Developer: Nippon Ichi
Publisher: Atlus
Released Date: December 17, 1998
(This sure looks like a game I would've liked in 1999)
I have a feeling that Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure would go over much better if it was released today. It came out during a time when gaming was a macho boy’s club, so most of the historical reviews treated it as a game for little girls and people new to rpgs. It is quite easy, but nowadays reviewers consider things like charm and atmosphere. It also has a unique angle that I am not sure I have ever seen in another rpg. It is a true musical. That’s right, the characters actually break into song. I think everybody who loves jrpgs loves the songs during the credits and opening movies, so it’s not a bad idea. It also has two of my favorite companies attached to it, Nippon Ichi and Atlus. With a fun gimmick and great rpg companies attached to it there’s little chance of it not being fun. It is fun, but it’s also a somewhat flawed experience.
Rhapsody is a game filled with great ideas. As only Nippon Ichi’s third RPG, and first to make it overseas, it sets the foundation for many of their trademarks. It’s full of quirky humor and grid-based combat. Despite the serious overtones it never takes itself too seriously. It has a fun and diverse cast of characters that lean away from the usual jrpg tropes. This description is probably familiar to you if you have played games like Disgaea and Phantom Brave. The game stars Cornet, a maturing girl who can talk to dolls and bring them to life when she plays her horn. The story starts as a typical one. While out in the forest she meets a handsome prince and falls in love. The rest of the game is her trying to win him over and later save him when a witch turns him to stone. The game excels in its combat, which as I explained earlier has a strategy feel to it. There are dolls hidden in the game that will join the party and also monsters that will join after battles. Every new character has different abilities, so the mixing and matching in the party is a lot of fun. The only way to bring defeated dolls back to life is to get them repaired in town, so it’s important to keep more than one party’s worth of characters leveled up. Getting lost in a dungeon is much more fun with so much character building to do.
I also enjoy that the game has a philosophical slant to it. Cornet has to go to extremes to save the prince, and she does some bad things to do so. She defeats guardians who protect entire communities just to get the necessary items. Some people end up hating her while some people consider her a hero. It brings up questions about what is acceptable for love. Is she justified because she is young and doesn’t know better? Would it have been better just lo let the prince stay a statue when saving him causes so much trouble? It’s a game that is legitimately funny in parts and surprisingly sad in others. It’s a winning rpg formula.
Unfortunately, the game suffers somewhat in the execution. The combat is fun, but it is much too easy. The only time I had any characters die was in the very last battle of the game. New areas will present some challenge, but levels are gained so fast that the battles become brainless button pushing. There is an auto battle button that I ended up using more as the game went on, which is a shame because I really did enjoy the combat. I also didn’t like how the dungeons only had two different designs. There were either square rooms or the same cave backgrounds over and over. It’s a good-looking game overall, but it’s disappointing that so many of the environments are the same. Also, the songs can be a little awkward because they were written in Japanese and translated to English. They changed the words but had to keep the music, so it leads to a few strange moments. It’s all over in about 10 hours which is a little short for a PlayStation RPG, so it’s not as fleshed out as it could be. The ideas are great, and they are enjoyable, but I wish it was longer and more difficult.
Still, I am not going to deny that I had fun playing Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure. I’m a sucker for a quick rpg with grid-based combat. The dialogue was clever enough and combat was fun enough to put it into the good section of my list. It’s definitely one worth checking out, but like most PlayStation rpgs it has gotten much more expensive over the last couple years. There is a version on Nintendo DS, but I don’t think it is much cheaper. I put this game at 24th which is surprisingly high. I’m sure it won’t stay in the top 25 particularly long, but it’s high ranking just goes to show how good a game can be with a whole lotta charm and atmosphere.
PlayStation Quality Percentage: 1/2
Link to the whole list: https://1drv.ms/w/s!AvR1pVOGMfAniEZub_KTCsR7twUv?e=YCJc77
(images are from mobygames.com)
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