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One of the weirdest Japanese RPGs you'll ever play
posted by Twizlex (DAUPHIN, PA) Sep 25, 2007
Member since Jul 2006
90 out of 100 gamers (90%) found this review helpful
The entire world of Eternal Sonata is set in a dream that composer Frederic Chopin is having while on his deathbed. And no, that's not a spoiler - you learn this at the very beginning of the game. Anyways, since this dream world is in the mind of this famous composer, everything is music-inspired: everybody's names (Jazz, Allegretto, Polka, etc.), staircases that are piano keys and play music when you walk on them, water fountains shaped like guitars... You can find pieces of sheet music throughout the game, little collectibles that you can match up with other pieces of music to play songs and unlock bonuses.
Unlike most traditional JRPG's, the combat isn't turn based. Well, it is, but instead of navigating menus and selecting "Attack", the combat plays out in real time. When it's your turn, you actually move your character around and hack away at enemies, or use special attacks. Regular attack is mapped to the A button, and special attack is the Y button. Each character has a light and dark special attack, and which one you use depends on if you're standing in the light or shadows when you hit the button. Enemies also are affected by the light/dark, becoming stronger or weaker, and some can even drastically change shapes. This system is much more entertaining and fun, especially for those out there that think turn-based games are "boring". Also, there aren't any random encounters. You can see the enemies walking around the world and can avoid a lot of them if you wish.
Lastly, I MUST talk about the graphics. This game looks awesome. Not in a next-gen, hyper-realistic or Gears of War way, but in that it looks like a cartoon. Everything is brightly colored and sharp, and the animations are pretty smooth. It's actually really ironic in a way since the story is really dark and depressing.
The only letdown is that this game is really short for an RPG. On top of that, the story kind of unravels at the end, which was a slight disappointment.
Unlike most traditional JRPG's, the combat isn't turn based. Well, it is, but instead of navigating menus and selecting "Attack", the combat plays out in real time. When it's your turn, you actually move your character around and hack away at enemies, or use special attacks. Regular attack is mapped to the A button, and special attack is the Y button. Each character has a light and dark special attack, and which one you use depends on if you're standing in the light or shadows when you hit the button. Enemies also are affected by the light/dark, becoming stronger or weaker, and some can even drastically change shapes. This system is much more entertaining and fun, especially for those out there that think turn-based games are "boring". Also, there aren't any random encounters. You can see the enemies walking around the world and can avoid a lot of them if you wish.
Lastly, I MUST talk about the graphics. This game looks awesome. Not in a next-gen, hyper-realistic or Gears of War way, but in that it looks like a cartoon. Everything is brightly colored and sharp, and the animations are pretty smooth. It's actually really ironic in a way since the story is really dark and depressing.
The only letdown is that this game is really short for an RPG. On top of that, the story kind of unravels at the end, which was a slight disappointment.