Athenian Rhapsody Review Summary

A charming adventure with excellent music and multiple endings, though its humor grows repetitive, combat hitboxes feel unfair, and it borrows heavily from Undertale.

Game is fun and charming: Players consistently describe the game as fun, silly, and charming, with enjoyable humor and comedic moments. The overall experience is entertaining and makes players smile throughout.

Excellent music and soundtrack: The music and soundtrack are highly praised, with players calling it magnificent, incredible, and full of great tracks. The tunes are a standout feature of the game.

High quality and polished: The game is praised for being well designed, polished, and of high quality, with clever mechanics and great audiovisual presentation. It leaves a very positive impression on players.

Multiple endings and replayability: The game features multiple endings and routes that depend on player interactions, making it highly replayable. Players are encouraged to play through multiple times to see different outcomes.

Creative and unique gameplay: The gameplay is described as creative, inventive, and unique, with challenging battles and clever mechanics. The game does things in a distinctive way that sets it apart.

Humor is overwhelming and repetitive: The humor is frequently described as over-the-top, low-brow, and repetitive, with many jokes falling flat or becoming grating after a short time. The constant memes and absurdity can overshadow any serious moments.

Combat hitboxes feel unfair: Players frequently complain about oversized hitboxes for both the character and projectiles, making dodging feel cheap and unfair. The lack of invincibility frames after being hit can lead to rapid multi-hits and frustrating deaths.

Characters are underdeveloped and annoying: Many characters are seen as flat, one-note gags with little depth or connection to the main plot. Their constant joking and lack of meaningful reactions to player choices make them unlikable and forgettable.

Gameplay is repetitive and boring: The combat, encounters, and backtracking are frequently called repetitive, with few enemy attack patterns and simple mechanics. The game's pacing and lack of variety lead to boredom and frustration.

Too derivative of Undertale: Many players feel the game borrows heavily from Undertale and Deltarune without adding originality, making it feel like a lesser copy. The lack of unique moments and serious tone compared to its inspirations was a common complaint.

Multiple endings and routes: The game features pacifist, neutral, and genocide-like routes, with multiple endings depending on player choices. This is a common point of comparison to Undertale.

Rhapsody system records choices: A unique 'Rhapsody' system tracks all player choices and experiences, providing a record at the end and enhancing replay value. This feature is mentioned in several reviews.

Mix of Undertale, Earthbound, Pokemon: The game is often described as a quirky RPG blending elements from Undertale, Earthbound, and Pokemon, appealing to fans of those franchises.

RPG with party members: The game is a role-playing game featuring party members with varied skillsets and an interchangeable partner system.

Comedic and satirical tone: Compared to Undertale and Deltarune, the game has a stronger comedy focus and satirizes the genre, while maintaining high difficulty and humor.

Steam Deck online issues: The game cannot be played online on the Steam Deck, limiting its portability and multiplayer accessibility. This is a significant drawback for Steam Deck users.

Low PC requirements praised: The game has low PC requirements, making it accessible to a wide range of players with modest hardware. This is a positive aspect that broadens the potential audience.

Try the demo first: Reviewers advise trying the free demo, which is a separate campaign called 'Athenian Rhapsody: Thunder Goober's Personality Dungeon', before purchasing. They suggest that liking the demo indicates you'll enjoy the full game.

Strong overall recommendation: Multiple reviewers give the game a high recommendation, with some giving a 100% recommendation. They encourage players to try the game and enjoy it.

Quirky RPG appeal: Reviewers recommend the game to players who enjoy unusual, humorous, and quirky indie RPGs. It is described as a fun, wacky adventure with strange characters and lighthearted humor.

Challenge and difficulty: The game is noted as not being an easy RPG, and it may not suit players who dislike rhythm games or memorizing attack patterns. Using story mode is acceptable if the difficulty becomes too high.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $20.00.

Game completion: 10.0h.

The game is enjoyable at the start but becomes less fun as difficulty and repetition increase, though some players report it improving over time.

Undertale Humor Enthusiast: Plays through the game, likely on pacifist or exploring routes, focusing on the comedic writing and characters. Motivation: To enjoy a funny, lighthearted RPG experience with Undertale-like mechanics. Stance: buy.

Critical Undertale Veteran: Attempts different modes, may give up or push through, but often feels the game falls short. Motivation: To experience a well-crafted RPG, but they are disappointed by execution issues. Stance: sale.

Route Completionist: Plays through multiple times, trying different choices and approaches, often without assist modes. Motivation: To uncover all endings and routes, fully exploring the game's content. Stance: buy.

Linux and Proton: The game is playable on Steam Deck, but users report that online play, DLC, and achievements do not work properly, indicating a partial compatibility issue on Linux/Proton.

Heavily inspired by Undertale: Many reviewers compare the game to Undertale and Deltarune, noting it follows a similar style and is directly inspired. Some say it is wackier, more polished, and funnier, while others find it less touching or more boring.

Ambitious first game: Reviewers note this is the developer's first commercial game, which is ambitious. The game was mostly made by one person, with another handling the soundtrack.

Event system with DLC: The game has an event system with timed downloadable events and DLC coming in the future. Event Rhapsodies are released slowly over time, and there are promises of more new events.

Content length varies: Reviewers report 7+ hours of content, while others say it is about 10 hours long. The game is short but replayable, offering different routes and events.

Controller and keyboard support: The game supports controller and keyboard and mouse, and works on Windows 11. This ensures accessibility for different play styles.