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Official Site: Square Enix

Final Fantasy Type-0, an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in 2011, revolves around a war between four nations in the world of Orience. An episodic companion game, Final Fantasy Agito, was released in 2014. Type-0 was re-released internationally in 2015 as a high-definition remaster for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The main protagonists are Class Zero, a group of students at the magical academy in Rubrum. The story is told through two new members of Class Zero: Machina Kunagiri and Rem Tokimiya. The main character of Agito is a player-created cadet at the Rubrum magical academy. The world and characters were designed by Yusuke Naora, Yusaku Nakaaki and Tetsuya Nomura. Their stories were created by Hajime Tabata, Hiroki Chiba and Sarah Obake.

The main characters are the twelve members of Class Zero: Ace, Deuce, Trey, Cater, Cinque, Sice, Seven, Eight, Nine, Jack, Queen and King. Alongside them are Machina Kunagiri and Rem Tokimiya, old friends who are assigned to Class Zero shortly after the events of the game begin. A guest character is Kurasame Susaya, Class Zero's tutor and a veteran warrior. Other major characters include Arecia Al-Rashia, head of the Rubrum Academy's magical department and a key figure in Orience's lore; Cid Aulstyne, the leader of Milites Empire and the game's main antagonist; and Joker and Tiz, two characters who observe the events of the games.

The concept, which was set within the mythos of the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries, was for a much darker scenario than other Final Fantasy games. The main cast were designed by Nomura and Naora, while side characters were handled by Nakaaki. Multiple pieces of merchandise and additional media have been created around the characters, including trading cards and multiple manga. They have been the subject of positive reviews in Japan and import reviews: the main praise has gone to their interactions and writing, while the main criticism was difficulties arising from handling the large cast. Western reviews were also generally positive about the character portrayals, but there were criticisms about dialogue, character interactions, and the quality of the localization.

The original scenario and concept of Final Fantasy Type-0, originally a mobile title named Final Fantasy Agito XIII, was conceived by Hajime Tabata. He wished for a group-driven story as he felt that a single playable character would not be able to properly convey the scope and themes of the story. Because Tabata wanted to show a history of survival told from the point of view of young people caught in a war, it was decided to set the story during a war between four nations. Much of the original story, which mainly revolved about defying the gods, was drawn from popular anime and manga and did not survive. After the platform change to PlayStation Portable, Tabata adopted a story-telling style similar to a documentary film: a direct inspiration for this was Centuries of Picture, a documentary series broadcast on NHK. Alongside that, multiple war films were used as inspiration. Type-0 s script was written by Hiroki Chiba and Sarah Okabe. During the rough draft stage, elements such as extra plot points involving Khalia Chival, a boss fight with Arecia, and a main plot thread involving Joker and Tiz were planned. Most of these elements were cut from the final product, meaning elements such as Joker and Tiz's role needed to be included in written texts found in-game so they were not left hanging. The deaths of Class Zero were planned from an early stage, and to emphasize the state of the world, a large number of the supporting cast were killed off near the end. Tabata wanted to create a story depicting different fates for Type-0 s characters, and this decision was supported by both staff members and fans of the original. He also implemented the ability for players to decide the course of the story, which was to have been included in the Type-0 when it was still known as Agito XIII. Final Fantasy Agito was given a more upbeat atmosphere when compared to Type-0, although dark and more dramatic moments were still present. The story grew out of what Tabata originally envisioned for Type-0.

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