Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call: another game I know many of you are looking forward to. I was able to give it a try at the Square-Enix booth, as well as Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX. I made a point to try out every gameplay style available to me when I sat down with the demo–unfortunately, it was only the three that fans of the original game know and love–Event, Field and Battle. At least the characters I used were new! Zack Fair from Final Fantasy VII (and its compilation games) was among them, for example.
Even though they featured familiar gameplay modes, the songs themselves have not been seen in the previous Theatrhythm Final Fantasy game. The songs I played were Antipyretic from Final Fantasy Tactics (Battle), One Winged Angel from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (Event), and Aboard the Hilde Garde from Final Fantasy IX (Field). I wanted to try Savior of Souls from Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (Event) for a certain someone, but alas…someone else was interested in playing by the time I’d finished all three types of songs.
Has anything changed? Wholly, not so much. It’s still the gameplay you know and love from the first game. If you’re looking for more (some from games that were included from the last one, some from Square’s more niche Final Fantasy library), you’re sure to enjoy. They didn’t ruin anything; that’s for sure. Looking for something “different” about this next iteration? There are a few minor differences (I’ll get to them), but I’d say Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call is an example of a game that offers something “more”, not something “different”.
Battle Mode played exactly the same. It even reused some of the same enemy and summon assets. Granted, I didn’t exactly jump right into the hardest difficulty. There may be more variatin among monsters as the rhythm gets more insane. Events are looking just as good as ever; key scenes from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children played out to the music just like they would for the previous entry. Extended bits are also back, for those who do particularly well. The one key difference I can note beyond improved visuals: If your Field Theme happens to be on an airship, you’ll be flying through the sky versus walking on the ground. I consider that indicative of some degree of polish being applied to the sequel.
All in all–it’s the previous Theatrhythm Final Fantasy with [more] content and styles of gameplay featuring songs from some [different] games. Curtain Call launches for Nintendo 3DS on September 16th, 2014. Don’t forget–if you pre-order, you get a bit of extra stuff in the form of a Day 1 Edition of sorts. Stay tuned for more!
