those Names for protection.
Some have speculated that this may hint at a title with episodic content and that it may end up being another mobile phone Final Fantasy title or a complete new starting series. Square-Enix still didn’t make an official Statement about the Titles.
Many people expected that the title will be revealed at the Square-Enix 1st Production Department Premiere on January 18th, 2011.
On Square Enix’s 1st Production Department Premiere a new Trailer was shown and announced as Final Fantasy Reishiki, which means, “Final Fantasy Type-0.” In English.
Familiar scenes and characters were shown and at the end of the Trailer the new Logo popped up and everybody was sure that this used to be “Final Fantasy XIII Agito“.
The new Logo changed some too as you can see here in Comparison to the old one:
Tabata statemented on the title change from Final Fantasy XIII Agito to Final Fantasy Type-0.
Tabata says that he liked the Agito title, but the game didn’t have much to do with Final Fantasy XIII. so for him the reason was simple, joked Tabata. “One day, I felt that Final Fantasy XIII and Agito XIII don’t really have anything to do with one-another.”
It should be noted that despite the name change, Type-0 is still a part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series. It features the same broad mythology as other entries in the series. Final Fantasy XIII and Versus XIII, and now Final Fantasy XIII-2, are still its sister projects.
On January 19th Tabata Further commented on the title change:
“I’m sorry for explaining badly yesterday. Final Fantasy Type-0 is in the Fabula Nova Crystallis series. I wanted to highlight with the name change that it’s of the FNC series rather than a derivation of Final Fantasy XIII. I’m often asked by the staff linked with FFXIII, “What’s the connection with FFXIII?” There are some things that are [connected], but this is different. Yeah.”
“Also, the meaning of Type-0 isn’t a point of origin, but a departure. Unlike the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, it’s the first Final Fantasy where you create yourself from zero. So it’s departing in a new direction, in the sense that your own Final Fantasy begins here with team members you can rely on. That’s all the change to Final Fantasy Type-0′s title is about.”
In an interview in Playstations Dengeki Magazine Hajime Tabata and producer Yoshinori Kitase further detailed the game and commented on the name change as well as on the Characters, Story and the Gameplay of Final fantasy Type-0.
Regarding the specific choice of “Type-0″ as a name, Tabata explained that because multiplayer is built into the game’s basic design, its focus differs from a numbered Final Fantasy game or the Final Fantasy XIII group. They used Type-0, or “Reishiki” in Japanese, to mean “zero,” and indicate a separate genealogy of Final Fantasy games — a sort of underground numbering system.
Outside of the name change, Type-0 hasn’t seen any major changes, Tabata said. Even though the 13 is gone from the name, the core mythology remains in place. Type-0 is still a Fabula Nova Crystallis game, and it will explore the mythology of the series. The focus here will be on the people side of the mythology.
Tabata noted that, as Kitase said during the Premier event, all titles in the Fabula series are free to interpret and use the base mythology of the series as they please. As a result, you will see some areas that differ from FFXIII, the previous and currently only Fabula game (Type-0′s release will precede that of XIII-2 and Versus XIII). For instance, even the same l’Cie word can have different levels of significance for each title.
Click to view the full version interview from Dengeki and Famitsu
The Staff is making good progress in developing the game and it is approximately 60% complete and will span two UMDs to allow them to avoid cutting out any content.
Final Fantasy Type-0 will release this summer in Japan for PlayStation Portable. They plan to polish the title until the last minute before it gets released this summer.
We’ve had it indicated to us by sources close to Square Enix that a Western release in 2011 is likely.
Official Square Enix Final Fantasy Type-0 website:
http://www.square-enix.co.jp/fabula/0/
Official HD Trailer:
Confirmed Staff:
Director: Hajime Tabata (You know Tabata from his directorial work on Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and The 3rd Birthday.)
Art-Director: Yusuke Naora (Naora has previously acted as Art Director on Final Fantasy VII, VIII and X)
Character Design: Tetsuya Nomura
Soundtrack Composer: Takeharu Ishimoto (whose most recent work includes The World Ends With You and Dissidia: Final Fantasy)
Producer: Yoshinori Kitase
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