GameSpot Asia recently shared a few details about Final Fantasy Type-0, specifically about the overall story, mythical Summons as allies, and the customizable magic system. A recent issue of Famitsu revealed new cast members in the mix as well as more details about the game's battle system.

　　One of the new characters introduced in the magazine is Ace, a young student from the world's Suzaku school of magic (called peristyliums) located in the country of Rubrum (which we talked about in great detail here). Square Enix vaguely hinted in the magazine that he may be one of the main characters. Queen is a no-nonsense leader figure who believes in ridding the world of injustices. Another student named Nine will also be joining the two in battle. He's optimistic and straightforward--a Final Fantasy archetype much like Final Fantasy XIII's Snow Villiers and Final Fantasy VI's Sabin.

　　The students are assigned to Class Zero in the Suzaku Peristylium and are taught by a teacher named Kura Same. The ninja-garbed mentor used to be labeled "The Death God of the Ice Blade" when he was still a student in Suzaku, and he has a small Tonberry creature at his side.

　　Queen shows off her combat skills.

　　The magazine also introduces a new element in combat: specialty weapons. Ace uses tarot cards as spells, and the only difference between his deck and spells cast by other characters is that Ace has no control over what spells he will be assigned during combat, much like a random poker hand. Said cards are used for offense, like the Fire ST card that shoots out fireballs, and for support, like the spell Wall which summons a literal magical wall that blocks enemy attacks until it shatters. Ace has an extra command, called Deck Open, that makes him pull out four cards.

　　Queen brandishes a sword and has a special attack called Cross that summons cross-shaped light beams on where she stands. These beams of light damage enemies and heal allies clustering around her. Nine fights using a long lance. Not only can he take out enemies at a long range, but he can pull off the trademark Dragoon class attack "jump," where he jumps high and strikes the ground to take out enemies surrounding the strike point.

　　Speaking of which, a group of enemies can choose to surrender in the middle of a fight but only if players take down the group's commander. However, enemy commanders are powerful, and numerous enemy troops would prevent you from directly attacking them.

　　Final Fantasy Type-0 will be out on the PSP in the second quarter of 2011. The game will be shipped with two UMDs.