text: final fantasy agito final fantasy agito ( japanese : , hepburn : fainaru fantajī agito ) is a role - playing video game developed and published by square enix for mobile devices . the game 's story is set in the universe of final fantasy type - 0 , and is an entry in the fabula nova crystallis subseries . a downloadable episodic game similar to final fantasy dimensions , it featured a turn - based combat system encouraging both single - player exploration and multiplayer combat . there was a day - night cycle tied to the real - world time of day , and featured a social element whereby talking with and befriending certain characters advances the player 's ranking in the game . the game , which acts as a companion to type - 0 , was set in the world of orience during a time of war between its four nations . the story is seen through the eyes of a player - created cadet entering the rubrum magical academy during a time of war , and chosen to become the agito , a figure destined to save orience from destruction . the original protagonists of type - 0 appear in different roles and act as secondary characters . the story was intended to be played repeatedly , tying into the nature of the game 's world and the eventual culmination of a player becoming the agito . the game was developed around director hajime tabata 's original concept for final fantasy type - 0 as a mobile game which would give players easy access to a universe within the fabula nova crystallis series and would be influenced by player choice . the title stems from type - 0 's earlier title final fantasy agito xiii . many of type - 0 's staff returned , with takeharu ishimoto composing new music for the title , and former level designer nishida and texture artist hoshino returning respectively as producer and art director . the game came online in may 2014 , and remained active until its servers were shut down in november the following year . upon release in japan , the game had 500 , 000 registered users within a week , and one million by november of the same year , but apparently numbers dropped after later negative impressions . japanese and western journalists were positive at its release . in august 2015 , it was announced that the game could not continue in its current form , and would be replaced by a new version . planned versions for the playstation vita and windows devices were scrapped , along with an announced localization . its successor , an online multiplayer game final fantasy type - 0 online , is set for release in 2016 . gameplay final fantasy agito was a role - playing video game where a player - created character , the " cadet " , sets out on missions across the world of orience . the player could choose the gender and physical appearance of their character , along with their style of clothing , hair color , skin tone , voice and weapons . during play , the in - game time of day was synchronized with local real - world time . the cadet began the game by exploring the rubrum magical academy , but was eventually able to explore orience as a whole . the game employed a leveling system whereby interaction with students and teachers , combined with performance during missions , raised the cadet from their starting rank within the academy . recurring creatures such as small flying moogles and galliform riding birds called chocobos appeared . a moogle accompanied the cadet around the peristylium , while chocobos could be ridden during later parts of the game . navigation was handled either by a virtual control stick on the touch screen , or by tapping an area of the visible game environment . the cadet 's bedroom acted as a central hub , while the fountain area within the academy was where many non - player characters ( npcs ) could be found and talked with . conversations with the previous game 's protagonists increased the cadet 's standing with them : if the player tapped a special button on - screen during timed sections of the conversation , the bond statistic with the chosen character would be increased . the relationships built up by the player triggered special character interactions during the final chapter . agito featured sub - missions , the game 's version of side - quests , some of which changed depending on the real - world day of the week . they were given by npcs , and could range from crafting new spells and equipment to performing certain actions within a combat mission . completing quests yielded rewards such as new equipment and items . unlike final fantasy type - 0 , agito used a turn - based combat system . the attack menu , which appeared during battles , featured a gauge , which when full enabled the character to attack the targeted enemy , and buttons displayed for various physical and magical attacks ; these abilities could be chained together into combos that , once used , took time to recharge . pressing the " ability " icon triggered assigned skills , while " chain " abilities enabled the player to preset sequences of attacks and use them consecutively . using certain setups rewarded the player with in - game bonuses . also available was type - 0 's kill sight ability , in which precisely timed actions enabled the cadet to kill an enemy with one hit . the game also gave the option for players to adjust battle speed to their personal preference . using a special item , players could temporarily summon both npcs with whom they had a strong relationship and summoned monsters called eidolons to deal high damage to enemies . during single - player segments , the player could select two ai companions after selecting missions , which added to the player 's total score at the end of these missions . during missions , the companions could be issued with team commands , which could either order them to attack or increase healing abilities while lowering their defensive capabilities . each attempt at a mission used up the cadet 's stamina meter , which allowed a maximum of three missions at a time . the game used a job system similar to other entries in the final fantasy series , where different equipment and weapons alter a character 's abilities in battle . specific skills accompanied each job . players could create multiple equipment sets , with each item and weapon ranked according to its rarity in - game . materials gathered during missions could be used to upgrade the player 's equipment and abilities . synopsis setting and characters final fantasy agito takes place in orience , a land divided between four nations , or crystal states , which have existed in a state of near - constant war for the past thousand years : the dominion of rubrum , the militesi empire , the kingdom of concordia and the lorican alliance . the cause of the war is the nation 's crystals , objects of magical and political power that bestow different blessings on each nation , and choose people to become magical warriors known as l 'cie , which serve and protect their respective crystal . the land of orience is locked in a stable time loop , whereby events repeat constantly , then reset and begin all over again with minor variations . the reason is an experiment set up by the deities pulse and lindzei to find the doorway to the afterlife for their creator . the time in which agito occurs is referred to as " the first cycle that surpasses the spiral of 600 million " , being at the very beginning of orience 's spiral of repeating history . agito 's initial events differ from type - 0 as it was to have been directed to a history were the agito is born , making it an alternate story using the same setting . the game 's events across its lifetime are split across two " phases " , or cycles of orience 's history . a key event at the end of each cycle is tempus finis , an event in which orience is destined to end and be reborn . the main character is a player - created cadet selected for training as agito , a prophesied messiah said to prevent orience 's destruction during an event known as tempus finis . interacting with the cadet on his journey are ace , the previous game 's main protagonist ; miyu kagerohi , the representative for cadets within the vermillion peristylium ; lean , a militesi scientist ; and tono mahoroha , a mysterious and cold young woman from rubrum . the previous game 's main cast , class zero , as well as machina kunagiri and rem tokimiya , former members of class zero who acted as type - 0 's narrators , appear in supporting roles as students in other classes . other characters include marshal cid aulstyne , leader of the milites empire and the game 's central antagonist ; arecia al - rashia , supervisor of magic at the and servant of pulse ; and gala , unseen leader of the lulusath army and servant of lindzei . plot in the first phase , the cadet is saved from a behemoth attack by ace , who brings them to the safety of akademeia . there they are introduced to everyday life and sent out on a mission against the behemoth . then war is declared against milites after its aggressive actions against rubrum and lorica , and the cadet learns of class zero . concordia forms an alliance with milites , severely hampering rubrum 's efforts . rubrum then musters their forces , including their powerful magical warriors , and conquer all three crystal states . in the final chapter , rubrum 's victory over the other crystal states causes the arrival of tempus finis , and miyu is made into a l 'cie and renamed judge myuria : her mission is to test the cadet to see if they are worthy of becoming the agito . the cadet is victorious , but it is judged the agito has not appeared and tempus finis consumes the world , resetting it for a new cycle of history . in the second phase , events play in vaguely the same fashion , but there are minor variations : lorica forms an alliance with milites rather than being conquered , and while concordia offers an alliance , imperial sympathizers within concordia orchestrate the queen 's death and ally with concordia . after overcoming lorica and concordia , the rubrum forces storm the militesi capital and cid is killed . before dying , he warns the cadet and his comrades of the crystals ' role in orience 's cycle . when tempus finis arrives , ace goes alone to find the one mentioned by cid . he is himself marked as a l 'cie and transformed into judge ace . as with the previous cycle , he is defeated , but tempus finis arrives and the cycle continues . in a final side story episode , various additional stories revolving around the main cast are revealed . among the events presented are a talk between myuria and arecia as to whether to continue the experiment , and then lean and tono are chosen by arecia to exist outside the cycle and retain their memories . in this new form , the two agree to gather the memories of orience 's people and find a way of liberating the world from its cycle . the story ends with them wishing the cadet well , saying that they hope to meet them again in a future cycle . development the idea for final fantasy agito originated with the early origins of type - 0 . originally , type - 0 was a game for mobiles titled final fantasy agito xiii , but eventually changed platforms and title . type - 0 's director hajime tabata still liked the " agito " title and the original concepts for the game , which included an episodic storyline that hinged on player choice and day - night cycles linked to real - world time . with this in mind , tabata decided to revisit it and began development of agito : eventually , they settled on smartphones as the release platform of choice , partly because the platforms ' progress since type - 0 started development . one of tabata 's wishes for the title was that players unfamiliar with type - 0 would download and play it . development on the game began in september 2012 . during development , tabata considered type - 0 to have become the prototype for agito , although it did not share much with its predecessor . the game 's story grew out of what he originally conceived for agito xiii before it evolved into type - 0 . in contrast to type - 0 's dark and serious storyline , the team decided to give agito a lighter atmosphere , although serious dramatic scenes were still present . along with returning staff , mobile developer k. k. helped with development . the previous game 's level designer , nishida , returned to direct , and original character texture artist hoshino became art director . to create the characters ' portrait animations for the smartphone environment , the team used silicon studio 's motion portrait middleware . the game was developed using the unity engine . the game 's designer was kensuke shimoda , an industry veteran who had experience with unity , and was in charge of designing the game 's battle system . his involvement with the game ended after its release . music the music for agito was composed by takeharu ishimoto , who had composed the score for type - 0 . at first , no original music was to have been created for the title , but ishimoto convinced the company to allow him to compose new music . the title still lifted several pieces of music from type - 0 . part of ishimoto 's wish for the title was to incorporate accents from japanese pop music which would register well with fans . the pop - oriented tunes were also meant to emphasize the lighter atmosphere , although more dramatic music was used for the darker moments . arrangements were done by kentaro sato . the battle music for the weekend multiplayer segments was augmented with vocal work by japanese rock band dazzle vision . two music tracks from the game were available at the 2014 tokyo game show ( tgs ) in a giveaway cd along with other tracks from future game releases . tracks from the game were included with tracks from type - 0 in a special disc included in the collector 's edition of type - 0 hd . all new tracks from agito were included in the blu - ray album for type - 0 hd , final fantasy type - 0 hd original soundtrack . release the first hint of its existence became public when square enix trademarked the name in may 2013 . the game was first announced in the second september issue of famitsu weekly , and was demoed during tgs 2013 . originally scheduled for release in the winter of 2013 , it was delayed due to development problems concerning environment sizes , which needed to be scaled down . it was rescheduled for the first quarter of 2014 , then was pushed forward to spring of that year . street clothes for the characters were offered as a pre - registration bonus , while a code to download outfits inspired by kurasame , a supporting character from type - 0 , were included in the final volume of the spin - off manga final fantasy type - 0 side story : reaper of the icy blade . pre - registration closed on may 7 , 2013 . chapter delivery began the day after the game 's official release on may 14 , 2014 . the base game was a free download , but players had the option of buying items , restore health and speeding up re - spawn time via microtransactions . the original version also reset individual character experience levels at the end of a playthrough , while an update in 2015 allowed players to carry over experience levels between playthroughs . episodes final fantasy agito was published in chapters , with decisions made by the player base influencing the events of the next installment . the number of chapters was designed to be smaller than that of tabata 's previous final fantasy title for mobiles , before crisis : final fantasy vii . the intention was to create a high replay value . the projected chapter delivery rate was once a fortnight . chapters are designed to take around two weeks for players to complete , with the first 10 days involving single - player solo missions . the final portions feature " subjugation " multiplayer missions , requiring players to work together to battle powerful bosses . these battles take place during weekends . each chapter comes in four or five named segments , with each containing different story missions . there is a heavy emphasis on player choice in the story , with decisions made during previous episodes of the story affecting future events . the game 's story is meant to be played repeatedly , with different decisions yielding different outcomes . chapter delivery was projected to , and eventually ended , in september 2014 . after all chapters were released , the team focused on improving the experience , introducing a higher difficulty setting , and incorporating a grander sense of scale . they also developed further scenario choices to expand variation of events in future playthroughs . in the months after the initial release , a second " phase " of the story began release through 2014 into 2015 . in addition to the final chapter , a gaiden episode was released that concluded the events of agito . special battles against the rursus , then against miyu and multiple eidolons , were made available during the game 's final month . legacy agito 's original release was plagued with multiple issues including long load times , which the team sought to rectify through updates . after the initial release , a club activities system was going to be added . similar to the guilds of previous games , players could ally with them , engage in activities unique to the clubs and compete with rival clubs in contests . from the end of july to mid august during the game 's original release , it was featured in a crossover with rise of mana , a mobile installment in square enix 's mana series . an earlier collaboration was also staged between agito and square enix legend world , a japan - exclusive browser game . eventually , it was determined by the developers that agito was no longer suited for continued updates . the game was shut down on november 30 , 2015 . as part of its announcement of the game 's shutdown , square enix said that a new updated version was being prepared that would be better suited for further updates and improved player experience . this updated version was revealed to be final fantasy type - 0 online , a 2016 multiplayer game for similar platforms to agito . the first hint of a localization appeared when the agito trademark filed for european territories in september 2013 . later , at tgs 2013 , tabata said that agito would definitely be localized , although he refused to clarify whether this meant it would be released in western territories . an official western release was confirmed by square enix at electronic entertainment expo 2014 . the plan for the international release was to first release final fantasy type - 0 hd so players in the west could get accustomed to the world and characters , then release agito as a separate experience rather than a parallel release . with its discontinuance in japan , agito 's western release was consequently cancelled , however it was stated that type - 0 online was being considered for international release in place of agito . a novel based within the continuity of agito titled final fantasy agito : change the world -a whiter shade of was released on april 30 , 2015 . written by tora tsukishima , it focuses on the characters of nine and rubrum cadet . a port for the playstation vita titled final fantasy agito + was announced and demoed during the 2014 tokyo game show . the decision to port the game to this platform was made upon due to popular demand and platform compatibility with the unity engine . while originally announced for release in january 2015 , it was delayed due to a problem with the development environment with the vita , which left the team stuck until sony could update the system and provide them with suitable support . the team also used it as an opportunity to improve the overall quality of the port . the vita version was to include access to all the content of the mobile version along with added control and gameplay improvements . as part of the physical release , players were to be given codes for downloadable content : the content includes rare in - game armor and items . save data from the mobile version could not be transferred to the vita . in september 2015 , it was announced that the vita port had been cancelled . tabata later explained that the team had been confronted by a " technical bottleneck " , facing critical problems with the multiplayer functionality , together with problems involving server compatibility . the game was also being ported to microsoft windows for operation on the windows 10 home operating system and windows 10 mobile - compatible smartphones and tablets . the mobile version was to have been the continued main focus for the team despite the windows port . after the cancellation of agito + and the end of agito 's service , refunds were offered to customers who had bought items in - game or preordered the vita port . reception roughly a week after agito 's release , it was announced that the game had 500 , 000 registered users in japan . by november of that year , the figure had expanded to one million players . later , touch arcade reported that active player numbers had dropped drastically after long - term poor impressions . famitsu , in a review of the game shortly after release , praised the combat and graphics , but found the touch controls difficult to handle . the reviewer finished by recommending the game to fans of the final fantasy series . kotaku 's richard eisenbeis said that the game went " far beyond what [ he ] expected going in " , noting that he did not feel outclassed by other players despite not using the game 's microtransaction system . shaun musgrave of touch arcade praised the game 's graphics and combat , comparing the battle missions to puzzle & dragons . he did question the general balance , but noted that the game was still young and square enix had the chance to smooth things out .