First of all, for the sake of people strapped with time, I'll say that Rhapsodia is a good game. Out of a scale of 10, I'll give it 8.5. I enjoyed it very much!

Let me start first with the plot. The plot of Rhapsodia is not really a continuation of Suikoden 4, but is simply "related" to Suikoden 4's plot. The plot centers on rune cannons and the Kooluk Empire, and the Island Nations itself has surprisingly little role in the plot. This may come as a disappointment to some people, but I found it refreshing to learn about a new geographical region and learn its political and cultural situation.

The plot focuses on the protagonist, Kyril, and his immediate associates, along with a few other characters who are integral to the plotline. Other characters are not very involved, and function moreso as spare units for battle. This is understandable because characters can die in battle during Rhapsodia; it would make it problematic if characters integral to the plot died (important characters never die, but simply retreat from the battlefield). Personally, the lack of involvement by these optional characters didn't bother me very much. They do get some optional conversation during battle and also during "camp scenes" that you can make happen in your "caravan."

The intensity of the plot seemed bell-shaped to me--starting with intensity with a plateau in the middle, and ending with an intense climax. This game was rated by the Japanese equivalent of ESRB (CERO) as age 12 and over, and that is understandable. There are some shocking scenes in the game, and the overall tone of the game is dark. However, because the main characters are fully involved in the plot, you don't feel detached from them at all. This is a huge difference from Suikoden 4, where it felt like you were given a bird's eye view of a plot that was neither light or dark.

What I particularly liked about the plot was that there were multiple villains who at certain parts become your ally and vice versa. Even within your allies you can learn of people with separate reasons (which may be revealed in one of the numerous camping events). The resulting effect created by this is a rich and complex plot. One warning is that all this can be missed quite easily if one rushes through the game, because the battles itself doesn't take very long--which takes me to gameplay.

The gameplay was very addictive for me. In the beginning, it seemed to me that magic user type characters were difficult to use, but they became quite potent towards the end and all in all the characters are balanced out. Support characters add an interesting dimension to battle strategies, and this in itself, I believe, is an innovative idea in SRPGs.

Elemental affinity plays a very important role in battle; it will easily make the difference between life and death. This may actually be disliked by some people, but whether your character is on a square of compatible element or not can increase or decrease your characters' attack and defense abilities by a pretty huge factor. This also forces you to consider using a variety of characters in your team. For example, if you know that your enemies in a certain stage are primarily composed of monsters with affinities towards the fire element, you might consider using characters of the same element (to benefit from the terrain advantage) or use characters of the water element to gain offensive advantages. One problem I noticed here is that enemies use terrain element altering spells very often, and the spell casting motions they do every time gets quite repetitive and annoying. It would have been nice if the animation can be skipped.

The user interface is generally user-friendly. The battles include many features that help you with formulating your strategy. One feature I particularly liked is how you can tell whether you are moving into your enemy's attack range. It saved time trying to figure out if you're moving your units into dangerous areas. The only annoying area in terms of game controls was when you wanted to equip your characters with items bought from shops; you have to equip and then completely exit the equipment menu before you can enter the equipment menu for another character. However, this is relatively minor, and you don't have the annoyance from Suikoden 4 where you were only being able to buy items or sharpen weapons for people who are currently in your group.

The quest system also adds an interesting dimension to the game. There are a total of 86 quests in the game, and although each of these are relatively short (some don't even involve any gameplay; some quests require you to send one of your people to a quest for a certain amount of time, much like how quests were in FFT), they overall provide an alternate plot from the main plot. Some quests also determine whether Chiepoo is successful or not with his business, and that in itself is somewhat similar in feel with the Clive vs. Elza side-plot from Suikoden 2.

For those who wish to train their characters, there are plenty of free battles available in four field areas, and the Obel Ruin serves as a multi-layer dungeon that can be challenged as many times as you wish (and the enemy's levels change with Kyril's level, providing you with constant challenges), and is filled with rare treasures.

The battle system has also been changed radically to accommodate the new genre. The skill system from Suikoden 3 is back in full force with many familiar skills such as "swing" and "parry" but new skills are also added for Rhapsodia, such as "jump." Skill points are also pooled among all members, meaning you don't end up with the situation you had in Suikoden 3 where one character had a huge amount of unspent skill points after they maxed out all of their skills. This is a huge improvement.

Runes have also been changed somewhat. Weapon runes such as Kita, Leo, and Falcon runes are now given levels of their own much like magical runes, giving its bearer the option to choose from a variety of skills to use. This compensates for the fact that magical runes (such as Fire, Water, Lightning, Earth, and Wind) can only be used by a handful of pure mages. You also have an option to mount your characters on conventional or aerial mounts once you acquire these modes of transportation, giving additional depth to your strategy.

As far as graphics and music go, the graphics is nothing superb, but Suikoden was never really meant to have cutting-edge graphics. Considering the fact that this is an SRPG, the chess piece-like cell-shaded characters are quite adequate (in my opinion, of course), and doesn't detract from the gameplay. The music is used very skillfully in events, and manages to intensify some of the more powerful scenes in the game. Some fans in Japan say they almost cried at certain parts, and this is understandable considering how some of the events are choreographed along with the music and sound effects. I wouldn't say the score is "epic," but it definitely succeeds in helping the generally dark and somber mood of the main plot.

Overall, I found Rhapsodia to be an addictive game. It took me a full week to finish this game with about 3-4 hours of gameplay on weekdays and longer hours during the weekend. However, I occasionally found myself thinking about which character to use during the next battle while I was at work. The fact that you have over 60 characters to choose from (and each of these are different in some way from the other) gives you a lot of material to muse over your strategy and tactics for your next mission. The main plot itself is not very long though, so some people may feel the game is too short. I recommend that people not try to rush through the game at first, but try to take time and carefully read each dialogue to understand the plot. A lot of things are not said in the main dialogue, which can only be revealed in the numerous "camp conversations," through talking with people in towns, or through accomplishing quests. Of course, the new game + (where you can carry over your money, skill levels, and items) will give you some additional fun, so you can choose to take it easy on your second spin. The choice is yours; however, I can guarantee that Rhapsodia won't disappoint you--for me, it is a significant improvement in terms of plot and gameplay over Suikoden 4.

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