Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. This article has been tagged since January 2007. |
| Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Nippon Ichi |
| Publisher(s) | Atlus |
| Release date(s) | July 30, 2000 |
| Genre(s) | RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: E for Everyone |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation |
| Media | CD-ROM |
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (Japanese title: Puppet Princess) is a RPG for the PlayStation console from Atlus USA and Nippon Ichi Software, the creators of Disgaea.
It centers on the adventures of Cornet, a girl who can talk to puppets and has a magical horn that grants wishes, and Kururu, a puppet that has the soul and heart of a person that is Cornet's best friend. The majority of the game is about Cornet and Kururu trying to save Prince Ferdinand Marl E., who Cornet has a crush on and has been turned to stone by the self-proclaimed "most beautiful witch in the world." The sorceress, Queen Marjoly, also has a crush on the prince and had meant to transport him to her castle, but messed up the spell and accidentally turned him to stone.
Rhapsody is a theatrical musical in regard to its presentation style, containing frequent cut scenes that are sung, rather than simply spoken and acted. Players are given the option of listening to the lyrics and voice-overs in Japanese, English, or muting them entirely.
Considered to be a sleeper hit and cult classic among role-playing games, Rhapsody appeals largely to a small demographic within the larger console RPG fanbase. Its lighthearted approach, distinctly female perspective, relatively brief playtime (it can be completed in approximately 10 hours, whereas most RPG's span 30+ hours, and as little as 5 hours if rushed) and generally challenge-soft gameplay are factors that have contributed to both its limited success among the mainstream, and intense popularity within its smaller fanbase.
Another oft-mentioned point of appreciation is its relatively unique plot premise and flow. The battles are fought in a tactical role-playing game fashion. However, unlike other games in this genre, the battles tend to last less than a minute, with the exception of boss battles, and require little tactics. This makes the game stand out in its genre and may have also led to its limited mainstream success with more hardcore players of the genre.
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure has a sequel, Little Princess: Maru Oukoku no Ningyou Hime 2, which has been fan-translated on GameFAQs. There is also a third game Tenshi no Present - Marl Oukoku Monogatari, also known as Angel's Present: Chronicles of the Marl Kingdom by some fans of the series. There is a fan-translation of this on GameFAQs as well.
[edit] Legacy
Rhapsody's influence has extended into Nippon Ichi's subsequent series' of Tactical Role-playing games. One of the characters of La Pucelle: Tactics is a descendant of the characters in the game, while the shops named after Cornet's Rival, Etolie Rosenqueen, have spread even to the Netherworlds of Disgaea.
