I was wrong, but I'm too happy to care.
If you had asked me two weeks ago whether or not
Theatrhythm was a worthwhile endeavor for
Square Enix as a publisher or you as a gamer, I would have performed
my patented evil laugh. Who gives a shit about
Final Fantasy anymore?
Unfortunately for my ego, I was proven wrong last night when I got to play
Theatrhythm at a Pre-
E3 judges event. The
Nintendo 3DS exclusive that puts the venerable soundtrack of every major
Final Fantasy release at your fingertips is actually a lot of fun.

All of the memorable battle and character themes you could hope for are playable in an
Elite-Beat-Agents-inspired role-playing adventure. The demo I played featured a ready-for-retail build of
Theatrhythm. I went with two favorites in my limited time.
The
Final Fantasy VII soundtrack suite allowed me to play through Aeris's Theme and a battle montage. The characters I controlled proceeded to explore the world or fight familiar faces with every tap, dash, and hold.
As confusing as it might look, the gameplay itself is stupidly intuitive, as it switches styles throughout a game's sound suite. In the first section I tapped, dashed, and dragged my stylus up and down the bottom touchscreen as a wave of icons flew by. In the next section, my four party members took turns attacking, as hold notes, taps, and dashes flew down four separate bars. In the final section, I directed the track around the screen as a cinematic played in the background.

Again, how is this fun? This sounds like a complete waste of time, and in a way, that's exactly what it is.
Theatrhythm seems like an almost idealistic time waster, providing edible 15 minutes of fun. If
Theatrhythm can make me shut out the other games I was surrounded by last night, I think it'll do just fine at the dentist's office or on the bus.
I played the
Final Fantasy VI (
III,
whatever) suite next and tripped hard on nostalgia. What is it about these now classic game soundtracks that can bring a smile to even the most cynical gamer's face? You couldn't pay me to play a
Final Fantasy game today, but
Theatrhythm has quickly risen to the top of my
3DS preorder list.
Combining tons of memorable tracks, a cute art style, and about as much
Final Fantasy my addled brain can handle makes
Theatrhythm more enjoyable than I could have imagined. Check it out on the
Nintendo 3DS when it lands July 3rd.
Josh_Laddin
Joined: Nov 2009
danielrbischoff
Joined: Nov 2009
Josh_Laddin
Joined: Nov 2009
If this really is like EBA with an FF soundtrack, I'll be in heaven!
Noritama
Joined: Feb 2012