When the Playstation launched, one of the genres it brought to the mainstream was the RPG genre. After the initial success that Square received, many companies were eager to jump on the bandwagon and most gamers were ready for more. Atlus has always been a company that brings over unique titles that most major publishers would otherwise ignore. Perhaps seeing too far ahead of their time, Atlus decided to localize a strategy RPG aimed squarely at the female crowd. Rhapsody was part of a series of games that were all loosely connected in the same universe, much like the Disgaea series. Besides having a female protagonist, the game was also a musical and had a series of songs inserted into custscenes. Atlus not only translated the game, but offered a dual language option for the songs. Going the extra mile, Atlus even included a soundtrack with every copy of the game. Sadly, the female gamers' day in the sun was still years away and the game was largely ignored.
Fast forward to 2008 and it's a whole new game scene. The Nintendo DS has boomed across the world, and more importantly it has arguably pulled more females into gaming then any system before it. Seeing the opportunity, NIS America has wisely decided to localize the DS port of Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure where it will hopefully find the audience it deserves.
Graphically the game is the same as the Playstation version before it. It features beautiful backgrounds and colorful character sprites. It doesn't appear to have suffered any drawbacks in the port, which is good since the original was not a powerhouse graphics monster even when it was new. The largest graphical fault lies in the dungeons and ruins. Besides the last area, all the dungeon or ruins levels share the exact same backgrounds, only changing their color. In this day, there is no excuse for this, and the developers really should have fixed this huge oversight on the original. Being on the DS allowed for players to have an advantage during dungeon segments by being able to utilize the top screen as a map. Navigating areas in the Playstation original was a nightmare, but thanks to a map that always shows the entire layout of a floor, the DS saves a lot of backtracking.
Being a musical, the game obviously boasts a strong soundtrack. While the Playstation version had a dual language option, The DS version only includes the original Japanese language tracks. The reason for this is the result of memory limits and the fact that the DS version features two new songs. The songs are largely very girly and romantic, which is to be expected in a title like this. One notable exception is the hilarious mountain men song; even in Japanese it should still crack a smile. The rest of the soundtrack is actually very good, but shares a similar problem with the visuals. There are very few actual in-game tracks and the same tunes are repeated for nearly every town and dungeon. Luckily they are good, but at the same time this really is another problem that should have been addressed.
The biggest change is the battle system. In the orginal, you would wander through forests and caves and encounter random battles, like any traditional RPG. The same is true for the DS version, however the battle system is totally different. No longer a small, grid/turn based strategy RPG, Rhapsody is now a completely traditional RPG with a turn based battle system. This is actually a welcomed change; while there was nothing wrong with the original system, the new one really speeds up the flow of the game and works perfectly for a portable. The battle system is pretty basic, very reminiscent of Lunar Legend for the Game Boy Advance. Another thing the new battle system shares in common with the original is the difficulty. Rhapsody might just be one of the easiest RPGs in existence. Again though, put into perspective, this is a game targeted for people new to the genre. One problem is the fact there is no resurrection spells or items, and once a team member is down they are gone till the end of battle. This is not to much of a problem most of the time since the game is really that easy. Status aliments will also disappear at the end of a battle. You can only take four people into battle at a time, but your teammates will slowly follow your level if they are not in your active party.
Viewed simply on its technical terms, Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure is just a cut above mediocre. Despite this, Rhapsody succeeds despite some of its shortcomings. The characters and translation are incredibly charming and instantly likable. Most of all the original translation has made it intact, though it's dissapointing some "translator's notes" jokes got cut. The set up for the game is that a sorceress with overdeveloped breasts and under developed clothing crashes a royal ball you are attending in hopes of gaining the heart of the prince. Instead of following through with her evil plan, the sorceress instantly becomes smitten with the prince's good looks, but accidentally casts a spell on him turning him to stone. This sets off the backwards quest of the country girl to save the prince.
The game is full of humor between characters and also likes to frequently break the fourth wall. Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure plays out like an early 90s anime (think Slayers, but a little more girly and your in the right ball park). It is really hard not to like the characters or appreciate the witty dialogue in this game. Also included in the DS release is an encore theater to replay any song you have seen, and an observation mode where any character, puppet, or monster seen in the game can be viewed with a description by one of the main characters.
The game is pretty short, but you will travel over all manner of locations from the steps of a valcano, to the top of an icy tower, to the bottom of the ocean, to a kingdom of frog people, to a castle in the sky. Rhapsody is a welcome addition to the DS RPG library that has become a sort of emo candyland lately with most current main characters, It's nice to have a more sunny side of monster slaying, even if the challenge isn't there. Hopefully Rhapsody will finally find the home it deserves and bring some new players into the RPG genre.
