THEATRHYTHM FINAL FANTASY: CURTAIN CALL Review
By: RJ (@rga_02)
Second Opinion by Omar (@siegarettes)
- Theatrhytm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call
- Developer - Indies zero Co., LTD
- Publisher - Square Enix
- Nintendo 3DS
- Rating - T
For over 25 years, Final Fantasy has always filled the ears of many with varied sounds of wonder, sadness, and happiness. There is no doubt that the talents of people such as Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, Naoshi Mizuta, Hitoshi Sakimoto and many others have set standard of what videogame music should be. Theatrhytm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call (TRFFCC) is a game that expands on the celebration of Final Fantasy music like it’s predecessor. But this time, you might want to stick around for the encore.
Hailing songs from the first Final Fantasy to recent titles such as Lightning Returns and FFXIV: A Realm Reborn and spin off titles such as Mystic Quest , TRFFCC boasts 220+ songs within your disposal. 189 more than its predecessor and more coming in the future via DLC. You can unlock a majority of them within a short time span. But what good does having a solid selection of songs if the gameplay isn’t up to par? As with it’s predecessor, the core gameplay is simplistic enough for anyone to pick up, regardless if he or she has rhythm game experience or not. You use your stylus to tap or slide as the notes goes across the screen. If using a stylus isn’t your thing, you can now use the buttons and circle pad to suit your needs. Should you feel the need to switch between how you want to control mid-song, you also have the ability to do so without restarting the song.
In addition to Battle, Event, and Field Stages, two new stages of gameplay are introduced. One of them is Quest Medley where it’s basically a RPG-lite. You have a world map to “explore”. Here you can go around to collect various items and fight bosses. It’s a small and cutesy way that incorporates RPG elements to the game and it doesn’t overwhelm the core music experience of the game. Another mode introduced is versus mode. Which in my opinion, is one of the highlights of the game. You face an AI opponent where you can frantically mess around with each other (and vice versa) by making notes disappear, making them go faster, etc. It’s a fun distraction from the main parts of the game. With all these modes and songs, the game is as addicting as the best rhythm games. Every time I find myself playing one more song just to unlock one more item. Fifteen minutes of gameplay suddenly became an afternoon’s worth.
At the end of the day though, this game is meant for the Final Fantasy fan within you. If you don’t see yourself smiling while tapping along to songs such as The Man with the Machine Gun or Blinded by Light, then this game probably isn’t for you. But for those who have grown up with the franchise or have slowly been snaking their way through all of the mainline titles, then you will find yourself tapping your way to musical heaven. It’s not time to exit stage left, but it’s certainty a great time for a Curtain Call. And Square Enix provided that.
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SECOND OPINION
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As of this week I have owned five Final Fantasy titles. Of those five, three are spin-off titles, and one was given to me. Also one of those titles is Mystic Quest, so take that as you will. Despite that I’ve played a lot of the main line titles in some form or another. While I’ve liked some of the ideas and worlds behind the series, I’ve been more drawn to Square and Enix published titles like Soul Blazer or the Mana series. With that, I was wondering how a rhythm game based on the franchise might hold up without a history with the series.
Surprisingly well, is the answer. The title is full of Square Enix’s trademark maximalist approach, cramming as many systems and content into the game as it can hold. It works better in some places than others. The song list in particular is enormous, and will probably have something for most FF fans (it even has Mystic Quest songs!).
The RPG systems don’t feel as strong. While in Dissidia they felt like an integral part that went a long way to fleshing out your play style, here they are just kind of there. Aside from the fun of seeing and growing your favorite cast of characters (barring Sazh) it feels superfluous. Sure you can speed up the path to rewards, but Theatrhythm already hands out rewards so generously it doesn’t make a big difference. Unlike DJ Max's modifiers and avatars they don’t fundamentally change how you play the game.
There are a few other nitpicks. Theatrhythm’s music doesn’t actually react to how you play. There are sound effects that play when you hit each beat, which sometimes actually clash with the song underneath. Likewise, there are a few songs that seem to lack normalization with the rest of the soundtrack, or have beats that don’t feel on point. Given the wide catalog, and lack of a heavy beat on some of the songs it’s fine, but still worth noting.
The weakest entries in the game for me are probably the Emotional Beat System (EBS) songs. The songs themselves are fine, but the system feels like a weaker version of Project Diva or Groove Coaster stuck onto an anime music video cut from the respective game. It’s distracting and clashes with the paper puppet aesthetic of the rest of the game.
My largest nitpick is one entirely unrelated to the game, however. Instead, it’s about the platform it’s on. While the 3DS touchscreen allows for fine control, the system’s underwhelming sound chip can’t put out enough power to support anything more than low impedance earbuds at a good level of volume. Even hooking it up to my speaker system at home, it became obvious that there was something distinctly lacking in sound quality. Comparing the same songs to the iPad version of Theatrhythm, my suspicions were confirmed. The music just sounds a lot richer. While I’d normally not be bothered by something like that, in a game largely sold on the strength of its songs, it is a little bit of let down. Being able to play it on another system, with some good headphones on, would have made it sublime.
All that aside,Theatrhythm is probably the most accessible rhythm game I’ve played. The music of the series is a lot easier to appreciate when not being looped repetitively over a backdrop of the original games. Final Fantasy fans will probably appreciate it the most, of course. For the rest of us there’s a rather generous rhythm game to enjoy.