Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure Hands-On

An overly cute tale about love and friendship, Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure was originally published by Atlus and released in 2000 on the PlayStation. NIS America, a subsidiary of Nippon Ichi Software, brings this whimsical story to the Nintendo DS, making a few changes so that battles are more streamlined and the touch screen is available for use. We had a chance to get some quality hands-on time with this quirky game and found that once you get over the fact that it appears very girlie, it's actually a hilarious game as long as you don't take it too seriously.

Fururu is always around for moral support and finding ways to get you into trouble.

We are introduced to Cornet, an orphan who is a bit of a country bumpkin that plays a magical horn and is able to talk to puppets. Her trusty and loud-mouthed sidekick, Kururu, seems to be the only puppet that can talk to other humans and follows Cornet wherever she goes. Kururu acts as Cornet's guardian, even though she also functions as a one-puppet peanut gallery. The game begins with Cornet dreaming about falling in love with a prince. As fate would have it, she does eventually meet her prince charming, but Marjoly, an older--or you could say more mature-- witch has also fallen in love with the prince. In an attempt to bring him home with her, the witch accidentally turns him into stone, and so, it's up to Cornet to save him.

The fighting system is turn-based, and from what we could tell, there is only one difficulty setting: easy. The PlayStation version was set up like a strategy role-playing game, but on the DS, it is a very basic turn-based affair that is so straightforward, you can tap the auto button so that you can let the computer fight for you. You can choose to use the stylus to control Cornet in towns and dungeons, but the D pad works just as well. There is a minigame that requires Cornet to perform for inotium, the in-game currency, by blowing into the DS microphone. When Cornet begins to perform, a meter appears and it's up to you to keep your cursor in the "good" zone. The dual screen is helpful in terms of keeping you updated with your party information on the top screen and providing you with a map. The map is as basic as it gets, representing each room with a square and whether or not there are any exits to those rooms. Towns, dungeons, and other key locations will appear as you progress through the story on the overworld map. All it takes is one tap, and you're there.

Cornet will meet new puppets during her adventures, each with its own special abilities. You can also purchase items to give them bonus stats. Cornet's horn has quite a few special properties as well. Not only can she have puppets join her party by playing, but each time you use the horn, her Kansha gauge will also go up to indicate how many appreciation points you're getting. Once you build up the gauge, you'll have access to rewards, which include powerful attacks in the form of baked goods. You can drop cake, flan, and pancakes to perform a devastating area attack, depending on how many points you have to spend. Magic spells and special abilities are also available, which use up skill points.

How do you like them pancakes?

Throughout the adventure, you'll come across a variety of colorful characters that might burst into song. This is where the musical part of the adventure comes into play. Instead of cutscenes, you'll have a vocal performance in Japanese but with English subtitles. These performances can be watched again from the main menu encore selection. There is also an observation section where puppets, monsters, and people you come across are automatically kept track of during the game.

Given that this is a musical adventure, the music does stand out quite a bit and there are some lovely melodies that are easy to hum. The graphics are similar to the original version, which isn't bad at all, given that the animated sprites are quite attractive. Their facial expressions, which come up with the dialogue, are also expressive and entertaining. There will, however, be some additional playable characters that are new to the DS version. Look for more coverage on Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure when it is released in September.