• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line |OT| Born From A Long Line of Greatness

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Animation2bd1d60be70093a4a.gif


Do you like Final Fantasy and Rhythm games? Cute chibi characters? Nearly endless collectables? My friend, come take a walk with me.

TlbSQzY.png



About
The beloved Theatrhythm games come to the PS4 and Nintendo Switch. This version includes 385 tracks from over 40 different Square Enix (mostly Final Fantasy) games. As you progress through the game, you'll unlock new songs, new characters (over 100 available!), items, collectable cards, and more. Battle cute franchise monsters alongside the rhythm action to level up your characters!

This game also includes two player local and four player online modes. Additionally, the game has music and movie players, so you can relax with the tunes you've unlocked.

The game releases Feb 16th, 2023.


Song List
There are far too many songs to list here, but suffice to say if you're a fan of Final Fantasy music, you'll find something here to enjoy.



Versions
This game comes in Standard, Digital Deluxe, and Premium Digital Deluxe. The game is available on both the Nintendo Switch and the PlayStation 4.
  • Standard Edition - $49.99: Available physically and digitally, this contains 385 sounds from across the FINAL FANTASY series
  • Digital Deluxe Edition - $79.99: Contains all songs from the standard edition, plus 27 additional tracks, and Season Pass 1.
  • Premium Digital Deluxe Edition - $99.99: Contains all songs from the standard edition, plus 27 additional tracks, and Season Passes 1-3.
Nintendo Switch:

PlayStation 4:


Demo
Not sure if this game is for you? The game has a playable demo available for both the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 (use the above links). Your progress in the game's demo will carry over into the full version of the game!


Videos





Screenshots
01_Switch_BMS_EN-kzgkutlwe.jpg

02_Switch_EMS_EN-zyxrqlsdl.jpg

06_Switch_MainMenu_EN-qhdp60904.jpg

05_Switch_Multi02_EN-uuskyor7j.jpg
 

Power Pro

Member
I'm excited to get this. I've always been frustrated how the previous games were stuck on the 3DS with their terrible speakers.

The thing that drives me nuts is all the digital editions though. I'm still confused if I buy physical, am I going to be forever locked out of getting certain songs available because I didn't get the super duper digital deluxe edition or something.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I'm excited to get this. I've always been frustrated how the previous games were stuck on the 3DS with their terrible speakers.

The thing that drives me nuts is all the digital editions though. I'm still confused if I buy physical, am I going to be forever locked out of getting certain songs available because I didn't get the super duper digital deluxe edition or something.
I'm also kinda worried about that, since the Deluxe edition (the $80 one) has 27 songs that are "exclusive" to that version. The Premium Deluxe has those 27 songs, plus 3 seasons passes (bringing the song count up to over 500) but obviously we'll be able to buy the seasons passes individually.

The fact that those 27 songs are mostly all really good ones is a gut punch. Eyes on me, Zanarkand, Melodies of Life, Distant Worlds, and Kiss Me Goodbye are some of my favorite tracks.
 

bender

What time is it?
I played a bunch of the demo. I'm not sure I'll be getting this now. I really didn't like the ramp between difficulty levels and with the higher difficulty levels you get more difficult "note charts" and button presses, but the larger problem in my mind is the chimes, dings and whatnot that accompany those button presses largely distracted me from the music. Also, some quests requiring playing on harder difficulty levels makes sense but might be a bridge to far for my skill level.
 
Last edited:

Minsc

Gold Member
I'm also kinda worried about that, since the Deluxe edition (the $80 one) has 27 songs that are "exclusive" to that version. The Premium Deluxe has those 27 songs, plus 3 seasons passes (bringing the song count up to over 500) but obviously we'll be able to buy the seasons passes individually.

The fact that those 27 songs are mostly all really good ones is a gut punch. Eyes on me, Zanarkand, Melodies of Life, Distant Worlds, and Kiss Me Goodbye are some of my favorite tracks.

They're not exclusive though, you can get every single song from the digital version from the physical one, just digitally haha. There's a DLC pack containing those songs, nothing except for avatars are locked away in the digital version only.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
They're not exclusive though, you can get every single song from the digital version from the physical one, just digitally haha. There's a DLC pack containing those songs, nothing except for avatars are locked away in the digital version only.
Good to know, cheers!
 

Synless

Member
I played a bunch of the demo. I'm not sure I'll be getting this now. I really didn't like the ramp between difficulty levels and with the higher difficulty levels you get more difficult "note charts" and button presses, but the larger problem in my mind is the chimes, dings and whatnot that accompany those button presses largely distracted me from the music. Also, some quests requiring playing on harder difficulty levels makes sense but might be a bridge to far for my skill level.
You can shut those noises off in settings.
 

Gabbelgak

Member
Gave the demo a shot today, makes me miss DDR machines. The higher difficulties look crazy. Not sure if I can pull that stuff off on a controller, may have to give this a shot though on the full version seems like it will have enough collectables to last a while.
 
Yep, loved these games on DS so it was an easy buy for me. Went for the digital deluxe edition to get the 27 good FF songs and first season pass - -I'll just buy the second season pass down the road if I'm still playing, haha, or maybe just the Chrono Trigger songs.
 

bodine1231

Member
I used to own the arcade cab of this and play on the private servers but had to sell to make room, miss playing it that way. The game runs great on yuzu at 4k 60fps and combined with the groove coaster controller it gets pretty damn close to the arcade experience. The controller works on the Switch, but you cant remap the buttons in game (at least on the demo) to analog for the swipes.

ZWd5LQN.jpg
 

Gabbelgak

Member
Are healers only good then if you are missing chains? I didn't hit the damage threshold on one of the levels even though I full combo'd it - should you just learn to play without one basically?
 

Minsc

Gold Member
Are healers only good then if you are missing chains? I didn't hit the damage threshold on one of the levels even though I full combo'd it - should you just learn to play without one basically?

Some of the demo's challenges are not really possible with the cap from the demo, they're the ones with the higher difficulty ratings.

season pass? C'mon

Well - even with the deluxe everything included package it is cheaper than the original 3DS release by far. The DLC for that one was over $100, and that was the DLC alone, tack on the game and both are upwards of $150, and it had way less songs.

Besides, this is honestly the perfect game to get endless DLC content, there's 100,000s of songs to choose from, narrowing that down to 500-1000 is criminal.
 

Gabbelgak

Member
Well I maxed every hero in the demo and got at least S's in all of basic and expert difficulty songs in one afternoon. Guess I'm buying it. :messenger_grinning_squinting:

The few 8/9 challenges in the demo are impossible, your right. Don't have anywhere near the damage output possible yet.

The difficulty spike going up to Ultimate and Supreme is crazy, I'll definitely keep a healer just to assist with my lack of skill on those tiers.

Hoping we can combine these summons or something in the full game, I've got a fat stack of them already.
 

Sp3eD

0G M3mbeR
Loved curtain call on 3ds and really been liking the final bar demo. Went ahead and purchased the $99 with everything version. I actually love how they have transitioned to only game pad controls, but as some others have said my level is pretty much expert. I’ve done some ultimates but anything over a 7 generally starts to k it my ass. Supreme charts I just see and immediately give up.
 

nikos

Member
Game's demo is really great. Definitely going to pick this up.

Of course they put To Zanarkand on the Digital Deluxe, which is $30 extra. It does come with the first season pass though. Wonder how much that will cost on its own.
 

baphomet

Member
The demo is legit pretty great. There's a ton of content.

Unfortunately the game is too easy and I don't particularly care for Final Fantasy music.

I may pick it up used sometime down the road though.
 

baphomet

Member

I'll put it this way. I play osu daily and 90% of the music selection is weeb bullshit, nightcore, and anime intros, but at least that stuff is upbeat and occasionally catchy.

A large amount of FF music is like slower orchestral stuff. It's definitely not my first choice to play a rhythm game along to.

I'm sure I'll pick it up when I find it for $30.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
I was a huge fan of the two 3DS games, so this is a must purchase for me.
And seriously, this has music from the Black Mages arrange albums and Octopath Traveler. Only way it could be better is if it had Chrono Cross and Xenogears.

Is it known which tracks will be in the season passes?
 

Minsc

Gold Member
That's an interesting take - nightcore I can't tolerate, but to think FF songs by in large aren't catchy or upbeat sounds wrong to me. I don't really like music that isn't upbeat that much at all, and I love the FF rhythm games. There are the odd ones out, but I'd definitely say around 2/3rds are upbeat and almost all of them are catchy - way more than the over orchestrated crap in modern games where I couldn't even hum a single melody of the entire soundtrack, something like God oF War etc.
 

SiegeDamage

Neo Member
Really looking forward to this game. Wife, son, and I maxed out all the characters in the demo in prep. for release. I'd really like to get the premium digital deluxe edition for all the added songs, but that particular edition costs CAD $150 (tax in) :messenger_open_mouth:
 

Minsc

Gold Member
I was a huge fan of the two 3DS games, so this is a must purchase for me.
And seriously, this has music from the Black Mages arrange albums and Octopath Traveler. Only way it could be better is if it had Chrono Cross and Xenogears.

Is it known which tracks will be in the season passes?

The list here is nicely formatted and contains all the songs expect for the final two sets of the third season pass, which I don't believe have been announced yet. Hopefully there are additional Season Pass 4 and 5 down the road if support is good!
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Just got a notice that my copy is arriving a few days early. Today!

Now I've just gotta hurry up and finish Fire Emblem
 

Gambit2483

Member
This might be a dumb question but I couldn't find where it's mentioned or not...can you play the Switch version using touch screen controls?
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
This might be a dumb question but I couldn't find where it's mentioned or not...can you play the Switch version using touch screen controls?
Sadly, no touchscreen controls. Buttons / analog sticks only.

I blame the PlayStation 4 release.
 
Last edited:

Esca

Member
Loved it on the 3ds. I'll grab this probably on sale since they're is so many great games coming out
 

Kacho

Gold Member
The upcoming Chrono Trigger music has me very interested. How are the updated note controls?
 

Sp3eD

0G M3mbeR
Can’t wait til I get home from work. Bought the super deluxe version so I have some awesome songs to dive into 🥳
 

Gabbelgak

Member
The upcoming Chrono Trigger music has me very interested. How are the updated note controls?
I didn't play the original but it controls fine. Only really using 2 buttons and the sticks, everything is responsive and easy. I am able to do expert right out the game with the controls and haven't played rythm games since DDR like 15 years or more ago and even then not with a controller.

You can use any buttons you want, the triggers seem to be working best for me, face buttons are ok except trip me up way faster on things like rolling from a hold into double press into hold

Was hoping to do some online games but can't connect to anyone, very likely because I'm stuck on hotel wifi for the next month :(

Cleared a few of the titles, not seeing a way to improve the summons still thinking it's just RNG, will hang onto them though until I clear all titles, I assume that's when endless mode unlocks as well.
 

Gambit2483

Member
Despite being released today no store actually has any physical versions in stock....wtf is going on with Switch physical releases lately?
 

Kacho

Gold Member
I didn't play the original but it controls fine. Only really using 2 buttons and the sticks, everything is responsive and easy. I am able to do expert right out the game with the controls and haven't played rythm games since DDR like 15 years or more ago and even then not with a controller.

You can use any buttons you want, the triggers seem to be working best for me, face buttons are ok except trip me up way faster on things like rolling from a hold into double press into hold

Was hoping to do some online games but can't connect to anyone, very likely because I'm stuck on hotel wifi for the next month :(

Cleared a few of the titles, not seeing a way to improve the summons still thinking it's just RNG, will hang onto them though until I clear all titles, I assume that's when endless mode unlocks as well.
Appreciate the response. I’m convinced to pull the trigger now.

Nice avatar btw
 
What are the RPG elements in this like?

I see you select party members and level them up? How does that work? Do songs get easier/harder based on your party and levels? Is there any sort of story campaign and a set ending?
 

Gabbelgak

Member
What are the RPG elements in this like?
and
I see you select party members and level them up? How does that work? Do songs get easier/harder based on your party and levels? Is there any sort of story campaign and a set ending?
There is a feat for clearing the game and watching the ending, so there is an ending per se (Haven't got that far yet). There is no story though, you just go through each title's songs one after the other. There is no dialog at all.

Any of the people you unlock you can level up and they learn abilities such as magic or skills that increase drops or physical attack power etc. They have stats that grow with levels that increase various aspects, agility for example will make your group walk faster during the song which leads to more fights so more loot. Luck will give you more chests, etc. The higher the level the more HP you have which makes you able to miss more notes and complete more difficult songs / difficulties even if you aren't the best at the game. If you are amazing at the game you can do the harder difficulties with low level groups, you just can't miss many times or you'll get a game over.

You also collect cards as you play (random drops) which increase the stats of characters permanently and can get potions that will increase stats or scrolls that teach them abilities.

There are modes I haven't unlocked yet I can view in records (endless mode, daily specials) that I assume unlock after I complete every title. There are 29 different titles, I'm 10 hours in (granted a lot of that was in the demo where I couldn't progress past stage 3) and have 7 of 29 clear. So there is certainly a meaty amount of content. You would want to fine tune a group build on something like an endless mode, but you really don't need to in "story" mode except to clear specific quests like kill the boss in 30 seconds.
 

Sp3eD

0G M3mbeR
I was not ready for FF7 Golden saucer speed. Comepletely caught me by surprise.

I’ve only played like 5 more songs into FF7, but so far Good also to see some of the non demo levels have harder to complete challenges. Demo ones were a cake walk except like 2 of them.
 

nikos

Member
Everybody I'm playing online is incredibly good. I've done perfect chains for entire songs and still lost.

Are bursts activated automatically, or do I need to do something?
 

Gabbelgak

Member
I was not ready for FF7 Golden saucer speed. Comepletely caught me by surprise.

I’ve only played like 5 more songs into FF7, but so far Good also to see some of the non demo levels have harder to complete challenges. Demo ones were a cake walk except like 2 of them.
The theaterrythem final fantasy series set will be up your alley. Song speeds are much faster and much more difficult than any of the main series ones I've cleared so far.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
The "Digital Deluxe Upgrade" package is now available


$29.99

Set content (57 tracks)
・Special music tracks (27 tracks)
Featuring “Eyes On Me”, “Melodies Of Life ~Final Fantasy”, “Zanarkand”, “Band: A Long Fall” and more.

・Season Pass 1 (total of 30 tracks)
THEATRHYTHM FBL SaGa Pack (7 tracks)
THEATRHYTHM FBL LIVE A LIVE Pack (4 tracks)
THEATRHYTHM FBL The World Ends with You Pack (6 tracks)
THEATRHYTHM FBL NieR Pack (5 tracks)
THEATRHYTHM FBL SaGa Pack Vol. 2 (8 tracks)

Since I bought the physical version, I'm all over this.

Season Pass 1 is also available by itself for $14.99

 
Last edited:

Gabbelgak

Member
so how do you exchange cards? I got an Ifrit with +30% XP if anybody wants it (plus a really sexy character)
Play multi battles to swap cards / summon stones. Even if you lose everyone in the lobby automatically swaps cards/stones. You also get cards at the end of every match. Unfortunately if you create a private room with a password it does not transfer summon stones just the proficard.

I "beat" the game. After you clear the Theaterhythm Series the credits roll and endless mode unlocks. The Theaterhytm series opens after you've cleared I think it was 7 of the various series quests. This happens long before unlocking everything.

Still no additional options with these extra summon stones so I guess just junk them to keep the inventory less cluttered if I want. At least it lets us hold 999 of them.

I also still don't see the daily missions anywhere that the loading screens keep talking about, it says you can clear them once a day for extra Rhythmia.

Grinding star levels will take a LONG time. I think it's the same exp going from level 1 to 99 to reach star level 1 after hitting 99 (Can go to 9 star max). I'm grinding up Golbez now and just leveling everyone else to 99.
 
Top Bottom