3DS: Final Fantasy Theatrhythm
Hi fellas and welcome back to another installment of 3DS games~I'm hella broke from recently purchasing way too much merch but has that ever stopped me from spending even more on games? The answer is no. It's a tad sad since I don't think you can crack a 3DS and install games on it, forcing me to purchase instead. Thank heavens for second hand shops though.
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| so frickin cute |
So what's Theatrhythm about?
As the name suggests, it's a rhythm video game, wherein you take control of a party of four FF members and select a theme from FF for FFXIII. The sprites are pretty cool, plus you get extra points if you picked the character that belonged to that theme, for example, you picked Squall as your
party leader, and choose FFVIII as your game theme. Along with the 13 characters, there are also extra characters that can be unlocked.
There are three modes: Series, Challenge, Chaos Shrine. I'll go through the Series first.
There are three different Series difficulties to cater to beginners and those seeking a harder challenge, so rest assured you'll be able to pick one that suits you. I went with the normal difficulty.
As per usual, you gain exp points and level up, although until now I still have no idea what the levels do, and what buffs they give, but oh well. I guess we'll see in time.
Along with the opening and the ending songs, there are 3 different theme stages, field, battle. event.
The Opening and Ending songs are the actually really simple, just tapping the screen in time when the music notes move into the center of the crystal on screen. There is text scrolling up the screen while the music is playing though, so that can be quite distracting. It is possible to press skip to skip the opening and ending songs entirely, but really why would you when you can earn extra points. Not to mention the music is rather soothing. Although to be honest, I did skip the opening and endings until I realised that I could earn extra points.
The Field music is side scrolling; the screen notes move from right to left, and the player has to either tap a note, slide the stylus in one of the 8 directions displayed on screen, or hold the stylus while following the note line on screen. If you've managed to do pretty well, you'll be able to get a Chocobo speed bonus, which is good, since the objective is to reach the end of the stage before the music concludes. Once you've reached the end, another character will appear to give you an item, although I'm not sure if you have to be using the Theme's original character to receive that bonus. I did play using Squall on an FFXIII theme, and I didn't receive the item bonus, but I did while using Lightning, so. I think you've to score above a certain point to receive it as well.
Battle music is a mock battle, where you will have to tapping/slide the notes correctly to deal damage to the enemy. The main objective is to defeat as many enemies as you can, and ultimately defeat the boss before the music comes to an end. As with the field stage, you have to either tap, slide, or hold the stylus down for a long note. If you time the notes right, your characters get to unload special ablities plus! you will be able to get summon usually Ifrit in the middle of the stage. If your timing is exceptionally well, it is possible to get the summon when you are fighting the boss, which makes things easy.
The Event music includes one or more scenes from the theme you've selected, and the you'll have to follow the controls similar to Field and Battle. The only difference is that the notes are now moving all across the screen instead of only across the screen. The normal notes are in silver white, and successfully clearing the gold notes will extend the song.
A tip for when the sliding never seems to hit or when it doesn't follow through: hold your stylus 90deg straight from your touch screen, rather than tilting it at an angle. I kept missing my notes and it was infuriating.
Up next is the Challenge mode.
Challenge mode basically lets you choose just the Battle, Overworld, or Dramatic music from any theme that you have cleared in Series. And instead of playing all in succession, you can play just one stage at a time. When you've gotten a A rank or higher, a higher difficulty is unlocked in the Series mode as well.
Then comes the Chaos Shrine.
You will need to clear at least one song in Chaos to unlock Streetpass. Chaos is really chaotic, or at least that's what it felt like to me
The notes are fast paced, and they relentlessly fly across the screen, leaving no time at all for a lag decision. There are a total of 99 levels, and two stages per level, a field music followed by battle theme. For each level, there are three possible bosses, and with each boss dropping three items, you get a potential nine items per level.
These items are usually rare items or crystals needed to unlock additional characters.
Apparently, if you score high enough on the first field stage, a sign will indicate a Boss 2 or 3, which will have better item drops. Personally I haven't gotten that sign yet, but fingers crossed, since I've only played Chaos once, just to unlock the Streetpass.
Chaos Shrine also has songs that are not playable in the Series mode, like the Mambo de Chocobo. That is one ridiculously cute song.
There are so many games! My wallet is getting flatter and my bank getting emptier, but it's good to invest in a 3DS I guess.. I wonder if I should save for a PSVita next.. orz
Written by: ninetylives
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