Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
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"I played Theatrhythm Final Fantasy for the first time today. Not too shabby! As I remembered various things from the past 20 years, I was reduced to tears. FF music fans should definitely play it. Won't you cry with me?"
—Nobou Uematsu
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An... out-of-nowhere entry in the running-gag-reflex-inducing Final Fantasy series, this game's premise is relatively simple: bringing the "conflict of the gods" plot of Dissidia Final Fantasy to the Nintendo 3DS, but in the form of a Rhythm Game. In other words, it's Elite Beat Agents meets Final Fantasy [1]
Okay, time for a brief lesson in recent-gaming history for everyone: Dissidia Final Fantasy, when first released, caused many fans to wet their pants in excitement just for the fact that a fighting game featuring representative heroes and villains from the Final Fantasy series[2] could only be justified with the words, Rule of Cool, on which the concept was basically built.
Then, the sequel (Dissidia 012 [duodecim] - Final Fantasy) was released, but this time around, sadly, the rejoicing (with Lightning joining the fight, among others) was foiled by the rather disappointing announcement that the game in question would be the last in the series, or at least, the last appearing in Fighting Game form.
Turns out, the next game in the Dissidia series is a Spin Off for the Nintendo 3DS, a Rhythm Game featuring (as the logo above - a throwback to that of Dissidia itself - shows) the characters' avatar versions first seen in Kingdom Heartscoded.
The game follows the events of the gods Chaos and Cosmos, a similar plot to Dissidia Final Fantasy. The space between the two is called Rhythm, which gives birth to a crystal that controls music. Chaos causes the crystal to become disrupted, and the only way to return it to normal is to increase a music wave known as Rizpo.
The confirmed playable characters appearing in the game are the following:
- Final Fantasy I: The Warrior of Light and Princess Sarah
- Final Fantasy II: Firion and Minwu
- Final Fantasy III: The Onion Knight and Cid Haze
- Final Fantasy IV: Cecil Harvey, Kain Highwind and Rydia
- Final Fantasy V: Bartz Klauser and Faris Scherwiz
- Final Fantasy VI: Terra Branford and Locke Cole
- Final Fantasy VII: Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough, and Sephiroth
- Final Fantasy VIII: Squall Leonhart and Seifer Almasy
- Final Fantasy IX: Zidane Tribal and Vivi Orunitia
- Final Fantasy X: Tidus and Yuna
- Final Fantasy XI: Shantotto and Prishe
- Final Fantasy XII: Vaan and Ashe
- Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning and Snow Villiers
- Dissidia Final Fantasy: Cosmos
The game will also feature enemies and bosses from the games ranging from the main villains like Garland and Sephiroth, mid-bosses like Xande, Black Waltz #3, Gilgamesh, Ultros and the Elemental Archfiends, mainstay monsters like tonberry, bombs and behemoths and even common enemies unique to each game like PSICOM enforcers and bangaa thieves all redesigned to fit the game's unique art style.
Although sparse in details, it has been revealed that the game operates in three different styles of stages. Battle stages will have the players chosen party occupying the right side of the screen like a classic Final Fantasy game and scores hits on the enemy by successfully hitting notes, by getting higher combos you can unleash stronger attacks like Summon Magic. Event stages which feature video montages from scenes of previous Final Fantasy games where the player having to tap the notes in rhythm with the music being featured in the scene. Field sequences are similar to event sequences but instead of video montages, they are represented by a chosen playable character strolling though a background scenery from the game they have chosen, by scoring higher combos you can call a Chocobo to give you a ride.
This game contains examples of:
- Ascended Extra: From a Certain Point of View, this game is A Day in The Limelight for the Avatars.[3]
- Badass Adorable: They may be chibi-fied, but that doesn't change the fact they're still Kain, Gilgamesh, Sephiroth, etc.
- Chibi: the game's use of avatars is bound to induce many fans to Squee (mostly fangirls).
- Exactly What It Says On the Tin: Square Enix themselves summed it up as a "Theater Rhythm Game".[4] What that means, only time will tell.
- Genre Shift: from Fighting Game to Rhythm Game.
- Killer Rabbit: Staple monsters like the Behemoth and Ahriman appear. They've never looked cuter, but considering they're among the series's famous Demonic Spiders, they're probably still going to be a pain to fight.
- No Export for You: highly feared at first, given the game's nature as one hell of a Widget Title. But then it was announced for the other regions. Averting such a trope is already a great feat for Square Enix, let alone the aforementioned nature of the game.
- RPG Elements: Although the exact details have yet to be disclosed
- Spin Off: To Dissidia.
- Rule of Cute: this game is to the Rule of Cute what Dissidia is to the Rule of Cool. Do the math.
- Widget Series: and then some!
- Word Salad Title: if you thought Dissidia was bad... well, think again - as this Portmanteau will prove you wrong. With a headache.
- The Italian edition of the Nintendo Official Magazine basically made "we know you probably crossed your fingers while trying to type the title" its latest Running Gag.
- X Meets Y: As stated above, it's Elite Beat Agents meets Final Fantasy.
- ↑ This moniker is surprisingly accurate; gameplay footage has revealed that the basic mechanics are lifted straight from EBA with a few new types of button to worry about
- ↑ (from the first installment right up until the latest released at the time)
- ↑ "From a Certain Point of View" because, while we see the Avatars, the actual characters are, or at least are implied to be, the Warriors of Cosmos, as in, the actual ones.
- ↑ (And that's about as close to a Title Drop as we might possibly get.)