Alright. So the demo provides you with three different...shall I say... stages: R01, R02 and R04. Despite the small number, it's still pretty enjoyable. Unlike most music games, your grade is determined not by your overall performance, but by how full your "health bar" is at the end. I like to try and beat my high score every time haha. If you're a casual or beginner gamer who just wants something cute and fun to immerse yourself in, then this game's great. And if you so wish, you can hold little competitions with family members or friends, seeing who's the best hehe.
Now, control and gameplay. ... It's pretty simplistic. Each stage has different controls, but it's nothing difficult. You're either just tapping a bunch or pressing a couple buttons to the rhythm; no need to go all console-mode and use about 10 different buttons or being crippled with the "Nintendo Thumb" 8D
With R01 for example, you're either sliding the stylus left, right, up, down or in a circle to control how Raphael dances. (Lol, sorry guys but I can't take his name seriously. Everytime I hear "Raphael" I think of the archangel or some bad-ass rendition of him)
In R04, you're either pressing left (on the dpad or the analog stick; your choice) or the A button to fight off some medieval armor soldier whatever dudes. 8D And they speak too, how nice ^^
In R02, you're tapping the buttons on the bottom screen to match the
statue Raphael is in front of so he can copy its pose and hence avoid guard detection (lol how does that even work). What I really disliked about R02 is that 1) You need to tap mash if you want him to line up on time. Because for whatever reason, I can't for the life of me just tap once and have him pose; he always gets discovered by the guards. I know each different colored statue has a different beat, but it still throws me off every time. >___> Which brings me to my next point: the health bar. It seems like only in this stage does your grade drop from A to D if you miss just one statue, as opposed to going from A+ to A- in the other levels. ಠ_ಠ If you're not listening carefully, you could miss which colors get 2 beats and which get 1, and hence get caught and flop on the ground in failure. But whatever, it's still fun to see him troll the guards in your little intermission scenes. Seriously, how do they not see him haha.Now. I hope you're not picking up this game - or really any game really - and expecting PS4/Xbox One graphics on this thing, 'cause I've got tough news for you. However, the graphics are pretty clear, and the cute simplistic art just helps to go along with that cheesy feeling of the game. It's nothing revolutionary, but animation is smooth and hardly frustrating. There's basic shading with not too much detail but again, I think that goes along with the lighthearted feel you get from this game.
Alright. Music. As soon as I started it up and heard the opening, I knew I'd like the soundtrack. The title theme gives you the sound of a full orchestra, and with all the syncopation and how the notes interact with each other, it gives a bit of a jazzy feel....and I love it. And no, not Chicago's "All That Jazz"; get outta here (I have bad experiences with that song; dont ask e-o) On the stage select, you have this conga, double bass, xylophone, acoustic guitar thing going on, kind of like if you were listening to a live gig on some bar. And the double bass, gods. I love how a lot of older music incorporates the double bass (yknow, those peeps playing that huge standing "violin"), so it's nice to hear that on a modern game. And after you select a stage, you have these jazzy violin-guitar-trumpet thing going on. R01 gives you these upbeat trumpets and things and, well... how to describe it. I know this may be a rather terrible example (but honestly I'm braindead and can't think of another), but it's like that feeling when you listen to a Louis Armstrong song: it's catchy, easy to dance to, and it's easy on ears; you could listen to it endlessly. There's just not as many layers of music in Rhythm Thief haha. R02 helps with setting the mood of the stage, which is semi-fast paced/tense as you try to avoid guard detection. R04 gives almost an "adrenaline rush" confrontational feel, which completely makes sense. I can't speak for the rest of the game's soundtrack seeing as I only have the demo, but I'm liking it so far. However, if you're one of those who'll listen to nothing other than rap and modern pop then uh... your loss man.
Rhythm Thief has quite a bit of replayability imo, whether it's because you want to aim for a higher score or because you just really liked that stage/stage's music in general. I've floated around the internet, and there's quite a bit of variety with the stages, so that's always nice. And there aren't any of those cheap DLCs that add nothing to the gaming experience and just decide to rob you of more of your money. (*cough* Total War Rome II. Seriously, who the hell charges a DLC for blood and gore, things that are supposed to be in a teen rated game to begin with?) Though there might be a sequel~
~.~.~. Final Thoughts ~.~.~.
Alright. I think this game has some potential. It's easy for any kind of gamer to jump in, graphics are adorable, music's superb, and really it's just a great rhythm game to help unwind and pass the time. If I had the money, I would totally get it because I'm just a music dork and there are times when I just want to sit down and play a game that's simply.... fun; a game where I don't have to worry about obtaining achievements and hacking & slashing and things of the like.
So, that's that. Hope you guys enjoyed this review. Until next time~ Peace out!
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P.S. I take absolutely no credit for this video, but these guys are genius. XD I present to you... a Rhythm Thief Parody!
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