Easily my favorite entry in my favorite rhythm game series. While I have some minor criticisms about character availability (basically only the characters from All-Star Carnival made it) and mechanical transparency (detailed below), the complete experience more than makes up for it with a staggering 400+ tracks (as of this writing), entertaining multiplayer, and a very easy quick-play game flow. With that, on to my main gripe:
Although Theatrhythm's signature RPG mechanics do take something of a backseat to the core loop -- you can still clear songs and score points completely independently of a party comp -- nearly every song in the base game has an accompanying quest to complete. They range from simple (clear this song on xyz difficulty) to grueling (complete with a perfect chain), with some even falling back on proper setup of a proper RPG party to clear (i.e. defeating bosses with a weak element, activate x abilities, beat y enemies). For those, there's a surprising lack of transparency about what actually gets you there. Abilities tell you exactly what they do, but stats' effect on beating enemies or travelling through the game's field stages is otherwise ambiguous, and there's no bestiary to cross-reference enemy patterns and weaknesses other than a stage highlight showing you ONLY the boss's weakness. It often results in having to repeat a song, sometimes multiple times, to see how to sequence abilities and even just to hope for the best. Plenty of times I'd full combo songs and fail quests despite having a jacked party, just because I was missing a key ability or two. While it isn't outwardly -frustrating- (i.e. I'm still very much enjoying playing the rhythm game), it did occasionally leave me scratching my head wondering why there wasn't some quick reference for status effects outside of very short load screens, or why the developers couldn't just tell me that Shinra grunts are weak to fire in a side page. THAT BEING SAID...
This and the character/song availability seriously didn't detract from my experience in a debilitating way. Final Bar Line is JAM packed with excellent music from all across the Final Fantasy (and soon to be non-FF Square Enix) series, giving me much-increased appreciation for music from titles like Record Keeper and FFXIII, regardless of my feelings of the games they came from. It runs perfectly clean on the Switch, with friendly load times and a clean 60 FPS for every music stage without really sacrificing too much visually. Multiplayer PVP is a blast with bursts on, and rewards thoughtful party composition, which was a huge surprise for me. Charts are very carefully crafted with clever enemy placement (TFF has always been quite good about the "if-you-know-you-know" enemy layouts appropriate to each music track) and the return of Supreme difficulty from the Arcade-only All-Star Carnival means players are sure to have their work cut out for them if they want to take on every challenge FBL has to offer.
Make no mistake -- this is the full package Theatrhythm game I'd always hoped for, and it has a bright future with planned content for the next few months bringing the likes of Chrono, Mana, SaGa, and other SE mainstays into the fold. Absolutely well worth your time if you're an FF fan or if you simply enjoy an excellent rhythm game with a little extra.
Although Theatrhythm's signature RPG mechanics do take something of a backseat to the core loop -- you can still clear songs and score points completely independently of a party comp -- nearly every song in the base game has an accompanying quest to complete. They range from simple (clear this song on xyz difficulty) to grueling (complete with a perfect chain), with some even falling back on proper setup of a proper RPG party to clear (i.e. defeating bosses with a weak element, activate x abilities, beat y enemies). For those, there's a surprising lack of transparency about what actually gets you there. Abilities tell you exactly what they do, but stats' effect on beating enemies or travelling through the game's field stages is otherwise ambiguous, and there's no bestiary to cross-reference enemy patterns and weaknesses other than a stage highlight showing you ONLY the boss's weakness. It often results in having to repeat a song, sometimes multiple times, to see how to sequence abilities and even just to hope for the best. Plenty of times I'd full combo songs and fail quests despite having a jacked party, just because I was missing a key ability or two. While it isn't outwardly -frustrating- (i.e. I'm still very much enjoying playing the rhythm game), it did occasionally leave me scratching my head wondering why there wasn't some quick reference for status effects outside of very short load screens, or why the developers couldn't just tell me that Shinra grunts are weak to fire in a side page. THAT BEING SAID...
This and the character/song availability seriously didn't detract from my experience in a debilitating way. Final Bar Line is JAM packed with excellent music from all across the Final Fantasy (and soon to be non-FF Square Enix) series, giving me much-increased appreciation for music from titles like Record Keeper and FFXIII, regardless of my feelings of the games they came from. It runs perfectly clean on the Switch, with friendly load times and a clean 60 FPS for every music stage without really sacrificing too much visually. Multiplayer PVP is a blast with bursts on, and rewards thoughtful party composition, which was a huge surprise for me. Charts are very carefully crafted with clever enemy placement (TFF has always been quite good about the "if-you-know-you-know" enemy layouts appropriate to each music track) and the return of Supreme difficulty from the Arcade-only All-Star Carnival means players are sure to have their work cut out for them if they want to take on every challenge FBL has to offer.
Make no mistake -- this is the full package Theatrhythm game I'd always hoped for, and it has a bright future with planned content for the next few months bringing the likes of Chrono, Mana, SaGa, and other SE mainstays into the fold. Absolutely well worth your time if you're an FF fan or if you simply enjoy an excellent rhythm game with a little extra.