After over 20 years, the sequel to Rhapsody finally gets released for the west. About time too since it's a fun game.
Rhapsody II picks up around 12 years after the first game and follows Cornet's daughter, Kururu as the main character. The game takes place in pretty much the same setting as before so there's a lot of familiar scenery and returning characters. Like her mother, Kururu wants to find her dashing prince to marry.
The structure of Rhapsody II is now more split into many different acts serving like chapters. The first half of the game feels very episodic which are fun, but lack a compelling narrative. The second half does start to resemble more like a typical JRPG which makes the story more interesting at that point.
Compared to Rhapsody I, the second story is a lot more developed with characters being the highlight. Kururu herself exhibits decent growth while her relationships with the characters around her playing a big role in her development. The side characters are also developed pretty well too including her best friend Crea. Romance is a lot better developed as well even if it's fairly cliche and typical here.
The antagonists including the Marjoly Family get even more development and screentime compared to the first game. Their rival family, the Akurjo also gets a lot of focus. Much like how the Marjoly family was in the first game, the two families act more as comic relief than true threats. This reflects well with the tone of the game so I'm not complaining.
The gameplay has been changed quite a bit compared to the original Rhapsody. Battles no longer use grids for movement. It has become a more simplified system where allies and enemies take turns attacking. Human characters are now party members instead of Puppets. Puppets still exist, but they are like gear that can be equipped. If equipped, the character can use their spells and skills in battle which consumes money when used. Puppet skills are useful early on, but I eventually found character specials being more effective as the game progresses despite their HP cost to use. Battles aren't that difficult, but it is noticeably more challenging when played on Hard at least. Enemies can deal surprising amount of damage, but it's still quite manageable.
Rhapsody's signature musical songs return and are better than ever. They sound good and appear more relevant to the scenes they play in.
There are sidequests in the game, but the ones related to the puppets are limited. Just finding and recruiting them is the extent of their sidequests.
One of my biggest issue with Rhapsody I were the lack of dungeon variety. Well, Rhapsody II doesn't improve a lot there, but the dungeons here are a lot better to navigate. There are less forks and split roads so that I don't really get lost in the game. I still wished that it had a minimap of sorts though.
Overall, Rhapsody II is an improvement over the first game nearly across the board. A lot of the charm and humor are still in so fans of the first will likely enjoy the second.
Rhapsody II picks up around 12 years after the first game and follows Cornet's daughter, Kururu as the main character. The game takes place in pretty much the same setting as before so there's a lot of familiar scenery and returning characters. Like her mother, Kururu wants to find her dashing prince to marry.
The structure of Rhapsody II is now more split into many different acts serving like chapters. The first half of the game feels very episodic which are fun, but lack a compelling narrative. The second half does start to resemble more like a typical JRPG which makes the story more interesting at that point.
Compared to Rhapsody I, the second story is a lot more developed with characters being the highlight. Kururu herself exhibits decent growth while her relationships with the characters around her playing a big role in her development. The side characters are also developed pretty well too including her best friend Crea. Romance is a lot better developed as well even if it's fairly cliche and typical here.
The antagonists including the Marjoly Family get even more development and screentime compared to the first game. Their rival family, the Akurjo also gets a lot of focus. Much like how the Marjoly family was in the first game, the two families act more as comic relief than true threats. This reflects well with the tone of the game so I'm not complaining.
The gameplay has been changed quite a bit compared to the original Rhapsody. Battles no longer use grids for movement. It has become a more simplified system where allies and enemies take turns attacking. Human characters are now party members instead of Puppets. Puppets still exist, but they are like gear that can be equipped. If equipped, the character can use their spells and skills in battle which consumes money when used. Puppet skills are useful early on, but I eventually found character specials being more effective as the game progresses despite their HP cost to use. Battles aren't that difficult, but it is noticeably more challenging when played on Hard at least. Enemies can deal surprising amount of damage, but it's still quite manageable.
Rhapsody's signature musical songs return and are better than ever. They sound good and appear more relevant to the scenes they play in.
There are sidequests in the game, but the ones related to the puppets are limited. Just finding and recruiting them is the extent of their sidequests.
One of my biggest issue with Rhapsody I were the lack of dungeon variety. Well, Rhapsody II doesn't improve a lot there, but the dungeons here are a lot better to navigate. There are less forks and split roads so that I don't really get lost in the game. I still wished that it had a minimap of sorts though.
Overall, Rhapsody II is an improvement over the first game nearly across the board. A lot of the charm and humor are still in so fans of the first will likely enjoy the second.