Musically fight your way through hundreds of Final Fantasy tracks. Was Theatrhythm Final Bar Line Worth It?
Table of Contents
Background
This RPG fanservice game is a veritable who’s who of familiar faces, monsters, and melodies. The Theatrhythm series originally debuted on the DS handhelds with an initial title, a 3DS sequel, and a Dragon Quest version. Final Bar Line releases at a crucial time for the format, since the previous games and their DLC will soon be unavailable for purchase on the 3DS eShop.
The handheld versions were a love letter to the franchise and integrated the stylus exceptionally well. Of course, this isn’t the first Square Enix series to make the transition from DS to Switch. TWEWY was a miss with its new Switch control scheme, but Final Bar Line does well enough.
Notes about Item/Card/Summonstone Farming
If you get serious about the game, there are a few things you’ll need to know. First, any item comes in a chest. There are two characters who can boost the likelihood of getting chests: Zidane and Fran.
Chests can contain a card, stone, or item. What’s relevant here is that boosting your likelihood of a single type of drop like summonstones (Yuffie, Paine) lowers your chances of items or cards, and vice versa.
Here’s the breakdown of the drops, from least to most important.
CollectaCards return – these are essentially trading cards. Some of them are quest rewards, but you can also collect cards for characters, summons, and enemies. Character cards increase that character’s stats, Summon cards increase that summon’s damage, and enemy cards increase the EXP you get from defeating that enemy. Don’t worry, you’ll get plenty of these, and there’s no need to prioritize them.
Summon Stones not only determine which big fancy attack you use (Bahamut, Knights of the Round, etc) but also provide some hefty stat bonuses. You can use characters like Yuffie to farm better summon stones, but I would recommend that you simply play online instead. You get a copy of the other players stones after a song. These are important items, but a few online matches will get you what you need and will save you the trouble of grinding.
Items are the biggest thing you’ll want from songs. Items include potions, permanent stat boosters, and sometimes ability scrolls. This is how you’ll max out your stats, get new abilities, and stock up on EXP boosters for leveling characters quickly.
TL;DR: build your party for the specific drop you want. Stacking characters that are looking for different drops (cards vs stones vs items) reduces their effectiveness.
What does Theatrhythm Final Bar Line do well?
There’s a ton of songs, and a ton of characters. While they obviously couldn’t include every single song from every game, there’s still a healthy selection. There are also plenty of accessibility options, which is great considering that the difficulty has gone up considerably.
What could Theatrhythm Final Bar Line do better?
Part of the appeal of having so many characters is being able to customize them. However, an ability slot was lost in the transition from handheld to console. In Curtain Call, characters could equip up to four abilities that took up CP that rose with character level and could be increased by “prestiging” characters. In Final Bar Line, characters simply have three ability slots, which is a big nerf.
The damage overkill has also been removed. The nature of the triggers and boss appearances mean that you can’t necessarily choose when to use an ability, so a lot of damage gets wasted. In some cases, there are multiple bosses in a song. It’s not unusual to find yourself getting to the end of the song as the “actual” boss shows up and you’ll have blown through your big boss-killing abilities.
Was Theatrhythm Final Bar Line fun?
Final Bar Line is an enjoyable romp through the franchise. Some songs are absolutely iconic, and the progression through series setlists invokes the nostalgia of playing those games.
Is Theatrhythm Final Bar Line good value?
The base game has nearly 400 songs, so there’s a lot of content here. The pick up and play nature of this title means it’s the kind of game you can visit for short sessions without getting burnt out.
Is the Theatrhythm Final Bar Line DLC worth it?
The DLC adds over a hundred more songs, but is pricey and Square-Enix, in a move surprising no one, have outlined plans for a whopping three season passes.
The DLC adds a lot of songs, but they’ve made it intentionally confusing. They’re also waiting to reveal some songs.
On both the Switch and PS4, you can buy the Digital Deluxe Upgrade ($29.99), which gives you some extra digital-only songs and Season Pass 1. Season Passes 2 and 3 aren’t available for purchase yet. I’m not sure if the Digital Deluxe Upgrade contains passes 2 and 3, since they aren’t listed.
There’s also the Premium Digital Deluxe Edition for 99.99, which contains all the DLC, including all three season passes. It would stand to reason that buying the Digital Deluxe Upgrade would be the same as buying the Premium Digital Deluxe edition. Knowing Square-Enix, I wouldn’t count on it.
Who is this game for?
If you like rhythm games, the final fantasy series, or have ever searched for a FF theme on YouTube, then this game is for you. The demo has enough content for you to get a feel of the main game, so you can try it without sinking any cash in.
Was Theatrhythm Final Bar Line worth it?
This is an easy recommendation, provided you’re into rhythm games. The RPG aspects are a big part of this game, but you don’t have to master them if you’re good at the songs. On the other hand, players who do enjoy the character customization and min-maxing will find plenty to do, whether it’s party optimization or 100% completion.
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