Post by Sunshine on Aug 3, 2012 23:25:08 GMT -8
Thief is stylish and cute, but some big missteps hold it back from being truly special.
Highs
- Delightfully absurd and cute story
- Sleek art style, with some good animations
- Some of the songs are catchy
- Some fun rhythm games, with plenty of variety
- Many secrets to collect, with three big unlockables that lengthen gameplay
Lows
- Brain-dead easy 'puzzles'
- Bad voice acting
- Gyroscope controls
- Poor scoring system
- While some of the animations are good, sometimes it's unimpressive
- Inconsistent difficulty
Raphael has a secret. He may seem like a mild-mannered, bespectacled teenage Parisian, but his alter ego is Phantom R, the titular rhythm thief. His father, Isaac, disappeared three years prior, and ever since Raphael has stolen valuables and gained much publicity in Paris. Phantom R is an unsual cat burglar; he sneaks into museums and flees the authorities by dancing, and when he steals a priceless artifact he returns it the following day, completely unscathed. One night, he meets a cute blonde named Marie (who kinda looks like an older and animefied Alice!--Collin). Their meeting seems like mere chance at first, but it becomes clear that they were destined to meet, because their lives somehow intertwine. Both are orphans and are seeking their true parent(s).
Phantom R is also pursued by a relentless inspector, and a young private investigator who attacks criminals with a soccer ball. To complicate matters further, the game's primary antagonist is a man who claims to be Napoleon (yes, that Napoleon), and commands an army of knights. Oh, and Phantom R has a dog as a sidekick. His name is Fondue, and the in-game text describes his woofs as "weoufs," and other French-like spellings.
It's not every day you sword fight with Napoleon Bonaparte reincarnate!
As you can guess just by reading the two paragraphs above, this game is very quirky and silly. The story, nonsensical as it is, is cute and at times charming... unfortunately, the narrative is severely undermined by some very awful voice acting. Phantom R/Raphael is inconsistent, Marie is a total train wreck, and the supporting characters aren't any better. That's a shame, because with some solid acting this game could have been much funnier and touching. It's really hard to feel for Marie when her voice actress sounds like Kristen Stewart freebasing NyQuil.
The voice acting leaves much to be desired. Also, Marie running downstairs at the end is some sloppy animation.
Going by the screenshots, this might look like an Elite Beat Agents clone. But this game is more like Rhythm Heaven; there are fifty rhythm games in total, but there are really only a handful of different game styles that are repeated. For some games, simply pressing the A and B buttons on beat are all you have to do. Oftentimes you'll need to use the stylus to slide directions on rhythm. Some of the games work, but others fall flat. Tragically, SEGA made the asinine decision to include rhythm games that require using the gyroscope feature of the 3DS. I dreaded these games, and didn't even care about getting an A rank on them. The fact is motion controls can never be depended on when you require lightning-fast reflexes and precision. Towards the end of the game, I simply didn't care about clearing every hidden rhythm game, and I doubt I will. Most of the games are fun the first playthrough, but they eventually do get repetitive, and the gyroscope-controlled games can go die in a fire. Overall, Rhythm Thief starts out easy, but has a sharp and jarring difficulty spike about three quarters in. Not to mention, some of the games have controls that don't feel tight, and fewer games have cues that are actually off-beat and unsynchronized with the tune. Frickin' OUCH!
If only there was a Japanese option in the US release! Here are some more gameplay clips.
The scoring system sucks out loud. The game records your points for every attempt, but sometimes you can have a high score because you've made a very long combo, yet fumble the very last move and drop from an A to a B, or below. The problem with this is that the game will not record your next attempt's A (if you get it) unless you beat your high score. Meaning it's very possible to play a mini game, get a B, then retry and get an A, but the game won't record it, all because you didn't actually beat your high score. This scoring system feels very off for a game like this. Even Rhythm Heaven is fairer, and that game can get brutal, too!
One could argue that a rhythm game is only as good as its songs. Going by that logic, Rhythm Thief is mostly successful, but it has a few duds. You won't like every tune in this game, but there are more hits than misses, and there is a decently sized variety of music genres, including rock, classical, funk, and even samba. Overall, the soundtrack is good enough for me to seek the official soundtrack, expected to be released in iTunes US later this month.
Another big problem is the puzzles. Actually, puzzles would imply that they can be solved. But the 'puzzles' in this game are so aggressively easy that they practically solve themselves. Professor Layton would be insulted by these so-called mindbenders.
Speaking of the Professor, the gameplay could be called Professor Layton and the Fifty Rhythm Games. Getting from one location to the next on the map can be clunky; you use the D-pad to move, but it's sensitive and if you trek too far and stop, you have to wait for the game to load before you can move again. It can get tedious. Otherwise you use the stylus to click on different people to chat them up. Some of these NPCs give away rhythm games, and sometimes you can find medals (currency to buy unlockable goodies) and tracks for your soundtrack gallery. Yeah, it's pretty similar to Layton in that regard. Also, like Professor Layton, the climax is outlandish and farfetched, yet still entertaining.
One major difference in gameplay (besides the rhythm games) is that you have to record sounds (in-game, not actually using the 3DS's microphone) and play them at specific moments in order to progress the story. But, like the puzzles, the game holds your hand and even tells you where to find the important sounds outright! 'Recording' simply means clicking on the sprite, and there you go. No skill involved.
In case you were wondering, the last recorded sound you can find is... a fart. Highbrow humor, gents!
The unlockables are plentiful. There are 18 Phantom Notes to collect (basically scraps of paper), about 50 soundtrack CDs to find, 60 recorded sounds to gather, and there's one amusing mini game where you have to give a music store owner specific recorded sounds so he can perfect the Master Instrument. Some of the recorded sounds are missable, but you'll never permanently miss a sound required to continue the story. It's also impossible to miss any items required to unlock the bonus chapters.
By completing the Master Instrument, Phantom Notes, and getting an A rank on all rhythm games (up to 47), you will unlock three bonus chapters, and each bonus chapter has one more rhythm game (so, 48, 49, and 50). I unlocked two of them, but I really have no drive to get an A rank on all rhythm games. But for those excited and up to the challenge, there's a hard mode after completing the game.
As if I haven't criticized this game enough, the smallest complaint I have is that, when the dialog is spoken, sometimes the subtitles are very different. While not game-breaking, of course, it still comes off as sloppy and half-assed, like the localization was rushed. Then again, maybe the localization was rushed, what with the acting and all...
I really wanted to love Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure, but those gyroscope controls are awful, the acting is almost worse, and I found myself bored by the rhythm games as they went on, despite the amusingly kooky story. That said, I would definitely check out a Rhythm Thief 2 if the problems were ironed out. Judging by the open ending, this was obviously intended to be the start of a new series, much like Layton, but the absolutely dismal sales might end Phantom R's career on an unresolved cliffhanger.
I can't wholeheartedly recommend this game, but I don't regret playing it once. I'm not likely to play it again, though, so I suggest either giving this a rental (don't pay full price, unless you really want it), or simply stick with the vastly superior Professor Layton and Rhythm Heaven series.
SHOW'S OVER!
7/10
My two favorite tracks from the game are as follows.
