"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
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 * with a few new types of button to worry about]]
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
* right up until
the latest released at the time)]] 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 Hearts Coded.
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:
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.*
- 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".*
(And that's about as close to a
Title Drop as we might possibly get.)
- 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.
- X Meets Y: As stated above, it's Elite Beat Agents meets Final Fantasy.
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