How First-Person Shooters Influenced Final Fantasy Type-0

The typical elemental spells in Final Fantasy Type-0 are different from other Final Fantasy titles. While you have fire, blizzard, and thunder magic, you also pick a firing method. For example; Rifle that shoots straight towards an enemy. There’s also an enemy-chasing Missile method. When we spoke with the game’s director Hajime Tabata, we asked him if there was any particular reason for basing magic on firearms.

“Just to give you a little background, I really love first-person shooters,” Tabata replied. “I wanted to implement a  Final Fantasy kind of essence when fighting with enemies in real time—similar to a shooter or action kind of game. That’s why I positioned magic in the form of weaponry in combating the game itself—to have that gameplay but also maintain that Final Fantasy feel.”

If you’re familiar with Tabata, the fact that he’s fond of shooters shouldn’t be a surprise. This is the man that directed The 3rd Birthday, which is still one of the best portable shooters out there, provided you can look past its confusing story. That said, Type-0’s inspiration actually came in part from Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII.

“I wanted to provide unique weapons to each of the game’s characters,” Tabata said. “When I was creating Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, all of the characters had unique weapons, which allowed the player to really delve into each character. They’d even switch them out to play through the game itself.”

“Based on that, I wanted to create something in a given setting, but also allow the characters to shine in their own light, which is why each character has unique weaponry. That’s the system we envisioned.”

Tabata said he struggled with the flute in particular. “It was almost too unique to a certain extent. It… wasn’t really fit for battle. It’s very cute.”