Theatrhythm Final Bar Line

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is a 2023 rhythm game developed by indieszero and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. It is the fifth entry in the Theatrhythm sub-series. Its gameplay is mechanically similar to prior entries in the series, involving players' timing inputs to various pieces of themed music.

As the title Final Bar Line indicates, it is the final installment in the Theatrhythm series. With a development period of approximately two years, the game was designed to appeal to both casual and hardcore players. It features 505 tracks, including the main and spin-offs of Final Fantasy titles and other Square Enix games. The game's design was influenced by previous entries in the series, including Nintendo 3DS titles Curtain Call (2014) and Theatrhythm Dragon Quest (2015) and the arcade game Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: All-Star Carnival (2016), with a focus on accessibility and engaging gameplay as well as an enhanced role-playing element.

Final Bar Line received positive reviews. Critics praised the idea of the fusion of Final Fantasy and rhythm gameplay and recommended the title to fans of Final Fantasy or rhythm gamers. The extensive and diverse track library was a highlight, and the beatmaps, which balanced accessibility for beginners and challenge for hardcore players, were particularly praised. However, the role-playing elements and the removal of the stylus control received mixed reviews.

Gameplay


Theatrhythm Final Bar Line uses the same core mechanics as its predecessors in the Theatrhythm series. Players are tasked with inputting the correct commands when the colored circles, known as triggers, move across the screen and line up with the white stationary circles, known as trigger marks. Each trigger requires different player input depending on their color: Red triggers demand a single press of any button; yellow triggers require an analog stick to be flicked in the direction of the arrow on the trigger; and green triggers require buttons with a sustained hold. If a green trigger is also attached to an arrow, it requires a button to be held alongside the analog stick in the arrow's direction. As a home console title on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, Final Bar Line no longer supports touchscreen control originally implemented by its Nintendo 3DS predecessors; instead, some new patterns, such as dual-button presses, were introduced.

There are 385 songs in the standard release, with additional purchasable songs raising the total to 505. While predominantly from the Final Fantasy series, including main titles, spin-offs, and mobile titles, with a portion from other Square Enix titles. Tracks—referred to as Music Stages —are designed into three types: BMS (Battle Music Stages), FMS (Field Music Stages) and EMS (Event Music Stages). The experiences in BMS or EMS are similar to those in Guitar Hero or other classic rhythm games, with notes scrolling from left to right or top to bottom along four fixed linear tracks. FMS, while similar to BMS in that notes move from left to right, features only one track and special bar notes. These bar notes shift up and down, requiring players to manipulate a joystick to follow these movements and simultaneously hold down a button. In BMS and FMS, the backgrounds display Chibi-style characters and enemies, while EMS features a video clip from the corresponding Final Fantasy title. Each song has three or four difficulty levels: while Basic, Expert, and Ultimate are for all songs, Supreme, the most challenging level, is available only for around a third of the tracks. In addition to the Standard gameplay style, players can choose from two alternations: the Simple style, which converts all notes to single-button inputs, and the Pair style, where two players share notes in cooperation.

Final Bar Line also incorporates light role-playing game elements, similar to those found in Final Fantasy titles. Before playing a song, players can edit their party by assigning up to four characters from Final Fantasy titles. There are 104 characters from different Final Fantasy games, with each character having their own type (such as physical, magic, and healing), level, statistics, and abilities, and every character can be assigned up to three abilities. During stages, the party automatically battles with enemies when notes are triggered. The damage value is related to how accurately players hit the note; missing a note will cause the character to be attacked, resulting in a loss of HP. If all characters lose all their HP, the track is aborted, and the result is failure. On the other hand, if the song is cleared, the party members earn experience points to level up, and players may receive various items that can aid in battles, as well as a collection card featuring characters, enemies, or scenes. In addition, there are summonstones that can be equipped by the party, which can automatically summon a monster to deal significant damage to enemies.

Final Bar Line featured three modes: Series Quests, Music Stages, and Multi Battle. Series Quests is the basic approach mode in which players unlock new elements. A title contains multiple stages, with most having around a dozen. There are 29 titles corresponding to various Final Fantasy entries. Each stage features quests, which players can obtain rewards for completing. Quests range from incorporating certain characters into their party, reaching enough scores, to defeating a boss. To finish the last type of quest, players may use tactical strategies, such as including a magic-type character to exploit the boss's weakness. By clearing a title, players can unlock songs and characters and obtain a key to access other locked titles. Songs that have been unlocked can be freely played in the Music Stages mode to achieve the highest scores. Another mode is Multi Battle, where up to four players can be accommodated per room to achieve the highest score.

Development and release


Theatrhythm Final Bar Line was developed by indieszero. As with previous titles in the Theatrhythm series, Ichirō Hamuza, a staff member of Square Enix, served as a producer, while Masanobu Suzui, the president of indieszero, assumed the role of director. The project commenced in early 2021, around the time the Windows version of Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, a rhythm game in the Kingdom Hearts series, was finished. The development period spanned approximately two years, following indieszero's typical development cycle, though they had made some preparations.

Although Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call, the 2014 predecessor, hinted at being the last installment of the Theatrhythm series, the developer stated that Final Bar Line, true to its name, will be the finale of the series. The title Final Bar Line was inspired by the design of the user interface, which features five-line staffs, and was determined in the initial stages of development in consultation with Tetsuya Nomura, a Final Fantasy director. Unlike its predecessors, the term "Final Fantasy" was removed. This decision followed Nomura's suggestion to avoid having two "final" words; on the other hand, despite predominantly featuring songs from the Final Fantasy series, the developers believed it was time to establish Theatrhythm as its brand. As the final installment in the series, the developers expressed their hope that it "can be enjoyed for a decade."

Design
The developers noticed the engagement from players with the 2014 Nintendo 3DS predecessor, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call, especially in its versus mode. And by the experience of the 2016 arcade title Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: All-Star Carnival, they recognized that while there is a benefit in showcasing rhythm elements, arcades are weak at supporting role-playing experiences. Drawing from their experience with the 2016 arcade title Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: All-Star Carnival, they recognized arcades are good at showcasing rhythm elements while less adept at supporting role-playing experiences. While developing Melody of Memory, they also gained proficiency in developing rhythm games using the Unity engine. Additionally, the team received petitions from players requesting a home console version of the Theatrhythm series. Consequently, the developers concluded that it was time to develop a home console title of Theatrhythm.

Curtain Call featured touchscreen and button controls, whereas the arcade version and Melody of Memory only supported button controls. The developers referenced both the 3DS and the arcade title to address this shift: they added simultaneous pressing or two-direction triggers from All-Star Carnival on the one hand and considered how to make it accessible for Curtain Call players on the other. FMS in Final Bar Line is also based on the arcade game, but wave long bars were also adjusted with reference to Curtain Call. There was an initial consideration for Final Bar Line to retain the touchscreen, though the idea was eventually dropped. Unlike the pressure-sensitive touchscreen of the 3DS, it is a challenge to distinguish between touch and swipes on the Nintendo Switch's capacitive touchscreen. There is a significant change regarding the EMS in Final Bar Line. In its predecessor on the Nintendo 3DS, the trigger mark follows variable-speed movement like a conductor's wand, which received criticism. For Final Bar Line, the developers drew inspiration from Theatrhythm Dragon Quest and Melody of Memory, where notes drop directly from top to bottom.

While positioned as a sequel to Curtain Call, Final Bar Line is also designed to appeal to hardcore players of the arcade title. To ensure enjoyment for both novices and enthusiasts of rhythm games, the difficulty of the musical scores was designed to span a wide range. Beatmaps for Basic or Expert difficulty levels are designed with "easy to play" in mind, with strategies such as holds instead of presses, minimizing simultaneous actions, and ensuring ample spacing between notes. While for the technical charts of Ultimate and Supreme difficulty levels, designers approach the task with the concept of "carving out the score from the music". For instance, placing an up or down arrow note when the melody ascends or descends—even simply pressing is challenging enough—or incorporating double taps or flips during the climax or conclusion of a piece. Initially, the charts created by the team tended to be challenging due to their familiarity with rhythm games. However, during the later stages of development, team members less experienced in rhythm games highlighted this problem. Consequently, the developers reviewed and revised the charts accordingly.

While role-playing elements allow players who are less skilled in rhythm games to progress by strengthening their character party and pairing the skills of their characters, the developers aimed to further enrich the role-playing elements of the game. This includes displaying damage values, adding elemental properties such as fire or water, assigning resistances and weaknesses to enemies, and introducing abnormal statuses that affect both players and enemies. The design of strong bosses and an endless mode encourages players to level up their characters to face these challenges. Moreover, they introduce occasional battles in FMS to recall the emotions of players as they wander in the world of the original title.

The game features characters and monsters in chibi style, which were drawn by Monster Octopus, the veteran character designer of the Theatrhythm series. The design process for the enemy character Ardyn from Final Fantasy XV left a strong impression on the artist, as understanding the structure of Ardyn's clothing was challenging, while balancing the visual impact of the character and his weapons took an amount of time. While the logos of previous Theatrhythm titles were designed by Monster Octopus, the logo for Final Bar Line was illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano, the primary logo designer for the Final Fantasy series. The developer commissioned Amano to design a logo featuring a Moogle violinist performing and surrounded by characters playing various instruments, along with a backdrop of a five-line staff with musical notes. After several months, they received the completed artwork. Final Bar Line is the first Theatrhythm title to feature an opening movie. With the video's massive transitions matching the fast-paced music, Suzui aims to boost players' motivation and attract the interest of store shoppers and online video viewers. The ending movie adheres to the series' formula; it features a skit that showcases a variety of characters and monsters.

Track library
Including edition-exclusive tracks and downloadable contents (DLCs), Final Bar Line featured a collection of 505 tracks. Among them are 385 standard songs, ranging from 15 numbered titles and their sequels, along with spin-offs like Type-0 and mobile titles such as Mobius Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy Record Keeper. In terms of numbers, this is 167 more than its predecessor, Curtain Call. 27 tracks, including "Eyes on Me" from Final Fantasy VIII and "To Zanarkand" from Final Fantasy X, are exclusive to the Deluxe editions. 93 songs are downloadable, which include other Square Enix titles such as SaGa, Live A Live, Mana, The World Ends with You, Nier, Chrono, Octopath Traveler, and Xenogears, along with Final Fantasy XVI, which was released after the Final Bar Line. Initially, information indicated that there were 502 tracks, with three additional tracks added to the Final Fantasy XVI package.

The team compiled an extensive list of tracks and subsequently deliberated on selecting the track library. The order of consideration is as follows: first the main Final Fantasy titles, then the Final Fantasy spin-offs, and the latest Square Enix titles. Factors such as popularity, recency, suitability for rhythm gameplay, and equilibrium among titles were taken into account during the selection process. Additionally, the team referenced survey data from the arcade title. Final Fantasy XIV, an MMORPG with a decade of operation that featured a thousand tracks, significantly contributed 33 tracks to the song library. When selecting songs for downloadable content, around two-fifths of the candidate songs were from the SaGa series, partly due to the staff's flavor. For each pack in the DLCs, there is at least one brand-new song that was not included in Curtain Call or All-Star Carnival. Regarding the absence of the Square Enix series Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts, the developer stated that the two have their games to focus on. Due to the worldwide release of Final Bar Line, copyright concerns were considered. Negotiations for the copyright of "Eyes on Me" by Faye Wong spanned a year, while some other tracks cannot be included due to unresolved copyright issues.

Release and marketing
Final Bar Line was revealed in Nintendo Direct on September 13, 2022, as a title for the 35th anniversary of Final Fantasy. The game was scheduled for release on February 16, 2023, for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, aligning with the anniversary of the original Theatrhythm. The demo version was released on February 1, 2023. Players can play 30 tracks with all difficulties and 30 characters with limited experience levels. The play record can be transferred to the full version of the game. Suzui explains that, for a game that lacks a story, it is beneficial to shorten the time between its unveiling and its release, and releasing a demo version just two weeks before is an effective way to maintain player interest.

The title was released on February 16, 2023. On February 18, Square Enix hosted a livestream event featuring gameplay by Hamuza and commentary by Suzui. They were accompanied by guests, including Final Fantasy composers Nobuo Uematsu, Yoko Shimomura, and Masayoshi Soken, as well as producer Yoshinori Kitase, to chat about the music in the series.

There are three editions of Final Bar Line: the standard edition, the Digital Deluxe Edition, and the Premium Digital Deluxe Edition. There are three season passes, each including several song packs, and each pack was released approximately two to three weeks apart. The first pack was released with the launch of the game. The last addition, the Final Fantasy XVI pack from season pass three, was released on November 1, 2023. The developer said that there are no further season passes planned. Talking about the business model, the developer said the Just Dance-like subscription model is modern, but they believe console titles are designed to be enjoyed with a one-time payment, with players who enjoy the game having the option to purchase downloadable contents.

Reception
Theatrhythm Final Bar Line received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic; while the title got a 95% critics recommend by the statistic from OpenCritic. The overall idea, the fusion of Final Fantasy with rhythm gameplay, was acclaimed by reviews. While GameSpot called the gameplay system "approachable yet deceptively challenging", Destructoid found it "done a fantastic job of translating songs from the ears to the fingers". They recommend the Final Bar Line to fans of Final Fantasy, rhythm games, or both. The Gamer called the game "the platonic ideal of fanservice", while VG247 found it a serviceable title with a risk-averse nature.

The design of chart-related was generally well received. Reviews found that beatmaps are precise. Game Bonfire 's review thought that notes are precisely synchronized with the track's rhythm in most songs, resulting in a feeling of satisfaction and excitement. Reviewers also highlighted the game is for both newcomers and hardcore players: beginners could easily clear songs in Simple Style, while dedicated players could take on the newly introduced Supreme difficulty. Nintendo Life praised the game's accessibility setting, including adjustable note speed, background animation dimming, and an alternative color scheme for colorblind players. The reception of the new EMS format is varied: VG247 praised the new gameplay, saying it's ideal for enjoying background video flips; GameSpot, while agreeing with this, wished to retain the unique scattered note design in predecessors.

Reviewers of Final Bar Line noticed the absence of touch functionality, a feature available in its Nintendo 3DS predecessors. Several critics complained about this omission, particularly against the using the stick for managing the up-and-down movement of long bars. Push Square said handling the up-and-down shifts of long bars by control stick to be either "boring" or "awkward", while VG247 liked the conductor feeling when using a stylus. However, other reviewers found that the control scheme could be adapted and that doing so might even contribute to the game better than its predecessors. Nintendo Life believe that "it can take some getting used to", and "once the controls clicked for us, we felt like a maestro". The Gamer agreed with this, and echoing IGN, stated that the use of the second stick made the game more challenging".

The introduction of the Series Quests mode was generally acclaimed by reviewers. Game Rant called the mode "main attraction", and said that although the locked mechanics initially restrict players' song choices, this limitation ultimately encourages them to explore a variety of songs. Reviews also called the mode a "nostalgic journey", offering a "fun trip through the series' history". Nintendo Life and Game Bonfire further stated that quests pay homage to the corresponding titles, which evoking empathy in players: for example, the task in Crisis Core's "The Price of Freedom" requires players to defeat 30 SOLDIER enemies, which like Zack has done in the finale of the game. However, IGN dissatisfied with that "there isn't a story or anything beyond the music itself to keep you hooked".

Reviewers had made commentary regarding The light role-playing elements. Several reviewers have considered this system to have a strategic impact on gameplay, giving it a Final Fantasy flavor  IGN believed that the strategic arrangement of party members could determine the success in both quest completion and multiple battles, while Game Rant explained that, although character skills may initially appear useless, they eventually help players defeat bosses before the song finish. The Gamer stated that the role-playing elements provide players with the motivation to unlock characters and are essential for the Endless Mode. Push Square, while agreed that the role-playing elements could be ignored, said it makes Final Bar Line a Final Fantasy game. However, some critics deemed this automatic and passive feature not crucial, even "superficial". While Nintendo Life noted it's "not an essential" but "fun", Destructoid commented that "once you have a healer or two in your party, there's no real reason to think about that system ever again".

Reviewers praised Final Bar Line in its extensive track library, especially noting its significant addition to the previous titles. Destructoid remarked that, in comparison to Curtain Call with 221 songs and Melody of Memory with 143 tracks, Final Bar Line has an "absurd amount of content". The coverage and diversity of tracks have also been commended by critics, ranging from popular and famous songs to lesser-known titles such as Mystic Quest or Mobius, as well as remixes and adaptations of "Final Fantasy" songs. GameSpot additionally praised the game for its inclusion of a song by The Star Onions, a band of Final Fantasy composer Naoshi Mizuta, while The Gamer noted that there are five different versions of "Battle on the Big Bridge". However, Game Rant expressed their dissatisfaction and commented that, feeling that a bunch of great music was absent, and Mystic Quest, which outstanding in music, only got a minor proportion, while repetitive songs were too similar to result a tedious feeling. Some reviews felt its oddly that lacking of Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker or Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Critics also complained about the commercial strategy, as iconic tracks like "To Zanarkand" are exclusive to the Deluxe edition.

The Nintendo Switch version of Theatrhythm Final Bar Line was the sixth bestselling retail game during its first week of release in Japan, with 11,565 physical copies sold. The PlayStation 4 version sold 3,610 physical copies across Japan throughout the same week, making it the sixteenth bestselling retail game of the week in the country.