'Eternal Sonata' is a great example of why the Japanese RPG is a dying breed.
But then times changed. Western developers got into the mix with making their own brand of RPG. Games like 'Fallout' & 'Oblivion' are great examples of this. Gone were the random & repetitive turn-based battles, strange looking feminine male characters, horrendous voice acting, confusing & convoluted storylines, over-long boss battles, horribly overly dramatic cut-scenes, etc. In fact, when you really think about the definition of a "role-playing game", Japanese RPG's don't even fit the description. I don't know about you, but I can hardly relate to being a feminine 14 yr. old with spiky hair (and a voice like a woman) trying to save the universe from some feminine looking villain while forming a "party" with a bunch of annoying characters.
But it didn't matter. Those games were good back in the days of SNES, PlayStation, etc. Unfortuntely for Japanese gaming companies, times have changed. And for some reason, Japanese companies refuse to change with them. I hate to say it, but the Japanese RPG is the worst of the bunch.
So what does all of that mean for 'Eternal Sonata'? Well, what could have been a great game is bogged down by lousy design choices. In other words, stubborn, Japanese design choices. 'Eternal Sonata' tries to be different, but it ends up being the same Japanese RPG you have played a hundred times.
The late composer, Frederic Chopin, has an illness that has put him into a coma. The game itself takes place inside of a dream of Chopin's. All of the characters, dialogue, music, even the world itself is all a product of Chopin's imagination. While that sets itself up for a nice artsy beginning that critics tend to love (hence this game's review scores), in the end you will be playing through the same Japanese RPG story you always have.
There are the annoying band of characters that make up your party, the "evil" Count who is your nemesis, overly long cut-scenes where 14 yr. old girls are spouting off pretentious dialogue, a lack of save points, the most annoying battle system in the history of RPG's (more on that later), horrible voice acting, death for characters that we are supposed to care about but weren't developed enough for us to care, boss battles that seem to last for days only because of the enormous amount of hit-points they have (not because the battle is fun & challenging), and yes there are feminine looking male characters who are supposed to be heroes spouting off 'PG'-rated tough guy lines. Yes, this is pure Japenese RPG at it's "best".
While some people may give these games a pass just because they miss the days of 'Final Fantasy III', I will not. This is a generic RPG trying to be different by giving us an (depending on your tastes) interesting opening premise and a different battle system. I will give 'Tri-Crescendo' (the developer) credit for trying something different. This isn't the same old turn-based battles most gamers would be expecting from a Japanese RPG. Instead we get an annoying time-based system that is overly chaotic and robs the game of most of it's strategy. Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind seeing a change from me just pressing one-button over and over for every fight. But I didn't want to be given 4 lousy seconds to plan what I am going to do and then make my turn. And when I do make that turn, I end up just mashing one button over and over until I hit another button that launches a "special attack". Ugh.
And whomever was in charge of implementing the "block button" should take a long walk off a short pier. When your opponent attacks you, you can press the circle button to block. The trick is that you have around half a millesecond to time it correctly. If you don't, they slaughter you. They slaughter you to a point where timing this block is essential in staying alive in battle. Esepecially during the horrendously long and cheap boss fights. The problem is the game gives you very little room for error and you will end up re-playing fights a lot due to this. When you add in the annoying amount of hit-points the enemies have and the (previously mentioned), timed battle-system, you end up with a game that just isn't much fun to play.
Not to mention there is no way to customize the leveling of your characters. None at all. There are no side-quests or even an over-world map., In fact, there are no maps whatsoever, which is very annoying. And this is the first Japanese RPG, that I can remember, where I had a horrible time with the camera. And while the storyline comes off as trying to be "deep" and "meaningful", it really comes off as being boring and pretentious. Sure the cut-scenes that give you some backstory on Chopin's real life were interesting, but if you aren't a fan of his (and I am not) then you probably won't care. And for a game that is EXTREMEMLY linear in it's gameplay, why are the cut-scenes all over the place like the editor of the game watched too many Quentin Tarantino movies? Trust me, 'Tri-Crescendo', sometimes it's a good thing to have a straight-forward narrative.
So what are the good parts of 'Eternal Sonata'? The game looks & sounds (other than the voice acting) fantastic. Even in the dark & boring dungeons, the game has a certain visual charm to it. Even though I am not a fan, Chopin's music is well represented here. And in all honesty, if you NEED to play a Japanese RPG for the current generation consoles, 'Eternal Sonata' will cure that fix. For better or worse, this is a old-school RPG.
The problem is that it's just an average one, at best. It is shocking to see this game get great review scores. Because if these same critics were playing this game on their old SNES, they would have called it "generic" and it would have been lost in the shuffle of the great RPG's of the past.