The Musical JRPGs You Need To Discover!
- Developer: Nippon Ichi Software
- Publisher: NIS America
- Release date: 29th August 2023
- Genre: Turn-Based JRPG
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch/PS5/PC
- Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch
- Game Supplied by: Publisher
Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles Nintendo Switch Review
I’m not going to lie, I really wasn’t expecting much from NIS America’s re-release of Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles, but how wrong could I be? I’m not a fan of pixel art, or cutie damsell in distress stories. However, the opening moments of these games drew me in like a moth to the flame, as they captivated me with their charm and quality to continue to play. Despite the game’s apparent simplicity, it wasn’t long before I realized I was enjoying one of the most unique, fun, and satisfying gaming experiences I’ve had in a long time.
This release is actually a collection of two games in the franchise, Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess and Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom. Although it appears odd to release a collection starting with the second of three games, it is possible to jump in with Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess. It does spoil some elements of the first game, but only on a very basic level.
There is a continuation of a story through all three games with the first in the series, Rhapsody I: A Musical Adventure, based on the puppeteer Cornet, the second on her daughter Kururu, and the third starting with Cornet again, but tying up all the loose-end story threads over the three games. This collection, however, brings games two and three to new audiences on modern consoles, alongside full English voice acting, overhauled battle systems, and better, sharper visuals than the original PlayStation 1 version.
What sets these stories of a Princess looking for her Prince apart, is that the writing and off-beat humour of the game is excellent. There are many laugh-out-loud moments, that when delivered with superb voice acting, and extremely expressional art, fully encapsulated me within the experience. The dialogue could have been full of typical character tropes, especially in this genre, but it isn’t. The Princess, Kururu, despite appearing ditzy, is anything but. She is a little bit of a rebel, bad at school, and full of adventure in looking for her Prince; I want to explain more here but it would spoil the story, so suffice to say, things get turned on their head!
As you start to explore, you then start to discover the surprises the game throws at you. One of the first and most unique is that during important story beats, everyone bursts into full musical song and dance! This would feel extremely cheesy, if not for the fact it is so expertly crafted. The music, songs and choreography are superb, and yet again there are moments of humour mixed into the dancing. It’s frankly remarkable how they have crammed so much detail and energy into pixel-art-style sprites, but they have. There are even “jiggle” physics that the game is very much self-aware of!
I’ve been to some West End shows and watched some musical films, and although this is just a tiny-looking game on a small screen, these moments are just as captivating when they arrive. This drive to see what the game will throw at you next in its story or the next song propelled me to keep playing for more fun story/musical experiences. Although the music was great, the audio effects during the battle sequences were merely adequate – not over the top, but still conveying enough power for the actions they were performing.
However, the fun didn’t stop there. The combat system was again a bit of a revelation in its simplistic but fun implementation. Yes, the combat is a turn-based affair, but what sets this apart is that in exploration, the main character can find puppets to join her team. This is a little like a Monster Hunter lite, or Pokemon, system and actually quite a key element to get right.
The main lead of each game isn’t the best or most powerful in combat, but other people you meet along the way are. To get your main character up to snuff, you can assign up to three puppets to her (and others in your team) that unlock new moves and abilities, or increase her base stats. The most fun aspect is when you eventually gain enough power to unleash a “special attack”. These attacks are basically sweets or massive cakes that drop onto all enemies for massive health damage. Flattening enemies with huge pancakes was hilarious fun!
With no visible health bars over enemies, it was interesting to use trial and error to work out what was most effective. The difficulty wasn’t that hard either, but the combat was balanced exceptionally well. There are of course your typical RPG elements to use. Items to find, equip, sell, buy, etc., but only by progressing the story, searching, and talking to NPCs do you find the puppets to equip.
Despite being pixel art, there was a lot of visual definition in character movements and excellent artwork in the world designs. Lush vegetation and detail, or the pots and pans of a kitchen with bubbling pans on such a small screen popped out despite the lack of polygons. It’s quite baffling how so much detail could be captured so well but is a testament to how to get things right in the look of the game.
One of the most fun visual elements was how expressionate the stills of each character were in their 2D form when their faces were shown next to their dialogue. Whether it was over-the-top laughing with huge gaping holes for mouths, or floods of tears, it was always just the other side of normal and very eye-catching to view.
The only issue I really had with the graphics was that the text font was too jagged, making some of the writing visually unpleasant and irksome against the rest of the beautiful visuals. I also would have liked a visual waypoint. Not because it’s hard to find where to go but because sometimes I wanted to explore to find puppets, but I inadvertently set off the next scene by exploring elsewhere.
With the Switch, the game looked even better in hand-held mode as all the assets were compressed. Even the text, normally a bugbear of mine of being too small in hand-held mode, was as clear as day to read.
So once you understand the game systems and how to use them, you then set off to different locations, each rendered with interest very well, and sit back to enjoy the journey you will take.
Both of these games punch way above their weight and far exceed what I was expecting to find. It is yet another example of how if you have a great story with superb writing, brilliant voice acting, and excellent gameplay mechanics, you can pull any game along. Despite the low polygon count, the visuals of both games are also full of colourful interest, movement, and expression. The cherry on top of an already stunning cake is the surprise hook of fantastic audio and catchy musical numbers which means there is very little to find any kind of fault with.
It’s games like this that put much bigger production efforts to shame. Too many games of late want to be serious and thoughtful, so playing something that doesn’t take itself too seriously is refreshing. These two games are the true definition of hidden gems. This shouldn’t have been such a wonderful and funny experience but Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles certainly was.
Summary
A marvellous experience of two classic games, that will encourage you to never look at pixel art games the same way again. The quality, energy, and humour of these titles shine through and remind us all that games are supposed to be fun. Despite its on-surface simplicity, this is one of the most captivating collections of games I’ve played this year and a fantastic form of escapism.
