Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call is a rhythm game exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS, and is a sequel to Theatrhythm Final Fantasy in 2012. This game is basically a celebration of all the Final Fantasy music throughout the years, including spin-offs from the main numbered titles. Naturally, a rhythm game is only as good as its music and Final Fantasy music has always been high regarded as some of the best. The rhythm gameplay adapts perfectly here. There is a huge number of tracks available, 221 unique songs which is a crazy amount and presents huge value for money. If you assume each song takes two minutes to play through once, then that's 7 hours of game time right there, then of course, you would want to play through a song more than once in order to obtain a higher score.
As briefly mentioned earlier, there are songs from all of the numbered titles up to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, plus some spin-off titles such as Dissidia, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and Crystal Chronicles. It is very impressive at the sheer variety available. Needless to say, it doesn't contain every single track from each game, rather it provides a "best of" sample. Surprisingly, it lacks some of the more iconic songs such as Eyes on Me from Final Fantasy VIII and Paradigm Shift from Final Fantasy XIII-2. However, being regulated to just Final Fantasy music means that you will get the most enjoyment out of this game if you are a fan of the games.
Furthermore, it would be beneficial if you have played the majority of the Final Fantasy games so that the melody and beat of the tracks are already familiar to you. This is not mandatory but it does help a lot with the rhythm aspect. It is harder to get a good score if you're listening to the music for the first time. As with all rhythm games, you press buttons in time with the onscreen prompts, however, Curtain Call mixes it up a bit with its own unique flair. You can either play using the physical buttons or using the touchscreen, you don't need to specifically select a style from the menu, you can easily play using buttons in one track and then immediately switch to the touchscreen in the next.
If you are using physical buttons, then you will end up tapping any of the face buttons, holding it down and moving the Circle Pad in a variety of directions. One of the slightly annoying aspect of this is that the game requires you to move the Circle Paid diagonally, which means that it can be confusing when the prompts are flying across the screen and you only manage to flick the Circle Pad or the angle wasn't within the margin of error. The touchscreen controls work well... but it gets much harder during the higher difficulties. This is because you tap the touchscreen as well as sliding the stylus across for swipes, and you cannot just flick the screen, it needs to be a solid line.
There's also two more play methods which mixes up the buttons and touchscreen controls together and one which allows you to play with only your left hand. The game offers three difficulties: Basic, Expert and Ultimate. Basic is the easiest difficulty and feels really easy, however, the next step up, Expert, is noticeably harder. There is a huge step up between the two, surprisingly, but once you get the hang of it, Expert is the way to go. Ultimate is just crazy with the button prompts increasing in speed and frequency.
Curtain Call throws in some RPG elements, you create a party (selected from 60 playable characters such as Squall, Cloud and Zidane) and each level you finish gives you experience points. Level them up and they get more powerful, such as increased attack power or increased speed, and earn abilities. You equip abilities which have passive effects such as dealing more damage when you do a set of button prompts perfectly or increases your drop rate for items. It's very neat and makes it very addictive. The main mode of the game is Music Stages, where you select a track to play. Initially, you are limited to the tracks from the titles that your party members are from, but it quickly expands to all the titles. As you keep playing, you will unlock more tracks, the sheer variety and options available to you from the beginning is staggering.
Tracks also come in a few types. The one that is most fun is the Battle Music Stage, where you fight enemies throughout the track. Defeating enemies can net you items, and if you miss a note, you will be hit and your HP drops. Once your HP goes to nil, you fail the track. It is a nice twist. The second type is Field Music Stage, where your Party Leader will walk along the screen with the music. The music is generally slower paced but it has this additional mechanic during sections where you need to hold the A button and move the target using the Circle Pad at the same time, which can get a bit hard.
Lastly, there is Event Music Stage, where instead of showing the prompts over four lines like in Battle Music Stage, or one line like Field Music Stage, it constantly moves. A video will be playing in the background, generally taken from the title. The game is so addictive and you're constantly unlocking new items that you will fall into the trap of playing just one more track. The graphics are also very nice, the backgrounds can either be in gorgeous 2D or 3D rendered. Characters are drawn in a unified chibi aesthetic that works very well. Theathrhythm Final Fantasy doesn't have a proper story mode. The story is very weak, boiling down to a few lines of text and that's it.
The weak story gives you a reason to play the songs, which is to collect Rhythmia points. As you collect more, extra modes, options and other things will unlock. This carrot on a stick keeps you wanting to play and play. Once you have collected enough, the game "ends" and the credits run. It's unsatisfying, so do not play this game expecting a robust story. On the other hand, there seems to be an unlimited supply of prizes when collecting Rhythmia points. A big chunk of the game is from Quest Medleys. In these, you play through various levels one after another, aiming to defeat certain bosses to collect crystals to unlock more characters and receive items. These quests gets harder and more unlock as you complete them. They also offer branching paths and it is a nice addition to the rhythm gameplay, giving you an objective.
There is a Versus Mode where you can play online against another player, local via Download Play or verse against an AI character. As you play through the song, you build up a bar and once full, you automatically select a random effect with the purpose of disorienting your opponent. Once again, this is a nice twist to the typical rhythm gameplay. Theatrhythm also has collectibles called CollectaCards. These are virtual cards of monsters and characters from the Final Fantasy series, you can collect these as you complete songs. There is a huge number to collect, made harder since there are Normal cards, Rare cards and Premium cards of each character, given at random.
Of course, there is a Museum Mode where you can spend time just listening to music, view your records, check on the in-game trophies, check your CollectaCards progress and watch videos without the distraction of onscreen button prompts. Overall, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call is a fantastic rhythm game. The core gameplay is simple and fun, and the game contains a staggering amount of content. You can easily spend hours upon hours in this game. The music is great and graphical style is strong, Curtain Call is highly recommended for fans of the Final Fantasy series (plus, all the songs in the original Theatrhythm are in Curtain Call as well!).
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