I’m ashamed (or perhaps proud) to say that I’ve never played Rhapsody, also known as Puppet Princess of Marl’s Kingdom in Japan. Marketed as a “Musical RPG,” this game was an odd mix of strategy and musical numbers. However, being a musical RPG, one would expect this game to have fairly good music, and it does…in a way.
Some of the songs on this album are fantastic, especially the vocal songs. My favorite of them all would have to be “Wicked Petals,” the theme song for the Evil Queen, in which she worships her beauty and charm. It’s sung with such character, you don’t even have to know Japanese to get the gist of it. There’s also the title song, “Someday, Surely We’ll Meet,” which is our heroine singing of how she’ll one day meet her prince. You can almost see the scene unfolding, with her dancing around.
However, there are some sadder, more poignant songs, mostly instrumental. “Dream Traveler” is a Celtic flute/drum/sleigh bell melody that sounds like it belongs in something like Lord of the Rings, but it’s done very well. “A Shooting Star” is another touching, breathy flute track which reminds me a bit of some of Noriyuki Iwadare’s work. Tenpei Sato seems to be drawing from other styles, including Iwadare and Hitoshi Sakamoto of Final Fantasy Tactics fame.
There are some weak tracks on this CD, such as “Having a Fleeting Dream Tonight,” but for the most part all the songs are very strong. My only other qualm would be that the vocalist for Coronet doesn’t have the greatest voice: she often has no support behind it. It can be overlooked, however, as this is a great soundtrack that I’d recommend to anyone who likes a little bit of silly in their vocals and a good mix of haunting and kitschy in their instrumentals.
