« | Main | »

Theathrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call – TGS 2013 Hands-on Preview

By Janelle | September 23, 2013 at 12:00 pm

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call is like a Director’s Cut version of Theatrhythm, the Final Fantasy-themed rhythm game that came out for the 3DS in 2012. It boasts more songs (adding more than 90) from more games and spinoffs, including Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, and Final Fantasy Type-0. It will also have add more characters (bringing the total to 60), new stages like the airship stages, and a versus mode. Sadly, the versus mode and all the RPG underpinnings Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call has to offer were not available in the TGS demo, but it did have new songs and stages players could try.

I tried out an event stage from Final Fantasy Type-0, an airship stage from Final Fantasy V, and some battle songs from Final Fantasy XIV and Lightning Returns. All of these were exactly as they might have played in Theatrhythm, except for the airship stage. The airship stages play like the exploration stages where characters walk a certain distance to acquire items, but instead of the tap and swipe symbols sliding normally across the screen, they curve in as though sliding along the edge of a sphere. This means that it’s harder to see what symbols are coming and anticipate one’s next move.

Some good news for players who aren’t fans of stylus play: Curtain Call supports playing with the buttons and joystick. Unlike plain ol’ vanilla Theatrhythm, Curtain Call is perfectly happy to let you do your holding, swiping and tapping with the face buttons and joystick instead of the stylus. It will detect which mode you’re using when you start a level, and doesn’t have any hiccups when you switch between buttons and stylus in the middle of a song. It’s even possible to use both stylus and buttons or joystick simultaneously. I found playing with the stylus in my right hand while flicking the joystick with my left to be surprisingly comfortable.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call will be out in Japan in the spring of 2014. There is no word of an international release yet.

Topics: Previews, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call, Tokyo Game Show 2013