Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles is now available on PS5 and Nintendo Switch. On PC, both games are available separately, or in a bundle. Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles brings two games that never saw releases in the West to modern platforms with a localization, English dub option, enhanced features, and more. It feels like a blend of an enhanced port and a remaster that surprised me because of the effort put into the package, and also thanks to both games being worth your time. If you aren’t familiar with Rhapsody which is available in NIS Classics Volume 3, read my PC review here and Switch review here. In my Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles Switch and Steam Deck review, I will cover the games and how they feel to play on both platforms.
Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles PC system requirements
Considering the origins of the games, Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles is not demanding at all.
Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles PC minimum requirements
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: Intel Core2 Quad Q9300 2.5 GHz
- Memory: 2GB RAM
- Graphics: Radeon HD 5450
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 2GB available space
Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles PC recommended requirements
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 or 11
- Processor: Intel Core i5-4670K
- Memory: 4GB RAM
- Graphics: Geforce GT 640 or Radeon HD 6450
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 2GB available space
Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles PC graphics options
Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess and Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom both let you adjust graphics or display options from the ‘Other Options’ menu under ‘Options’. This lets you change display mode (fullscreen, windowed, borderless windowed), resolution (640×480 to 4K), toggle muting audio on losing focus, and choose the gamepad style. It defaults to Xbox on Steam Deck, but you can force it to Xbox, DualSense, DualShock, or Nintendo Switch Pro Controller here.
Both Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess and Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom have filter options. I turned the filter off, but you can use a CRT filter or a smooth filter if you want to. You can also adjust texture mode to original or enhanced in Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom.
Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles PC control options
Both games include support for keyboard and mouse or controller play on PC. You can rebind just about everything across all input methods here. Like I said above, I forced both Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess and Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom to display DualSense button prompts on Steam Deck.
Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles is Steam Deck Verified
Both Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess and Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom have been Steam Deck Verified well before launch. Having played them on Steam Deck in handheld mode and also over the Steam Deck Docking Station, I had no issues with them. If you were hoping to play this set on Steam Deck, go ahead.
Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles Nintendo Switch review
There isn’t much to say on this front either. Both Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess and Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom as a part of the Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles are great on Switch docked and in handheld mode. I didn’t run into any crashing issues or bugs like settings not saving like in prior NIS America re-releases.
Should you buy Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles on PC or Nintendo Switch?
When NIS America announced this bundle, I figured it would just be like an NIS Classics release that Nintendo Switch and PC have seen over the years. I was wrong. This is NIS America’s best remaster/re-release yet, and it really makes me wish NIS still released games like the ones in the Rhapsody collection. I love the Disgaea games, but we really need more experimental stuff like this. Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles with both Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess and Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom, is an easy recommendation for any fan of NIS, and also anyone looking to sample some of the developer’s legacy.
While a lot of re-releases and remasters are worth getting as a curiosity or collection purposes, Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles is excellent and worth playing even today with its superb music, fun gameplay, and great conversion for modern platforms. I just hope NIS America can bring the first game to PS5 in the future so that the full Rhapsody series will be playable there like it is now on PC and Nintendo Switch. We need more collections and re-releases like this from NIS America going forward. As a big fan of NIS games, music in NIS games, and JRPGs, Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles makes me regret not trying more NIS games back in the day.
Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles is out now on PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. Check out the individual games on Steam here and here.
