Saviors of Orience

I discussed at length the possibility of buying a PlayStation 4 several months back on this blog but I didn't follow through on those plans until relatively recently. Final Fantasy Type 0 HD was my only game purchase at the time, but I have since also acquired Disgaea 5. I've finished Type 0 (after a month of playing in short bursts) but won't be able to play Disgaea 5 until I've finished Disgaea D2 for the PS3. Of course, I've been a lot busier lately, so there's no telling just how long it's going to take me to work through my current round of games. I may be a bit burned out by the time Disgaea 5 comes into the rotation--and then of course there's Final Fantasy XV and Persona 5 on the horizon.

Of course, Type 0 is not a straight up PS4 game. It's an enhanced port of a game originally only released in Japanese on the PSP. In some cases, this is blindingly apparent. While the game's main cast of 14 playable characters received a massive graphical overhaul, the game's host of NPCs are noticeably blurry and indistinct on my 46" HD display. The graphical inconsistency isn't a dealbreaker of course, because the gameplay itself is quite fun. Unlike many main series Final Fantasy games, Type 0 is structured more like an action game, with an emphasis on controlling a single character at a time--although it is simple to quickly switch between different characters.

Each of Type 0's 14 playable characters have distinct gameplay from each other, although I definitely enjoyed some more than others. The characters, 12 of which feature numeral-themed names such as Ace, Cinque, and Seven, fall into a few loosely defined roles such as melee damage dealers, ranged attackers, and supports. Sice wields a scythe and gains power from slaying opponents without taking damage. Cater uses a chargeable magicite pistol capable of discharging elemental blasts. Deuce batters her opponents with bubbles emitted from a flute, of all things, and ends up being surprisingly powerful once she's acquired enough experience.

The game is story-driven, but broken up into missions separated by stretches of "free time," during which the player is afforded the opportunity to undergo some frankly pretty menial and pointless quests and acquire information about the game world. I found myself utterly bored by the game's lore and many of the characters, even if I did think a few of them were well designed. Nine's brash personality and voice acting are particularly questionable, but I did enjoy hearing from Matt Mercer (as Trey) and the newcomer providing the voice of the card-slinging Ace. Regardless, plot is not the game's strong point--I found myself glazing over in disinterest on multiple occasions as the game's text washed over me. Type 0's sole non-numeral playable characters, Machina and Rem, play a pivotal role in the trajectory of the plot but I couldn't begin to even summarize their importance.

Combat missions make up the bulk of Type 0's gameplay and in most cases these are really fun. Each character has different strengths and weaknesses. Queen has a strong aptitude for lightning magic, for instance, but this doesn't mean she's pigeonholed into using a particular type of lightning sgapell. In keeping with the game's decidedly military theme, most elemental spells mimic the function of weapons such as rockets, missiles, and rifles. Thunder-ROK allows the player to aim with a crosshair, for instance, and Fire-SG explodes out at close range. These elemental spells are available to all characters, but aptitude determines their strength. Of course, each character also has access to an array of unique skills and spells, such as Queen's wide-area life-draining spell and Sice's target-seeking whirlwind attack.

I did find myself having to grind for experience a pretty excessive amount in the game's latter half, and I found myself more and more disinterested at the trajectory of the plot. The final dungeon was fairly long and involved, but the final encounter itself disappointing. In fact, it seemed the game was playing itself more than anything. I wouldn't say that Type 0 is an essential entry into the Final Fantasy series, but I had fun with it an it tided me over until I could get another PS4 game. It also somewhat satisfies my completionist tendencies--it's one more Final Fantasy game stricken from the list. Now, if only I could finally get around to finishing Final Fantasy X. . . 

PS4 Woes

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD released in NA today and with it comes the one somewhat compelling reason I've discovered so far to purchase a PS4. Critical reception seems relatively positive so far, but if I'm being honest with myself I've been looking for some kind of excuse to buy the console lately. With titles like Final Fantasy XV, Disgaea V, and Persona V on the (distant?) horizon, it's a console I'll most definitely have to purchase at some point. Why not now when I have some extra cash lying around? Of course, I have somewhat of a poor history of effectively managing my funds--and that's the only reason I'm hesitant. The other reason is that I just purchased the Samsung Galaxy Tab S tablet. I'm immensely pleased with it, but it did set me back a few bucks. Returning it is not outside the realm of possibility, but I'm finding myself becoming more attached to it by the day.

Also weighing against me is the fact that I have so many games in my backlog to work through! My tentative goal for game completion was five per month for this year, and here I am over halfway through March and I've only completed Etrian Odyssey. I'm still playing the games I'm working on quite frequently, but they're all very long and in some cases quite difficult. Etrian Odyssey II has been quite the slog and only after a very recent grinding session have I begun to find the game tolerable to actually play. Fortunately, I'm beginning to make progress on it. Similarly, Tales of Graces f and Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne are quite long RPGs on which I'm struggling to make progress. I've been neglecting Graces for EOII not because I prefer the latter but because it strikes me as a puzzle that I must solve and overcome. Now that I've gotten over that crucial hump, it might behoove me to focus more on Graces since I must be approaching a spot that is 2/3rds of the way through the game, at least.

I am not without patience when it comes to these games I want to play, of course, but I'm afraid of what might happen to this sum of cash I've built up. What if the time comes when I find I need the PS4 and all of my funds have mysteriously disappeared? This is not outside the realm of possibility, sad as that may be to admit. Still, this doesn't strike me as a particularly compelling reason to march out and purchase the console before I miss my chance.

I continue to find ways to rationalize my potential purchase. Final Fantasy Type-0 HD is a game I'd very much like to play, but aside from several upcoming titles, it's the only one. A small argument could be made for Infamous: Second Son despite its lukewarm critical reception. It is a game I would probably purchase because I enjoyed the previous games in the series, but it shouldn't be considered as a legitimate console-seller--for me, anyway. And what else is there for me on that console? Not a thing that I can think of. There's still a whole world of PS3 games that I haven't played, actually--precisely because I've focused so much on retro games in the past couple of years. I have a small library of PS3 games that I like but there are tons of likely solid RPGs that I haven't had the chance to experience. It's tempting to move on to the biggest and newest titles, but let's be honest here--Final Fantasy Type 0 HD is not that game. It's an enhanced port of a Japan-only PSP game. I'm sure it looks prettier than the original, but from what I've heard the content is largely unchanged. Should I really purchase a PS4 just for that?