RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure was something of a like it or hate it tactical RPG for the PlayStation. It had its share of flaws, but it was also a bit of a cult classic. The game followed the story of an adventurous girl, Cornet, who has the ability to communicate and fight alongside puppets and goes on a musical adventure that, as the title implies, involves a good deal of singing. Instead of simply porting the game over, Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure DS makes some rather substantial tweaks in order to make the game more accessible.

Perhaps the largest change the DS version makes is the transition from a tactical battle system to a traditional one. Random battle in the original were certainly bogged down by the necessity to use grid-based combat to wipe out the mindlessly easy foes that appear in Cornet’s path. This time around, the player need only select an attack or spell, as well as a target. This certainly makes it easier to get through random battles quickly, but the cost is that it’s no longer possible to outsmart enemies, it makes it harder to train weak puppets, and boss battles aren’t as enjoyable. Which is better is hard to say, though this version is likely to be a bit more accessible. The original didn’t make the best use of the grid system anyway, and random battles are far more common than cases where tactics actually make a significant impact.

Battles themselves take place in traditional turn-based format with each side taking turns attacking one another. The main thing that sets Rhapsody DS apart is that Cornet can play her horn for a variety of effects such as stat boosts and healing. Doing so will also have the secondary effect of gaining the gratitude of the puppets affected by her aide. This gratitude will allow her to unleash special moves that will provide a variety of useful effects such as raining deadly pancakes on the enemies or allowing even more powerful healing. Though this system has potential, most of the strategy is now limited to particularly powerful enemies such as bosses. The dungeons themselves are somewhat bland since the original placed emphasis on individual battles having at least a little strategy instead of making the dungeons interesting, so things can get a bit dull at times. The good news is that the increase in battle speed allows Cornet and friends to move on to the next areas more quickly than before.

Another change is that there is now only one possible difficulty rather than allowing the player to decide. This difficulty makes the game much easier than the hardest mode the original offered, but the inability to gain the tactical advantage evens things out a bit. In any case, there will be many battles that involve simply clicking auto-attack or spamming attack-all magic rather than giving any real thought, and it’s still pretty easy to get through the entire game without using any items or caring very much about equipment. Items serve only to make an easy game even easier. Kukuru, an incredibly powerful and previously unplayable puppet that accompanies Cornet for the majority of her journey, also serves to make things easier, particularly in the early stages of the game.

As far as the game’s story is concerned, Rhapsody DS is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it has a good sense of humor and manages to put a good twist on the traditional cliché fairytale. On the other hand, it’s also very short, likely taking between eight and twelve hours to complete, and it doesn’t make the best use of that time. Many members of the cast end up only slightly developed. As a secondary goal, Cornet can also help her puppet friends achieve their dreams and thus allow their souls to move on to heaven, leaving behind their empty puppets and granting Cornet a new power in the process. Doing so will also offer a bit more insight into their character, but it’s usually not very much.

Though most of the alterations mentioned so far are more a matter of personal preference, one portion of the game that has definitely improved is the interface. For starters, it’s possible to play the game using the touchscreen, and many menus have been given an overhaul in order to accommodate whichever style of play is desired. The cookie-cutter backgrounds of the original’s dungeons made them very difficult to navigate without drawing a map, but Rhapsody DS provides maps for the player. They lack markings for stairs and teleporters, but they’re still incredibly convenient.

While the cookie-cutter dungeon backgrounds remain the same, the visuals as a whole have seen a few enhancements. The majority of these upgrades come in the form of redone artwork for most of the game’s characters, but many spell effects have received an overhaul as well. One unfortunate loss is that the original artwork that could be collected in dungeons has been removed, and this also has the side-effect of leaving many dungeon paths seeming especially barren. Overall, Rhapsody DS isn’t the best looking game on the system, but the game still looks nice with the notable exception of its dungeons.

The music, on the other hand, has remained much the same as it was in the original, which wasn’t especially impressive in the sound department to begin with. Despite being a musical adventure, most of the background tracks aren’t all that great and can even get pretty repetitive despite the game’s short length. There are still a lot of songs, complete with lyrics, but the English vocal tracks have been removed, likely due to size limitations. Only the Japanese vocals can play, and it seems as though a few of the songs couldn’t fit either, but the majority of them are still in there.

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure DS features some pretty large changes, some of which will definitely appeal more to some players than others, but the changes do make the game a bit more playable for a wider audience. That said, it’s still not the greatest game ever. Dungeons can still get dull, the battle system isn’t anything special, and even the music doesn’t have much variety despite the game’s emphasis on music. The unique, albeit underdeveloped, story and quirky charm are really the main reasons to play, and it does a pretty decent job with those at least. All things considered, Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure DS is a pretty average game. It’s lost some of its uniqueness in the port, but it’s gained some nice interface improvements and broader appeal.