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I keep hearing how the PS3 is largely void of role-playing games and that the genre is ignored in favor of more popular shooters. While the latter might be somewhat true, games like Eternal Sonata prove that quality RPGs are on the PS3.
For a longtime RPG fan Eternal Sonata is a bit of a strange game at least in the sense that I've never quite played a game like it before. First, the setting takes place in Europe in the 1800's and revolves around the pianist Frederic Chopin. The game is part tribute to Chopin and part fantasy. In the game Chopin has fallen ill and in his unconscious state creates a dream world. This is where the player will spend the majority of their time.
In the dream world people who can use magic are all terminally ill non magic users are rightfully terrified of those with magical abilities. Set in a land called Forte with a ruler named Count Waltz the game introduces a rag tag group of characters each with their own motivations for change. Eventually the characters will form an alliance and rise against the forces threatening their world. Periodically the game will shift back to "reality" where Chopin lies ill and introduce brief historical highlights of Chopin's life.
Because the obvious musical influence music plays a large part in the game. Each of the characters in named after various musical influences, additionally the player will collect pieces of "set pieces" of musical scores that combined with NPCs can net the player special items. The soundtrack to the game itself is brilliant and one of the best musical scores I've ever heard in a video game.
Combat is an interesting mix of action and turn-based. The player is given an action gauge in which you have a set amount of time to perform your attacks. Attacks are broken down to physical attacks, item based attacks or special attacks. Each successful hit builds a combo meter that when unleashed with a special attack causes more damage. Build up the combo meter enough and you can unleash a special animation with your attack.
An interesting twist to the combat is that as you progress in the game the combat mechanics level up too. This serves to both increase the difficulty and your party's abilities. For example when you start the game the action meter only counts down when you're moving on the combat map and executing attacks. Stand still and the meter will stop. This allows for a new player to take time and think actions out beforehand without pressure. Later the time meter will not only give you less time to act but also start counting down from the moment you take your first step and won't stop until the timer runs out. On the other hand your "item bag" where you store items to use in combat will upgrade from the initial 10 points (each item has a point value) to 20 points and eventually more. I found this a very refreshing take on combat!
The graphics themselves are amazing. Eternal Sonata is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. Some might be disappointed at the 720p resolution of the game. But let me put those fears aside this game is gorgeous from the get-go.
If I had to pick a few things I don't like about the game it would easily have to be the voice overs and very linear gameplay. Not all the voice overs are bad, some are actually quite good. However, certain characters Polka have such childish voices and mannerisms that it's near unbearable. The good news is that the game does feature the ability to turn on the Japanese voice overs and play the game with English subtitles.
The linear gameplay, well love it or hate, it's different for everyone. Personally I've love the ability to explore the amazing world of Eternal Sonata on my own terms rather than follow and linear path. But I understand not every game is about massive exploration.
File Eternal Sonata under "overlooked gem". Don't be one of those players that passes up on the game because it's a port of the X360 original or is turned of by the look. Eternal Sonata is worthy of any RPG-lovers time.
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3.5/5 (Rounded up, It's a story thing) Imagine a fantasy fan-fic of Chopin's dying days. You might imagine something along the lines of Eternal Sonata...but it's not likely. Its seems to me like what might come of a less successful collaboration between Tri-Ace and Level 5. It's an action-y JRPG. It has a Level 5 look and sound to it. I'll try and be concise.I enjoyed the game. The world and characters are colorful and beautifully cell-shaded. The cast is also cute and mostly kid-friendly even by conservative standards just the occasional "damn" in there, some sparkly violence, and your run of the mill maniacal bad guy wanting to rule the world. You'll solve a few puzzles and the battle system has a fun, beat 'em up combo, timed, turn-based style. Your attacks and spells also change, as assigned by you, according to whether you are standing in shade or light. As the game progresses, your "Party Level" will increase making battle slightly more difficult. A couple of fun little anomalies in this style. The game is broken up into chapters and each one comes with a song and a bit of Chopin's story. I was glad to see a game try to encourage musical enrichment. It offers secret dungeons later in the game and a New Game + feature after you've beaten it to replay the game with your party level (not character levels) in tact and a couple of secrets inaccessible the first play through. These features see an increase in difficulty of combat and a few more puzzles.
On the other hand, coming from someone who doesn't blink at, sometimes laughs at, the more mature content of many/most games, gamers who don't enjoy anything with mega-blok (it is spelled that way) edges may want to avoid this game. I meant the bit about being kid-friendly. The characters speak rather slowly and everything is overly dramatic. In the world of JRPG's that's just something that comes with the territory. You might enjoy it at times but roll your eyes at others. It is a very linear game. If you want something sandbox-like, this is not your game. Although I wouldn't call the game hard, the battles can sometimes prove a little challenging for experienced gamers, especially some of the bosses and more so in Encore mode (though nothing like the shock of Star Ocean's Gabriel Celeste or Ethereal Queen).
Now, story-wise I must say it's not so great. It's convoluted and kind of confusing. The characters are your basic cookie-cutter archetypes. You probably won't play for story unless the words "save the world" still do it for you or you are one of our younger or younger-hearted gamers (Which is fine, of course. Along with a lot of other users, I guess I'm just a little too jaded to be able to enjoy it as much).
If you've played Dark Cloud 1 or 2, the Star Ocean series, or Rogue Galaxy a few things might resonate with your memories of them (Though I honestly think I enjoyed all of those titles a little more than this.)
Ultimately, I enjoyed the game. It has a nice, innocent energy about it. The world and characters are pretty and colorful. The music is Chopin or Chopin inspired and sounds great with the option to listen from the camp menu. You get to learn a little bit about him. You can skip cut-scenes if you don't care about the story. It has replay value with Encore mode and extra little goodies. It lacks trophies on PS3 (though it also comes with a couple of characters not on the Xbox 360 version). It's not expensive. It's a cute JRPG. I didn't love it, but I did like it. If you've made it far enough to read this, try it. You've not got much to lose and you might enjoy it.
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