Field Music Sequence, commonly abbreviated FMS, is one of three types of gameplay in the Theatrhythm Final Fantasy series, along with the Battle Music Sequence and Event Music Sequence.
Gameplay[]
The player's leader party member runs from right to left across a scrolling background that differs depending on the song chosen. Notes fly by the player's cursor and the player must tap the touchscreen as the notes line up with the cursor. Missing a note and taking damage results in the party leader being replaced with the next party member in line, cycling back to the leader after all four party members have been passed. Higher chains and hitting CRITICAL on notes result in the characters running faster, allowing them to progress through more of the stage. How fast a character moves also varies depending on their Agility stat.
Field Music Sequences are the only time when the location of the stylus requires vertical inputs. By holding the notes in vertical motions, the player must move their stylus up and down to follow the path, hitting dots along the slide note's path that themselves count as notes. In addition to tapping and sliding notes, the position of the stylus does not matter regardless of their placement on the screen, though in Theathythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call, the inputs require more precise motions due to the improvements in the stylus controls.
In the Feature Zone for an FMS, hitting enough silver notes successfully calls a Chocobo, who sprints forward for a period of time while subsequent notes turn gold. Eventually the Chocobo turns back into the party member who was leading before it was called. The speed of the Chocobo varies depending on the color; Red Chocobos are the slowest, followed by Black Chocobos, then the Yellow Chocobos, and the White Chocobos the fastest. In Curtain Call, the Chocobo is now guaranteed to be summoned even if the player performs poorly; the chances of the Chocobo that appears is the same, with Red, Black, Yellow and White Chocobos appearing from slowest to fastest. The Thoroughbred ability improves the chances of a better Chocobo.
If the party travels far enough, they meet another character, usually an unlockable character from the same title as the music just cleared, who presents them with an item. Moogles may also appear at random to give the party additional items; how often they appear is dependent on the current party leader's Luck. In Curtain Call, both default and unlockable characters appear in their respective song's titles, and Fat Chocobo may have a chance to appear to provide an even rarer item.
During a Dark Note (exclusive to Theatrhythm Final Fantasy), the player's performance in the FMS of a Dark Note affects the bosses faced in the subsequent BMS. If the party travels far enough in FMS, they will find a sign, signifying that in the subsequent BMS, they will face the 2nd and 3rd listed bosses, depending on their HP in the BMS. If the party does not reach the sign, they will fight the 1st listed boss in the BMS.
In Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call, Field Music Sequences featuring Airships playing with the corresponding Airship theme appear. Their purpose in gameplay is used in the Quest Medley mode to quickly transport the player party from one point of a map to another.
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy and Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call[]
In Theatrhythm Final Fantasy and Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call, songs categorized as field music have an accompanying field stage featured in the background of the song chosen. These locations are representative of where most of the original songs took place or played in that original game. Several songs share a background, such as town and dungeon themes, since they are the most common of the field themes the player will hear in the series main games.
Songs in Italics were available as DLC.
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy All-Star Carnival[]
In Theatrhythm Final Fantasy All-Star Carnival, both Battle and Field music backgrounds are universally shared, all four party members appear on the field, the stages now randomly shuffle based on the type of song played and enemies are present.
Theatrhythm Final Bar Line[]
The FMS areas used are no longer specific to a location from the series, excluding a few exceptions, e.g. town themes use a normal town background with a visual variation that alludes to a location or key moment the song is associated with. This change applies to airship themes, since airships now function as a visual aesthetic for parties to equip when arriving in an FMS. As with All-Star Carnival, a maximum of four party members appear in the FMS, where their combined Agility enables further travel and they will directly battle any enemy encountered.
Songs in Italics are available as DLC.