Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure

Travel through the roots of one of NIS's legendary game series in Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure! Join a young girl named Cornet, who's got the power to communicate with puppets, and try to help her fulfill her dream of meeting her "prince charming" in this adorable RPG adventure.

The game's theme and low difficulty compared to other landmarks of the genre (such as the incredible Final Fantasy VII, which made its PlayStation debut a year before) caused the title to go unnoticed in the role-playing catalog of the time. Now, NIS America is bringing this hidden gem – the origin of the Disgaea series – to a more diverse audience.

An Unlikely Heroine

One of the very first things you'll notice about Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure is its quirky heroine: Cornet is a young inhabitant of a small village called Orange in the kingdom of Marl. She plays a trumpet (get it? That's why she's called Cornet) with very peculiar abilities: to grant the wishes of anyone who plays it and, in addition, to give life to any doll or stuffed animal.

The setting alone gives us a stark contrast compared with Rhapsody's peers. After a series of events that ends in Prince Ferdinand being abducted by an evil witch, Cornet embarks on a cute journey to rescue her beloved.

Undoubtedly, Rhapsody is a title of a childish nature, although not worse than others of the same genre in terms of gameplay and the ability to keep the player hooked with its quirky plot and fascinating characters.

Another of the game's peculiarities is the many musical numbers that occur during the story. These segments are presented as cutscenes that can be easily skipped, should the cutesy tone prove a bit too much for your gamer sensibilities.

The Classic RPG Experience

Don't let Rhapsody's cutesy façade deceive you: the game has some of the classic RPG gameplay that Final Fantasy veterans are accustomed to, only a bit cuter and simpler for new players.

Although we can take up to six dolls in our group, you can only send up to six of them into combat at once, which forces the player to think carefully about what kind of actions they want to implement in each battle and with which characters to carry them out.

When it comes to the puppets and the stuffed animals, think of them as Pokémon. Even the same six-units-per-team limitation we know from Nintendo's creature collecting series is here in Rhapsody, making the transition from Pokémon into Rhapsody rather hassle-free.

Still, it's evident that most of the game is there just as a backdrop to the cutesy story of Cornet and Prince Ferdinand. Veteran RPG players might find that the gameplay is a bit too simple, offering little to no challenge. While this might sound great for younger players, it will definitely hamper the experience for players who are looking for a challenging title to sink countless hours into.

Pros

• Cutesy visuals and character designs
• Lots of musical numbers that give a cheerful tone to the plot
• Easy-to-understand gameplay that's perfect for novice players

Cons

• Some of the visuals are decidedly barebones
• Not a lot of replay value – once you've played the game once, you've pretty much seen it all