Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure

"Proving that bear costumes are better than fancy dresses!"

Back in 2000, Atlus (A company known for bringing some popular Japanese games to the US, like Disgaea) released Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure, which is one of the more oddball RPGs on the PlayStation, because it featured the characters breaking out into musical sequences instead of having FMV cut-scenes. Though is was mostly ignored when it first came out, is Rhapsody any good?

Story
The game follows the adventures of Cornet, a puppeteer who uses a magical horn to control the puppets, entering a contest for a chance to marry the prince and become the next queen of Marl Kingdom. However, an evil witch wreaks the party and captures the prince, so Cornet and her puppet friends go on a journey to save the prince. It's not too bad, but it gets better later in the game. Also, a "Rescue (Prince) from (Villain)" story is a nice change from the extremely overused "Rescue (Princess) from (Villain)" story.
Story: 8 out of 10

Graphics
It features some great 2D graphics with an Anime style to it, similar to Chrono Trigger. However, the special effects don't look as great as everything else (While everything else looks great, the special effects don't look much better than what you'd see in the original version of Final Fantasy IV, which was released nearly a decade before Rhapsody). However, the Pancake attack is awesome (More on that later), even if it does look a little cheesy.
Graphics: 7 out of 10

Music \ Sound Effects
The sound effects aren't anything special (Some not really fitting well with what they are used for), but the soundtrack makes up for that. The songs are great, and even some of the musical sequences sound great (Like Marjoly's song, Evil Queen). However, there are some that make My Sweet Passion (Amy Rose's theme in Sonic Adventure) or even I Am the Wind (The ending theme to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night) seem tolerable (I really don't like Let's Go On). However, the soundtrack is still great, and for those who like the soundtrack, the US release of the game comes bundled with a soundtrack CD, containing all the musical sequences in the game.
Music \ Sound Effects: 8 out of 10

Controls
It works great, except I did run into a few problems as a result of my worn-out DualShock controller. The game takes advantage of both analog sticks on the DualShock controller, so you can move around using either analog stick (Allowing the game to be played single-handedly, so you can use the other hand to look up info in a strategy guide). It works perfectly, otherwise.
Controls: 10 out of 10

Gameplay
At its core, the game is a basic turn-based strategy RPG with a few twists. Because it mainly focuses on moving the story along, the game is quite easy compared to other RPGs (You don't have to spend hours leveling up your party before the next major boss fight, thankfully, which keeps the pace up). The game does have plenty of humorous moments (Like one scene early in the game, where Cornet wears a bear costume for the contest because she couldn't find a dress), and in place of the standard FMV cut-scenes (Like in Final Fantasy VII and most other RPGs on PlayStation), the characters in Rhapsody will bust out into a musical sequence ever so often (Hence the subtitle, "A Musical Adventure"). There are a decent amount of people to talk to in each town, and unlike some RPGs, it's actually worth talking to each one, because some of the characters will have something humorous to say. The battles are very easy, and leveling up is very quick; by the end of the game, I could defeat most every basic enemy I ran into in one hit (The only fights I ever lost are the ones you're required to lose as part of the story. I don't know what the Game Over screen for this game even looks like). In addition to using standard magic attacks, Cornet can play her horn for her puppets, increasing their attack power for that turn and increasing the Appreciation Gauge; when it's high enough, you can perform a Reward, which had different effects based on what one you use (From crushing your enemies with giant pancakes to healing your entire party). It's main flaw outside of the low difficulty is the random encounters (Like a lot of RPGs I've played, sometimes you can walk around for ages without a single encounter, then there are times you can barely move without getting into a fight). Normally, I don't mind random encounters, but it gets annoying later in the game, when your party is powerful enough to defeat any basic enemies you encounter in a single turn. Though the game is easy, it has a decent length to it, along with a few side-quests and a great story, making up for its low difficulty level.
Gameplay: 8 out of 10

Overall
Though the difficulty is low, I actually enjoyed it while it lasted. If you like RPGs with a great story, but don't mind a low difficulty level, then you'll probably want to track down a copy of it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/17/08

Game Release: Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (US, 03/30/00)