Final Fantasy Type-0 HD

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD is a reworked version of the dark RPG about the cadets of Class Zero, which, unlike the PSP original, was finally officially released worldwide, including a full English localization and voice dub. It came out in March 2015 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and it was the first opportunity for players outside Japan to experience the story of the war over crystals without a fan translation.

The move to consoles brought noticeable changes compared to the handheld version. The graphics run in HD resolution with reworked textures and a longer draw distance, which changed the pace of battles on more spacious battlefields. On the other hand, the four-player co-op multiplayer, which had been a central part of the experience on PSP, disappeared - the HD version is a purely single-player affair. The game also included, at launch, a code to download a playable demo of Final Fantasy XV: Episode Duscae, which made it an important part of the marketing campaign ahead of the release of the series' fifteenth installment. This combination - improved graphics but content reduced by the loss of multiplayer - makes the HD version a different experience from the original, even though the story and characters remain the same.

The HD release was also the first in the series to offer trophy support, so players could tick off their progress through the story and side missions similarly to other modern PlayStation titles, something the PSP version, due to the age of the platform, never could do. The console version also runs with more stable and predictable performance than the handheld original, where the PSP hardware would occasionally slow down noticeably during mass battles with dozens of units on screen - on PS4 and Xbox One these limitations disappeared, making large-scale battle missions feel smoother and clearer.

Why play it: For players outside Japan who want to experience the story of Class Zero with a full English dub and without needing to resort to a fan translation, even without the original multiplayer.