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ES: A Great & Fun Musical Adventure

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Eternal Sonata is probably one of the best JRPGs out there for the X-box 360 currently to date. There are some negatives and positives to the game, but over all, the game mixes music and JRPGs together to create something fun and enjoyable.

Story: The story of Eternal Sonata is basically about Frederic Chopin dreaming about a vivid world as he lies on his deathbed. You basically play through his world that crosses between dream and reality. The story is something that piqued my interest when I first saw Eternal Sonata and I thought it was interesting. The only problem I had with the story is that it moved to fast sometimes and that some parts were irrelevant -- like getting water for a flower. Another problem I had is that the game was short --- I finished it in about 29 hours.

Graphics & Music: The graphics and the music of Eternal Sonata are just suburb and beautiful. The graphics is unique and is one of the highlights of the game. Furthermore, the music is just stunning and I could listen to it everyday.

Gameplay: One of the most fun things of Eternal Sonata is the battle system. The battle system is a "Shared-Time/Real-Time Battle System." Basically meaning that as characters attack the enemy, the game moves in real time only in the time allotted to each of the characters. It's pretty easy to understand and has a unique system of light/dark where depending on where you are, your attacks change or the monsters change.

Characters: You have a choice of 3 out 10 characters to have in your party. The characters all have unique designs and have their own story to be said. The sad point of the game is that you really don't get to know the characters, especially the bad guys --- you know them for one second and then that's it.

Others: The game is of a linear aspect, there really is no exploring of the map. Also, there is very little side quests in your first play through. In addition, the camera is a set-view and you cannot change the camera to your liking. These points really didn't bother me though.

Overall, Eternal Sonata is a great game that I would recommenced you to play if you like JRPGs. I had a fun time playing it even with it's negatives.

Who knew a game about a classical musician on his deathbed could actually be good?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

...I admit, I was a bit skeptical at first. The premise just seemed so outlandish, I didn't think it would be possible to create a fun gaming experience out of such a weird concept. I decided to give it a try, and found that it actually is a fun, solid game with a very classic feel to it. With all the magic, swordplay, cute-but-annoying animal sidekicks and the convoluted storyline, It brings to mind early Final Fantasy games (before it jumped the shark with FFX) but is new and innovative at the same time. The battle system is definately original, and the enemies and abilities that change depending on the lighting adds a whole new twist as well.

The graphics are absolutely beautiful, even the sewers are a feast for the eyes! The music (supplied by the real-life Chopin) is gorgeous as well. The characters are different, interesting, and likable (I especially like the no-nonsense, butt-kicking goatherder/archer Viola) and the storyline, though very confusing at times, is pretty interesting. There is also an educational aspect to it, with cutscenes explaining Chopin's life at the beginning of each chapter.

One of the biggest drawbacks though, are those NEVER-ENDING CUTSCENES! Good Lord! I felt deserving of an achievement after sitting through the opening scene in which the narrator drones on and on seemingly without end about the freakin' flowers! And that half-hour long, wikipedia entry worthy cutscene about George Sand...oi vey. Yeah education is cool and all, but I felt the sheer length was really tedious and was taking away from the game.

A fun game all-in-all that fans of old-school rpgs will find especially entertaining.

If you own an Xbox 360 or PS3 and you like RPGs, then you have no reason to not own this.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I put "or PS3," because it'll be released in Februrary, apparently.

After watching some online videos of the battle system in play, I was instantly hooked on the game before I even ever played it. I was even more impressed with the game once I played it. I'm just going to jump right in to listing the things I liked and didn't like now.

The game is very well-themed and they keep it inside this theme throughout the whole game. Since we're talking about the famous Chopin's dream world once he slips into a coma, much of the game's music is made to feel classical. But it doesn't end there. Not only is the music excellent and fitting, but so are character's names. Allegretto, Jazz, Beat. Character's names are named after musical things and even their weapons are. A sword with a harp on it, for example.

The graphics, despite being a little cartoony/anime-like, is surprisingly very good. The water, grass, the blue sky, the blocks that make up city brick by brick are all excellent.

Storyline is almost the whole reason to even play an RPG, Eternal Sonata doesn't disappoint. As it develops, Chopin grows confused with what's a dream and what's not and at the end-game credits, all the characters have an epilogue moment about mostly the same subject. It seems there's a personal moral question to the game that goes beyond just someone telling you a story.

The battle system and the world explore system is very nice. The latter is like Xenosaga, where enemies are laid out on the out-of-battle maps and you can try to avoid them if you wish. The battle system is limited time turn-based on a free-roaming map. Standing in light or shadow also gives your characters different abilities as long as they stand there. I very much enjoyed it.

The game's not perfect, though. One thing I very much disliked about the game was how short it was. I beat the game in 20 hours, which isn't too bad for games in general, but RPG standard length time (in my experiences of playing games) is about 36 hours. Sure, the game has a replay mode where the difficulty is higher, but there's nothing that's worth unlocking to me. I only care about replay modes if you get to unlock extra storyline, or if the game is just so fun to smash things in that I want to play it again (and I didn't want to do that in ES. RPGs are harder to have replay value than other game genres due to you having to walk around in boring towns, do unimportant quests, sit through cutscenes). The length of the game is one of my only complaints, really.

It's an exceptionally good game. If you own an Xbox 360, or a PS3 when it's finally out for it, then you should definitely give this game a shot if you're into RPGs. I would still say I recommend Enchanted Arms above this, but having both is better.

the most BEAUTIFUL game!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I haven't played a game this beautifully made in a long time. It's visually stimulation and with just beautiful music. The details of the graphics is just breath taking. Every grass and pollens are moving individually in coordination. There are times when I just wish I can be in the game, hanging out by the green grass or just by the sea.

Besides the graphics, the game play is amazing. The battle-style is like that of Grandia II. If you are a Grandia II fan, this is definite in your alley.

The storyline is rich, although a bit confusing. I had to play the game two times to appreciate the story. Anyhow, definitely highly recommend this game.

Mediocre at Best

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Given the detail of other reviews, I'll skip the synopsis of the game and go straight into the opinion section.

The game is quite beautiful, with an amazingly developed story line and a bit of a history lesson all rolled into one. The biggest problems for me were how slowly the game moved and how monotonous the play was. As a single player game I enjoyed the game, though it wasn't overly challenging. But, as a multi-player game, it just doesn't work at all. There's too much time spent waiting for your turn or doing nothing while player one makes their way through the map.

If you're going to play, play alone.

Awesome new generation RPG, great storyline, perfect for classical music lovers

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I've always been an avid RPG gamer, and Eternal Sonata is by far one of my favorite RPG games. The only potential drawback to this game is the fact that the graphics are nothing too special. I would say that they are comparable to many PS2 RPG games. Nevertheless, that does not detract much from my love for this game.

The storyline is quite poignant once you get into it, but I will try to prevent including spoilers in this review. The battle system is very unique with dark/light strategy depending on where your character is standing and real-time stamina. Some argue that the battle system is messy and hard to follow, but that is hardly noticeable after practicing a few battles.

This game is perfect for RPG gamers who also happen to like classical music, particularly Chopin's works. I've played the piano for over 12 years, and Chopin's compositions have been some of my favorites. At the enc of each chapter, the game plays a beautiful song and shows some biographical information about Chopin. Thus, this game is not only a game but also a music culture enhancer.

I just couldn't have enough of this game and had to do a replay with the New Game + feature. Discover an even deeper storyline the second time through!

Overall, this game has been one of my favorites due to the combination of excellent gameplay as well as overall content.

Cool Game for Anime Fans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Cool game so far. I wasn't sure what to expect but after playing it for the first time my jaw dropped to the ground after I saw the exquisite anime/3d styled graphics. The game has an interesting story about a young girl with real-time rendered cinematics to tell it. So far I am on a journey through a fantasy countryside (bird's eye view Diablo-style) and occasionally run into a baddie and then the screen zooms into battle mode similar to Final Fantasy battles.

I would recommend this game to anyone who, 1. Likes fantasy, 2. Likes anime (the sweeter side of anime - not ninjas, etc), and 3. Likes third person style games. One additional note is that you can change the cinematic/game play audio to Japanese with English subtitles - awesome if you like to hear the foreign language.

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