Theatrhythm devs on the future of the series
The developers of Theatrhythm Final Bar Line have weighed in on the series’ future. This could be the end… or perhaps not.
Series director Masanobu Suzui and producer Ichiro Hazama recently spoke with Dengeki Online, and said that Final Bar Line is intended to be the last game in the series. However, Hazama did acknowledge that things may not necessarily end if fans show their interest. It was also shared that Nomura came up with the new for the new title.
Here’s our full translation:
I’m interested in the fact that the title has the word ‘Final’ in it. Does that mean it’s the last title in the series? And I’d also like to hear about the meaning behind ‘Final Bar Line’.
Suzui: First, regarding the ‘Final’ part, as you suggested this game will indeed be the last in the Theatrhythm series.
Hazama: We hereby declare ‘Theatrhythm FBL’ will be the last in the series!
Suzui: Right from the start of development, we put everything into this without any sense of regret. If we didn’t finish here, it may end up feeling like a bit of a scam (sarcastic laugh).
Really?! (laughs) However, fans may want the series to continue, and if the fans’ voices are strong enough, perhaps that may happen?
Hazama: That could be so. The continuing of the series was done because of the opinions of the players. So in that sense whether this is the last in the series or not may be dependent on the fans again.
Although I suppose we seem to be determined to make every game the last one. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call was also made with the understanding it would be the last.
And then the ‘Final Bar’ part of the name wasn’t something we made up, but instead is the English for the ‘final line’ in music. It’s two lines written on sheet music at the very end to denote the end of the piece, and the name was given to the game by Tetsuya Nomura.
Suzui: When I was talking with Nomura at the start of production, I remembered he quipped: “Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call was supposed to be the final game, but you’re working on a new one?” (laughs) We spoke many times from there and the ‘final bar’ words were born from me telling him this truly was the last one.
That name was given by Nomura in the early stages of development so we all carried the idea ‘this is the last game’ with us as we worked and made sure to put all our energy into the game. I digress, but the logo for the game even has a ‘final bar’ in it; be sure to check it out.
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy kicked the whole series off on 3DS in 2012, followed by Curtain Call in 2014. There was also Theatrhythm Dragon Quest in 2015, but it never left Japan. Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is out now on Switch.
Translation provided by Simon Griffin and SatsumaFS on behalf of Nintendo Everything.
