Test: Theatrhythm Final Bar Line: A Return with a Bang – Final Fantasy Dream – Final Fantasy Dream

When we talk about the Final Fantasy saga, it is impossible not to mention the unforgettable quality of its OSTs, all of which, in our own way, immerse us in the universe and the story of each of its episodes. With such a musical wealth at Square Enix’s disposal, it was only natural to envision a rhythm game that would bring together all the iconic music of the saga. The first episode of Theathrhythm Final Fantasy was released on Nintendo 3DS in 2012, followed by an expanded version called “Curtain Call” and an arcade-exclusive episode in Japan called “All-Star Carnival” in 2016. For many years, fans of the franchise have had hoped for a return of the series, and now that services for the arcade version have ceased, we might wonder if it’s been abandoned forever. However, the announcement of a new game called Final Bar Line last September allayed any fears. Available for Switch and PS4 since February 16th, the series is back in the spotlight, to the delight of fans but also music game enthusiasts.

The test was conducted using a Playstation version of the game provided by Square Enix

An ode to music

The main advantage of this new opus is undoubtedly the amazing amount of music offered: with 385 songs available in the base game, the number rises to 502 if you add the songs already offered in the Digital Deluxe content and the released and upcoming DLCs (eg until November), Theathrhythm Final Bar Line or TFBL becomes the ultimate game for all lovers of the saga. The choice isn’t limited to the 15 main episodes either, as the game also offers a huge selection from the very many spin-offs that are closest to the main episodes, such as FFX-2, FFXIII-2 & 3, FFVIIR or Crisis Core , to the most remote ones like Tactics, Dissidia, Stranger of Paradise or even Chocobo Dungeon, through mobile episodes like Record Keeper or Mobius. We may regret some notable absences like Tactics Advance or Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, but the overall selection remains simply impressive.

The game also offers some arrangements of albums that are less known to the general public, such as Bra Bra Final Fantasy or Final Fantasy Tribute. The Digital Deluxe Pack adds an extra layer with many of the band’s tracks Black magicians from Nobuo Uematsu or coincidentally the very memorable Blinded by Light from the album SQUARE ENIX JAZZ -FINAL FANTASY-.

But that’s not all. The DLCs add even more songs to the selection, with titles drawn from other sagas such as Romancing Saga, Nier, Octopath Traveler, Bravely Default, and Chrono Trigger. A roadmap is now available, and new songs are being added every two weeks, enough to refresh an already time-consuming experience.

However, not everything is perfect in this beautiful little world of music. Apart from the few omissions mentioned above, it should be noted that some songs are not included in the base game but in the Deluxe Edition, such as “Eyes of me”, “Zanarkand” or even “Sound of the Wind”, the main theme of Crystal Chronicles. This method might seem clumsy to encourage players to buy, especially since the last two songs mentioned were already present in the Curtain Call game. Also, many future DLCs were also on the 3DS version, too bad these additions aren’t built into the base game. We can also note a close resemblance (even too much) to the All Star-Carnival tracklist, which also featured many songs from Curtain Call, and oddly enough, one track is missing from the medleys that this arcade version offered, a very good idea , which would have had its place in this sequel. Finally, like One Winged Angel, it would have been nice to have the complete versions of certain masterpieces of the saga, such as Dancing Mad or the full opening of Final Fantasy XI (which lacks the Memoro part of Stono). Of course, there’s no question of sulking our delight at what’s already on offer, but the most ardent of those who have followed the franchise to date might get the impression of a slight repetition.

The search for rhythm

Now let’s get back to what exactly the gameplay of the Theathrhythm series offers. After choosing a song and 4 characters from a selection of more than 104 heroes from the different games of the saga, you’ll have to “beat” the rhythm while your protagonists fight enemies in the background.

The gameplay (which could almost be compared to that of Guitar Hero) is easy to grasp but, like most games in this genre, can be difficult to master: “triggers” come from left to right and you have to press at the right time , depending on the rhythm, to validate the note. A red trigger means a single press of a button or trigger on the controller. A green trigger means a long press until the note ends, and finally a yellow trigger, denoted by a directional arrow, must be acknowledged by moving the stick in the indicated direction. At the same time, validating triggers in the background allows your team to attack automatically, but also trigger abilities and summons to take down waves of enemies that appear. Conversely, missing triggers will cause them to lose hit points, and if those drop to 0, it means death for them and a failure for you. As I’m sure you understood, the game also has a big RPG component in addition to the rhythm game.

Let’s stay with the “Rhythm Game” part for now: The game offers 16 levels of difficulty, divided into four categories: Basic, Expert, Ultimate and Supreme. Each of these categories is more difficult than the previous one, adding more and more triggers but also more and more advanced techniques to validate them. The progression curve is there, and for the most difficult levels, you clearly need to strengthen your fingers. The confirmation of your hard training will be your rank, awarded at the end of each song, ranging from E to SSS depending on your score, consisting of 10,000,000 points. To account for all of this, each of the triggers validated throughout the song is assigned a grade, ranging from Critical Rainbow to Critical, Super, Good, Poor, and Failing. A minimum of 9,000,000 is required to reach the famous SSS.

Note that there are different playstyles besides the “Standard” style: the “Easy” style, which allows you to play with just one button, and the “Pair” style, which allows you to play with two people to play. in collaboration on the same route.

Finally, even if this does not significantly change the gameplay, three types of tracks are offered: The BMS (Battle Music Stages), which are generally granted to all combat themes and which offer the arrival of triggers on four lines. The FMS (Field Music Stages) are themed around adventure and exploration, offering a single ‘line’ arrival. Often the green triggers go from top to bottom this time and it is necessary to steer the direction of the joystick to the right place to confirm the trigger. Finally there is the EMS (Event Music Stages), the game board here is similar to that of the BMS, but rotated by 90°, which is more reminiscent of Guitar Hero. Your characters are no longer fighting in the background, but a cinematic is played that combines the cult moments of the game with the chosen music.

Now we come to the RPG part that runs in the background. As you battle the triggers, the characters battle a wave of the saga’s most iconic monsters and bosses. Each defeated enemy brings them experience, like in a real RPG, but also chests that contain objects of all kinds to help you in your quest: potions and other phoenix tails that will allow you to get out of a badly started song and increase the HP of your Restoring fighters but also experiencing boosts and statistics, summoning stones which are another way to strengthen your team but also trading cards which are trading cards and increase the overall statistics of your characters, summons but also the experience gained against monsters .

To add some depth, each character has a class, between the following types: Physical, Magic, Healer, Shield, Summoner, Hunter and Support, various stats that increase with leveling up, as well as many abilities that they can use themselves under certain circumstances trigger conditions during the song. A Physique like Cloud, for example, takes more Strength stats and knocks down enemies more easily; While a “Hunter” like Djidane makes it easier to recover chests during combat, or a “Shield” like Gladiolus allows you to take less damage from monsters when you miss triggers, which allows you to prevent HP from dying too quickly decrease to 0.

You can very well do without all that RPG dimension and enjoy the game without sticking your nose in it, but it would be a shame to miss it, since it’s pleasant to see its characters taking the lead and since it’s accessible, much more than the system of its 3DS counterpart.

Modes that grant

The main menu consists of three main game modes. One is called “Musical Levels” and it allows you to play all unlocked songs. To unlock these songs you need to pass another pseudo-adventure mode called “Serial Quest”. This allows you to revisit each game in the series through its musical themes in chronological order of listening. Apart from giving you a good dose of nostalgia, making you want to restart the games (let’s be honest) and unlocking the songs after playing, each of them offers you a mission, a variable difficulty that is not mandatory , but which allows you to win new objects, cosmetics for the mog that accompanies your party, or even trading cards. Missions can range from defeating a certain number of enemies or using a certain type of ability during the “battle” to defeating a boss within a limited time, and here you need some good team building if you want to complete all these missions successfully.

The third mode, called “Combat Multi”, allows you to compete against players from all over the world to see who will be the best warrior of light rhythm. Playable for up to four players simultaneously, this mode offers you both classic and explosion-type confrontations. In this type of confrontation, players send random punishments to their opponent’s face after a certain number of validated triggers. These debuffs can come in the form of visual obstacles such as “fake” triggers, giant chocobos or moogs obscuring the game screen, or an even harsher rating of triggers that now only accept “crit” as validated. Fun on paper, however, blast mode suffers from a balancing issue as the penalties imposed are not the same for everyone and some are significantly more dangerous than others, which can have significant gameplay implications. This score also determines the final ranking of a match. A good team composition will also be important here, because the total loss of VP does not lead to the loss of the game, but deducts 100,000 points from the total score. One or more healers should therefore not be neglected.

There are several advantages of playing this game mode, in addition to bringing a good dose of extra challenge, it allows you to win a more or less rare collector’s card at the end of each game and regardless of your position. The winner chooses his card from those offered, then it is the turn of the second and so on. The second benefit is the exchange of invocation stones. Players can in fact choose from their list of purchased stones the ones they want to associate with their player card and thus trade them (without losing them) with the others. This system is a very good way to find summoning stones, sometimes of very good level, useful to advance more easily in the RPG and collect part of the game.

musical collecting

In the 3DS episodes, the endgame of the game, in addition to collecting the trading cards, was to recover all the different characters thanks to the crystal shards collected at the end of the Chaos map, an extremely difficult and time-consuming task. All those dimensions are gone as the characters of the different series are unlocked after just a few songs. All that remains now is to complete the challenges and the famous collectacartes. Therefore, in addition to the benefits they bring to your party, you will probably be tempted to collect them all. They are divided into five categories: Characters and Summons (104+9 in number, found in Normal, Rare, Premium and Special, each rarity unit with a unique art), 102 Enemy Cards, 403 Album Cards and 268 Memory Cards. Collecting all these cards will take some time, but it is clear that the desire to recover them is much less interesting than character recovery and it is therefore a pity that Final Bar Line has not done so by wants it to be accessible found better rewards to entice players to continue their journey.

To find the full list of trading cards, you need to go to the museum menu. In it there is also the list of records and interesting statistics: each record is associated with a number of stars, and the more important the record, the higher the number of stars. There is also an “Achievements” mode similar to Xbox and Playstation achievements or trophies. Another way, say, to encourage players to complete the game 100%.

Finally, there is still a movie and music player in this mode. This player lets you listen to the game’s entire playlist (unlocked music) and even create multiple musical playlists, which are pretty useful for Sunday afternoon cleaning sessions (well, what? I’m just doing this?).

A touch of deja vu

If you’ve ever played the 3DS episode or even had a chance to touch the All-Star Carnival episode, you might have noticed that there were many similarities to those episodes. Unfortunately, this is the observation we can make: Final Bar Line uses an effective formula but takes absolutely no risk. Apart from the handling, which had to be revised and adjusted, keeping the tactile side of the portable consoles only that of the arcade version, and the addition of tracks, the game is too similar to the previous episodes. This is also reflected in the reuse of all graphic elements from previous versions, without any character additions! What about Arc, Refia and Ingus, the warriors of light from FFIII? From Kimahri, Wakka or Lulu, the Guardians of FFX? Or Alisaie, G’raha Tia and Urianger, the heirs of FFXIV? The same goes for the environments, which are all (or almost?) taken from the arcade version.

For fans of Theathrythm we are in for an effective work, but ultimately relatively lazy and perhaps disappointing. Of course the game is already very good, but in hindsight we could have made more, much more out of it Square Enix And indiesnull had put real resources into it. Instead, we’re left with a best-of game that will build on the myriad of DLCs over the coming months and years. Is that a surprise from the company, who are happy to tell us they love silver a little too much in recent years? Unfortunately, not.

In short, Theathrhythm Final Bar Line is a game that manages to effectively combine the gameplay of a rhythm game with the elements of an RPG and is a very nice homage to the Final Fantasy saga. While we regret the lack of real novelties and new characters, this does not detract from the fun of the game. Everything is carefully thought out to give players a great experience, whether they are fans or newbies, and that is undoubtedly the main thing. With the promise of regular DLCs, Theathrythm Final Bar Line promises to be a must-have music game that will fascinate players for a long time to come!

If the review convinced you to buy the game, don’t hesitate to check out these links! This allows us to regain some gil to keep running contests for you!

SWITCH link: https://amzn.to/3ZmTwNF

PS4 link: https://amzn.to/3m7zM2k