Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Review

Final Fantasy is a name that strikes such a mix of emotion from me.  On one hand, it is a series that I've garnered a lot of love for, not to mention a strong sense of nostalgia.  On the other hand lays a copy of Final Fantasy XI through XIII-2.  Fortunately Theatrhythm Final Fantasy isn't a new RPG title that recklessly throws away what made the series as good as it was, but instead focuses entirely on the brilliant music within the numbered games of the series.

There are three main modes to the game, all of which offer up basically the same gameplay.  What is probably best to start with is its Series mode.  In this mode you'll find each entry in the main series listed up to XIII.  Each entry includes a battle theme, world map/ location theme, and either an emotional theme or memorable theme from that game.  So in total the game starts off with 39 tracks to play from.  Eventually more tracks will be unlocked, but it's going to take a lot of time for some of them to become available, and even then the unlockable songs only add up to around five.  As for the songs that are immediately available, they do a great job of representing their game.

In the Series mode you'll play through one game at a time, tapping, swiping, and holding down notes in the rhythm of each song.  The battle theme has notes scrolling from left to right as you tap away at them.  Monsters show up on the left side of the screen, and on the right side is a party of four main characters there are picked by the player at the start of the game.  Each of the characters have their own unique skills and attacks that can be selected before playing a song.  Most of the skills boil down to the characters helping keep the song going if the player is having trouble keeping the rhythm.  The characters will level up by finishing songs, allowing them to obtain better skills and attacks.  All of that was fairly menial though, and everything besides the gameplay is basically window dressing.

The map/ location theme has one of the party members running from right to left as a single stream of notes move up and down scrolling from the left side of the screen.  It's almost identical to the battle theme stages, but offers up a backdrop of the world you are playing through.  Occasionally a moogle and/or a minor character from the series will toss you a chest that contains an item you can equip your team with.  You'll get these in the battle mode as well from defeating enemies.

Memorable themes from the games are definitely the most different in the gameplay sense.  Instead of the notes scrolling left to right, they are swirling around the screen almost like in Elite Beat Agents for the DS.  These themes will also have cutscenes from each of the games playing behind the notes.  For diehard Final Fantasy fans, these songs will be worth the price of admission alone.  I know they struck a chord with me each and every time.  Though, I must mention, these songs are the hardest to play due to the constantly changing pace in which the notes show up on the screen.

There are more songs that are available for DLC, but the game has enough available on it already, so for the most part I'd say ignore them.  A couple of other modes are in the game that allow players to play songs individually and up the difficulty once they have played through the series mode, and those modes kept me playing the game for several hours past "finishing" it.  There is also an incentive to unlock a bunch of stuff including new characters, streetpass stuff (basically just a Final Fantasy looking business card swap), and encore songs.

This game had a genuine effect on me.  Before this game came out I couldn't care less about the series.  Now I feel like I'm ready for number XV.  It's funny, I really did love this series once.  Spending whole summers with a great Final Fantasy game used to be the norm for me when I was growing up.  I guess I miss those days.  Nostalgia is coloring my love for this game slightly, but for the most part it stands on it's own.  For anyone familiar with this series, I'd say pick it up.  It's a hugely competent rhythm game that will help you remember the good old days.

Nintendo: Why The Wii U Won't Bomb

So E3 2012 is over.  Yup, that was it.  A few neat surprises showed up for the event, but overall it was disappointing.  No new console announcements, though to believe that there were going to be any heading into the convention would be overly optimistic.  Only a few new major IPs, and of those only one of which showed up in a big three conference.  And the new console we were expecting to see something/anything special for showed up with games that we've played already and a minigame collection.  Yeah, the Wii U's showing was a dud to say the least.  Maybe I expected too much from it.  It is after all the successor to the Wii, a console that failed to excite Nintendo fans time and time again.

Now I don't know what the future of the Wii U's software will be, but I do know that even with my current gripes about the system, the Wii U will still be a success and I have my reasons for thinking so.

1.  Brand
Nintendo has a cache that means something, at least for this upcoming generation.  If the Wii U isn't a giant success, then all bets are off on that brand cache for the console following it.  Out of the gate, the Wii and Nintendo names are going to help the Wii U with sales.  People may not play their Wiis too often nowadays, but if a family gets together and someone turns it on with a copy of Wii Sports in the disc tray, then all likelihood is that family will jump in for a few games of bowling.  They aren't tired of the Wii like most serious game players think they are.  The name still resonates and there's been enough time for them since they've picked up their orignal Wii that they'll be ready to purchase a Wii U this holiday.

2.  Price
Nothing is set in stone, and we currently do not know the price the Wii U is going to launch at, but all probability is that it will be between $250 and $300.  It's certainly not throwaway money, but it is going to be a hell of a lot cheaper than what Sony and Microsoft are going to price their next big thing at.  By launching at this price Nintendo will have a market all to itself just like this current generation.  I'm sure many Wiis were bought not for the waving your arm around gimmick, but because they were gaming systems that were $100+ cheaper than their competition.

3.  Loyalty
Fanboys are an unfortunate byproduct of the gaming stratosphere.  They exist prominently on both Sony and Microsoft's consoles, but nowhere are they more fanatical than on Nintendo's.  These fans are both young and old, existing either because of nostalgia or the childlike enjoyment they receive from Nintendo games.  Their colors don't run.  Expect a good deal of them to buy the Wii U on launch day with whatever Nintendo games launch with it (hopefully not just Pikmin 3 and New Super Mario Bros U).

Now these points are only relavant if good, unique software does show up on the Wii U.  Just Pikmin 3 and whatever the new Smash Bros game is won't do.  Nintendo probably does have that taken care of, but at this rate who knows?   

4 Hours with SSX

I'm not a huge sports gamer. Sure I'll sit down with a Tiger Woods game every now and then, but I typically don't find myself eagerly awaiting the yearly arrival of a new Madden. There just isn't enough going on in a typical sports game to keep me playing it for more than a sitting. Maybe it's the realism that does it, which would explain why SSX has always appealed to me.

SSX hasn't lost its charm. That is what makes it what it is. If the team behind this had gone with their original idea that looked like the Call of Duty bros hitting the slopes, the franchise would have lost what makes it special. To me SSX is colorful characters doing quadrupole back-flips at mach speed. You'll find that here. You'll also find a huge selection of mountains to either race, trick, or survive on.

These mountains are tweaked versions of the actual thing. Apparently the SSX team used satellite mapping to create their models of the mountains and then went in and designed slopes around them. They all work well, though some more than others. I haven't actually enjoyed a survival challenge in the game up to this point. The slopes designated to survival tend to be either narrow with trees popping up everywhere or full of giant pits that become really hard to avoid.

Survival is tough, but the beginning of the game provides few challenges. I didn't have a problem finishing the the Rockies' slopes (half of which is the tutorial), or the other two stages in the main campaign. But after that I started cursing silently to myself more and more often to the point of giving the game an evil glare every time I found my character frozen to death or in a pit.

Freezing is something I definitely had to contend with. Each mountain range seems to have its own unique dangers. Whether it's loosing oxygen on the Himalayas or contending with giant sheets of ice in Siberia, I knew my character's death was an eventuality until I adjusted my style of play. I understand why the variety is there, it just isn't always fun to deal with.

What is fun is collecting geotags, the main component of online play. These tags are icons that players can leave on slopes for others players to collect that rewards them with bonus xp that can be used on upgrading a chosen character in the game, of which there are quite a few. Of course to collect this xp you'll need to input your online pass that comes with the game. I'll save a rant on those things for another time.

The game also has a currency system that hands out money when a track is finished. This money can be used for buying new clothes, boards, and gear. I didn't worry about the clothes too much since they were only pallet swaps with no real effect on the game. The boards on the other hand have stats that show whether it is best suited for races or tricks. I always checked to see if there were any amazing new boards available after a race since the store randomly changed what it was selling as I progressed through the game.

I'm glad I gave the game a chance. It proved to me that SSX still has something to offer. That something may not be enough for a lot of people though. As the title of this states, I've only put around four hours into the game, and at this point I'm not sure I want to put another four in. What SSX provides is apparent withing the first hour. I'm sure there is a lot a more seasoned SSX player could milk out of this game, but I don't think I'm going to be the one to do it.