Clocking in at around 10 hours, Rhapsody isn’t going to demand much of your time. For a game where the genre staples have been so simplified, a short running time is entirely forgivable, although there are side quests in the form of your puppet companions for those who want the adventure to go on a bit longer. Each puppet (bar a couple who find closure during the main plot) has a side quest which involves fulfilling his or her dreams. Each quest gives Cornet a new magic power, but can only be triggered when certain conditions are met and the relevant puppet (or group of puppets) hits a set level. This results in having to grind, fighting unchallenging enemies in Auto mode for a fair while.

While the plot may be enough to keep the dedicated gamer going, the saccharine tone and (to some, refreshingly) female-oriented narrative will turn just as many people off. The dialogue’s just that bit too snappy and adult to be aimed at younger players and the gameplay’s too simple to appeal to the more serious gaming demographic. The musical numbers are enjoyable enough, but the language barrier – the lyrics are in Japanese, translated in text form – may be enough to dissuade the High School Musical audience.

Rhapsody also has a serious problem in the form of its dialogue boxes. Main characters are shown to be speaking via small portraits, but everyone else’s dialogue is just presented in a plain blue box. On occasions where you have two supporting characters having a conversation, you’ll be shown a barrage of blue boxes with no indication of who’s speaking. A conversation early on between the queen and Etoile’s father is almost indecipherable due to the game not giving any clues as to who’s speaking.

Luckily such design oversights are quite rare, but an overall polish doesn’t change the fact that this 10 year old remake is suffering from an identity crisis. If the charm and appeal of Cornet’s world gets its claws into you, you’ll be hooked. If not, you’ll be bored before the end of the third chapter.

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