For a series which has no shame in flirting with excess, it’s no real surprise the third major entry in the rhythm spin-off series blows the wheels off what the previous games had to offer when it comes to content. Curtain Call was already impressive with more than 200 tracks to play within the base game, but Final Bar Line ups that number to a ridiculous 385 songs – and again that’s before including any one of its already-exhaustive list of DLC tracks.
Oddly enough, to support this swelling setlist Final Bar Line actually trims a few of the fat from the previous titles by keeping things somewhat simple within the mode selection. You get the Series Quest mode, a free be a musician Stage mode, online Multi Battles and that’s it.
The first, Series Quest, eliminates any kind of story or overworld map stuff in lieu of just letting you pick the Final Fantasy game of your decision and playing through its included songs inside a general order. It’s the meat and potatoes from the game, being the main driver of progression and also the core way to unlock songs to experience at your leisure in Music Stages. That detail did rub me the wrong manner just a little, not only for the inconvenience of getting to play through 385 songs to unlock them all but because you’re initially locked from the most of the Final Fantasy titles and also have to experience far enough through others to earn “keys” to open the rest. I can appreciate that a feeling of progressing through something is important, although not having the ability to dive directly into the ultimate Fantasy VIII soundtrack from the get-go would be a frustration.
Luckily, the Theatrhythm series has the distinct advantage of being packed to the rafters with fantastic music, so even if you’re engaging with a game within the series that ranks have less a personal level it’s rarely a poor time. If a rhythm game lives or dies by its soundtrack then Final Bar Lines are immortal. Not just has got the team curated some iconic bangers from the mainling games I through XV, but there’s stuff here from spin-off games, remix and function albums along with other neat, deep cuts. If you’ve ever enjoyed a Final Fantasy game or soundtrack, you’ll absolutely have some gold here among the stacked playlist.
Bargain Guide – Theatrhythm Final Bar Line
There’s additionally a lot of DLC within the pipeline, from another 27 bonus tracks within the game’s Digital Deluxe Edition (which can be upgraded to in the standard digital or physical copy, thankfully) to a planned calendar of added tracks from other notable Square Enix franchises. Normally I’d scoff at the thought of a litany of paid DLC being organized so emphatically at a game’s launch but given the sheer amount of content already included cheap the additional stuff will be coming from franchises like NieR, LIVE A LIVE, Chrono Trigger, Octopath Traveler, The World Ends With You and more I’m completely aboard using the idea.
One of the big questions hanging over this new Theatrhythm game continues to be that of the controls. After all, the previous two titles have existed solely on platforms with a few type of touchscreen and took full advantage of that by having players tap and swipe along to their music. On the PS4 where I played the game for review, there isn’t that facility, so everything has been gone to live in button presses and analog stick pushes. I wasn’t sure at first if it was going to act as now this way, but I’ve happily been proven wrong.
Whichever specific “mode” of song gameplay you’re in, be it battle, field or event, the concept continues to be to follow along with rhythm prompts scrolling across the screen and hit them at the perfect time. Instead of tapping or swiping, your standard “notes” could be activated with only about any button on the controller and also the directional ones require a quick flick of either of the analogue sticks in the correct angle. Variations are available in the form of button holds and double-ups that task you to use both sticks or press (again, basically any) two buttons, but that’s about as deep as the story goes. That doesn’t mean you won’t be challenged, with varying difficulty levels offering up some absolutely cursed charts at the high end that I don’t think I could ever hope of nailing, but the barrier of entry even for non-rhythm savvy fans is nice and low.
Square Enix and indieszero clearly realize that their audience is comprised largely of JRPG nerds, so there really are a lot of systems built-in to create this seem like a genre crossover. Anyone who’s played these games in the past will know generally what to expect – you’ll construct your party of characters as you unlock them from over the many games, level them up by playing to unlock new abilities and provide yourself an edge in stages, and collect “Rhythmia” and CollectaCards among other things.
Like Curtain Call before it, the RPG/character progression systems are fun but largely superfluous. It certainly helps to possess some extra HP or saving grace abilities to fall back on if you’re doing particularly badly in a music stage, but as long as you’re doing the rhythm game thing of pressing the right buttons in the proper time then you definitely don’t really need to bother with your character builds or party make-up.
Still, there’s a giddy compulsion to boosting your party, calling on familiar summons, obtaining collectible tat and movies/music to savor within the game’s Museum, and watching a lot of different numbers continuously tick over as you play. I’ve already pumped decent hours into Final Bar Line within the short time I’ve had it and I can imagine I’ll spend so many more within the months in the future. Sure, the formula is maybe beginning to wear thin at this time but things were so bright to begin with that even a little lost shine can’t bring the knowledge down.
On the visual front, what you’re getting here isn’t everything different from the 3DS entries with your party of cute, chibi-fied Final Fantasy protagonists squaring off against equally adorable monsters and villains in the games. It all suits the big screen surprisingly well with bright, sharp art and plenty of real estate to utilize. The only real issue I have here is that, most likely just because of the massive quantity of tracks included, the stage backgrounds and enemies that you’ll encounter in many songs don’t match their source material. It’s by no means a deal-breaker but playing along to the Balamb Garden theme song while walking via a high fantasy castle interior, for example, can seem to be like a small let-down.
The only thing I haven’t been able to test yet, but one that I doubt will have affected my enjoyment from the game either in direction, is the Multi Battle mode which pits you against as much as three other players online inside a point-scoring competition that has no fail state but awards each competitor an increasing shot at rewards because they score above their opponents. Head-to-head rhythm gaming can be a wonderful time and that i appreciate that everyone will technically leave a success, however i have doubts concerning the longevity or perhaps initial interest in the mode.
Theatrhythm Final Bar Line releases on February 16th for PS4 and Switch. Amazon currently has got the cheapest price at $74 with free delivery.
