Square Enix Released today a whole slew of new screenshots of the upcoming PSP title Final Fantasy Type-0,  and revealed some quite juicy elements about an unexpected gameplay feature: Conquest Battle.

The game will include some Real Time Strategy elements. RTS-style missions will be available, with the objective of protecting an allied base or conquering an enemy one. The player will then be able to order his troops to move to the objective and to chose the strategy used during the battle depending on the tactical situation. The outcome of the RTS battles will determine control of the world map.

The moogles will give the player special missions that, when completed, will award command abilities that will improve performance in battle. 

In addition to this a few new characters have been introduced: Aria, Carla, Nagi, Caetuna, Diva, Enkidu and the super cute Cramberry Knights (the moogles tasked with taking care of the protagonists, each one of them is in charge of a class). The boss Nimbus and the summon Diabolos are also featured.

Aria is a quiet girl that purposely doesn't stand out in the classroom. Carla calls herself the "Merchant of Fire", she's a honor student with outstanding academic results, but she also run a black market business on the side, selling rare items and information at very high prices. Nagi defines himself "everybody's idol", but despite this self centered attitude he's actually very intelligent and a skilled combatant.

Caetuna is the oldest surviving l'Cie and she hails from the player's country of Suzaku. Records of her actions remain from the last great war 200 years before the game. She is also an expert summoner. Nimbus and Enkidu are two l'Cie from the countries of Byakko and Genbu. Aria is the narrator of the game.

The game will also feature airship combat. The screenshots show an example in the form of a rapid fire cannon used to shot down a flying dragon from the airship. A coliseum is included as well, allowing to train one's characters against series of 20 enemies and even while the PSP is in sleep mode, using the feature called "Secret Training", that lets characters gain experience passively.

Finally, when leveling up, characters will earn AP (Agito Points), that the player can spend to have them learn a variety of abilities like Ace's Cannon Laser, Queen's Energy Bomb, Nine's Throw Lancer, Machina's Sword Field and Rem's Boomerang Dagger.

Final Fantasy Type-0 is really shaping up as a great game, full of content. While we wait for an announcement about a western release (that IS going to come, right Square-Enix?), you can see the whole batch of new screenshots and artwork, including several that show the new RTS gameplay in the gallery below: