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A Musical Adventure

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Rhapsody is quite a different game. Published by Atlus and developed by Nippon Ichi Software (who would later go on to develop the cult classic Disgaea), Rhapsody is a unique gaming experience, but it really just doesn't last that long and despite being quite original it doesn't exactly make RPGers work and strive the way they're used to.

The story in Rhapsody is different. The story is about Cornet who dreams of one day marrying a dashing Prince. She's constantly having dreams of this man saving her. What she doesn't realize is that she'll be the one saving the day when she's whisked on an adventure. The storyline isn't really original, but the characters are charming in their own way. However, the biggest appeal of the game is the simple fact that the characters sing. When they say "A Musical Adventure" this is no joke. It's really a musical adventure and the characters will actually sing. As is the case with many games featuring voice actors in the Playstation One era, the voice acting and singing isn't great. The lyrics are good, but the English voice work isn't too great. Luckily, the game let's you listen to the music in Japanese with English subtitles.

Gameplay is as simple as ever. While you can go around exploring dungeons in a typical RPG fashion, the battle system is very much a Tactical RPG. At its core, Rhapsody is a tactical RPG. And it plays in the same basic fashion. You'll move your characters a certain number of spaces and have them execute attacks. It's all fairly simple stuff. It doesn't do much to separate from the pack, but that isn't the problem with Rhapsody. The biggest problem is that the game is far easier than it should be. It's a great game, a marvelous masterpiece in many ways, but it is most certainly not going to challenge any gamer any time soon. It's easy to grasp but it's also easy to master. Ease can usually be overlooked. In Rhapsody, however, the ease of the game can easily be a shortcoming. There's no balance. It all works so that you can get through even battles that were clearly designed to be tougher. But the ease of the game isn't the biggest problem either. The biggest problem is that the game is incredibly short and there isn't much of anything you can do off the beaten path. The musical aspect, and large soundtrack might make it worthwhile, but the game also doesn't exactly have much replay going for it.

Graphically Rhapsody doesn't take advantage of the Playstation by any means. It uses sprites and pre-rendered backgrounds. Very little, if any, of the game is rendered in 3D. Despite that, however, it's an incredibly beautiful game. The sprites are detailed and the backgrounds are astounding. Rhapsody is a very artistic looking game and you will be immersed in its world because of its cute sprites, fantastic backgrounds and great character portraits. It also runs fairly smoothly and keeps load times to a minimal.

When it comes to music, few RPGs have a better soundtrack than Rhapsody. It's expected being that the game has a huge focus on music. There are over twenty songs, but the standalone score is also a brilliant addition to the game. The music is almost as beautiful as the game itself. As noted, the voice work isn't the greatest, but being that you can change them to Japanese, it's really not so bad.

Rhapsody is most certainly a different game (I think enough reviews have touched on the pancake). It's a musical, but a beautiful musical. Its story isn't great but it does manage to have charming characters and a good soundtrack. If Rhapsody were a little longer and a little harder would be perfect. However, it is a classic that most RPGers have unfortunately overlooked. If you haven't gotten a chance to play Rhapsody, it's coming soon enough. The game will be out on the Nintendo DS very soon, giving everyone who missed it a chance to enjoy it.

Classic but not hard to find

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Lack of time prevents me from writing out a proper review of this game, which I LOVE.
I am however reviewing the price - who in their right mind would pay $60 for this game when it's readily available for much MUCH less??

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