Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure

"It's How A Humorous RPG Is Done (Almost)"

For the most part, you might be a bit hesitant to pick up a PS1 game that has an angelic-type anime girl on the cover and a subtitle of ''A Musical Adventure''. And admittedly, if you fall into the stereotypical male, teenage, blood-and-gore video gamer profile, you'd probably be founded in your fears that this is a game for girls.

It wouldn't make you right, but your fear would be justified.

Picture the following scenario. You play as Cornet, a loveswept teenager out to win the heart of the extremely handsome (and need we really mention eligible?) Prince of the land. On the way, though, after the typical ''I'm-a-goofy-but-lovable-girl'' type crises, the Prince of your dreams is kidnapped by an immensely evil, obscenely powerful, and ridiculously underdressed for her age Sorceress and her three bumbling henchwomen. (Oh yeah, did we mention there's not a Y-chromosome to be found for at least seventy miles?)

The obvious ''girl-gamer'' angle aside, the story is among the most unique and uniquely presented in all of RPGs. Atlus went over and above any expectations I could have had in the story's localization, as well-- at first I used to be leery of their work, since it often seemed somewhat shoddy. Thank God they got over that-- there are plenty of excellently-translated phrases (and a few jabs at the translators as well-- let me just say that you want to make sure you try clicking EVERYTHING) and genuinely humorous jokes, including the occasional movie reference.

The game never takes itself too seriously, which would make it absolutely perfect if it weren't for the semi-terrible battle system. Battles take place in a pseudo-tactical mode, along the lines of Tactics Ogre or FF Tactics, but with a large amount of the challenge and strategy removed from such a battle. This is partially because the random battles occur too frequently to implement a long, drawn-out battle system, and also partially because ALL of the enemies-- even bosses-- can reasonably be wiped out within about half a minute's time. The system also is laughably liberal with experience-- you can count on leveling up after every three or four battles. Dungeons are cookie-cutter and oddly reminiscent of the original Zelda, except without puzzles. Also, there are only about two or three bloody looks to the dungeons-- ''natural'' and ''ruins''. (The forest doesn't really count.)

As for the more aesthetic portions of the game-- the graphics are completely lovely. Sprites are animated very well, and the animation doesn't skip, hiccup, or pop at all. The backgrounds, while static, look like they've been ripped straight from a Disney movie. Character design is interesting as well, even if some of the supposedly ''major'' characters are a bit unremarkable. For what it's worth, you'll probably pick out three ''main'' ally characters and stick with them for the duration of the game. The music gets very repetitive very quickly, just like Wild Arms'; however, like Wild Arms, the music is done excellently. The game features about a dozen vocal tracks, and the player has the choice between English and Japanese language for those songs. In addition, the game includes a DVD-style ''Extras'' gallery; players who log enough time in the world of Marl's Kingdom can view promotional stills and listen to the vocal tracks. (Though I really want to find a rip of the ''Old Maid'' song, which sadly isn't on the included CD soundtrack.)

To sum up, really... It depends. Personally, being a fan of all things off the beaten track, this game was a nice refresher course in what makes RPGs fun to play and what makes them slightly irritating. It has its ups and downs, but primarily it takes you through all of them in a raucous, wonderful roller-coaster ride. If you like slightly-sugary stories with a marginally risque sense of humor, you'll find Rhapsody to be an enjoyable treat.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/02/02, Updated 07/02/02