Game ZXC recently spoke with senior developers Ichiro Hazama, Masanobu Suzui, and Tsukasa Okayasu of Theatrhythm Final Bar Line, the latest entry in the series of rhythm games that feature the legendary soundtracks of the Final Fantasy franchise. Final Bar Line includes music from every major Final Fantasy release along with some additional tracks from other Square Enix titles like the NieR series, The World Ends with You, and the Mana series.
Along with the massive soundtrack available to players, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line boasts 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.
RPG Progression Adds A Meaningful Layer to Theatrhythm Final Bar Line's Gameplay
Although Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is first and foremost a rhythm game, the presence of RPG mechanics gives 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 Line director 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-one Square Enix characters can 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 in Final Bar Line that 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 characters are some of the most iconic and beloved personalities in gaming. Thankfully, Final Bar Line includes 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 see Final Fantasy 7's Cloud fighting alongside Final Fantasy 14's Y'shtola, or any other possible combination.
Theatrhythm Final Bar Line comes out on February 16 for Nintendo Switch and PS4.
