“Instead of battling my way to victory, I was now tapping my way to victory in a spectacular fashion.”

Final Fantasy is renowned for having amazing soundtracks across it’s vast library of games. Iconic songs such as “One-Winged Angel” and “To Zanarkand” are forever etched into my memory. I was lucky enough to see these performed live when A New World: intimate music from FINAL FANTASY performed in my city. There was nothing quite like having the crowd all yell “SEPHIROTH!” at the correct moment during the live performance.

My love for the Final Fantasy games started with Final Fantasy VIII and therefore it’s OST is one of my personal favourites. I used to listen to it on repeat all of the time and even now there are tracks that I love to listen to when I am doing certain things such as going to sleep or driving.

When Theatrhythm Final Fantasy was released I was so excited to play it albeit hesitant as other than some StepMania I had never played a rhythm game before. They always seemed to be quite difficult and I wondered if I would ever be able to get the timing right. I needn’t had worried as Theathrythm was very beginner friendly and before long I had completely beaten the game and was eagerly anticipating the sequel Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call which is the focus of my thoughts throughout this piece.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call is a fantastic mix of music encompassing not only the main series but also a multitude of spin-offs. One of the most exciting songs that it had at the time was Somnus from what was at the time known as Final Fantasy Versus XV but came to be known as Final Fantasy XV. The game looked absolutely amazing and I wanted to get my hands on it no matter what! So naturally I played Somnus half to death. The other inclusion into the games fast repertoire that I was particularly fond of was the inclusion of songs from Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.  It’s so secret that I absolutely love FFXIV and it has some of the most amazing music tracks of all time. In fact there should be a Theatrhythm just for FFXIV.

The game boasts a whopping 221 songs (321 including DLC) which means that try as I might I could not perfect all of them. Instead I opted to play as many as I could but perfect two or three. The three that I chose were Fallen Angel from FFXIV, One-Winged Angel from FFVII and Shuffle or Boogie from FFVIII. Practising these songs taught me that rhythm games are mostly trial and error and as long as you memorise the song and practice; you can achieve the high scores.

What started as a game that I would play just to feel nostalgic over video game music because a game that I would play in between other games – often sacrificing time playing something from my backlog to try and hit all of the notes in an iconic song. I felt a new appreciation for music from games I hadn’t played in the Final Fantasy series yet which in turn made me want to play those games even more. There’s something so special about a good video game soundtrack. It creates emotion, memories and can really immerse you into the story.

I don’t think I will ever look at Theatrhythm and decide I don’t want to play it anymore. It’s one of those games that I find timeless. It’s consistently fun, full of amazing songs and it is filled to the brims with content that I’m still yet to scratch the surface in regards to not only the songs played but my own skill level.

…Also I have a soft spot for mixing the most unlikely party members together. It may be seen as daft but crossing between games and making a ‘dream team’ if you will is definitely a lot of fun. Plus, the chibi version of each of the characters are incredibly cute. You can not go wrong with that level of charm.

If you’ve got a favourite track from the game let me know in the comments! Or if you even think there’s another series that deserves the Theatrhythm treatment give it a shout!

This blog post was written as part of a collaborative effort for the Final Fantasy Crystal Compendium project. See more posts here.