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Eternal Bliss

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 43 / 44
Date: September 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

There aren't a lot of JRPGs on the XBOX360 and what ones there are aren't as special as promised. Eternal Sonata is a different story. It's a grand game that hits all the right notes. It has a few minor issues, but nothing that keeps it from being fantastic.

Fredric Chopin is terribly sick and dying. As he lies unconscious in bed he has a dream where he is in a world unlike any other. In this world, those who are sick with incurable diseases can use magic, but is it really a dream? Or is it another reality? This world has its own problems, however, the people are being taxed and a man named Count Waltz is slowly enslaving everyone. It doesn't sound like much, but the story is surprisingly deep and is full of several themes. There are also many music references throughout the game. From the characters who have names like Allegretto, Polka and Beat. To some of the places you'll be going like the Chrous Plains.

The story is told through cutscenes voiced by the characters. The voice acting isn't the best in the world. They've got the right voices for the job, but a lot of the actual voice acting is dry. Luckily, if the English voice overs are annoying you, you have the option to switch the voices to Japanese. The story jumps between Chopin's life and the dream world which the gameplay centers in. Also, throughout the game, you'll get to learn a little about the real Chopin. The game gives you some historical accounts and during these moments will play his beautiful music. This is all great, but sometimes these historical segments come up at inappropriate times. The good news about these historical segments is that they do relate to the overall story. Also, as good as the story is, it's rather slow to start. On the bright side, the cast of characters are really likeable.

The game isn't all that different from your traditional JRPG. There's a field mode and a battle mode. Outside of battle you'll run around on the field gathering treasure and talking to denizens. Battles are contact based which means you can easily avoid battles you don't want to bother with. Battling in Eternal Sonata is quite fun, though.

The battle system is perhaps one of the most inventive battle systems in the genre. Your characters and enemies have what's called an "action" gauge. When a character takes his or her turn in battle they'll have what's called an "action gauge" on the left hand side of the screen which will count down. Within the allotted time, you can pretty much do anything you want. Either attack normally, use items or special attacks. You'll have to plan well, though. It's a simple battle system to grasp, but it's hard to master. This is because the battle system never stays entirely the same throughout the journey. You have what's called party levels, and the higher your party level the more difficult battles will be. For example, at Party level 1 the action gauge decreases only when you move, and stops decreasing when you stop. When you hit party level 2, however, the action gauge never stops. Just when you're positive you've mastered the battle system, it throws another twist at you, via the party level.

The battle system works well because it relies not only on real time, but strategy as well. Special moves are an important part of combat. There's no limit to how often you can use them, but even here there's a twist. Your party has what's called echoes. The more hits you score in battle the more echoes you get. These will increase the power of your special attacks and are shared by the whole party. While it's tempting to end every combo with a special attack, it's even better to save them until you've acquired enough echoes. Just the same, Eternal Sonata will give you quite a challenge, especially in the boss battles. You can also block your enemies attacks by pressing B at the right time. This doesn't mean you can just mash on the B button when the enemy attacks as your character will guard prematurely and take the full extent of the damage. These timed presses take a long time to master.

Another really big aspect of the games battle system is the use of light and dark. Special attacks change based on whether or not you are standing in light or in shade. That's not all light and shade have an impact on. Some enemies change form depending on where they are. Some enemies will also throw you for a loop because they can provide their own light. The game is very touchy on this as even standing in the enemies shadow will cause you to use a dark special attack instead of a light one. It's pretty amazing stuff.

The only major issue with Eternal Sonata is that there simply isn't much to the game. There's a sidequest where you can collect and play musical pieces, but for the most part, it's quite linear. There's no overworld map either, so there's not much of a chance to really explore anything throughout the game. Another big issue with exploring the environments is that the camera is at a fixed angle and you can't shift or rotate it. In some moments when you're traversing behind scenery, it'd be nice to be able to shift the camera to see what was in front of you.

Another smaller issue involves the story itself. While it is good, there are moments when it rambles and even (to a certain extent) preaches to you. A lot of the cutscenes are long, but that shouldn't be much of a problem. You can skip them.

Those issues aside, the game is absolutely gorgeous looking. It's not the greatest looking game on the system, but it's beautiful and artistic nonetheless. This is one of the most beautiful looking cel-shaded games out there. It also doesn't suffer from terrible load times or framerate issues. The best part about Eternal Sonata is its beautiful music soundtrack, which sounds nothing short of fantastic. It's absolutely remarkable. The fact that they also play some of Chopin's music is also really nice.

Eternal Sonata is easily the best JRPG available on the XBOX360 at the moment. It has a surprisingly deep story and is a burst of creative energy. All minor problems aside, it's an enjoyable game.

Pros:

+Surprisingly deep story
+Very well defined characters
+Some historical background on Chopin's life
+Very inventive battle system
+A good challenge, and the game only keeps getting harder as you go
+Very gorgeous game
+Remarkable soundtrack, some of Chopin's actual music is also used

Cons:

-Very linear
-Historical moments sometimes show up at inappropriate times
-Slow story
-Bad voice acting
-There are moments when the game is just all out preachy

Most fun RPG I've played in a long time.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: September 20, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have just a few things to add to Sean's excellent review.

One thing a lot of people miss is that you can play this game coop with up to 2 other friends. This is unusual for an RPG. The fighting is great fun - my wife and I have pretty much played this game from start to where we are now (about 12 hours in). We absolutely love this game.

We have never had any issues with items, in fact we rarely use them. Maybe this will change later on when things get harder. Personally, I like the item limitation as the game would be too easy if they were limitless.

We like the linearity of the game. It's a matter of taste I guess. Since this game is coop, the linearity works in your favor when you are playing with friends (who wants to watch you figure out mazes and backtrack all over the place trying to figure out where to go next?). The game moves at a very brisk pace.

We thought the voice acting was excellent with a few minor exceptions. The main characters were played perfectly.

And I would like to doubly highlight that this game has one of the best soundtracks to date. It is absolutely magnificent. Probably the best soundtrack that I've heard this entire generation.

If you like Japanese-style role-playing games, you cannot go wrong with this game. You will love it.

Zank's Review

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Story: Aside from the aspect of everything being Chopin's dream, the story is pretty decent. It runs on many clichéd ideas, but the main point is what matters and I judge it for what its worth. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I loved the story, but it wasn't really all that unique or original aside from the initial point; Chopin's dream.

Music: This game has got to have the one of the best soundtracks in any RPG or game, for that matter. It's full of beauty and really gets you to feel the area. Sometimes, I would find myself stopping everything to just sit back and listen to the music of the current area. The remix of Revolutionary Etude is something you don't want to miss either!

Battle system: When playing Grandia III, I didn't think turn based battle systems could get anymore addicting or exciting. But after playing Eternal Sonata, I realized I was wrong. This, by far, has one of the best turn based battle systems I have yet to play. Though, that may be because it's a hybrid of real time and turn based mechanics. Its easy to understand and the learning curve is pretty quick. But by far, my favorite aspect is how it changes slightly throughout the game as you get `Party Level Ups'. This, for the most part, ends up changing many of your strategies and can push you to the limits if you aren't careful. Each Party Level introduces something new, and keeps things interesting. All in all, it's the most addicting battle system (in general) since Tales of the Abyss. At least, in my opinion.

Graphics: I never knew that cell shaded graphics could look so beautiful. In this game, you will see some of the most fluid and smooth cell shaded graphics and characters. If there was never a reason to get an HDTV, there is one now. The entire game is full of vibrant colors; beautiful all in their own regard. Even one of the first dungeons, which takes place in a sewer, is just full of beauty.

Aside from those categories, I really enjoyed the characters. Some of the voice actors weren't to my liking, but for the most part, I was satisfied with them. But for those who enjoy the Japanese voices over the English ones have the option to switch between them! Which is a lovely feature in a game like this. So either way, you should be pleased with the voices.

There wasn't an area I didn't like, and there wasn't a moment I didn't love. My only gripe is how short the game is. You can easily beat it in a good 20-30 hours. For everything it had to offer, I only wish it was longer.

A Brillant Dreamscape with a Beautiful Soundtrack

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I haven't played video games in such a long time because it is very difficult for me to find games that I like (being that I am a girl that is not into sport or war games). This game is exactly what I have been looking for and it was worth every penny, it has brillant graphics that pop on an HDTV and beautiful music throughout. I am not a classical music fan but this game was fantastic. I actually enjoyed the little history lessons throughout about Chopin's life. Some of the actual story scenes dragged on especially in the opening scenes, and the voice acting was not all that great. I never skipped them, however, because I wanted to drink in all the beautiful scenary surrounding the characters. Gorgeous game!! I highly recommend!

Eternal Sonata is amazing! Do not miss this game!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 20, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Eternal Sonata is amazing!

This game was just splendid! From start to finish there is never a dull moment. A deep fleshed out story line with characters based on real life people combined with totally original characters all blended up into a refreshing mix of RPG amassment. The story is about the Famous composer redrick Chopin and his band of dream world heros as they strive to take down an evil king. It's incredibly well done and no RPG goer should miss out on such a masterpiece.

Visuals: 9
High def anime beauty. Tons of detail can be seen on every single character model and lush environment throughout the game. Crisp anime style characters, glowing forest, and so much more can be seen here. It's truly a feast for the eyes.

Gameplay: 10
A totally new concept for the action adventure RPG style. Namco took eveything you love about action RPGS and slapped it into a turn based strategy package. It works out very well. There are tons of different moves to learn that change depending on if you are in light or dark areas. It's a lot of fun!

Music: 10
With a game based on a composer.. You have to ask. How is the soundtrack? Well, it won't disappoint. There is a wide variety of music to be heard ranging from Chopins work to new original music to fit the anime style theme

Overall: 9.5
Eternal Sonata will not disappoint. There is so much to love and so much to do here that you will never get tired of playing. I recommend every fantasy/rpg gamer pick this up ASAP!

An RPG That Doesn't Get Boring!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Not only has Eternal Sonata provided me with some RPG fun on my Xbox 360, but it is one of the best games I've played all year! (Edited: I mentioned that I was disappointed with Blue Dragon, but after getting into the game the past week I have to say Blue Dragon is much better than I thought.)

Most importantly, I just have to say this game looks incredible. Played in 720p on my 23" LCD TV, the game is stunning. Every location is so stylized and beautiful in Eternal Sonata, filled with vibrant colors, intricate designs, and great lighting. Lately video games feel so rushed, as if the developers adopted a "good enough" attitude and push a game to retail as fast as possible. Eternal Sonata does not feel this way in the least. You can tell Tri-Crescendo spent a large amount of time making every environment. The attention to detail is very refreshing.

Battles look good, too. Animations are always smooth, and special attacks look great.

Eternal Sonata's soundtrack is just as great as the visuals, which is fitting with it being so heavily influenced by music style-wise and thematically. You can also unlock piano solos of some of Chopin's pieces throughout the game and play them whenever you like.

I feel that the story is refreshing, avoiding many RPG cliches and always evolving. The voice acting is some of the best I've seen, it really lends itself to the personalities of each character.

Eternal Sonata is so great because it's easy to pick up and play. The memorable characters, great story line, and battle system that becomes more difficult and powerful as you progress make it easy to lose track of time as you play. I know for me, I usually lose attention in many RPGs after a while because they just become too mundane. This game truly is a gem that is incredibly polished and accessible.

A beautiful drem... but a let down as well

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 16
Date: September 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

First off, this is a great game. There are alot of great aspects but as i got far in the game and eventually beat it, there seemed to be more cons that just led to very mixed feelings. (mainly a consequence from the near political messages that constantly pop up in this game)

Ive been waiting a long time for this game. Final Fantasy has always been my favorite game cause I love story so of course when I heard about this game, I was excited. The creative aspect that you're in the dream world of one of the greatest pianists ever, Chopin is a gret idea but if you are to include such a respected man and put him into a JRPG fantasy world, you have to be real careful and to be honest, I dont think this game does a great job portraying Chopin... But then again, can you really put a man like Chopin into a corny JRPG and accurately portray him?

The first 5hrs of the game, I thought it was going to be my all time favorite game. call it slow if you want but I thought the beginning of the game was near perfect. Alot of effort was put in to build up the main characters and show how they meet. I love how Chopin was introduced and the music is amazing. I couldnt put the game down but after about 6hrs, the newer characters were less creative and joined the party in less creative ways. It got to the point where the party would meet and the new character would say: "you saved my sheep. I will join you"... and so she did. It just didnt stay as cool and inventive as it started out to be.

The game's base is pretty awesome: you are in Chopin's dream. This is one reason the first 5hrs of the game is so creative: you are introduced to the world and the awesome idea that its a dream... but unfortunately after you get past that point, its almost as if that creative aspect dissapears. Chopin starts to accept that this "dream world" is real, the mystery and enchantment starts to dissipate and the game just turns into a regular old JRPG with a bland story with a pianist as a character. The concept is cool but the actual story that takes place in this fantasy world isnt anything great and new. An evil guy that looks like he's 13yrs old named count waltz wants world domination (wow thats new) and he's selling a medicinal herb that turns people into bad guys to achieve his goal. So as you can guess, our band of heroes goes to stop this crazy teenager.

The best things about the game have to be the graphics and the battle system. The game looks so great. The environments are lush with movement and captivation and the characters are very detailed. If you have an HD tv, you're in for a treat. The battle system is great. Its turn-based with a mixture of action and strategy. When its your turn, you have a time limit to make your decisions, move around the battle field and act. The only thing I found irritating about the battle system is that it evolves as you level. In translation, the battle system gains levles and gets harder by giving you less time to act, changing the way you use special attacks, etc. I think this to be a great idea but I didnt think it to be necessary.

As for the overall game, The story is surrounded by corny lines (which most jrpgs have) mediocre voice acting and the the WORST thing about the game... messages that have to do with war, peace and the environment..... Did al gore write this game??

Thats right... All through the game you get little messages about how war is bad and how mankind is just destructive towards the environment... Now if those are your beliefs, thats great but I dont think a fantasy RPG is the place for them and I will think twice before buying a bandai videogame next time. I want to slap whoever had the idea of doing this... By the end of the game, i felt like I had been tricked into buying a liberal game when I thought I was getting a fantasy adventure revolving around my favorite pianist. I guess the infection of politics moves from movies now to games... its a shame.

So if the game would have reamained as creative as it started, the voice acting was better and there was NO little messages, this in my opinion would be one of the greatest games out there.

Mediocre JRPG

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 10
Date: December 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is a mediocre Japanese-style RPG for the XBox 360. It's worth your while to play it simply because there aren't many JRPGs on this platform. How much you will enjoy this game depends on the particular type of JRPG that you prefer.

Forget this game if you like your RPGs to have grand, epic storylines. If your preference tend to lean towards the likes of Final Fantasy and Xenosaga, with their deeply-emotional storylines, well-developed characters, grand orchestral soundtracks, and elaborate cinematics, then please stay away from Eternal Sonata. You will find none of those here.

If you don't really care to have a grand story, or an intriguing plot, then you might like this one. What Eternal Sonata will give you is a battle system that is easy to learn. There will be huge dungeons to navigate, and many, many opportunities to get lost in them. These dungeons also have many dead ends. Basically, the game will keep you very busy, and at the same time the story unfolding very slowly. The enemy battles in the dungeons are highly repetitive. Every time you engage the same type of enemy in a particular dungeon, the battle will play out exactly the same way. It will get old rather quickly if you're accustomed to a lot of variety in your game. There's definitely plenty of "activity"; however, whether such can be called "gameplay" depends on how you define the latter.

If simply navigating through lots of wrong turns, fighting the same exact battles over and over again constitute gameplay for you, then you will be happy with this game. If you're like me and prefer your gameplay to have a point (meaning it moves the story forward and unfolds the plot in a logical way), then you will be unsatisfied with Eternal Sonata.

Eternal Sonata is made by the same developer (Tri-Crescendo) that made Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean and Baten Kaitos Origins. Monolith Soft, the developer of Xenosaga, had a hand in developing the first Baten Kaitos. However, ES is nothing at all like Xenosaga or your typical Playstation RPG. Eternal Sonata plays more like a Nintendo game. Which the two Baten Kaitos are, by the way.

Eternal Sonata is not at all what I would expect from an RPG that was designed for a next-generation video game platform. There are no grand cinematics here. As a matter of fact, you will have to do a lot of reading because just about all of the lines are not "spoken". There's very little spoken dialogue in the game. I almost felt like I was playing on a Gamecube! As I said, Eternal Sonata is more like a typical Nintendo game, which tend to eschew deep plot, character development, epic story, and grand soundtrack in favor of puzzles and repetitive battles.

The story begins at the deathbed of Frederic Chopin. As the hours of his life tick away, he begins to dream. And the game takes place in his "dreamworld". There was a lot of potential here to develop a truly moving and epic story. However, Tri-Crescendo chose to keep the story light and character development became just an afterthought. The dialogue in the game are oftentimes awkward. It's not a problem with the voice-acting though. If you have played any of the Xenosaga and Soul Calibur games, the voices will be instantly recognizable to you. Rather the lines themselves are awkward.

If you only have an XBox 360 and you like JRPGs, then you simply have to give this game a try. It could very well be the best of the genre on this platform. For now, anyways.

How do I hate this game; Let me count the ways

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 17
Date: November 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have only one good thing to say for this game: it is visually stunning, one of the most beautiful games I have ever played. Everything else I have to say about this game is negative. The characters lack depth and bore the player to tears. Character's motivations are either unbelievable or non-existent. The dialog is even worse than the characters. It is repetitious, the obvious is stated over and over, and seldom contributes to the development of the plot or of the characters. We soon find ourselves wishing Chopin would just die and end it all.

In the beginning of the game we are told Polka can use magic, but she is terminally ill, since only terminally ill characters have magic powers. We expect Polka's magic to be a key factor in the game, but in fact, she never has need of it. Polka, as one of the lead characters, should also be one of the strongest characters. Instead, she is a powerless wimp, who ends each failed attack with the words, "I'm sorry." Since there are a total of nine playable characters, one soon stops playing her. However, it is necessary to level up all the characters, because the game will suddenly force you to battle using a character you have not chosen to use. By leveling up all the characters, we soon run out of necessities, such as floral bouquet. To replenish most needed items, we must get them from treasure chests, because the local shops do not sell them. Treasure chests are few and far between.

The battle system is horrible. In the later stages of the game, when we play a boss, the system attempts to make the boss more difficult to beat by constantly moving it in front of your player characters, so it becomes impossible to control them, because we can't see them. Each turn is time based. Nearly half of each time-based turn is spent approaching the monster, which has been moved away from the player character during the monster's turn. The monsters, of course, have distance attack, but only two of the player characters do, and their distance attacks are very weak. To replenish lost health points, or to revive a character during battle, requires that another character lose its turn. We are never allowed to know how many health points belong to the monsters, so we never know our status in relationship to them.

Then there are the musical sessions. Unless we read music our chances of success with them are slim and none.

These are just a few of this game's low points. Unlike the typical X-Box 360 game, Eternal Sonata is completely two dimensional. There are no side quests either. In my opinion, this game is not worth $[...]. Wait and buy it used at your local game store at a price appropriate to its lack of quality.

Great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This was a really fun and interesting game. It was definitely addictive and had me playing nearly every day until I finished it last night. Very good story and they did a great job with making you care about the characters. I really enjoyed the art as well, which was full of pretty colors and anime style characters. I did feel there a few loose ends that weren't tied up as neatly as I would've liked at the end, but overall, it was an extremely enjoyable game and story.

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