A beautiful game with a nice battle system but little else
Visuals: This is where the game really excels. It is set in a beautiful, vibrant world and, similar to the Tales games, the in-game graphics are smoothly animated. Eternal Sonata has cut-scenes showing places and scenery that can be quite breathtaking to behold. 9.5/10
Game-play/battle system: Another thing the game does well is the battle system that's easy enough to get into. It is pretty much a real time turned based system in the sense that your characters take turns fighting but are given an allotted time, when their turn arrives, to freely move on the screen and attack/cast spells/use items. The game has attacks that can be used only within shaded areas and attacks that can be used only in the light. Depending on the amount of sunlight you're in, each character's moves will automatically change. You can only assign a couple attacks to each of your characters at a time but they can be switched in/out anytime outside of battle. Although things can start to feel a little repetitive, the battle system is fun enough that it keeps you playing. The game is also easy enough(maybe aside from the first boss) that you don't ever have the need to grind for levels. Outside of battles, you're allowed to move around freely and visit various towns and places like most JRPGs(although there isn't a true world map). 8/10
Music: While the music isn't entirely memorable, the game does have very nice Chopin piano pieces accompanying it. The music matches the atmosphere of the game well enough that it does its part to help move things along. 7/10
Characters: The game is populated with typical anime characters that border on the cute side which may or may not appeal to players depending on taste. I find that to be just fine but it's rather disappointing that none of the characters do much to stand out or grab your attention. They never quite pull you into the world of Eternal Sonata. It feels a little lacking on character development and holds the game back from becoming what it could have been. 6/10
Story: Eternal Sonata's biggest struggles is with its story. If you go into the game expecting some grand story containing an epic journey or other, you will be sorely disappointed. What's interesting and rather unique is that you get little snippets of the real Chopin's life every so often through something that's like a slide-show. On the positive, you're learning about a great musician as much as simply playing a piece of fiction, however, how Chopin's life is presented is done in a way that makes it feel choppy and detached from the actual plot of the game itself. Much of the game's plot seems to be focused on philosophy about people/life(which isn't a bad thing) but not enough twist in plot and bland story-telling gives the game a rather anti-climatic feeling. Overall, the story falls flat in that it doesn't feel like it ever progresses very far and, at the end, some things will feel like they never got resolved. 4/10