First of all, I have to say that the visuals of Athenian Rhapsody and Toby Fox’s Undertale and Deltarune are very similar. There’s various choice of the really catchy soundtrack, hilarious writing, fourth-wall breaking theme, and choices like pacifism and genocide. So, at first, I wondered if these choice would test me. Numerous Undertale-inspired fangames, such as Undertale Yellow and Deltatraveler, might be found with a quick Google search. Given the availability of a free version of EarthBound and the upcoming release of Deltarune’s last chapter—ideally while we’re all still alive—why would a player want to pay for a similar version of the game?
Well, Athenian Rhapsody isn’t trying to be the next Undertale in any way. It’s not trying to compete with Toby Fox or look over the basic gameplay elements of battling and befriending opponents. Even in terms of EarthBound-like RPG loop. If we compare it to Deltarune, it claims a tougher battles and value the friendships more. It also has the ability to induce IBS and make you sniff rocks.
You have to know about Rhapsody system. Which is trading card system that lets players exchange save files with friends to compare progress. You can also compare if y’all make a different decisions, or even undo all of their work. You believe that in an RPG, you gain agency just by killing or befriending enemies? By sharing your save files, you can now see if your pals are as criminal as you are. In some way, it’s kinda testing your real-life friendship
Rhapsody System
The implementation of Rhapsody system requires a great deal of bravery. It’d be quite difficult to play the game exactly the same way. Unless you’re make a deal to do the same thing side by side with another player. The problem is that the game becomes a commitment test over everyone else because you have to finish it before you can share your Rhapsodies. Nonetheless, this system is a fresh idea!
As the Rhapsody system pays out after the player has completed the game, I worry that not many players will enjoy its complexity. That’s because I feel like far too many gamers have enormous backlogs of games. Some of which, we’ve to few hours playing before moving on to something else. With some RPG taking more than 50 hours to finish, I think most players won’t reach the game’s last boss.
Enabling players to post their Rhapsodies online to mark their playthroughs is a daring concept. Some players that finished Undertale frequently share stories of their gameplay without providing any evidence. Beyond stating that they managed to overcome Sans at the end of a genocide run. Other gamers can now preview Athenian Rhapsody’s depth. It’s providing them with chances to showcase their crazy choices. It can also reveal the mysteries they have discovered, and discuss their endgame progress.
Kill or Befriend with Opponents
On this game It’ll be quite tough for two players to have carbon copied Rhapsodies, I’m pretty sure about that. Once more due to an abundance of options, dialogue trees, branching pathways, secrets, and characters to choose from. In Athenian Rhapsody, there are 16 characters to recruit. But since no one wants to go alone, you can get accompanied if you want it. Only one can go with you on your Rhapsody and fight alongside you. While I was able to select every character in the game, some of them are still undiscovered behind forgetable side missions. There is a lot to discover, though, if you choose to interact with each NPC and find out what else may be done in addition to the main mission
The gameplay of Athenian Rhapsody is similar to that of other games that resemble EarthBound. You’ll explore the area, engage in battle, equip gear, and so on. During the fight, you have two options: either assault and kill your opponents, or try to make friends with them by having nice talk. Then you can bring the conflict to a peaceful end. You have to survive a bullet-hell minigame that is more WarioWare-esque than pure Undertale during the enemy’s turn. While some enemies will try to consume the black box where your character is standing, others will be throwing fruit at you, and yet others will shoot lasers across the screen.
Tagging Friends, Chill Mode
Once you’ve successfully recruited a friend, you can include them in your battle by tagging them in. When they are tagged in, you can utilize them to fight or perform abilities in your place and control them during enemy bullet hell strikes. Their skills range from offensive—such as a standard strike that gains power when health is low—to defensive—such as a shield that can take a few blows. They’re excellent when things get tough and enhanced the power fantasies of the characters I became friends with.
With the exception of a few boss fights, the bullet hell minigames are incredibly inventive yet significantly harder than anything I played in Undertale. Well, boss battles are particularly challenging since they frequently require both attacking and talking in order for friendship to be an option. After recently re-playing Undertale, it was an excellent skill test. Particularly when we learn that the difficulties wasn’t restricted to the end game or secret boss fights.
There’s one feature of this game called “Chill Mode”. It makes the character temporarily immune to other attacks for a brief period of time when they suffer damage. Some bosses would strike repeatedly and throws a deadly gunshots, made me turned it on numerous times during my playthrough. Honestly, I think Chill mode is a great feature for a game with this difficulity. Especially for players who wish to finish the game without have to retrying a lot.
Funny Conversation
However, I must emphasize that the writing in this game is just quite good. I was always laughing at the random incidents and amusing convo. This just like in Rhythm Sprout and Undertale, where there’s a lot of humor and silliness both during and after battle. Athenian Rhapsody is incredibly insane in all the greatest ways, as shown by the fact that I was lucky enough to get IBS halfway through.
Well, imo, this game doesn’t have a clear plot. At least the one that keeps the player interested in Nico Papalia’s Athens by pushing them onward. The story of Undertale seems to me to have barely any “lore” in-game other than the character discovering a new planet and having to defeat darkness and monsters. This reminding me that there was a continuous power pushing me. A broad goal, and an unidentified adversary anticipating me at the end of the game.
A Bit Unclear Story, But a Good OST
Athenian Rhapsody thus seems more like a meaningless game. Imagine Seinfeld as a video game hero. A lot of what I was doing seemed pointless, and I kept running into different characters almost by coincidence. They occasionally said things that were quite ridiculous, or attacked me, and sometimes both. I knew the Athens EXP system had made monsters ruthless, competitive creatures. I didn’t realize how much of an impact I had until the very end, when it became clear that the game was basically about me.
Again, nothing at all is wrong with a game about nothing. The 90’s sitcom Seinfeld was a really well written show with a crazy cast of characters and no overall storyline. The way Larry David portrayed Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer’s pointless existence to the audience was brilliant. I couldn’t find anything in Athenian Rhapsody that would maintain my interest in the world of the game. Punchlines didn’t ramble across several biomes and events. They were direct. And because I could only have one member in my party at a time, I felt like I was missing out on memes. Regardless, I enjoyed the uniqueness of my NPC friends
The soundtrack to this game has been stuck in my mind for a couple while. The songs of Arpbug had a tone that was in between SNES and Genesis and realistic classical. Each companion has a theme song of their own, which I loved. I think you must take a listen to some of Gilroy’s music. Though I doubt any song is as catchy as “Megalovania,” there is still enough amazing music to be worth checking out on your favorite streaming service. I’m waiting for Arpbug to make the full soundtrack available so I can keep listening to it over and over.
Estimated Duration Needed to Finish Athenian Rhapsody
I finished this game with no problems at all. I’m not sure which ending I got, but I’m 99% positive it was the real pacifist ending. But I’m also somewhat sure that there are a few mysteries that I missed. Various runs might take anything from 3 to 30 hours of gaming. But for me, it took about eleven hours. Although I’m not sure how someone could finish the game so quickly. Also, how can someone play 30 hours in a single playthrough? It made me wondering.
You can tell that I liked this game because I played it through without changing to another one. I couldn’t help but want to meet and make friends with everyone I could. During my game, I also wanted to see how many secrets I could uncover. My nice surprise came from the managers I had to overcome and make friends with. This got me wondering: Will other people recognize the depth Nico Papalia has achieved in this EarthBound-like? The characters in Undertale provide me with a greater degree of longform punchlines and grounded storytelling than I do here. While I don’t think Athenian Rhapsody will become the next Undertale, I wouldn’t be shocked if other players thought there would be some sort of continuity.
Despite noticeable similarities, Athenian Rhapsody is nothing like Undertale. The freedom to play this role-playing game whenever I pleased was really lovable. Also, the Rhapsody system’s originality alone makes me want to see other players finish the game. While I have some doubts about the plot and the implementation of the Rhapsody system, gamers can still appreciate enough if they are interested in a truly goofy RPG
