Game Rant recently spoke with senior developers Ichiro Hazama, Masanobu Suzui, and Tsukasa Okayasu ofTheatrhythm Final Bar Line, the latest entry in the series of rhythm games that feature the legendary soundtracks of theFinal Fantasyfranchise.Final Bar Lineincludes music fromevery majorFinal Fantasyreleasealong with some additional tracks from other Square Enix titles like theNieRseries,The World Ends with You, and theManaseries.
Along with the massive soundtrack available to players,Theatrhythm Final Bar Lineboasts a thoughtful RPG system that allows players to assemble a party, level up their favorite characters, and use items to help out during gameplay. While most rhythm games are content with simply giving players a playlist of songs to master,Theatrhythm Final Bar Line’s RPG mechanics bring some welcome depth to the game.
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RPG Progression Adds A Meaningful Layer to Theatrhythm Final Bar Line’s Gameplay
AlthoughTheatrhythm Final Bar Lineis first and foremost a rhythm game, the presence ofRPG mechanicsgives players more options to consider when progressing through the soundtrack. Rather than each song being a simple matter of passing or failing, players can improve their chances by bringing along helpful items or characters to get through a tricky section.Final Bar Linedirector Tsukasa Okayasu says that just like any Square Enix RPG, players who find themselves being defeated too easily may wish to level up their party before trying again.
In terms of leveling up and growing the characters during gameplay, there may be very strong enemies that may be challenging to defeat if you have a low level. So you definitely have to raise the level of the characters in order to defeat the enemies. And likewise, there are stages where, even if you have many misses in the actual rhythmic game portion of the game, if your HP is restored through magic or other healing items, you could still clear the level.
However, a skilled player can still pass most songs without having to rely too much on the RPG mechanics if they’d rather not focus on that system. A party of level-oneSquare Enix characterscan still succeed, but mistakes will take a larger chunk of the health bar. Acquiring loot, leveling up, and crafting helpful items are an unintrusive system inFinal Bar Linethat ultimately make the experience more engaging.
Theatrhythm Final Bar Line’s RPG System Makes Its Cast of Characters Matter
Just as renowned as the music,Final Fantasy’s charactersare some of the most iconic and beloved personalities in gaming. Thankfully,Final Bar Lineincludes 104 party members, and players will be able to assemble mixed parties spanning multiple titles. The RPG system also means that these characters aren’t just a cosmetic choice, as they each have various abilities and strengths that are worth considering. Okayasu notes that leveling up characters is a quick process in order to allow players to experiment with the extensive cast.
I would also like to note that within our Theatrhythm series, Final Bar has the fastest leveling up of characters. We created it in this way because we wanted users to experience all 104 characters, and we want people to try all of the characters whenever possible. If I could have it my way, I would have loved to release it with characters at level 99. But of course, that’s not possible. So they do start with level one, but the leveling up is quite fast. I would like users to try and play all of the characters and experience their abilities and their uniqueness.
Players may want to bring along strong defensive and healing characters for a song where they expect to take some damage, meanwhile party members who are strong offensively may be a good choice for songs players are confident in. Of course, there’s nothing stopping fans from choosing their favorite characters if they’d like to seeFinal Fantasy 7’s Cloudfighting alongsideFinal Fantasy 14’s Y’shtola, or any other possible combination.
Theatrhythm Final Bar Linecomes out on February 16 for Nintendo Switch and PS4.
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