Everyone that’s been keeping up with one of Square Enix’s most talked about handheld RPG, Final Fantasy Type-0, has been patiently waiting for news on the project and its long awaited localization. During this long wait, the fans have been coming up with their own theories on why the localization is taking longer than expected with no sign of updates whatsoever. Some say Square Enix believes this game would not sell well in other countries, but with such a huge user base for the PSP, you’d expect Square Enix to notice a market outside of Japan. Another possible reason for it’s delay could be a possible port/remake for the Playstation Vita to support and possibly expand the online capabilities of the game. (Which can lead to other positive outcomes for the Vita but that’s a different story) But what if I told you the games theme song is stirring a contract dispute, causing a delay for its localization?
The song, “Zero”, by Bump of Chicken (A Japanese pop band) is used in the beginning and end scenes of the game. Supposedly there is a dispute between BoC’s record label and Square Enix regarding royalties and any other use of the song in a international version of the game. Without any actual information from SE or the record label, we could only assume any other reasons behind the dispute. You’d probably say, “But can’t they just remove the song and use another one?” well yeah, but it’s not that easy. Without spoiling anything from the game I’ll say this, in two parts of the game, one of the main characters start to sing the Bump of Chicken’s song with the same tune and words. Now it’s not just a song they would have to change, but they would have to re-write the lines for the voice actors, and find/create a new song for the scenes. This alone takes money and time. Some may say, “Can’t they just change the scenes or even remove it?” well that seems highly possible, but the others who have actually played through the game say that removing this scene would mean removing a very powerful and memorable scene, and you and I know we don’t want to miss out on that.
So, does this little bit of information have the potential to put the other theories to rest for a while? Do you believe the dispute surrounding BoC’s contract have anything to do with the amount of time its taking to localize this game, or is it just another theory to you? Will Type-0 ever come out from hiding with a release date, leave Japan and shine with the rest of the world? For now we can only hope, and while these are only theories and new ones are being made each day, only Square Enix knows the true destiny of this game. Let us know what you think of the whole localization deal and while you’re at it, share your theories with us by tweeting us on Twitter or leaving a comment on the Project Crystallis Facebook page.
[Final Fantasy Type-0 is one of three games part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythos. Unveiled during E3 2006, it was originally named Final Fantasy Agito XIII alongside, Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Final Fantasy Type-0 released for the PSP in Japan on October 27th, 2011.]
Project Crystallis is a fan campaign that began in 2012 September to call for Final Fantasy Type-0’s localization. To support us, simply sign our petition and follow us on other social media.
Petition: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/project-crystallis.html
More:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ProjectCrystallis
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/ProjectCrystallis
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PCrystallis
Tumblr: http://projectcrystallis.tumblr.com/
Written by Abner Colón; Edited by Meshari and HRsksky on October 2nd, 2012.
