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Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (review)

© Chuck Bednar

At its core, Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure, published by Atlus for the Sony PlayStation, is a light-hearted, song-filled fairy tale. Don't let that description scare you off, though. This well-written game winds up being an enjoyable diversion from typical RPGs.

Rhapsody stars a young orphan girl named Cornet. Cornet, who is blessed with the ability to communicate with and control puppets using a horn, dreams of falling in love with and marrying her "Prince Charming" and living happily ever after. Eventually, the dream starts to come true, as she falls in love with Ferdinand, the prince of Marl's Kingdom. However, Ferdinand is soon spirited away by the evil Marjoly and her accomplices, and it is up to young Cornet and her puppet friend Kururu to rescue him.

The premise is dripping with sugar and sounds like a Disney movie aimed at 5- to 8-year-old girls, and at times male gamers will be turned off by the heavy feminine focus. However, the wealth of edgy humor, pop-culture references, and innuendo make this one of the funnier games released in the past year. In addition, the game does have a rather surprising and welcome serious side. Not everything is black and white in the world of Marl's Kingdom, and Cornet will learn that some of her actions have negative effects on the world around her.

The script is excellent, but Rhapsody is first and foremost a musical. And as a musical, it is a bit of a disappointment. You have the option of listening to the game's songs in either English or Japanese. It doesn't really matter which you choose, though, because neither soundtrack is very compelling. Yes, they do get the point across, but they won't stick with you after the game is over and they sure won't stir any emotional response.

More disappointing yet is the presentation of the musical interludes, which takes place using the in-game engine instead of in separate FMV scenes. While forgivable, the lack of FMV further diminishes the impact of the music. When thinking of how a musical RPG should be done, I can't help but refer to "Winds Nocturne" from Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete. In that game, the developer (Game Arts) created an anime scene of Luna, the heroine, singing on a boat while surrounded by fireflies. Not only was the song memorable, but the ambiance of the scene made it all the more special. The developers of Rhapsody, Nippon Ichi, should have taken some notes, as that kind of production value really would have helped this game out.

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