I really loved this game growing up and have been playing the re-release on steam, but something that's been bothering me is that it's a little difficult to track down information on it. A combination of version differences, the re-releases, and search engines being terrible nowadays makes finding a consistent guide for where to go a bit of a challenge. Since Rhapsody is an older RPG where it's very easy to permanently lock yourself out of certain content, and since many of the Steam achievements require you to use one save-file, this is a bit of an issue.
Because of this, I decided to gather everything I could find as I play in this post. Keep in mind this isn't going to be a gameplay tutorial - for info on which party members/strategies are the best, you'll have to look elsewhere. In order - brief combat explanation, story walkthrough, how to obtain all the puppets, and how to complete their sidequests.
I'm also going to note that there are already a few walkthroughs I've been using that have been pretty handy, though there are a few factual errors in some of them. To avoid repeating too much of what they say, here they are:
100% Achievements Guide: One of the most thorough and useful resources I've found, I've mostly been referencing this as I play. If there's anything not in my post, it's probably here.
Things to Remember While Chasing 100%: Less detailed than the other walkthrough, but it's helpful as it goes step-by-step through each portion of the game listing things that are easy to miss.
Combat Guide: I'm going to briefly go over the combat in this post, but a more detailed guide can be found here.
Dungeon Maps: Rhapsody has some pretty infamously samey/difficult to navigate dungeons. The DS version mitigated this a bit by having in-game maps, but those are nowhere to be seen in the steam release. These maps seem to be based on a different version of the game than the one on steam, as some items aren't where they're listed to be, and they can be a bit difficult to read, but they'll still help you get the job done.
COMBAT GUIDE
Like I said in the intro, this isn't a guide on what puppets are best or how to optimize combat, just a quick what's-what since the game itself doesn't really explain.
Elements:
Most puppets and enemies you encounter have an associated element: Holy, Dark, Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Thunder. Unlike something like Pokemon, which works like rock-paper-scissors, each element works in pairs, where their attacks will be more powerful against the opposing element, but they'll also take more damage from it. Attacks of a certain element will be less effective against an enemy that shares that element. The pairings are Holy/Dark, Fire/Water, and Earth/Wind. Thunder and Neutral enemies do not have a strength or weakness.
Skill Level:
This raises depending on how many kills a character makes. A higher skill level makes a character more likely to land critical hits.
Cornet:
Cornet can't be switched out of battle, and if she dies it's game over. Her horn can be used to power up the puppets for the duration of one turn, which will also contribute to her "reward" (the musical scale in the upper-right corner of the battle screen). "Reward points" can be spent for either powerful attacks or a group healing move. The scale maxes out at 6 and is saved between battles.
Healing:
Interact with statues to heal your whole party. If any of your puppets get knocked out, bring them to Mutsaki (Cornet's grandpa) and he'll charge you 100 bucks to fix them.
INTRO
This part of the game is pretty straightforward. Head to the Wonder Woods, meet the prince, then head to Mothergreen to figure out how to impress him. A girl at the restaurant will mention he likes fish, so you'll return to the Natalie River in Wonder Woods to get some. After that, go to Cornet's kitchen, make the fish, then break into the castle and accidentally assassinate the minister.
CONTEST
Head back to Mothergreen to sign up for the contest at the house where the Prince Ferdinand Fan Club is. Cornet needs a dress for the contest, and the nearby tailor will point you in the direction of the Wonder Woods (again). Head to where you met the Prince at the beginning of the game, and you'll find a restaurant there. The 3 doors inside the restaurant lead to identical rooms, the only difference is that the enemies will vary in difficulty depending on which you choose (the signs next to each door indicate how). After a boss fight, you'll find your beautiful dress within.
The next day, head to the castle in Mothergreen for the contest. Go to the middle waiting room whenever you're ready to start a new round. Watch Cornet fail and fight with Kururu, beat up an innocent woman, and then inevitably lose against Etoile bc she brought guns to a puppet fight. Congratulations, you won!
After the contest and a romantic musical number, monsters will attack the castle. Go to the main throne room to watch the prince get kidnapped, and the next part of the game will begin.
TOWER OF WISDOM
Grandpa will point you towards the Tower of Wisdom, where his estranged husband Polansky may have the knowledge needed to save the Prince. The Ship Captain's house is near the entrance of Mothergreen. His daughter is depressed after breaking up with her boyfriend, and like any good father he won't drive his boat until someone cheers him up. Head to the Natalie River to get a Toad for her favorite dish, Toad BBQ (you'll have to wander around getting into random encounters until one appears), bring it back to her father, and learn it was all for nothing since you need to cook it. Ask around the restaurant until someone points you back towards Burg's Restaurant, then fight him again to steal his BBQ. Head back to Mothergreen and the boyfriend will apologize, no one will actually eat your BBQ, and the ship captain will take you to Bluecat. The period between unlocking Bluecat and before reaching the Tower of Wisdom is the brief window of time you have to get the puppet Koro, so make sure to head back to Orange Village to do that before progressing further.
After asking around Bluecat, you can unlock the Tower of Wisdom, but you'll need a Cats Eye to access it. Head to Cats-Eye Mine, do a quick bossfight against Terra and some other things, and then head back to Polansky, who'll give you the info you need to save the Prince.
HEART STONES
The keys you need to save the Prince and progress the story. Certain story events/puppets will only appear after collecting certain stones. While you can technically access these in any order (with the exception of the Thunderstone and Waterstone, which you need to gather the Firestone and Waterstone respectively to get access to), here's a level-guide/walkthrough for each of them:
FIRESTONE: I'd recommend getting this one first. Head to the suspension bridge, then walk straight across it to reach the town of Redhot. They've got a dragon problem. Head to Salsa Volcano to take care of their dragon problem, return to the village, then climb the Volcano again after learning the villagers decided to take care of the dragon problem themselves. Most monsters around the Volcano are Fire elemental, and cap out at level 15.
THUNDERSTONE/HOLYSTONE: After collecting the Firestone, talk to one of the NPCs in a house near the entrance of Redhot. His grandpa died in the eruption, and he'll give you a code to lower the suspension bridge that'll put you on the path to the Thunderstone. To save you a walk back to Redhot if you forgot it, from the top: turn on the 2nd and 6th switches, then turn them off, then turn on the 1st, 5th, and 6th switches. Head across the bridge to the Ice Temple, then head through the Ice Temple to reach Whitesnow.
Ask around Whitesnow, where you'll find out the hunter's apprentice headed to the Tower of Ninetail alone. Head there yourself to find him, bring him back, then talk to both him & his mentor to head through again (if you don't talk to the mentor you'll miss seeing a kinda bad song and the achievement that comes with it, and other shenanigans will ensue).
Once you reach the top you'll have the option of either fighting the Guardian for the Thunderstone or refusing to fight, which will get you a boss fight against Gao and the Holystone instead. Monsters around this area are mostly Wind, and reach a max of level 17.
WATERSTONE: This one's pretty easy to stumble on early, but I'd personally recommend waiting until at least getting the Fire and Holy stones to take it on, since the boss can be tough. Head back to Bluecat and talk to a woman inside the bar, who'll give you permission to board the Whitewhales pirate ship if you agree to help cheer up Mary, whose pirate boyfriend Libinsky died at sea years ago.
Like with Oasis, I'd recommend saving before going any further. The Whitewhales ship can be found at the end of a short passageway inside the wooden house near the bar. Once onboard the ship, head through the door on the right side of the hall to read the journal of Libinsky's pirate boyfriend Takroff, then downstairs to the end of the hall to watch a cutscene, after which you'll be transported to the Sunken Ship.
The Sunken Ship can only be visited once, so make sure you get everything you want from it before leaving. Inspect the table with the book on it in the room you arrive in to grab a ring for Mary, then head downstairs to the end of the hall to fight the boss. You'll all be transported back to the ship, the captain will give you the waterstone, and you'll have one pretty easy fight against Gao before heading back to Bluecat. Give the ring you found on the ship to Mary to wrap things up. Monsters around this part of the game are mostly fire and dark, and max out around level 20.
EARTHSTONE: After getting the Waterstone, head back to the Whitewhale pirate ship to catch a ride to Frogburg Kingdom. Beat the evil fish in their pond then head through the Frog Road to get an invite to the castle. After some shenanigans, leave and come back to watch some tragic frog romance unfold, then agree to take Michael to the Temple of Gama. Beat the Centaur to get the Earthstone, then return to the Frog Castle's throne room to see good things happen :)
Enemies around here max out around level 21.
WINDSTONE: Head over to Oasis from the suspension bridge leading down. If you ask around town, you'll find that locals are disappearing, the door to the underground is locked, and the guy with the key is off in Mothergreen (he's not). It may be possible to skip this step, but if you go to Mothergreen, one random NPC near the fountain will comment that "the hillybilly who hangs around here was captured and taken to Burg's restaurant". This is the only hint you get that you have to go to Burg's restaurant. Head to where you found L-kun to get the key from him.
Make sure you save before you enter the Oasis Underground, bc after a few rooms you'll be locked into a certain location until you can progress. After exploring a bit, you'll be eaten by a worm, and have to fight your way out (with Etoile's help) by attacking its hearts. Your job is to kill the right heart on the 6th turn. To hopefully demystify this process a bit, you'll have to do it at least twice - if you get it right the first time, Etoile will mess up, and you'll have to drag your ass back to the Worm Train to talk to her to try again. Afterwards, beat the main heart (it's not very strong but it has a lot of HP) and you'll be freed from the worm.
There's still a bit to go after this - you'll crash next to the Intonium Mine, which is where you'll finally find the Windstone (you can also head back to the Oasis Underground through the tunnel next to the train). There's an optional boss-fight here if you take Kururu's suggestion and start nabbing money, but I am a good girl who's doing a Rhapsody Pacifist Run so I didn't get it. After this, everyone in Oasis will reunite with their families (you can also reunite the guy who went to Mothergreen with his family if you go back there and tell him Etoile is alright, if you wish).
Monsters around this part of the game max out around level 20, and tend to be wind or earth elemental.
After collecting all the stones, head back to the Tower of Wisdom to fight an unwinnable fight against Myao (if you're high enough level that all her attacks against you miss, dw - the game will progress after a few turns of you flailing against each other). Some cutscenes will ensue, and you're on to the next part of the game.
CAPE HOPE
In Kururu's dream, go into the church, check the graveyard, head back to Cornet's house, then return to the graveyard to go through the underground passage. The door which was once locked will now be unlocked, and you can go inside to fight a cool robot. After the dream, Polansky will give you the Dark Key which will unlock the Netherworld. Going there is technically optional, but it is required for granting some of the puppet wishes.
At Cape Hope, fight each of the Orb dragons before placing the stones, then step on the platform in the middle of the area to be teleported to Castle Beauty. While you'll be able to come and go, the boss fights at the end of this area are the point of no return, so make sure you've done everything you wanted to first.
Beat up Marjoly and the other guy and congratulations, you won :]
PUPPETS (in order of appearance)
It's pretty easy to get locked out of finding certain puppets, so if you're looking to collect them all, it's best to check a walkthrough before progressing the story to make sure you don't miss any. As a side-note, I've seen a few guides say that you need to have certain puppets in your active party to get later puppets to join. I'm not sure if this is true and haven't been able to verify, but I'm going to note down when it comes up just in case.
Sharte: First puppet you get for free in the story, just walk downstairs after the first cutscene and agree to let her join your party. She's a "Holy" elemental, which makes her a good healer, but she's not bad at casting offensive spells either. She's looking for her sister Terra (more on her later).
Kid: Egg boy. Head to Mothergreen, enter one of the houses, and you'll find a woman looking to dispose of a perfectly good egg. Agree to take it off her hands, and you've got yourself a Kid. Kid is a "wind" elemental, but he doesn't actually have any spells - his main benefit is being able to move decently far in a single turn and having a good attack. Pretty good early game, gets outclassed later on. Like Sharte, he's looking for his siblings - his brothers Tell and Billy, who we'll get to.
Darkknight/Nightspawn/Darkspawn/Whatever: While Darkknight technically joins your party way later, you can only get him if you take a certain action early on. When you first get to Mothergreen, head to one of the houses (it'll be near the one where you find Kid) and agree to join the Prince Ferdinand Fanclub. They'll start sending you magazines, which you can read if you check the mailbox outside of Cornet's house. Check the mailbox after obtaining the Waterstone, and you'll receive Nightspawn (there's a lot of conflicting information on when Nightspawn arrives - everyone agrees it's after one of the elemental stones are collected, but some argue it has to be after a certain amount. I believe it's specifically the Waterstone, since other puppet quests are tied to specific stones, but if you experienced otherwise, let me know). I don't know what he wants, he's just vibing. Darkspawn is another dark elemental who can learn a lot of the same spells as some of the other dark puppets you'll find, but the real star for him is his physical attack, which is very good.
Tell: Head to the Wonder Woods after obtaining Kid, and you'll find his brother Tell hanging out in the Cave. Like Kid, he doesn't have a lot of magic, but he's got a decent ranged attack and has a few more abilities than his younger brother.
L-Kun: Impossible to miss, you'll nab L-Kun at some point during the story as a fursuit for Cornet. He's a lightning elemental. I may not be playing to his strengths, but I haven't been able to get much use out of him - he's got a decent attack and spells, but he doesn't have much mobility, so by the time he gets into position usually the rest of my party has already taken everything out. If you read this post and have been finding him useful, let me know how so! His dream is to perform.
Koro: Ouppy. Koro's infamously pretty easy to miss - head back to Orange Village after unlocking BlueCat, and you'll find the local kid Alfred's dog has passed away. Go to the church and you'll find a grave nearby. Interacting with it will allow you to let Koro join your party. It may just be dog bias, but he's one of my favorite party members. He's a lightning elemental with a great physical attack, and unlike L-Kun he can move more than 2 feet in a single turn. His dream is to protect his owner, because he's a very good boy.
Terra: Sharte's sister, and the boss of Cats-Eye mine. I believe she's also impossible to miss, though I saw a few sources saying you need Sharte in your active party to recruit her. Beat her fight and agree to let her join. She's a dark elemental with a focus on spellcasting, and a bit less useful than her sister lol. Sorry Terra.
Duke: Duke is hiding somewhere in the Tower of Wisdom. Talk to him, identify yourself as Mustaki's descendant, then beat him up. Talk to him again and he'll begrudgingly agree to join you. Duke is a water elemental, but like Kid he mostly focuses on physical attacks. He's part of a trio with two later puppets, Chiba and Albatross.
Ledgem: You'll probably run into this bunny boy early in the game hanging out in the Wonder Woods, though he'll vanish once you interact with him. Once you reach the Tower of Wisdom, there'll be a statue of him in the corner. Interact with it, get Polansky to explain his deal, and then return to him in the Wonder Woods to get him to join your party. Ledgem is similar to Terra as a dark elemental with a focus on spellcasting. His goal is to return to his home in the Netherworld.
Flare: Another unavoidable puppet. Kill his parents while searching for the Firestone, then take in their newborn son out of guilt. Flare is a wind elemental, though I've found his physical attack to be stronger than his magic. He also learns some healing moves.
Billy: The final egg brother. Interact with the Snowman in Whitesnow after obtaining Kid and Tell (once again it's unclear if they need to be in your active party), and agree to let him join after some dialogue that's a bit hard to follow since the steam version of the game doesn't have dialogue portraits for the puppets. Billy is a fire elemental with a focus on magic, who can also learn a decent handful of healing and defensive spells.
Chiba: Chiba's the second member of Duke's posse, who you'll find off the beaten path in the Tower of Ninetail. Like Duke, identify yourself as Mustaki's descendant and get ready to fight. Interact with them again after the battle to get them to join your party, they'll be more chill about it than Duke was. Like their party member, Chiba's an earth elemental with a focus on physical attacks.
Albatross: Final member of Duke's posse, who you'll find in the Temple of Gama (the maps linked at the beginning of this label it Tower of Gama). You know the drill by now, identify yourself as Mutsaki's descendant, beat her up, then talk to her again to get her to join your party. Albatross has limited mobility but makes up for it with her big gun, which gives her a good ranged attack. She also learns a handful of fire spells, as a fire elemental herself.
Caroline and Michael: After collecting the Earthstone, ask around a bit and then head to the Ice Temple, where you'll find Caroline and Michael's grave. Interact with it, listen to them call themselves selfish for getting lied to and stabbed, and then agree to let them join your party out of pity. Both frogs are water elementals, with Caroline having a focus on offensive spells while Michael focuses on defense and healing.
PUPPET SIDEQUESTS
Every puppet has a "dream", and once that dream has been realized, they'll reincarnate as a real boy (but kindly leave their mortal shell behind so you can continue using it in combat). Some puppets have dreams which can only be obtained as a group, in which case they'll be listed together. These are (vaguely) in the order you're most likely to complete them:
L-Kun: I believe this is the only wish that can be granted just by playing through the story - L-Kun wants to be on stage again, and you grant his wish by using him as a dress for the contest. You can later receive a flyer which shows he's been reborn as a real circus bear, which is cute.
Flare: Raise him to at least level 10, then return to the dragon nest in Salsa Volcano with him in your active party. You'll have to fight a few waves of enemies to free the nest from another dragon, keeping Flare alive the whole time, and then Flare's wish will be granted.
Koro: This is another one you can miss entirely - head back to Orange Village after getting the Thunderstone/Holystone or unlocking the Ice Temple, and Koro's old owner will be sick. Ask around until someone mentions consulting Polansky, then check with Polansky before heading to the Ice Temple to get the Snow Herb. Return to the family to finish the quest.
Egg Brothers (Kid, Tell, and Billy): After collecting the Windstone, head to Mothergreen and talk to the tailor, whose apprentice has gotten himself frozen in time somehow. He'll point you towards the Ancient Forest, where you'll have to fight a Chimera, after which the egg brothers will decide to stay to maintain the flow of time (side note - both times I've done this fight I've had the Egg Brothers as my active party, but I'm not sure if it's required or not. If you know otherwise, let me know). Since Ancient Forest can be a confusing area, I recommend using one of the maps linked at the start of this post to make it less frustrating. The Chimera can be found here:
The Sisters (Sharte and Terra): Raise them both to at least level 30 while they're both in your party.
The Lovers (Caroline and Michael): Raise them both to at least level 30 while they're both in your party. After, you can find them reborn as a human and a frog in Mothergreen and Frogburg respectively.
Ledgem: Another fairly easy one, head to the Netherworld after Kururu's dream, and his wish will be granted once you reach the bottom floor.
Mustaki Hate Club (Duke, Chiba, and Albatross): After Kururu's dream, head to the Netherworld with all 3 of them in your active party. You'll have a fight against the Ancient Weapon with them (this will not happen if they aren't in your party).
Darkknight: Defeat 100 enemies with him & raise his skill level to 3, after which he'll realize his dream: beating you up. Defeat him in battle to grant his wish.
it's actually so crazy how much the simpsons would fucking suck if it didn't have any of the simpsons characters. just a bunch of shots of empty houses and streets for half an hour while nothing happens. that would be so badddd lol
yeah that tends to happen when you remove characters from media. without characters its all just background. i guess movies set in scenic locations would still land as kinda nature docs but even then
On the one hand I recognize doing fansubs is a difficult job and don't want to be a jerk about it but on the other I wish certain fansubbers would realize we don't need their translation notes in the subtitles themselves
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