Okay, Theatrhythmites. I need some help here.

Does anyone know the specifications for triggering which of the three bosses show up at the end of the Dark Note BMS? I've replayed the first Dark Note I was given seven times so far, earning all the shards from Boss 3, but not even getting Boss 2 to appear and stumbling upon Boss 1 once, but not doing well enough to get anything to drop. Is it just random or do you need all critical hits? During the FMS part, I am able to quickly glance a sign on the top screen that says something about "this way to the boss <--" but am too busy tapping for my life to grok it.

Whether you get boss 1 vs boss 2 or 3 is determined by how well you do in the FMS. That sign you noticed, if you see that you're not going to get boss 1.

Then in the BMS, about 1/3 of the way through the song, your performance so far determines whether you get two or three. Below your health bar it'll say either Boss #2 or 3.

So unfortunately, to get bosses 1 and 2 you need to mess up a little, but not enough to die. To get boss 1, you could use low level characters, then die on the BMS, change in your strong characters, and slay the boss that way. #2's are the hardest to get IMO, but usually you can find another boss that gives the color crystal you're looking for.

Thank you Blind_Evil! That really helps a lot. Interesting that you have to fail a little bit to see some of the other bosses. My mind is so wrapped around the idea of a perfect chain through and through that I do my darndest to not mess up. Will get in mind for future Dark Notes.

I'm having so much trouble triggering bosses and getting shards/other items, I have no idea what I'm doing.

@Clairabel: What's the "No. ##" before the Dark Note? It's determined by your party's average level when you unlock it, and that's what determines the difficulty, so it's kind of easy to ignore the Chaos Shrine for a while and make life hard for yourself.

Anyway, the general rule of thumb is to have a high agility member lead the team for the FMS portion so you have a chance of getting to boss 2/3, and loading up the others with offensive magic/attacks for the BMS. At level 40 most of the initial characters get limit breaks, which are very good boss-killers. If you've got any more specific questions feel free to ask.

Getting really frustrated with the way Dark Notes work in this game. I shouldn't be forcing myself to fuck up in order to advance. Even then it's pretty hard to deliberately screw up the FMS without using lvl 1 characters. Really disappointing.

Also is there any way of eventually getting all the unique dark note songs in challenge mode?

There are four Dark Note songs that never get unlocked for challenge play, apparently.