The entire world of Orience, torn apart by war, is introduced in the opening moments of Final Fantasy Type-0, but the focus immediately shifts to a wounded young boy named Izana looking for his brother, Machina. As he turns the corner, other soldiers, all young teens, sit among the fires and destroyed buildings, gasping for air. Spotted by enemy soldiers, the children are stabbed and gunned down without hesitation. Just as Izana is about to be killed as well, a bloodied, wounded chocobo named Chichiri rams through the soldiers and kicks a sword to him, and he plunges it into the men.

They ride on, but the moment of salvation is short-lived, as the wounded boy collapses. Chichiri waits near him but is shot by soldiers who spotted them. Just before they're killed, Ace, one of the main protagonists and members of Class Zero, destroys the enemies with a great plume of fire. Problem is, they’re too late. Healing magic hurts Izana.

Izana from Final Fantasy Type-0 is wounded resized

“Is this the end?” he asks Chichiri. “I don’t want to die,” he pleads, as tears roll down his face. Izana cries out, clenching his bloodied stomach. Chichiri raises its head, gives out one guttural screech, and collapses in silence. Izana too becomes quiet. The life leavdes them both. Not much is said, and Ace prepares for battle as the opening tutorial begins.

This was the way Type-0 was introduced to me the first time I played, and I put the controller down and started crying from shock. I’d never seen so much blood in a Final Fantasy game, let alone a dying chocobo. Death and destruction are staples of RPGs, but in order to keep things within T rating, the graphic violence tends to happen off-screen. This time, death was up close and personal, and Type-0 wouldn’t shy away from it, and I was in for one of the most depressing endings to a game I’ve ever experienced.

Final Fantasy Type-0 was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2015, as a remastered HD version of the Japanese-only "Final Fantasy Type-0 HD." The game was grossly overshadowed by others, including the behemoth Final Fantasy 15. Many only bought it because it had the exclusive demo for the game tacked on to it, further devaluing it, in my opinion.

Four nations are at war: Rubrum, Milites, Concordia, and Lorica. In Rubrum's magical academy, Class Zero is a group of elite students who possess unique abilities and combat skills. The members of Class Zero embark on a journey to defend their homeland and end the war. There is a lot of emphasis on the characters' personal struggles and experiences as they navigate the harsh realities of war.

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The theme of death is present all the way down to the game’s core mechanics. Downed enemies give you their Phantoma, or life force, and you must soak it up to replenish health and gain items…which is really quite brutal. You’re ripping their souls out of their bodies, basically. The brutality extends to your party as well. If you summon Ifrit while controlling Ace, you will watch your main man dissolve.

It’s highly recommended that you keep all fourteen characters leveled up because Type-0 isn’t a walk in the park. This game loves to stick you in a space with a particularly nasty enemy who will one-hit kill your characters. There are even scripted moments in which your controlled character is KO’d. Once they’re out, you either stick with whoever is left, or you fill in that slot with someone else.

Class Zero is a group of intentionally tropey characters. While they have individual quirks, their wants and needs are never quite personal. The same can't be said for the adults (commanders) of the world, which creates an unnerving contrast between them and the children (soldiers). It soon becomes apparent that the members of Class Zero are pawns to their commanders' wills.

Orience, a place where war is common and constant, is given the “gift” from the Crystals of forgetting. Once you die, you’re erased from existence. Through this lens, memories become something to be cherished, something rare, and this plays into Machina’s story. As one of the members of Class Zero, he has a hard time getting along with the others. He becomes curious about what’s going on behind the scenes, finds out that his brother, Izana, was killed in battle, and believes Ace is the reason why he died.

Peace talks were in the works, but after an important political figure is assassinated, Class Zero is blamed for it. From here the tone becomes even darker and reveals one of the best, most tragic endings in a Final Fantasy game.

Machina holds Rem in Final Fantasy Type-0 resized

Class Zero’s final mission is an all-out attack on the Empire. There’s been a prophecy brewing in the background about the end of days. Tempus Finis, the end of Orience, comes when the balance between the nations is destroyed. Demons pour out and begin wiping away the world of humans by taking their phantoma. Only Class Zero can destroy them.

As all hope is diminishing, Class Zero is told that as soldiers, they never got to choose the circumstances from which they were born, but as humans, they can choose how they’ll die. Will they give up or choose to fight, even though there’s almost no chance they’ll win?

They choose the latter.

Going through the final dungeon, you must make a seemingly important choice: take the gift of power from one of the Crystals, or remain human. But the choice is an illusion, further showing the helpless situation Class Zero is in. Ren and Machina were childhood friends who were forced to fight against one another, killing each other in the end. Much like the beginning parts of the story, the scene lingers on the last moments the two spend together. As Ren loses sight, she asks Machina to always remember her. Knowing how this world works, this was a real gut punch. But it pales in comparison to the ending.

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After being defeated once, the remaining class members are resurrected through deus ex machina magic, which ironically arises from the conflict between Machina and Ren. They win the battle, and it’s time to go home … but no, it's not.

Ace wakes up after the battle. Around him, all the team members seem euphoric in their classroom setting, talking and laughing, but something seems off. Ace hears a voice, and it’s Cater, another class member. He opens his eyes and realizes he’s in the ruins of what’s left of their classroom, and that familiar sense of unease settles back in. Everyone still draws breath, but there’s a quiet understanding of the situation coming on. The war is over and all the class members' phantomas were destroyed. Everyone is about to be gone, forever.

Class Zero of Final Fantasy Type-0 faces their fate reformatted

As soldiers, they had believed that they were ready to die, but now that they're free to just be children, they’re terrified. They’re just kids, and they’d yet to truly live. It was hard to believe, staring at the screen at 4AM, that a Final Fantasy game would end in such a way. But that’s exactly what was happening.

They try to make the best of the situation by imagining what their lives would look like now that the war is over. They talk about their dreams and what they want to do. It's a moment you realize that their character development was purposely left out, and why. It’s buried in their dreams, in their final moments. Mundane things like going on trips, studying history, things you do on a daily basis — all things they’ll only dream about. For once in a Final Fantasy game, the name holds up — we really do get to hear the class' final fantasy, and it's just a mundane reality.

The screen fades to white and a moment later, Ren and Machina return. They’ve been revived through divine intervention and see the class members’ bodies near the Dominion flag. Death is now something everyone can remember, and that’s all they can do for Class Zero: remember.

I hate that Type-0 is forgotten among the Final Fantasy games. While not the strongest entry, its mature story makes it stand out from the others. And even though Final Fantasy now has three rated M games — including Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin and Final Fantasy 16, — Type-0 will always have the crown of being the first, and arguably the darkest.

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