Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (PS1 JRPG) - Retro Game Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ต.ค. 2024
- Today I'm reviewing a JRPG on the channel for the first time ever! This is a short and sweet musical adventure. But does the gameplay hold up? Rhapsody is the story of a young woman who can talk to puppets and her journey to rescue her Prince.
Rhapsody was played on a PS1 with a Framemeister and recorded on a Hauppauge HD PVR Rocket. All music comes from the game soundtrack.
#Rhapsody #JRPG #Musical
Intro artwork, logo and banner by: @theMagdalenRose
"Cantina Blues" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
creativecommons...
The idea of a musical RPG is _criminally_ underused!
music and humor are underused in games to this day
I enjoyed this game it's pretty silly and I liked that about it. I had the PS1 game then they released it on the DS I got that as well. Lol
Tales of Legendia sort of does it.
@@GiordanDiodato Eternal Sonata does it better.
Totally underrated genere of rpg
I remember buying this when it came out I was like 17 and all my friends thought I was a sissy for doing so. Great game, it made me open minded towards tactical turn-based RPG'S.
Such a good game. My wife claims she didn't like it but she played it through to the end.
Nice
@@Cannotbetamed1 As you know, there's Anachronism Stew. Sure it's a Medieval Fantasy setting, but with guns, J-pop, and BBQ. Oh, this game got an Updated Re-Release on Nintendo DS.
This was one of my most favorite jrpgs when I was a kid!
Awesome!
I totally agree with the review except for one thing... Marjoly is a legendary antagonist!
I lost it at the "old maid" gag! 😂
You can sweep the entire game with Sharte and Cornet. The part with the Pirates is quite fun.
My favorite monster was a white rabbit who was hard to level up but damn he was strong.
you mean ledgem
I had no idea this game existed. Thanks for teaching me something new today! Great review!
Thanks!
I'm happy this will be in the third NIS Classics collection. I thought it was cute and it was one of the first RPGs that I introduced my youngest sister to. I hadn't beaten it before I let her start it.. soo... that one thing.... you know.. that... emotional moment. The soundtrack is amazing still.
The ending made me cry, never knew it would make me connected to the characters this badly… i want even an rpg fan before thst
Hey it's that weird post-game character in Disgaea
Pam nails it again. Great Video and breakdown . It isn't a game I'd play but, the way Pam does her video's and commentary of games I always MUST watch each one :)
Aww, thanks :)
That was a great review. It's refreshing to see not every JRPG is stuck with a sad male character who hates their existence due to a twisted past, and has spiky hair. The musical numbers add a nice touch as well.
Plenty of JRPGs that don't feature a sad male character who hates their existence. I could name several if you really wanted me to, which means its a bad generalization. Just because a few mainstream JRPGs have main characters who fit a few of the criteria (mainly the hair) don't mean the majority of JRPGs are like that.
Thanks! The musical numbers were my favourite part.
Lots of games without that
4:29 Nice Teen Girl Squad reference!
Wow. I had heard of this game but I had NO idea it was a musical. I may have to at least try it out. Great vid.
Thanks! It being a musical is what sold me on it. It’s one of the few retro pickups I’ve gotten recently.
Thanks for playing Rhapsody along with us in May Pam! Enjoyed your comments on the thread and especially like this video. Keep up the great work! :)
Thanks! I'm glad the game was picked, it was very good timing.
Neat. I remember reading up about this a bit when the (3?)DS version came out, since it sounded so, _so_ unique. I mean, I can only think of barely any other "Game Musicals" that aren't just rhythm games, and they're uber-obscure, random indie games on Steam I've been meaning to pickup forever (something called "Figment" and another game called "Karmaflow: The Rock Opera Videogame") (... and then I remember Warren Specter liked to tout Epic Mickey 2 as a musical, but I don't quite buy that). This looks charming as heck though, and I do really love this era of NIS Sprite Art. Ever since Disgaea, they've been pushing that angular, edgier look, but for their earlier stuff like this, Phantom Brave and La Pucelle Tactics just bleed charm. They're so vibrant and appealing and storybookish and pastel-y; I love 'em. Reminds me of Legend of Mana
I'm trying to work my way through a couple of old RPGs atm, mostly on the PSX (Granstream Saga, Alundra, Alundra 2... and Crystalis for the NES), but dangit, I think I'm gonna have to eBay this one. Thanks for reminding me of it with this great review :D
The visuals and music in the game definitely stand out. It’s so charming to look at and listen to (even if slightly less charming to play).
I enjoyed Rhapsody for what it was. They did release a version on the DS that changed the combat to standard RPG style, but it is RIDDLED with game crashing bugs everywhere. I dunno how it was even released in that state... best N1 SRPG for me was Phantom Brave though. Makes me cry every time. And Myao turns up as a bonus playable character in the post game. :p
I just found this video (maybe because I watch the game's remake for PC, Switch and PS5 on TH-cam recently) and I think this is the most legit review of the game that I couldn't either think or aware of (Maybe because I was around 10 y.o playing this on my PS1 and I couldn't think of those aspects back then)
My favorite story about this game was recommending it to friends and first hearing "That's too girly and stupid, I don't want to play that."
A week later they begrudgingly say I was correct
The musical numbers sound fantastic! I bought this game a few years ago but still haven’t played it. A short musical JRPG? Sign me up. Great take, Pam.
Thanks!
Great video Pam, I can tell you put a lot of work into this one. I love the art style and goofiness of this game. It's really cute. I also appreciate that you let the musical numbers play out so we could hear them, they were actually quite good! I had never heard of this one, but it seems like a natural fit for the DS. But the PlayStation footage you capped looked phenomenal. You use a Framemeister? Sure looks like it!
Thank you! The musical numbers were my favourite part so I wanted to make sure people got a good sampling of them. And yes, I use a Framemeister.
This game was really awesome
After watching this review I told my small community about it. It is now on its way to my home! I’m beyond excited to play it! Thank you for spotlighting this title. 😁
You're welcome, hope you enjoy it.
Wonderful review! Thank you for making it.
Glad you liked it!
bring back these kind of games . .. its all 3d now which doesnt give the same feeling as this. i like 3d games too but 2d games and pixel games have their own appeal
I really like the pixel games, especially on PS1. They looks so much better now than the 3d ones.
Always wondered if this one was worth getting and now it's next on the list. Nice review.
Thanks!
It might be late to comment, anyway it was a nice review and since you told me you like musicals I just have to recommend Hedwig and the Angry Inch in case you haven´t seen it. Great stuff :D
You, know I've listened to the soundtrack but I've never seen it.
@@Cannotbetamed1 I highly recommend that movie :)
Patrik Axelsson recommend singing in the rain from 1952 it’s the best musical I have seen 🤗
Nice work on this review, Pam! This game has intrigued me for a while, and your review was really thorough and helpful. It’s too bad about the dungeons and unfulfilling combat.
Thank you! I think the DS version fixes these things to some extent, though it has a couple of its own issues.
I even loved the Soundtrack.
This was a Fun game indeed, and i started collecting Atlus games during this time.
This was before they started to developing more Adult Humored games.
Loved the video! and i learned "Sharte" as a new word LMAO!!! thanks Pam!! Cant wait for the next review!!!
Haha, glad to teach you something new :p
For retro side scrolling shooter I have a game title many 80's gamer probably forgot,have you ever heard of this game called Silk Worm?
Silk Worm is a side scrolling shooter horizontal shooter where player 1 plays as the helicopter and player 2 plays as the jeep.
Silk Worm also got a home console release on the 8 bit Nes.
It came to my thought and I wanted to mention it.
I've heard of it, but I haven't played it.
Cannot be Tamed Plus the Snes also had a side scrolling shooter where player 1 is helicopter and player 2 is jeep and the title is called Firepower 2000,but this one is in isometric top down vertical shooter similar to Silk Worm. Both definitely worth checking out.
Super cool review! I don't have a Playstation so I might check out the DS version and see how it compares
I listened to the Playcast earlier today, so this was good timing. I had hoped to find a copy and join the play through, but that didn’t happen. Despite the game’s apparent issues, it still looks like fun, so I may have to watch out for a cheap copy. Great video, Pam!
This being selected as game of the month was good timing too, I had just bought it a few weeks before it was announced.
I agree 100% with your Review. If you want another short JRPG although with more quality, I recommend the original Suikoden
suikoden is longer and no tactical. and no simple
Awesome review!
Thank you!
Those are some gorgeous graphics. I remember hearing about this game back in the day, with a lot of "seriously, give it a try" recommendations but never got around to it. It has a neat "90's anime" vibe though
I’m usually not a fan of anime style graphics but the pixels here obscure it just enough that I think it looks great.
Love this game. Really short, very easy but also nothing to complain about. Just recommended it to someone who knows nothing about jrpgs or anime culture.
Welcome to Nippon Ichi Software, known for sex jokes, innuendo, exploding penguins, and the destruction of the fourth wall.
This seems so full of creativity and amusement. I’m glad to know of its existence now :D
Glad to bring a new game to your attention :)
I decided to revisit this video after the announcement Prinny Presents NIS Classics 3.
I really enjoyed this game on Nintendo DS.
I loved this game as a kid but I never knew how to pronounce a lot of these names. I got this at like 10 and i was already used to anime, so i just pronounced Sharte as "shartay" and Etoile as "e-toy-lee" i had no idea they were supposed to be pronounced like they were french names! I feel dumb just remembering how badly i butchered most of the names. I agree about the dungeons. I always got lost in them and they took forever. The PS1 version was fun to replay though not just for the music, but because on it and it alone you could recruit the monsters to fight with you. I think my favorite part about is as a kid was the unique background story. It was just about a teenage girl and her puppet and her mother. Replaying it had value once you knew the secret because, to me, a lot of lines had new depth and perspective.
I thought the reveal at the end was really well done
Happy to see this especially after all the glitchiness! The next JRPG I play I must remember to name one of the characters Sharte ;)
Hahaha
A JRPG musical? What a delightful concept.
It is!
Have it in my PS1 pile of games to finally play, glad you said it's quite short, some Jrpg's are quite grindy. Great review :)
Thanks!
Musical RPG is my favorite genre. Shame that there is only 3 of them in existance.
There really should be more.
Rhapsody is one of those games I always wanted to play.
It came out on the Switch recently :3
As long you have nothing against "jiggle physics" (And now that you've introduced me to that term, I will be unable to stop myself from working it into casual conversation at every opportunity, so I blame you for all damage that will inevitably cause.) then you should try Code of Princess. It's got similar humor and some RPG elements, but mostly it's a retro hack n' slash fest, and it's also got a heroine who isn't afraid to be feminine while simultaneously kicking ass. Now, if you'll excuse, I have to go and try NOT to say jiggle physics. (Oh no! I've said it already! Damn you!)
It’s a good term!
Great review, this rpg is always a great conversion piece.
Thank you!
Thanks for the review I never knew about this game ... might have to keep an eye out for it. Like the musical aspect to it because it is quite unique ... never seen anything like it.
It is one of a kind! It’s got a lot of charm.
Seeing all these cute animations for attacks I can't help but think that this takes place in the same universe where one of the super attacks is cutting a planet in half to hit one guy.
Or tossing around Universes just for shits n giggles.
es uno de mi jrpgs favorios :D de ps1 The adventure puppet princess+1,Little Princess: Marl Ōkoku no Ningyō Hime 2+1 and Tenshi no Present: Marl Ōkoku Monogatari(PS2)
"while I don't particularly ralate to her character" sure sure darling... loljkjk
Loved this game, just finished it on the DS. The ds version did have a map screen but didnt really have music. The music seemed to be in Japanese with English subtitles this version seems to be way better. Was a easy fun funny rpg
It's a nice game, beautifuly drawing, simple and fun. Its short duration works in its favor.
Im playing this on the nis collection vol 3 now at first i thought it was a kids game but from playing it its has a very chareming and funny plot sure the gameplay is babys first rpg but still its pretty darn good i would totally recommend it for anyone getting into nis's games
This sounds so niche that it might be worth a try. It seems like a direct response to the general “bards-are-useless” opinion. Thanks for covering it!
No problem :)
Just recently bought a PS1 and was thinking about getting this game, until i saw the crazy prices for it.
Got directed to this review after watching your PS1 collection video.
While this game is certainly not one of the great JRPGs for the system, It's definitely a very charming game which makes it good and memorable in its own right.
I agree!
when can we get another musical video game??? great video! :)
I’m also wondering that! I want more game musicals too.
2018 has been another fun year for gaming. :-)
I miss this from of 3rd wave , Girl Power. You can be any kinda person dress act and be a strong girl for being your self. Today the idea is you can not be strong unless you act dress and be a set way with in games / media. This game has a great message for girls that is semi forgotten today.
It does have a Spice Girls kind of feel.
i loved the game i played this again
Looks like a cool game I've heard of it but never played it , good review👍☺👋
Thanks!
"Oh wait that's another game" =D I really enjoyed watching this video.
Thank you!
Musicals can be a bit much for me as it is but I'd love to see musical scenes appear where they naturally fit into a story if the characters are musicians like in the book I started writing many years ago and never quite wrapped up :(
I love this game so much, and still bitter because the sequels never got translated.
@rekkazan They will be soon! Hope you have a Switch, PS5, or gaming PC.
Awww! My favorite terrible game
It’s strange... I felt more affection towards the game while editing it, hearing the musical numbers and watching some of my favourite parts (over and over) than I did while actually playing it.
I've done that before, wrote a scathing review and then softened up over the editing. Rhapsody deserves its criticism but it's also undeniably charming. Especially the relationship between Cornet and Kururu.
I concur, awesome review.
Thanks!
The artwork holds up after all of these years. (Makes me wish FF7 had stuck to 2D sprites.)
Me too. The pixels aged so much better.
Eh, a new type of visual (back when 3D was more new anyways) isn’t so bad.
Not everything needs to age well tbh.
@@thehevandragon I hear you.
From a technical standpoint I'm a little surprised that this was ported to the DS given the multiple musical numbers it has. Now I kind of want to check it out to see how they handled it and if the songs are just really compressed or if they removed them which seems like we'd be losing a pretty significant part of the game. Anyway great review as always.
I believe the songs are in the DS version, but only in Japanese.
I remember playing the DS port. It features different battle style, and Kururu (?) actually fights too.
I heard it was a bit different but I haven’t played it myself
DS version features much lower sound quality, vocals are only available in Japanese, and Kururu is playable. Somehow it runs slower than the PS1 counterpart.
Just saw a fairly recent video was made regarding a PSX JRPG I like regardless of the generalizations it gets due to overwhelming kawaii factor.
I lost my entire game collection(mostly 90s consoles many boxed and loose as well as varients of them all if they existed, and mostly all games and consoles between 80s and 2000s released in the US and Japan as well as had a couple cabinets, shmup pcbs, neo geo 2 slot many mvs carts, and for consoles games from all generas many were complete...but I had tons of shmups and Jrpgs as those are 2 of my favorite game generas. In 2010 I lost everything due to my life going sideways and was made to leave my mothers and was homeless for a long while. During that time as my mother always saw games as toys or shit taking up space(from 1990-2008 I spent every cent got imporoving my collection I played and getting more stuff) she discarded aka tossed all my things(but some stuff i had im the basement she was unaware of..not much mostly broken incomplete consoles, a few working ones(JP DC, JP PSX, mod chipped ps2, common JP PS2 and DC games(Aside from 1 shmup) and some like 10 common JP psx games).
Ive since gotten a small room to live in in a bad building but better than nada!
Started slowly getting back into gaming and US PSX JRPGs and guide books i am mostly going for with some PS2/PSP jrpgs and now I have a Vita, Vita games and some ps3 jrpgs...and shmups if I can find any reasonably.
I got this game a year or soish ago and as I never played it I was skeptical a bit but I trusted what I read and im glad I got this. The music is SO WELL DONE it sounds lime its from Disney movies, and the story while not being amazing is decent enough to hold attention. I love the save anywhere feature and the pancake/flan attacks and such are pretty humerous.
NIS might be a low end translation publisher itself, their games are generally good and worth playing for sure.
This being NIS's first game attempt they did great. Above average overall jrpg thats unique and while having a cheezy generality of a story, its easy and fun to play, full of humor, and beautiful artwork/in game areas, sprites, and enemies/puppets. I like the random enemies joining you as well.
I lost my save I was like level 25-30 but watching this has given me an urge to want to restart it soon. I HAD 17-18 hours myself but I take time to level up especially when gettin new puppets I wana use.
So far I have around 25 psx jrpgs and 7 guides so progress is happening!
Ill need to take a break from Lunar 2, Suikoden, Tales of Destiny 2(Eternia), Wild Arms, and Thousand Arms and start this game over soon from the beginning.
I said this awhile ago and I will say it now, I pray Marls Kingdom Little Princess and Marls Kingdom Angels Present get a fan translation someday...they deserve it.
And for anyone reading all this, the PSX Rhapsody is the ONLY VERSION worth your time. The DS release is garbage in sooo many more ways than one. FORGET IT EXISTS.
If you havnt atleast TRIED this PSX JRPG...you owe it to yourself especially if u like NIS for whatever reason.
Thanks for the well informed review!💯👍
This game comes out on PC!
The funny thing with this game is that while still not really challenging, it's slightly harder on the DS. I don't know if it's because it goes the more traditional turn-based route with its combat, but many of the enemies are more powerful and take much more hits to defeat, there are quite a few optional bosses that are surprisingly difficult, though they left out the Mountain Man song, which is disappointing. (I'm also mixed about the fact that they don't give you a language option. I like that they go with the Japanese voices, but it would have been nice if I could at least pick the English voices if I wanted to) Though yeah, like a few others have said, the fact that this is a musical is what got me interested in it, and it helps that the songs are really good. This is one of those rare games I can see working as either a feature film or a TV series for that reason alone. Now I really wish we could have gotten the other two installments. One of them has a musical number with the cat chef having his assistants poop soft ice cream into the cones.
Although on a side note, I just realized something after reading some of these comments. Rhapsody is essentially the Princess Tutu of JRPGs. (I guess technically, it would be the other way around since Rhapsody came first, but still) Both are titles that people judge harshly off of their girly outward appearances only to wind up liking them after giving them a fair chance.
hey Pam do you stream gaming on twitch?
Nope
My name is Shart (with an e). My best friends name is Poopybutt(without an e). Lol
Nice review
Thanks!
Omg! What a cute game! 😁 My sister would love this!
My mom has this. I tried it, a musical RPG sounded interesting, but I hated everything about it. I expected it to be a JRPG with rhythm mechanics in battle, rather than a TRPG with sing-along musical numbers.
Thanks for the review, I haven't heard of this. It looks like the only Nippon icchi/atlus game I could actually get through. I love disgaea games, but I can never complete them.
No problem :)
This is the first rpg I ever played lol! I just thought the cover was pretty 😂
It is a very pretty cover (and game in general)
Are you planning to do any of the Xenosaga games?
Probably not. I find JRPGs very hard to get into now. And they’re so long.
I recently finished this game and I really wish there was another musicial jrpg lol
It goes for 80 bucks on Ebay. I bought a PS2 last Sunday. I mayyyy buy it.
Hope you enjoy it if you do
@@Cannotbetamed1 aww thanks, Pam :) yeah I'm trying to find a good PS1 RPG. There's a few I see on the Ebay for 40 dollars or maybe I'll wait for another Too Many Games convention instead.
I’m not sure about your remark about “strong female character”. Maybe it’s just anecdotal evidence, but what struck me about third “Tomb Raider” reboot game, is that they still talk about how Lara is over her head. They don’t say that about Drake, who is basically the same character gameplaywise, and who is also almost always over his head, but it’s not his defining characteristic (they say he is “everyman”, instead). So that “female weakness” is still there. How many times she has to save the world, seriously?!
Anyway, great video! :)
Thanks! It’s not necessarily that newer heroines can’t be in over their heads but more that they have no stereotypical feminine interests. Lara’s not invincible but her main interests seem to be stabbing people with ice axes, shooting, and stealing cultural relics from the places they belong.
I've had this game sitting around for a long time. Got it when I worked at EB games [now gamestop] for maybe...free or 2 dollars when the PS1 purge happened. Think I'll dust off my PS3 and try it.
Yeah, give it a shot
this is the most uh..... game i ever palyed..... 😅😅 oh yeah there a puppet that looks like spawn hahahaha
Rhapsody: street kids believe in santa
I wanna play this game! It’s on my wish list for titles I’m on the look out for to add to my swag shelf. I’m a sucker for musicals so this is either gonna be a home run .... ooooor an epic fail. Fingers crossed! 🤞🏼🤞🏼
Good luck!
Good review, I thought you'll like it better but I played it as a child, so maybe my memories about the game don't hold up to it nowadays. ;)
Thanks!
Can you do a review on Krazy Kreatures video game for the NES
I'm not familiar with that game
Hmmm that's one interesting game to look even it's a bit....flawed with the gameplay mechanics and the journey through the dungeons, but I might as well give this game shot I'm actually quite interested about it, awesome video very informative of the game.
Thanks, glad you liked it
Cannot be Tamed hey anytime kind of retro reviews it makes me look for those games to try. Well you got a new subscriber cause I love how you put the time and effort in that video I hope I get to see more.
Great video :)
Thanks!
When I read the game magazine reviews for this game when it was released I decided to pass up on it. The reviews I had read made it seem like a girly type JRPG. After looking at your review it does seem like it was a cool concept with the musical stuff but I don't regret passing up on it. My nieces are gamers so I would probably see if they would give it a try.
That is...a very odd game. I love these reviews, I see a ton of games I had no idea exist lol
I do like to talk about the most obscure stuff.
Hey, I appreciate it!
At first appearance, I thought it was garbage, Not surprised that it is actually a good game.
Oh damn, it pronounced as shart, and me always says shar-te 😂😂😂
I have no idea how to pronounce it :P
A very good JRPG no one seems to know that you may like is is Rogue Galaxy for the PS2. However it is very long with the Pokemon style Battle Chest and crafting system it is like 175 hours long. But it has a very nice story and art style semi anime one piece in space.
Yeah, don’t hear too much about that one. 175 hours though >
Good review! Seems like an interesting game, although I can already see myself getting frustrated with the Dungeons!
Thank you! It is a very interesting game, just has some flaws.
I have heard of this one but I don't think I would like the musical part. Still playing a lot of RPGs (including JRPG, if you have some time, check out The Legend of Heroes, it's really good! It takes about 40 hours to complete though...!) Was not familiar with the name "Sharte" :p so thanks Google for this! **Feeling wayyy smarter now!!**
I am also glad a JRPG finally includes mostly women... That's probably the only one...
Haha, learn something new every day.
My favourite JRPG is FFX-2, which is also all women.