Seriously.
Final Fantasy VII resemble an action anime with manga characters.
Final Fantasy VIII has similar tropes (i.e. orphans, amnesia, edgy characters, etc.) and staples such as a Cultural Festival (i.e. “Garden Festival”).
World of Final Fantasy has chibi characters.
But Final Fantasy Type-0 isn’t just about several anime tropes. It’s about cliche anime high school life (which usually mimics Japanese high school life).
We can see that the cadets wear school uniforms and sit in lecture halls like normal high schoolers. Since most Japanese schools are identical to every other school, most viewers know what to expect.
The early story concept drew heavily from popular manga and anime, but little survived after the platform change.
And yet, we can still identify Final Fantasy Type-0 as being such. Little survives, but the feel is still there. Perhaps the game was cliche heavy, and they only kept those that they thought were necessary. They must have considered a harem approach at one point and thought about a full blown dating sim.
Don’t forget, there’s this song – sounds like the ending theme to an anime.
Think: Code Geass meets The Irregular at Magic High School