Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles is the combination release of Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess and Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom. Originally released in 1999 and 2000 respectively, both games are now available for the first time in the west.
The sequel follows Princess Kururu as she searchs for adventure and love. Kururu is the daughter of Princess Cornet, the first Rhapsody game’s protagonist. In case you haven’t played the first version, you can get up to speed by reading the detailed explanation.
Your party will include Cornet and Kururu, who have the ability to communicate with puppets. When you are in combat, you can use puppets to deal damage or heal. Monsters added to your party as puppets, but not everyone can use puppets.
There’s no mini-map or reminder of the current objective in Rhapsody II, so if you leave the game for a few days, your memory may be better than ours.
Changing background images constantly isn’t just boring, it’s also confusing to track whether you’ve been there before. In fact, there’s a sequence where you’re stuck in a certain place and can’t leave, but we didn’t realize because we were so used to it.
The battle system is not much better; it’s turn-based combat, but there’s no challenge whatsoever. The battles became so repetitive and stale that we were frustrated.
In Ballad of the Little Princess, the characters sing songs throughout the game to express feelings and drive the plot. It’s a really cool concept that we haven’t seen before, but it can’t save the game as a whole from feeling very pedestrian.
This game improves on its predecessor’s weaknesses. Battles offer a challenge and require actual thinking. Chapters in Rhapsody are set before, during, and after the first two games, providing a deeper understanding of the stories. Despite being much shorter than Ballad of the Little Princess, it’s an overall better experience.
Pros:
- Second game is much better.
- Musically excellent.
- Battles with puppets and monsters.
- Good voice acting.
Cons:
- Often repetitive gameplay.
- Using recycled backgrounds is tedious.
- First game no challenge.
This game gets a 6 out of 10.