Theatrhythm – Final Bar Line

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is a 2023 rhythm video game developed by indieszero and sAs and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. It is the fifth entry in the Theatrhythm sub-series. Its gameplay is mechanically similar to prior entries in the series, involving players’ timing inputs to various pieces of themed music. As the title Final Bar Line indicates, it is the final installment in the Theatrhythm series. With a development period of approximately two years, the game was designed to appeal to both casual and hardcore players. It features 505 tracks, including the main and spin-offs of Final Fantasy titles and other Square Enix games.

The game’s design was influenced by previous entries in the series, including Nintendo 3DS titles Curtain Call (2014) and Theatrhythm Dragon Quest (2015) and the arcade game Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: All-Star Carnival (2016), with a focus on accessibility and engaging gameplay as well as an enhanced role-playing element. Theatrhythm Final Bar Line uses the same core mechanics as its predecessors in the Theatrhythm series. Players are tasked with inputting the correct commands when the colored circles, known as triggers, move across the screen and line up with the white stationary circles, known as trigger marks. Each trigger requires different player input depending on their types.

Red triggers demand a single press of any button; yellow arrowed triggers require an analog stick to be flicked in the direction of the arrow on the trigger; and green bar triggers require buttons with a sustained hold. If a green trigger is also attached to an arrow, it requires a button to be held alongside the analog stick in the arrow’s direction. As a home console title on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, Final Bar Line no longer supports touchscreen control originally implemented by its Nintendo 3DS predecessors; instead, some new patterns, such as dual-button presses, were introduced. There are 385 songs in the standard release, with additional purchasable songs raising the total to 505. While predominantly from the Final Fantasy series, including main titles, spin-offs, and mobile titles, with a portion from other Square Enix titles.

Tracks—referred to as Music Stages—are designed into three types: BMS (Battle Music Stages), FMS (Field Music Stages) and EMS (Event Music Stages). The experiences in BMS or EMS are similar to those in Guitar Hero or other classic rhythm games, with notes scrolling from left to right or top to bottom along four fixed linear tracks. FMS, while similar to BMS in that notes move from left to right, features only one track and special bar notes. These bar notes shift up and down, requiring players to manipulate a joystick to follow these movements and simultaneously hold down a button. In BMS and FMS, the backgrounds display Chibi-style characters and enemies, while EMS features a video clip from the corresponding Final Fantasy title. 

Each song has three or four difficulty levels: while Basic, Expert, and Ultimate are for all songs, Supreme, the most challenging level, is available only for around a third of the tracks. In addition to the Standard gameplay style, players can choose from two alternations: the Simple style, which converts all notes to single-button inputs, and the Pair style, where two players share notes in cooperation. Final Bar Line also incorporates light role-playing game elements, similar to those found in Final Fantasy titles. Before playing a song, players can edit their party by assigning up to four characters from Final Fantasy titles. There are 104 characters from different Final Fantasy games, with each character having their own type (such as physical, magic, and healing), level, statistics, and abilities, and every character can be assigned up to three abilities.

During stages, the party automatically battles with enemies when notes are triggered. The damage value is related to how accurately players hit the note; missing a note will cause the character to be attacked, resulting in a loss of HP. If all characters lose all their HP, the track is aborted, and the result is failure. On the other hand, if the song is cleared, the party members earn experience points to level up, and players may receive various items that can aid in battles, as well as a collection card featuring characters, enemies, or scenes. In addition, there are summonstones that can be equipped by the party, which can automatically summon a monster to deal significant damage to enemies.