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Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure Demo Impressions
Editorial by 
(Editor)
March 16, 2012, 01:02
 
The Demo for Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure released in Europe today and I have just got some hands on time with it. First of all this is a very short demo although already I can tell I am going to use up my 20 uses, the game is really quite good. The demo contains 3 stages all set in Paris, the game features several landmarks from the area and the graphics have a nice cartoon style.

The game has already set itself apart from most other rhythm games by showcasing three different styles of gameplay with its demo stages. Impressions are detailed below.

Stage 1 - Showtime

Showtime is Elite Beat Agents meets Rhythm Heaven, the top screen has three people dancing on a stage while showing different arrows in inner circles surrounded by outer circles which decrease in size. As the outer circle meets the inner circle you have to perform a swipe which will have the dancer perform an appropriate move corresponding to the direction of the swipe. The closer the circles are to meeting the better the rating you receive. I really liked the music here which got faster as the level progressed making it harder to keep up, although as with the other stages it was always very easy. This was probably the most fun stage of the demo.

Stage 2 - Looting the Louvre

This stage has the bottom screen seperated into four different coloured panels with a different pose on each, the main character is making his way through the Louvre while avoiding security guards. He does this by hiding behind statues which match the colour and poses indicated on the bottom screen, the character is moving of his own accord here and you simply have to touch a panel as he reaches a statue. This was quite amusing to watch and was again fun but not very challenging, am assuming this is easy mode and more difficulty levels will be present in the final game.

Stage 3 - Battle Diabolique

This stage seems to be a kind of boss battle and ignores the touch screen completely, it simply has you pushing either the D-pad or the A button depending on which side of the screen you are attacked from. The timing of these button presses is again determined by the EBA style circles seen in stage one. This was again fun although very basic and not very challenging.

Overall Impressions

I did feel like the demo was fun and I look forward to seeing more of the game, I would have liked to have seen a bit of context to what I was doing with some brief story clips maybe. The graphics seemed good to me with a nice 3D effect although nothing really game altering. I did like the way the on screen prompts were raised up from the background though. The music for the first stage was good but I didn't really pay much attention to the other two stages which doesn't really bode well for it being a rhythm game and all. The game did bring a smile to my face though which is always a good sign. I also wish there were more difficulty modes present in the demo to give me hope that the game provides some challenge.

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Posted: 03/16/12, 01:02  - Edit:  03/16/12, 08:36
 
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Thanks for the impressions.
I'm interested in this game, so it's too bad the demo isn't available here in Canada.

Posted by 
 on: 03/16/12, 01:21
Can't believe North America has to wait until next month to check this demo out. Thanks a lot, NoA.

Posted by 
 on: 03/16/12, 06:18
Sounds good, though you're right, @warerare, a bit of context would have been nice. I'm looking forward to trying this one out. I enjoy a good rhythm game, for sure.

Posted by 
 on: 03/16/12, 06:49
Cool, I'm jealous! I'm so looking forward to this one.

So the music wasn't really that special eh? Hmm.

Posted by 
 on: 03/16/12, 16:01
Any UK folk picking this up? It stinks that we have to wait until July apparently.

It got an 8.0 at IGN

Posted by 
 on: 04/05/12, 18:12  - Edit:  04/05/12, 18:12
Sounds pretty sweet. This is the kind of think that I like to see from Sega. No Sonic in sight.

Posted by 
 on: 04/06/12, 18:07
I suppose I'll post this here:

1up Interview with the creator

1up's preview

Good stuff!

Posted by 
 on: 06/26/12, 19:06
So...wait. When does North America get the demo? I thought it was supposed to drop in April.

Posted by 
 on: 06/26/12, 20:08
I've had this game for a couple of months and keep forgetting to play it!

Posted by 
 on: 06/26/12, 20:53
I bought the full version of this games because it was only $30 on Amazon and I think it's really great. The point-and-click adventuring parts are a little unremarkable and the "puzzles" are mind-numbingly simple, but the characters and art-style are cute and the whole presentation is very charming, the animated cut-scenes especially are great. Where this game definitely shines are the rhythm games, and just in the first hour I've played about 8 so far, some of them are part of the main quest and others are optional, a couple of them so far have been duds but for the most part they're all very fun, and the music is phenomenal. The optional ones tend to be a little bit harder and more obtuse, there's one that requires you to use the tilt sensor and it didn't feel very precise (the game also automatically disabled 3-D during the tilt sections, which makes sense since using the gyro almost always ruins the 3-D), but most of the mini-games will use the touch screen or buttons (like the demo) and those feel pretty good.

Overall it's a very cool game, if you're a fan of Elite Beat and/or the Layton games I'd highly recommend it!

Posted by 
 on: 07/24/12, 06:41  - Edit:  07/24/12, 16:52
Yeah after playing the demo I decided I want this game. But I'm going to wait a bit. I want to dust off a few games from my plate before grabbing a new one. The demo was super-charming and I dug the music. I look forward to when I can really sit down and play the entire thing.

Posted by 
 on: 07/24/12, 16:37
@deathly_hallows

You've played 8, and I've played more than that. There are around 50 overall. Honestly, how anybody can knock the play length in a rhythm story like this is beyond me. I mean sure, you can't download the latest top 40 hits to play, but this is a self-contained and (how can I say this without sounding pretentious?) BEAUTIFUL game; I wouldn't expect downloadable content for it.

Posted by 
 on: 07/24/12, 16:58
I ordered this from amazon but it hasn't shipped yet. Damn it.

Posted by 
 on: 07/24/12, 17:15
@Deerock69
Have people been knocking the length? It's supposed to take like 6-8 hrs for the main story and that's without replaying any of the rhythm games to get a better grade, which is of course unrealistic, some of the games are so fun and the music is so good you'll want to replay them over and over.

Tell you which ones I won't be replaying though, are the violin ones, yuck, I hate note highways ala Guitar Hero.

This game DESTROYED my battery though, after 2 hrs. it went from full charge to blinking red light, guess I was pumping the music full volume and had the brightness and 3-D turned up all the way, but still...

Posted by 
 on: 07/24/12, 17:23
 
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