At RPGamer, we encourage our staff to play through review games at a natural pace and to completion. This often means that we will not have a review up when the embargo lifts on a new game, and that is the case here with Final Fantasy Type-0 HD. While I'm not finished, I did want to share my thoughts on the game so far for those who might be interested in picking it up tomorrow.

Anyone who follows me on Twitter will know that I praise this game's soundtrack constantly, despite not having actually experienced it in game. I'm happy to say that the music holds up in game as well, though the best tracks are sparse in the first half of proceedings.

The variety of Type-0 HD's characters really stands out in combat. You get fourteen party members (though only three at a time) and each of them plays completely different. For example, Ace tosses cards from a distance, Deuce gets up close and damages enemies with her flute, and Nine pulls the dragoon card and can jump with his spear. When someone dies in combat, you can swap someone else in to help. And you'll need to do this often, as the game is not easy.

Remote Play is fantastic. The game feels right at home on Vita for some odd reason.

The voice work is really hit or miss. Some characters sound different from one moment to another, making you wonder if they were recorded at different times.

Though in HD, it's still pretty easy to tell this was originally a PSP game. The game looks better at times, but in some scenes it doesn't quite feel like enough was done to warrant the move to PS4.

Type-0 needs a better fast travel system. Players will spend a lot of time walking around the school, and it could really use a quick method for jumping between areas.

The intro to the story is rough. As has sadly become the norm, there are a lot of proper nouns tossed out with little background early on. The pacing of new information gets better as time goes on, but it's off-putting in the beginning sections.

The camera is awful. There's no good way to put this; the game controls are a mess. They are either too sensitive and move around at bad angles or get stuck on scenery and cause the screen to twitch. Now imagine this happening during a boss fight in a cramped corridor. It's not good at all. Oddly, it feels more manageable when using Remote Play.

The game is far from flawless, but is still fun regardless of its issues. The characters are blast to play around with, and the game is a bit challenging even on the easy difficulty. Type-0's story is interesting, but a bit clumsy in its telling. While I'm around halfway through, I'm excited to play more.