Theatrhythm Dragon Quest

Theatrhythm Dragon Quest is a Rhythm game developed by Indieszero for the  Nintendo 3DS. It was released exclusively in Japan on March 26, 2015. It was the first game of its type in the Dragon Quest series, and the third Theatrhythm game after Theatrhythm Final Fantasy and Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call. While following rhythm games’ formula, players hit notes on the beat of the music. The title also incorporates role-playing elements, allowing players to assemble a party of four characters to engage in battles or march automatically, in synchronizing with the players’ beats.

Theatrhythm Dragon Quest features 60 songs from the first ten main Dragon Quest titles, with arranged versions of the music that were overseen by Koichi Sugiyama, the series composer. Additional songs were released in several waves of free downloadable content. Theatrhythm Dragon Quest, like the Theatrhythm Final Fantasy predecessors, is a rhythm game. Following the music’s beat, players hit notes as they align with the trigger circle.

The game featured various kinds of notes: “touch notes” that require a single tap, “slide notes” that need to follow the arrow’s direction by sliding, and “hold notes” that demand a sustained press. The note charts are displayed on the top screen of the Nintendo 3DS, with players controlling the game using either the lower touchscreen or a combination of any button and the circle Pad. Songs are categorized into three different gameplay styles: the Battle Music Stage (BMS), the Field Music Stage (FMS), and the Event Music Stage (EMS). BMS features intense battle music and accompanied by the background animation of character battles. 

Unlike the horizontal note scrolling in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, notes in Theatrhythm Dragon Quest flow from top to bottom. FMS primarily includes relaxed field songs with backgrounds depicting the characters’ adventures, which are similar to those in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy. EMS, in contrast to the chibi style characters in the two previous styles, presents the original game’s visuals. Each song has three difficulties. In addition to the normal gameplay, Theatrhythm Dragon Quest introduced the Simple mode, where slides are replaced with taps.