The late era for the SFC has a lot of interesting RPGs visually or gameplay or even both. One weird one is Monstania as it’s an RPG in the most basic way possible. In a way the game feels more like a collection of battle scenarios with the occasional puzzle and story in between every level. Despite that however, you may find a good game lurking in this one.

The battle system in a way reminds me of Mystery Dungeon where you move from tile to tile and things only move when you do. Probably not the best comparison but it’s what came to mind. You have to either defeat every enemy, get to an objective, or something special like defend a place. If you were wanting any challenge with this one then you aren’t getting it here as the battle system is very easy to abuse the poor AI which has many moments of gimmicking them and making the level a breeze. Even if you do game over, you can retry immediately and don’t even need to load a save.

Sadly the game’s idea of RPG mechanics is basically just leveling up after each section is completed. There’s no actual EXP and this is also how you get items, magic/skills, and equipment. There’s not even a currency system. Going from area to area is also done automatically and there’s no actual overworld or towns to explore. You could probably argue it’s not even an RPG but I’ll be generous and say it still is. I’m not trying to say it’s a bad thing just don’t go into this expecting an actual in depth RPG. The game is also only about 4-5 hours long so you’ll barely be playing the game anyway.

The story is a little interesting though nothing about it really excited me and it left me with a few questions by the end. It also just kind of ends in a boring way imo. Idk, it left very little impact for me. This does have a fan translation but I do wonder how much of it is actually accurate. I’m going to be nice and assume it is fine but some of it is very strange but not necessarily bad. Just be aware that it might not be your thing.

It visually looks fine but nothing stands out about it. The only notable thing about them is the art used for the characters when inputting names or viewing the statuses. I would probably be more positive if it was an earlier game on the system but there are much better looking games by this point. The music is also nothing amazing but it works. I actually really like how this game sometimes does a minimalist approach with the audio and sometimes has the sounds of the environment only play. Still, I don’t know if I’ll listen to it outside of the game.

You know, actually writing this review I realized something. What did I say earlier? “you may find a good game lurking in this one.” I think after writing my thoughts, I don’t think I like it as much as I think. While the game has some fun ideas, I think the game just isn’t the most interesting in the world. It works, and at its worst it's decent. While I do wish it had more RPG stuff going on in it, for what it tries to be, it does it decently. It did however have the unfortunate part of being a couple of months before the next RPG which was the remake of Dragon Quest III. With all that said, you should still at least try it as it’s quite short. Sadly Bits Laboratory would never make another game like this and would shut down a few years later. What a sad fate for the company.

I wasn’t intending on making a review for this game but I decided to change my mind and give this one a nice review. I’ve always been terrible at trying to just finish these DQ games despite XI being such a great game. I decided to play the fifth entry because I know how popular it was though had I done this later, I probably would have done II instead. Regardless, let me tell you why DQ V is such a great game.

While this game is old, I don’t really want to spoil much of the story as I think it’s something that should be experienced if you have an interest in the game. The story however did surprise me, I was expecting it to be pretty basic and would work for the most part of the time. There’s so many eye opening moments and even times that got a big reaction out of me. While I don’t find the characters as memorable as other RPGs, a lot of them are still good for the game and I’m happy to find the writing to be one of the highlights of the game. There’s even some nice humor at times. It’s just overall very good.

The gameplay is also pretty fun and rarely has dull moments. One neat mechanic of DQ V has to be recruiting specific monsters from the overworld or dungeons to put on your team. I used a few of them and I’d say my favorite one was the Curer just to have a convenient healall user if I needed it. Battles require some thought and you’ll have to make use of buffs, debuffs, and statuses to win some later fights. You don’t even need to grind all that much in the game, I only did it like a few times though it might vary for others. I love all the different types of spells to use too but it does make it stressful to sometimes not go overboard and run out. If there was one thing I regret was not buying more Elven magic from the casino. I did at least prepare for the last part of the game.

The world is vast in the game and there’s a lot of places to visit and discover. One thing I love about the overworld is just the many ways to travel in it. You can go on foot, travel by ship, magic carpet, a floating castle, and even a dragon. I did find myself getting lost a few times but I did get used to it for the most part. I wish the return spell would let you travel to any location you’ve been to, it seems to be picky about where it’ll save locations for you. While the game visually might be a little repetitive for some of the locations, there’s still a lot here and it was always a curiosity to check what’s new.

The dungeon design in this game is pretty good and not much of it is that annoying or bad. It’s fun to explore these and get items and fight tough enemies. I do wish more bosses were in them though, it feels like a lot of the time you don’t fight them. There’s some memorable places like the haunted location early in the game, a cave with minecarts to ride, and a volcano with lava floors that hurt. Wait, Final Fantasy 1 already did that last one, hmm. You also sometimes can’t bring your caravan in for these places so make sure you set out a good team for this before going in. I swear a lot of the 2nd half makes you do this.

Ok I know I said to let you experience the story for yourself but one thing that was on my mind a few times was the marriage thing. You’ll try to get an item related to your quest but are forced to marry a girl by the name of Flora. By the time you’re almost done, you meet up with Bianca as she’s aged up since you last met her in your childhood years. Now I for one thought it was very obvious where they were going with this and I was expecting them to truly fall in love. When you finally get the rings, you get this plot point where the Hero struggles between the two with even a restless night and I’m just thinking “What? Why would I not choose Bianca?” I almost felt like this was just gonna force her anyway but obviously I was going to pick her. It wasn’t till later I looked it up and found out you can marry her! With some of the parts in the story, that just feels wrong. Maybe I just don’t get it? Just feels like the wrong choice to me.

There are some small nitpicks I have with the game. I really don’t like the item management with this game and how picky it is with them wanting items in a character’s inventory to use. I also felt the encounter rate at times could be a little annoying at times. This point I’m gonna bring up isn’t a problem with the game but I felt by the 2nd half, my team basically stayed the same and I felt kind of discouraged to try other ideas because what I had was working fine. There’s also some characters you can use and I find confusing why you would want to unless I’m missing something. I think it’s partially why a lot of the characters don’t feel the most memorable in my heart if that makes sense. Still, again these are nitpicks and it says a lot about the game that these are really some of my only few negatives.

Visually the game looks pretty nice for a 1992 RPG. I think the battle screens are the highlight because they actually take place in locations just like the first DQ game on Famicom. Those designs by Akira Toriyama are also just splendid here. The music is also pretty good and almost feels like I can hear the orchestra even if it’s obviously still just the SFC sound chip. I especially love the two dungeon themes you hear in the game the most. I also really love the music when you’re sailing. Even the sound effects sound pretty nice for the hardware. It’s all worth a listen if you ever have the time.

I’m happy to have finally finished this game and see it rank so high. Sure it may not be my favorite 16 bit RPG as of writing this but still being such a great game is no slouch either. You probably know already just how popular this game is and it’s very easy to see why now that I’ve played it all the way through. There are various ways to play the game now. It was first remade in 3D on the PS2 and then a more enhanced 2D version was made for the DS. The DS version was the first time it was localized too so you’ll need a fan translation to play the original or the 3D remake. It also has a version for mobile phones. Oddly it’s never been ported since which feels very odd considering the Switch’s success. A movie based on this game also exists called Dragon Quest: Your Story. Never watched it though, maybe I should. The series would only get one more sequel on the system which is kind of shocking considering how well this one did. When I watched the credits of the game, I really felt moved at reminiscing about the journey I had. It’s kind of crazy to think I played this in memory of Toriyama as he has now passed away and seeing his name makes me miss him again. Bless him and all of the talent who worked on this game. Dragon Quest V is a great game and it’s a game I’ll probably play again someday.

“Let’s go on...”

Well this was something I kind of just felt like doing. I remember playing this game emulated last year but ended up not finishing it, for some reason I don’t like emulating PS1 RPGs, but it won’t stop me from one day playing Wild Arms, I swear one day that’ll come. Now I’m playing the release on Switch which is basically the same version. I feel like I have a lot of things to say about this game so I’m gonna jump into this.

This RPG stars a girl named Cornet with her fairy puppet friend Kururu. You’ll be traveling throughout Marl’s Kingdom to do whatever the game asks you. There is no overworld here as leaving an area takes you to a map. The game starts out with a cute little song opening if you don’t press anything on the title screen and gives a good first impression. The game is pretty chill and relaxing and it nicely eases you in for the gameplay you’re gonna be doing. While the first two sessions were all fun and games with a well made story that’ll get into. There’s just something about the game I have to let out.

I don’t like the gameplay

Let’s start with the battles. They kind of feel like a mix between standard turn based and strategy gameplay. It’s isometric as you have to hit any enemy with your range available. Cornet controls puppets and even enemies to fight for her though she can fight as well with her horn. Just be careful as her dying means the game is over though that never happened because this battle system is a joke. I should note the playthrough was played on normal difficulty. Good god the combat is so easy. Just use your specials that have range and be powerful and almost nothing can hurt you. It ends up making the battles incredibly boring as I can barely come up with fun strategies when the optimal strategy is just way better and safer. You think with the MP cost for it being expensive would fix that but not only is MP refilled via level ups which you get very fast btw but you’re forced to get an item that halves MP cost for moves. It’s like the devs want you to break it. I can’t say how much hard difficulty fixes it but you better choose that just to be safe.

This also just hurts stuff like getting other puppets because you’re not going to experiment when you have an easy solution for any battle. I’m not even sure why the game has so many elements when it feels like it never matters. Where’s the strategy? Where’s the planning? Nothing is here. I also almost never used items so shops feel rather pointless. It’s not even worth getting gear as ones you’ll find in dungeons help way more. That’s another thing, there’s no gear that isn’t just small buffs, so no buying weapons or armor. Give me a reason to buy stuff! The only item I felt worth buying was the teleporter so I can leave dungeons early. Also why does the game very early on let you recruit enemies then never happened ever again after like the second one. Did I screw up?

Oh yeah, what about those dungeons? Some of the worst I’ve played in the genre. I mean are we being serious here? What happened with this aspect of the game? Do you like caves and temples? That’s all you’re getting. Most of them have the same color and the same 5-6 types of rooms made for both categories. It not only looks so dull and uninteresting but you’ll tire of these immediately once you’re on the quest for the stones. But it’s ok guys because on the very rare occasion, they’ll change the color! IT BROKE NEW GROUND!!! Seriously they all feel the same and are never enjoyable and they all play the same music too and the random encounter system is so inconsistent and half of the time it just feels like you’re walking into the same room over and over and over and OVER! The only reasons I can think of why the game is like this is because of budget or time or maybe just wanting to appeal to a younger audience. What’s even worse is usually the first screen for these areas is actually pretty nice and fitting so why can’t the actual inside be like this? I’m not gonna call the devs lazy or anything but this is easily the game’s low point and that’s saying a lot.

Does Rhapsody have anything that makes me smile? Well yeah, it’s gotta be the story. It’s surprisingly the best part of the game with a lot of great moments and even has some surprising moments too considering the writing made me think it was just silly and simple. I should address that the localization is rather odd. I’m not sure how accurate it is to the original JP version but it feels a lot like a Working Designs script except it’s only the very rare moment of ??? if you get what I mean. While it is the best part of the game, it has some issues too. I felt the pacing was too fast at times but that’s probably due to the game’s short length. The whole romance thing with Cornet and the Prince feels so cliche and lazy that it’s hard to really appreciate it when it has so little development. I’m also not a fan of many NPCs not replacing their dialogue at times. While it goes away once the quest to get the five stones, it’s a notable problem I noticed for the beginning quarter of the adventure. It’s probably not as bad as I’m making it sound, it just personally hurt some immersion for me.

At least the presentation is quite nice. While the game can have some copy and paste with dungeons and stuff, the graphics and music are still very good. I love the style for the backgrounds and the sprite art is really good too. The portraits for dialogue are also really good but sadly there’s not too many. The music is also a bop from beginning to end. I especially love the vocal songs that play throughout the game, they’re even dubbed if you enjoy dubs. (The JP singers are available as an option if you want that). While I should say again it’s not perfect, it’s nice this aspect of the game is good as it makes traveling not feel as miserable as it could.

Sigh, I feel kind of sad the more I think of this game, the more I wish I could have loved it and not feel so negative. Rhapsody to me in many ways is a bad game but yet, is it weird the good bits kind of keep it out of it for me? It made the experience memorable and I appreciate the game for that. I just wish the gameplay itself was fun because it just gets extremely dull by the 2nd half and the presentation and story have to carry the rest of the game on the hike. When I view all of the art in this game, it makes me appreciate just how much work went into it. I could imagine this was a fun project to work on. For the record, if you like this game, I’m not going to judge so please don’t take this review the wrong way like I’m trying to be the only correct take. Rhapsody would get two more mainline sequels and this game is also available on the DS remade with a new battle system if you wanna play it there. I’ll probably play Rhapsody II in a couple of months and I’m hoping it’ll fix issues I have. Rhapsody on Switch also contains the PSP game La Pucelle Ragnarok so maybe expect me to play that too sometime this year. For now, guess I’ll just go chill and sing those catchy vocal tunes.