Many gamers were thrilled when the first rhythm game, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, finally released on the Nintendo 3DS. While the game focused on reliving the iconic music of previous Final Fantasy games, it failed to get gamers involved in both the story and its gameplay. Following the footsteps of other rhythm games, Rhythm Thief combines traditional rhythm gameplay with a touch of Professor Layton.
While Square Enix was able to merge the RPG genre with Rhythm, can Rhythm Thief do the same for Puzzle Adventure? Let’s take a look on what’s HOT and what’s NOT in our review.
HOT
Captivating Story
As the title says, Rhythm Thief will focus on the story of none other than the thief itself, Phantom R, a high class thief who’s pilfering the art museums of Paris. When he’s not out at night doing naughty things that can get him caught, his alter ego Raphael is a boy researching for clues that can lead him to the disappearance of his father. With his adventure, you will guide both Phantom R and Raphael in solving the mysteries of his father’s disappearance and try to avoid the police as much as possible in the city of Paris.
Gamers who are fond of mystery stories, like Professor Layton, Rhythm Thief’s story will be interesting as there will be plots and interesting events that unravel along the way. Don’t worry about reading a lot of text as the game will have very high quality anime cutscenes to tell the game’s story.
Gorgeous Presentation
When I first heard about Rhythm Thief, my expectations weren’t high since it’s a first IP introduced by Sega and with no idea what it’s about, my first guess that the game will be somewhat mediocre. Boy, I was wrong about my first impressions. The moment the game started, I was astounded to the presentation it portrayed as the visuals are very vivid, colorful, and it reminds me of the visuals that Professor Layton has, except its in HD quality.
During the cutscenes, players will see very colorful anime cutscenes that are equipped with British voice overs and players can notice right away that it’s done in a good way. As for in-game, the layout is similar to Professor Layton where the top screen will show you the map where you can move and at the bottom, that’s where you will use tap the screen to investigate the area, find medals and do the various rhythm games. For those who have played the Layton games, this should be pretty familiar. When it comes to its 3D effect, they’re gorgeous and it’s not as hurtful as it is in other 3DS games. Even at the highest density, the player’s eyes will not get strained while playing this game.
A Mix of Gameplay
Many assumed that Rhythm Thief will focus entirely on a music genre due to the title that is already implied. While that maybe true, the game gives more chunks of gameplay than the traditional tapping of the touch screen as the player follows along the fun and exciting beats.
Ryhthm Thief is not only a music-based game but it also has the puzzle-adventure type of gameplay. Throughout the game, you will spend time doing different things that involves you tapping the touch screen a lot of times. The good thing about the game is that you will never get bored to the things that the game has to offer as it varies from time to time. An example of this is at one part, you will do the classic follow the arrows mini-game, and the other will ask to solve a puzzle. Pretty much, the players who enjoyed Professor Layton games and a Ryhthm game will surely dig Rhythm Thief and will have fun playing through it.