Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure

[Zool]

Is Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure as good as Patrick says it is?   8-)   
                                                                                       

[Dincrest]

I played the Playstation version of Rhapsody and personally, I didn't like it.  Pat can tell you that our fight regarding that game was knock down, drag out, bloodier than Fist of the North star. 

Bottom line, rent it first. 

Here's what I said about it in our fight:

It's a cute and charming title (although way too saccharine for my tastes), but not as good as Pat makes it out to be.  The dungeon design was atrocious; they were often super short and super linear, were boring and monotonous to look at, they were repetitive, and just really poor dungeons.  Basically, everything the editor reviews of the PSX version said about the dungeons, I agree with.  Plus, for a game that's like a musical, I thought the vocal numbers, and music in general, were not very good.  The English vocals were ear-bleedingly bad and the Japanese vocal songs were not much better.  (Thankfully there are no English vocals in the DS port.) 

I will say though that streamlining the battle system was a smart move.  The SRPG movement in the PSX game was a needless addition.  And it only being 10 hours long doesn't hurt it as a handheld.  A 10 hour handheld RPG is acceptable and solid.  10 hour big console RPG not so much.

Don't get me wrong, Rhapsody's not a bad game but in my mind it's a mediocre at best RPG.  It doesn't excel in any one area.  Story flips the script with the princess saving the prince, but it's pretty ho-hum.  Gameplay was weak, especially the lousy dungeon design.  Graphics were nice, but nothing to blow me away.  And, for a musical RPG, the music was nothing to write home about. 

If I were reviewing the game, it'd get a score in the 70s.  So I guess it's a matter of taste. 

[ChevalierEagle]

What about the DS version? That one has a different battle system.

[Dincrest]

Like I said, the streamlining of the battle system from a pointless SRPG one to a pure turn-based one was a good change.  Enough for me to change my overall opinion of the game?  Nope.

[Ramza]

Is Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure as good as Patrick says it is?   8-)   
                                                                                       

I would say yes...but then again, I'm Patrick. :)

If you've never experienced Rhapsody, I think you need to. It's coming from the creators of Disgaea, but it's a simple, fairy-tale-style turn-based RPG that you will not soon forget. It was short, oldschool, and perfect in nearly every way.

(except for the whole, "we cut the post-endgame content from the American version." NIS America needs a slap in the face for that).

Ramza

[Robert Boyd]

Rhapsody is basically Disney Princess, Japanese RPG style.  My 8 year old daughter really liked it, but I can't recommend it to anyone who is not a small girl.

[Ramza]

Rhapsody is basically Disney Princess, Japanese RPG style.  My 8 year old daughter really liked it, but I can't recommend it to anyone who is not a small girl.

take note: I am a small girl. :)

[Buddy]

I have the PSX version and didn't care for it. I played on normal difficulty and it was way too easy... if I remember right you could just use magic and wipe most all enemies out. I remember the dungeons looking so similar it was hard to navigate. And... Pancake magic???

[Kstar]

It's a decent game.  It's got its charm and I loveddddd the banter between Cornet and Kururu.  When I first started to the play the DS version, I LOVED it, but then the novelty wore off very quickly.  There isn't much variety in the game at all (dungeons practically all look the same and have the same set up) and as said it's very linear.  It doesn't take too long to complete though, so if you have a way of renting it, I'd definitely try that out.  Although, it hasn't been too expensive lately, so just depends.  It's fun crushing enemies with pancakes and the story has enough humor to get you through, just depends if it's your cup of tea or not.

[Tomara]

I loved the PSone version. Gameplay was far from solid with the slow battle system and the badly designed dungeons, but I loved the presentation. The game is at it's best when characters are interacting.

And... Pancake magic???

There is nothing wrong with pancake magic.

[MeshGearFox]

bloodier than Fist of the North star.

I call bullshit.

Anyway.

If you're just looking for some sort of fairy-tale-ish RPG, I can think of a few recommendations. Like, plugging Quest for Glory 2 VGA because it's that kind of week and it's freeware. There's also legend of mana, which i loved, and Odin Sphere, which I didn't like. legend of mana also fulfills the music requirement sense all of your magic are flutes except the drums

Specifically musically themed stuffed is harder to find. Although to that extent that extent Tales of the Abyss and Ar Tornelico (apparently?) might work.

Or if you're just looking for cute happy games for LEETLE GURELS then you could try Riviera. It's full of LEETLE GURELS and they interact and I think you can like date them or something. I don't know. I never got very far in it because I don't have a reasonable adult attention span.

[Tomara]

Riviera is about a guy surrounded by four girls who all love him dearly. Total harem setup. And everything looks adorable and it's a fun little RPG, so girls like it too :D

If you want something happy where you can use pastries and other sweetness in battle, the Atelier Iris games are a good choice. Mana Khemia works too. Or, if you want it a bit less sweet (but still cavity inducing), how about half of the Lunar games?

[Hathen]

I liked it, personally, (The PSOne version, I didn't even know other versions existed, because I soon ceased to care :P) for the fact it wasn't trying too hard, with the story and the characters, and that's what made me like them.

I will say that I absolutely hated the dungeons though, and that alone almost killed the game for me.

[erwos]

I have a copy of this for the PS1 sitting around as a result of my NIS' fanboy collector status (it'll probably be the reason I buy PB for the Wii, too). Haven't played it yet. Makes me sad that the other Marl Kingdom games never got a release here, though.

[Hoshino_Kid]

I played the PS version and stopped midway(?). It was kinda too easy for me (or maybe because I did it on easy mode haha) and the dungeons became repetitive. What I found cute in the game was the singing and stuff (well from the title Rhapsody, it must have to do something with music).