Hello Internet!

So, with the pandemic largely over (or at least… as over as I think it’s ever going to get) and with everyone doing their best to return to some semblance of normalcy, I decided I needed something to work towards this year, so for S’s and G’s I decided to refresh my blog and at least get writing again.

OH! And I guess take on a massive gaming challenge for myself!

My generations college years were spent playing way too much Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) both on controller and clumsily (and most importantly, sweatily) on dance pads of all makes and models. Then, we were adults with way too much disposable income when Guitar Hero and Rock Band swooped in and exploded the rhythm game scene shortly after. I have incredibly fond memories of going cross-eyed watching little moving lines and arrows deep into the early hours of the morning with my friends and nothing has ever really replaced that perfect concoction of joy since.

Additionally, I grew up as a massive Final Fantasy nerd. The game series was a potent drug that paved the way for my addiction to JRPGs throughout the 90’s and 00’s. And just like DDR and rhythm games, society seemed to just kind of move on from JRPG’s which are now a far more niche genre (with a few notable exceptions, such as the Persona series).

Like most people, the pandemic was an experience that really forced me to look inward and re-evaluate what I find most important in life. I’m getting old… we all are… and life is too short to spend wasting away doomscrolling through the news. I’ve been jonesing to get back to development on my indie game and learn more Unity… but I’ve also been craving something ephemeral and comfortable and “safe”. Something that could appease my nostalgia for better times.

Enter last week, when the newest entry in the Final Fantasy themed rhythm series dropped: Theatrythym Final Bar Line. The first two entries in this series were released on Nintendo’s handheld systems and I was not interested in them, but this newest entry can be played on the couch on my big tv with my speakers blaring and it’s… it’s…

It’s just been beautiful. I clocked about 30 hours in the game in the last week, and outside of a few songs I’ve retried to get better scores at (or failed due to their difficulty), I’ve mostly just played most songs one time. There’s just so. Much. Content. There are almost 500 songs, each with multiple difficulty levels that each present finely crafted rhythm charts that are incredibly evocative of the music you are listening to.

And you know what? It worked. It gave me those feelings. All too often in life, we remember a thing not how it really is, or even how it was, but instead, as this kind of idealized and unattainable fragment of the past. A thing you learn as you grow older is to let these memories stay fragments, to not chase them… as oftentimes when you replicate them, you are just left with the disappointment of what they are now. Whether it’s a song, or a movie, or a game, or even just an experience (like riding your bike to the park after school, or eating a childhood favorite food), these things are oftentimes best left as-is. Without being able to replicate all of the factors (known and unknown) in their entirety, the experience will be lacking. Sometimes, you simply just aren’t the same person any longer.

But this game… it somehow feels new, and exciting, while also scratching that EXACT itch. Those itches, I should say. Because not only did I find myself just fully immersed and challenged with the rhythm gameplay, but I also got to go down memory lane and re-experience these amazing (if… dated) songs from the games of my childhood. This is not the same as listening to the albums on Spotify, no matter the attention I may give them at the time.

It’s difficult to explain, but there’s something to a rhythm game that opens up a door in your brain, that brings you closer to the experience. Those who grew up with DDR/Guitar Hero/Rock Band will know this!

• There were songs that you loved before you played them, but then hated playing them in the game. They just weren’t fun. The song was great, and it may mean a million things to you in your personal life, but playing the song in the game just was either difficult or the rhythm chart was frustrating or didn’t flow or a million other things.
• There were songs you didn’t like before you played them, but then LOVED playing them in the game. Songs you’d never go out of your way to listen to or appreciate on their own, but playing them in the game, feeling the flow of the notes, appreciating the little details the way that the rhythm charts often required you to pick up on… it just made the song better.

And this is where the experience of Theatrhythm has been wonderful for me. Revisiting this massive library of songs that repeated ad nauseum as I played through these iconic games as a kid feels like actual time travel. These songs that have been burned into my memory, and yet the game finds a way to invite you in and show you all these nuances and reasons to appreciate them in a way you never have before. And appreciate them I have.

As an example, while I wasn’t the biggest fan of Final Fantasy VIII, I did always enjoy the music and expected to have a good time going through that title’s tracks. However, I was not prepared for how impactful those tracks would be. Playing through all the titles chronologically, you get a feel for how each new installment in the franchise grew and embraced new themes, new styles, and matured. And while there are absolute bangers on that soundtrack that I knew I’d love (“The Man with the Machine Gun“, for example), I didn’t expect to find so much enjoyment in the deeper cuts.

At face value, the song sounds heavy and dastardly… it’s a Final Fantasy boss theme so of course it’s not exactly profound in those regards. I’ve listened to the game’s soundtrack likely dozens of times and this song has never once stood out to me.

But playing it in Theatrhythm, with the song’s difficult but musically expressive rhythm chart, another element of the song became more apparent to me. There are these heroic notes; motifs that seem to say “I will overcome”, “I will grow”. This is a battle against the beast both inside and outside. The demons within and without. Halfway through the song, there is an organ solo that gives the impression of a vicious back and forth between man and beast before the song returns back to the main theme. The battle isn’t over.

I mentioned above that the song references two things… the second thing is that it’s an homage to the band Deep Purple and their track, “Maybe I’m a Leo“. Listening to the Deep Purple track, there are definitely clear references in the instrumentation choice and theming, and this sort of reference is a thing I’d have never really dived into had I not had the experience of playing “Maybe I’m a Lion” in this context.

So here we are

This last weekend, big news dropped for Final Fantasy XIV (the current MMO offering by Square and a game that if you know me, you know I cannot stop recommending and gushing over). The same way we are all (slowly) coming out of our seclusion, so too is the FFXIV community, and this year is the first time since 2020 that they will be having their Fan Festival in person. These mini-conventions are a huge celebration for the community, and they announced that the 2023 North American Fan Fest will be in Las Vegas in late July. Tickets are not on sale yet, but I feel like I owe it to myself to attend this year if I can make it happen. I’ve never been to Las Vegas, and I do really enjoy conventions, and this one being hyper focused on a topic that I’m hyper fanatical about seems like a no brainer.

Additionally, the LONG awaited next installment in the series, Final Fantasy XVI comes out in June (the week of my birthday no less). I already have plans to take that entire week off of work to celebrate my birthday and fully engross myself in the game.

With all of this sort of coming to a head, a thought weaseled it’s way into my brain. This year really is going to be bookmarked by all things Final Fantasy for me. From the surprise treat of Theatrhythm, to launch of XVI in June and hopefully the Fan Festival in July. And what better way to embrace all of these things and indulge in one of my greatest loves than to play through all the games again?

I say “again”, however I should be clear: I have never beaten Final Fantasy 2, Final Fantasy XIII, or Final Fantasy XV. It has been at least 15 years since I last played through ANY of the games to their completion, and some of them I haven’t touched since I originally beat them as a kid. I’m hoping (and spoiler alert: I’m FINDING) that a similar sort of appreciation for how the music grew and evolved over the years can be found in playing through the games in chronological order. Additionally, I’d like this to be my “Swan Song” for the series, my chance to go in and do some of those things I never did. For example, getting Excalibur II in Final Fantasy IX, an achievement that 14 year-old me thought was actually impossible at the time, requiring beating the game in under 12 hours.

So here’s the plan:

• Before the release of Final Fantasy XVI in June, I will play through and 100% the achievements (where applicable) for the mainline games in the series, sans FFXI and FFXIV (both MMOs that aren’t feasible or really in the scope of this project).
• Assuming I get ahead of schedule, I may do a completionist run of FFX-2 and Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, both of which I have never beaten before (I’ve never played Crisis Core at all, and there was the new remaster/remake in December 2022 that I’d love to give a chance).
• I will document a post-mortem for each game, how I played it, and what I thought (kind of like a mini-review) as I go. This will include a screenshot to the achievements being 100%. Some of these games will take MUCH longer than others due to the varying difficulties in the achievements.
• If things go well, I may consider streaming or making videos of some of the more specific stuff. The Excalibur II achievement I mentioned above, for example, I may do in one-go and that may be fun to stream and have friends for support. Other things like the optional bosses in some of the games may be other opportunities for this (Yiazmat in FFXII, for example, is supposed to be a 1-3 hour long fight depending on your party makeup and strengths).

I hope you’ll join me on this adventure (and I hope I keep up with it, so keep me honest!)

Thanks for reading, you beautiful people!