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| Liz Maas |
Surprise! Oh, and other tidbits.
07.07.11 - 3:19 AM
It's only been a few weeks since we've heard anything about Final Fantasy Type-0, but Famitsu had another article on the game and an interview with director Hajime Tabata and Tetsuya Nomura. To no one's surprise, Type-0 won't be meeting its initial target release window of this summer in Japan. Instead, they said (with apologies) that it was likely to see a fall release. Tabata suggests that this might be due in part to the long PSN downtime in Japan.
As of Famitsu's article, Final Fantasy Type-0 is now 80% complete, with a lot of parts outside of the multiplayer finished, and the staff is now working on the ad-hoc portion. It's possible to beat the game in 30-40 hours, but it would take completionists up to 100 hours to finish everything. The pair still shared some multiplayer details though. You can choose whether or not you want to host multiplayer games. If you choose to, then players can randomly enter your game. To join a game, you just choose from possible hosts. The other players will get dropped from the host's game as soon as the host reaches a save point. (If the host doesn't reach a save point, there's still a time limit.) The multiplayer sessions are kept short on purpose, and aren't needed to complete the game.
As far as gameplay goes, different buttons can be assigned to different types of attacks and magic, and there will be some fighting game-style moves, like move cancellations. Instead of mashing a button over and over to repeat a move, you can simply hold down the button instead. You'll be able to switch between characters easily, and the weather will have an effect on weapons' power and range - and on other areas of battle, too. For example, Shiva becomes stronger in snowy conditions. Even though you will fight as Rem, Machina and your class' 12 students, students from the other classes in your magic school will join you as well. (Initially, the game had 40 main characters rather than the 14 that it has now.)
You'll also get to see other players' stats, like usage and kills, via Square Enix Members' connectivity on the loading screen. Finally, Square Enix is considering a download version of the game, and they are still thinking about the overseas version. (In an earlier interview, they said they were trying to decide 'how to deliver the game overseas.') Final Fantasy Type-0 for the PSP now simply has a Japanese release window of 2011, but no date set yet for its Western release.
