Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is a 2023 rhythm video game developed by indieszero and sAs and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. It is the fifth entry in the Theatrhythm sub-series of the Final Fantasy 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 types: Red triggers demand a single press of any button; yellow arrowed triggers require an analog stick to be flicked in the direction of the arrow on the trigger; and green bar 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 and sAs. As with previous titles in the Theatrhythm series, Ichirō Hamuza, a staff member of Square Enix, served as a producer; Masanobu Suzui, the president of indieszero, served as the series director and handled general supervision and liaison duties. Tsukasa Okayasu, a veteran of the series development, served as the director and engaged in the development of battle system. 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 Final Fantasy series, the developer stated that Final Bar Line, true to its name, will be the finale of that. 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. Based on the development experience with the 2016 arcade title Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: All-Star Carnival, the developers recognized that although arcades excel at showcasing rhythm elements, they are less suit for 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 adapt: incorporating simultaneous pressing or two-direction triggers from All-Star Carnival while ensuring the accessibility for Curtain Call players. 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.