Рапсодия: Музыкальное приключение

1998 video game
Rhapsody, along with its sequels, are considered musical RPGs,

An oft mentioned point of appreciation is its relatively unique plot premise and flow. Rhapsody is a theatrical musical in regard to its presentation style, containing frequent cut scenes that are sung, rather than simply spoken and acted. Players are given the option of listening to the lyrics and voice overs in Japanese, English, or muting them entirely. Each element has its own set of spells, which can be used to take advantage of such weaknesses. Unlike in most tactical RPGs, instead of gaining experience points each turn, all the characters get the same number of points at the end of battle. After earning enough experience points, the character will level up and become stronger and possibly learn a spell./Kahoru Fujino): Cornet is the cheerful heroine of the game. She can sing, play the horn, and even talk to puppets; which most people cannot do. Cornet dreams of a passionate relationship and despises toads. She longs for a prince to sweep her off of her feet. Kururu (Jody Fleischer
Cherie (Jody Fleischer
Ferdinand Marl E. (Josh Synard
Etoile Rosenqueen (Jody Fleischer
Marjoly (Carrie Gordon Lowrey Marjoly is actually not very smart and her lackeys often insult her rather openly. Gao (Rachel Quaintanes
Crowdia (Jody Fleischer
Myao (Sara Thomas

Sohei Niikawa first developed the concept of Rhapsody shortly after he joined Nippon Ichi Software in 1996. At the time, the company was working on tabletop and mahjong games. Realizing a potential financial problem within Nippon Ichi, Niikawa devised the scenario and script for Rhapsody. After deciding that the game should contain musical elements, which were influenced by Disney films, Niikawa recruited Tenpei Sato to write the music in May 1998. Having composed and performed musicals in the past, Sato composed the game's musical numbers. The music was recorded at Sato's home studio,

Cornet's voice actress, Kahoru Fujino, admitted that she was surprised about the game being a musical RPG. An English localization of the game by Atlus was scheduled for release in North America in May 2000, but was delayed to July 30.

After the first release of the game, a cheaper edition called The Adventure of Puppet Princess + 1 was published, which featured an art gallery, sound test, and a bonus CD. The North American release of the game had these features, but instead of the bonus CD was a soundtrack CD, with vocal and instrumental songs from the game. The third release (The Adventure of Puppet Princess (PSone Books)), did not come with any extra CD. There was also a Rhapsody calendar released.

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure was released for the Nintendo DS on September 23, 2008. The gameplay has been changed significantly, and the battles were changed to be similar to the ones found in the sequels. Kururu also engages in battle in this version of the game. Though extra scenarios from the third game in the series were advertised, translated, and given as the reason for the removal of the English song vocals, they were absent from the game. NIS America removed this content because of localization issues. Reports of glitches have also surfaced such as freezing.

Reviews for the PlayStation and DS releases of Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure were mixed. Adam Cleveland of IGN said the original PlayStation release "packs more wallop than some RPGs I've seen" and that the younger demographic "will have a blast with this beginner's RPG". Miguel Lopez of GameSpot praised the PlayStation version for being a "nonconventional production". Johnny Liu of Game Revolution had mixed feelings on the original release, calling it "average to sub average game from a gameplay perspective, but it pretty much falls flat everywhere else".

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure has two sequels, Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess and Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom. Rhapsody'''s influence has extended into Nippon Ichi's subsequent series of tactical role playing games. One of the characters of La Pucelle: Tactics is a descendant of the characters in the game, while the shops named after Cornet's rival, Etoile Rosenqueen, have spread even to the Netherworlds of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Antiphona no Seikahime: Tenshi no Gakufu Op. A takes place in the same world and features Marjoly, who also appears in Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice as DLC (and like all other DLC, is included with the Vita port, Absence of Detention, for free) and makes cameo appearances in each game of the Disgaea'' series.