Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles – Deluxe Edition

About

8 Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles, Deluxe Edition bundles two sequels to the series’ turn-based strategy roots. Rhapsody II shifts to traditional RPG combat as Kururu, the daughter of protagonist Cornet, embarks on quests with simplified battles and musical interludes. Rhapsody III splits into six standalone chapters spanning decades, revisiting characters and events from prior games. Each story fills gaps in the series’ lore, with tales ranging from a mushroom-themed village mystery to a romantic subplot hinting at future family ties. The chapters vary in tone and scale, from brief interludes to a large saga tracing a character’s life across millennia. The package stands out for its deep narrative callbacks and flexible structure. Chapter Five, the longest segment, weaves a character’s origin story into the series’ ancient history, while Chapter Six pits all playable heroes against a shared villain in a chaotic boss rush. Though the shift away from tactical gameplay may alienate some fans, the expanded lore and character focus earned it a 78% on Metacritic. The Deluxe Edition’s artbook and poster add value for collectors, but the real draw is the way it ties loose ends from past games into a cohesive, if fragmented, legacy.

Storyline

Rhapsody II: Following the previous title, Cornet and her prince have a child and call her Kururu, after Cornet's friend. The game follows Kururu's adventures. Little Princess dumps the tactics battles for a more traditional RPG system. Musical numbers are also included. Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom, unlike the earlier games in the series, consists of six separate chapters, each of which features different characters from the Rhapsody series. The chapters take place in various times before or after the stories of A Musical Adventure and Ballad of the Little Princess. These chapters often address unanswered questions from the earlier games, or provide additional insight into the characters. Chapter 1: The first chapter is set early in Cornet's adventure in A Musical Adventure and takes place after Ferdinand has been turned to stone. Cornet, Kururu, and Etoile get lost in a forest and end up in a town full of anthropomorphic mushrooms. There, they decide to find a young girl's missing mother. Chapter 2: The second chapter takes place four years after Ballad of the Little Princess. Kururu, now sixteen, has decided to marry Cello. In order to get her father to accept Cello as a suitable husband, Kururu has to win the upcoming Miss Marl Kingdom competition. This serves as an epilogue to Little Princess. In this chapter, it is heavily implied that Kururu and Cello will eventually be the parents of Homard from La Pucelle: Tactics. Chapter 3: The third adventure is not firmly established anywhere on the series timeline. The Nyankos of the Marjoly Family have gone missing, and the four women set out to find why they have disappeared. Chapter 4: The fourth chapter takes place immediately before the events in Ballad of the Little Princess. Pekonyan, a servant of the Akurjo Family, is in love with Pokonyan, a Nyanko for the Marjoly Family. Pekonyan is distraught when she realizes that the Akurjo Family is going to war with the Marjoly Family, and decides to assassinate Akurjo before this happens. Chapter 5: The fifth and longest chapter in the game takes place thousands of years before A Musical Adventure and, due to its length, is the only chapter in the game to be broken into multiple sub-chapters. This chapter follows Cherie's life from start to finish, from the last days of the Ancient civilization, to the birth of Cornet, to Cherie's death. This is the second bonus chapter to be included in the DS remake of A Musical Adventure. Chapter 6: The sixth chapter is a bonus boss rush event. In this chapter, every single playable character from every chapter is brought together, regardless of when or where their stories take place, to defeat the Dark Lord.