Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure, known in Japan as Marl Oukoku no Ningyou-hime (The Puppet Princess of Marl Kingdom), is a game developed by Nippon Ichi Software for the PlayStation (and later remade for the Nintendo DS). It is the first game by the company to be released in the United States, and one of the first games to be developed before the company's love of insane Power Levels.

The story is set in the aforementioned Marl Kingdom, and stars a young girl named Cornet, who possesses the ability to talk to puppets and dolls. She has a big-time crush on Prince Ferdinand, who rescued her from an evil Catgirl. However, just as she nearly succeeds in winning the prince's heart, the witch Marjoly attacks the castle and turns the prince to stone, and then kidnaps him. Determined to win her beloved Prince Ferdinand back, Cornet sets out on a magical and musical adventure all over Marl Kingdom with her Fairy Companion Kururu and an assortment of other puppets.

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure appeals to a different demographic than most RPGs. On the surface, it seems aimed at young girls, but it has become a Cult Classic, mostly due to Moe appeal. Besides, the tunes are catchy!

There were also two sequels (Little Princess and Angel's Present), as well as a majhong and puzzle game, none of which have been released outside of Japan. However, these games laid the groundwork for La Pucelle and, eventually, Disgaea. Game FAQs translations of Little Princess and Angel's Present can be read here and here.

Has a Character Sheet with characters from the whole series.

Tropes used in Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure include:

Anachronism Stew: Medieval Fantasy setting, but with guns, J-Pop and BBQ.
The Archer: Tell, the second youngest of the three Egg Brothers.
Babies Ever After: You eventually get one of their descendants in your party in La Pucelle.
Big Eater: Gao, implied.
Blade on a Stick: Kid, the youngest of the three Egg Brother puppets, wields one.
Bland-Name Product: One tailor named Kalvin Cline.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: You can find an unwrapped copy of the game guide on a bookshelf.

Cornet: Hey, you! Yeah, you with the controller! Did you make me mess up?

But Thou Must!: Many times.
Catgirl: Myao.
Continuity Nod: One of the main characters of La Pucelle turns out to be Cornet's grandson.
- The main character of the sequel Little Princess is Cornet's daughter named Kururu.
Copy and Paste Environments: Done to the point of nauseum. When the (literally) god-forsaken netherworld looks like every castle/tower you've roamed through throughout the game, something is clearly wrong.
Crutch Character: Kururu in the DS remake.
Cute Kitten: The Nyanko.
Different As Night and Day: The twin dolls Sharte (Holy-elemental) and Terra (Dark-elemental).
Easier Than Easy: It actually has several difficulty levels, but they are all this, at least in the PS 1 game in America. Not sure about the Japanese version and remake, since this felt like a bug.
Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Sort of. X-elemental magic will do extra damage to a character with a Y-elemental attribute, but reversing X and Y will yield the same result.
- It goes: Fire <--> Water, Wind <--> Earth, Holy <--> Dark. Neutral (obviously) and Thunder-based characters are exempt from having any weaknesses.
Evil Chancellor: Golonzzo, played almost to the point of parody. Random NPCs in town comment on how obviously evil he is before you've even met him.
Fairy Companion: Kururu.
Fiction 500: The Rosenqueen family, which has a company so widespread, it crosses planets and dimensions.
Forgotten Superweapon: The "Ancient Weapons as in more then one".
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: In universe with the people of Frogburg, who seem to think that Golonzzo is extremely handsome and not that bad a guy.
Getting Crap Past the Radar: Either that or TV Tropes has ruined my life.
Good Is Dumb: Played straight with Etoile, who just plain outclasses your party during the Hopeless Boss Fight in Chapter 2. During the battles in which she decides to help you out later in the game, all the dakka in the world can't save her from doing pitiful damage while your party is lashing out with heavy hits.
Gotta Catch Them All: The stones used to get to Marjoly's castle.
High Collar of Doom: Marjoly wears one.
Hopeless Boss Fight: Three. The battles against Etoile in Chapter 2, the Quirky Miniboss Squad in Chapter 3, and Myao and her cat minions at the end of Chapter 4.
"I Am" Song/"I Want" Song: The game frequently breaks into musical numbers. When one of Marjoly's minions cameos in Phantom Brave, she's mystified as to why people don't spontaneously burst into song.
James Bondage: Ferdinand. Ironically, he made his entrance by saving Cornet...
Knight in Shining Armor: Ferdinand and the puppet Duke as well as the Mecha-Mooks that the latter was based on.
The Ladette: Gao. A Running Gag sees her getting mistaken for a man every single time she shows up somewhere.
Lampshade Hanging: In a scene at the beginning of the game, Kururu tells Cornet that if she dies, "it's game over. You'll have to watch this scene again and again."
Last of His Kind Cornet, who is the last successor of the Lost Technology used to make and control the puppets... Well, until she and Ferdinand have their daughter, anyway.
Lonely Rich Kid: Etoile.
Lost Forever: Two of the puppets who can join Cornet's party become Lost Forever if you miss out on the sequences necessary to obtain them.
- The first, an Expy of Spawn, can only be obtained if Cornet subscribes to Ferdinand's Instant Fanclub's newsletter during the early chapters.
- The second is even easier to miss. After being sent out on your MacGuffin Fetch Quest, you must immediately return to Cornet's hometown to learn that a local boy's dog has died and then head over to its grave to have it join you as a doll. If you don't, the little boy will die as well, and his dog will be Lost Forever.
Lost Technology: Marjorly's Ominous Floating Castle and the puppets.
Luke, I Am Your Father: Kururu is actually Cherie, Cornet's mother, who placed her soul in her child's favorite doll to keep watch over her after her Heroic Sacrifice.
Magic Misfire: Happens twice to Marjoly. Once when she accidentally takes Ferdinand for granite instead of putting him to sleep so she can kidnap him, and again when she's about to finish off the Final Boss. The second time, her spell literally blows up right in her face, leaving her incapacitated and causing the defeat of the boss to be up to you.
Magic Music: Cornet's magic has powerful effects both in-battle and out.
Mineral MacGuffin: The Heartstones required to cure Ferdinand Or so you're told. In reality, they're the keys to the Lost Technology that will allow you to reach Marjoly's floating castle.
Mood Whiplash: Happens a couple times when the plot swings from lighthearted to dead serious without warning.
- In the Frog Kingdom, the King orders Michael to help you retrieve the Earthstone in order to earn his respect. He succeeds... but the King just adds his defeating the guardian to his list of crimes and executes him on the spot, in full view of his lover. Soon afterwards, his lover, the princess, takes his body to the Ice Temple and is Driven to Suicide in order to be with him again.
Moving the Goalposts: The King of the Frogs' behavior is either this or full out I Lied.
Musical Assassin: Cornet.
Names to Know in Anime: Yukari Tamura, who voices Myao. Yuri Amano, who voices Etoile. Michie Tomizawa, who voices Marjoly. Toshiyuki Morikawa, who voices Ferdinand.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- In order to obtain a MacGuffin, both Cornet and a random group of villagers kill two dragons. It turns out that the dragons were the ones keeping the local volcano from erupting...
- There's also an optional Nice Job Breaking It, Hero moment during the raid on the Ninetails Tower. If Cornet chooses to kill the tower's guardian and obtain the MacGuffin it carries, she saves the life of one person... At the cost of the entire town becoming cursed and hating her guts. If you refuse to kill the guardian, Cornet will fight Gao instead, who is always after the Thunderstone. Defeating her results in you getting the Holystone instead of the Thunderstone, and also changes one of the 5 bosses at the bottom of Cape Hope.
Noblewoman's Laugh: Etoile and Marjoly both love launching into these.
No Fourth Wall: If you beat the worm right heart on the 6th turn (as Etoile told you too) on the first time fighting it, Etoile will come in asking what you're doing. Cornet's reply? "Hey you! Yeah, the one with the controller in your hand! Did you make me mess up?" Etoile admits she screwed up worrying about you screwing up. But then later, she gets mad at you and blames you anyways.
Not Quite Saved Enough: Michael.
Now Where Was I Going Again?: Kururu will remind you of what to do on the menu.
The Ojou/Rich Bitch: Etoile Rosenqueen, who adheres to Screw the Rules, I Have Money, is a big fan of More Dakka, and also happens to be Cornet's rival.
Paper Fan of Doom: Kururu wields one all of the time, and Cornet will occasionally pull one of her own out whenever somebody says something particularly stupid and/or surprising.
Parental Marriage Veto: The King of the Frog Kingdom doesn't approve of his daughter Caroline marrying the lower-class Michael. And he ultimately executes him just to prevent it. Technically it works, but...
Perky Female Minion: Myao.
Physical God: Ledgem, the timid rabbit plushie, is a messenger of Fate the God of Darkness.
Pimped-Out Dress: Etoile brags about the huge cost of one of her dresses.
The Power of Love: Ultimately used to cure Ferdinand's petrification.
Princess Curls
Puzzle Boss: The heart of a giant sandworm. In the original game, Cornet had to land the killing blow on it during her sixth turn. It was toned down in the DS remake so that she had to land the killing blow before her sixth turn.
Quirky Miniboss Squad: Myao, Gao and Crowdia.
Rescue Romance: Cornet and Ferdinand.
Samurai: The puppet Chiba, and the puppets he was based on.
Schizo-Tech: A world of Medieval tech, but also has modern guns and assault rifles.
Slouch of Villainy: Marjoly does this during some scenes set in her throne room.
Star-Crossed Lovers/Together in Death: The anthropomorphic frogs Michael and Caroline. Caroline's father has Michael killed, so Caroline is Driven to Suicide. They come back as a pair of puppets when Cornet visits their gravesite.
Suck My Rose: Marjoly uses one to demonstrate that she is a "flower of evil" during her Villain Song.
Taken for Granite: Ferdinand, courtesy of Marjoly using the wrong spell while attempting to kidnap him.
Underground Monkey
Updated Rerelease: The DS version, which Shifts Genres from Turn-Based Strategy, to Role Playing, and adds Kururu as a usable party member. Until the last chapter, that is. It also included an extra scenario related to the third Marl Kingdom game. However, it was taken out in the U.S. version due to localization issues according to Word of God despite it being advertised on the official site. Internet Backlash ensued. And it crashes. A LOT.
Vain Sorceress: Marjoly, who falls under Stripperiffic (her cape parts in the back just above the curves in her road...) and also does quite a lot of Gainaxing too.
Villain Song: "Evil Queen", courtesy of Marjoly, her Quirky Miniboss Squad, and a bunch of talking cats.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Cornet really hates frogs and toads.
Winged Humanoid: Crowdia is the best example, although Kururu is a humanoid doll with wings. Cornet's mother also sports them when using her full power because it gives you wings.