Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles is a compilation consisting of both Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess and Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom. For this review, I will speak of them collectively as one.
Story:
Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess tells the story of a twelve year old princess named Kururu that goes in search of her knight in shining armor. Instead of having its own story, Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom revisits the events from its predecessor with Its story filling in gaps in the previous games, explaining some events in more detail, and helping to define the series’ characters.
Gameplay:
Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles features elements you would typically find in any JRPG. You have a party of characters to manage all while navigating through a deep and engaging story, as well as random battles with enemies. Where the game differs from other JRPGs is that in addition to random enemy encounters, there are characters that you will have dialogue with that you may end up having to battle. When this happens, there will be a conversation with said character, then they will fight you, you will win, then the conversation will either end with your characters reflecting on the battle and conversation or end with the conversation being continued briefly. Environments you explore range from dungeons with traps and puzzles to towns with NPCs to talk to, and houses and shops to visit, with the transition between the areas being that of a zoomed out almost aerial view.
Another way the game shifts from traditional JRPGs is that besides managing your party of characters, you also have puppets that will join you on your adventure. These puppets are dolls or toys that your main character can understand and interact with. Puppets can level up just like your party members can but can’t be controlled in the same way. Instead of being separate characters, they are partnered with a specific character and act more like something that is equipped to the character. In battles, you can select the puppet menu option and then choose a spell for the puppet to use and the more these puppets are used in battle, the more they level up and in turn, learn new spells.
A neat feature that’s in the game is the ability to fast forward cut-scenes instead of skipping them. Almost like you’re watching a movie or TV show rather than playing a video game, which was a nice touch and welcome feature in some cases.
Graphics and Performance:
Both games in this compilation are from the PlayStation 1 and 2 era, but unless you knew the history of these titles, you would never know. Characters are large and detailed with great animation and scenes feature NPCs performing their daily tasks, as well as large buildings that feel almost to scale in comparison to your party members. Being from the era, you would expect to see jagged edges on characters and enemies, along with blurry and muddy environments. On the contrary, everything looks smooth and vibrant, giving a very modern look. Performance-wise there is no slowdown, pop-in, and load times are almost non-existent with the exception of loading into the game for the first time from either starting a new game or loading from a save file.
Sound:
I expected the background music to sound dated given the original platforms these games were released on, but to my surprise, the music sounds fantastic. It’s punchy, catchy, and brings everything else together very nicely. Though most of the dialogue isn’t voiced, there are some key scenes that are and are done very well. The game features something that I have never seen in any video game I’ve played, which are musical numbers. There are choreographed musical numbers that feature characters dancing and singing with the voice actors actually singing the songs as the characters dance around.
Conclusion:
This compilation is the first time these two games in the Rhapsody series are seeing a worldwide release. The Rhapsody series is a unique set of games that bring a lot to the table and this compilation is a great compliment to the Switch. No other series that I am aware of offers choreographed musical numbers complete with the voice actors singing the entire number. In addition to the musical numbers, this series offers a unique and engaging story that is a memorable one. Marking the complete release of games taking place in the Rhapsody universe, this compilation on Switch is not one to be missed.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
Reviewed on Nintendo Switch
Also available on PC and PlayStation 5
In addition to writing articles, Ryan Byers also creates content for his YouTube channel called "Obscure Games and Consoles", collects video games, and dabbles in video game development.