The Adventure of Puppet Princess: Marl Oukoku no Ningyou Hime

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure represents a strange stepping off point in the heady realm of the role-playing genre. First, it crosses strategy RPG elements with a mixture of random-encounter action found in games like Final Fantasy VIII. That doesn't even get into the musical aspect of the game, nor the storyline that runs counter to the typical “guy saves girl” plot.

You take the role of Cornet in the game. She's a young woman who lost her parents at a young age and possesses a strange ability to talk to and control puppets. With that rather unique mix, Cornet is a rather independent and strong-willed person despite her youth. Her quest intitially involves meeting the prince she first encountered in the forest, but it quickly develops into a much broader quest once her beloved prince is kidnapped under strange circumstances.

Battling through the game will take Cornet to all corners of the kingdom. She'll make friends, face enemies and encounter betrayals throughout the course of her adventure. With multiple dungeons and many boss creatures, she'll have to build up a force of puppet friends to tackle this quest properly. She'll encounter potential puppet allies almost everywhere; graveyards, ancient ruins and even unwanted junk can make for some potentially valuable allies. Monsters you fight can join up with you as well, and they can either level up like your puppet allies or be sold to local monster collectors for some quick cash.

Atlus has packed in a few treats for the devoted RPG enthusiast. Despite adding in English versions of all the songs from the Japanese original, those who enjoy Japanese voice acting will be able to set the language and hear the original songs complete with romanticized lyrics.

As players progress through the game, event flags will open up new songs and images for you to look at from the title screen. Players will be able to play back their favorite songs while watching stills that tell the story behind the song. The image gallery shows extra sketches and moments from the game, although usually in a more detailed manner than the sprite-based graphics can depict.

The American release of the game had these features: art gallery, sound test, and a bonus CD but instead of the bonus CD was a soundtrack CD with the game that features all the English versions of the songs along with most of the instrumental area music that plays during events and in the settings you explore.

STORY:
The game centers around the adventures of Cornet, a girl who can talk to puppets and has a magical horn that grants wishes, and Kururu, a puppet that has the heart and soul of a human. The majority of the game is about Cornet and Kururu trying to save Prince Ferdinand (whom Cornet is in love with) after he has been turned to stone by the self-proclaimed “most beautiful witch in the world”.The witch, Marjoly, also has a crush on the prince and had meant to put him to sleep, but messed up the spell and accidentally turned him to stone.

CHARACTERS:
* Cornet Espoir: 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 longs for a passionate relationship and despises toads. She longs for a prince to sweep her off of her feet.

* Kururu: She is a puppet and Cornet's best friend. She follows Cornet throughout the game, often making humorous comments on her behavior. She likes cherries, and dislikes anything sour. Unlike other puppets, Kururu can move around on her own without the powers of Cornet's horn, and she can talk to other humans besides Cornet. She hides a deep secret, but for the better. her weapon of choice is a paper fan (she is only playable in the DS version).

* Cherie: Cherie is Cornet's mother, whom is said to have been killed in an accident many years prior to the start of the game.

* Ferdinand Marl E.: The prince, and soon to be king, of Marl Kingdom. He often sneaks out of the castle to hunt or visit the city. Cornet has dreamt of him her whole life and falls in love with him after a chance meeting in the forest.

* Etoile Rosenqueen: She is Cornet's arrogant rival. Etoile often makes sarcastic remarks about Cornet. She is from a rich background and loves being the center of attention.

* Marjoly: Marjoly is the sexy antagonist of the game, but is hardly the typical evil mastermind bent on world destruction. She lies about her age and often calls herself the most beautiful witch in the world.She's also one of the antagonists in the game Disgaea.

* Gao: Gao is one of Marjoly's lackeys. It is said that she has the strength to fight a dragon with her bare hands. Many people mistake her for a man, including Cornet.

* Crowdia: Crowdia is another of Marjoly's lackeys. She is very beautiful, but very narcissistic. She has large black wings, like a crow, and fights with a sword.

* Myao: Myao is Marjoly's third lackey. She appears to be a child. She often acts childish and selfish, and she can cast powerful magic to summon dragons.

Source: TheGamesDB