Packed with great gameplay, visuals and music, Eternal Sonata offers a never-forget RPG adventure.
And what's bad: Short, 20 hours or less makes you want more; Character design may not be everyone's favorite.
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You don't have to be a pianist to know Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, yes, the greatest piano composer of all time. And Eternal Sonata (known as Trusty Bell Chopin no yume in Japan) is a game powered by his masterpieces. After 6 years in the development, Tri-Cresendo has made a RPG which contains memorable elements and so much replay value, making it one of the best RPG of all time.
The game take players into the dream world of Chopin; the last dream he had 3 hours before his death. Starting at Tenuto village, Chopin meets a girl named Polka, who is suffering from a weird disease. The disease will grant a person magic powers but only allows the victim to live for a short period of time. Still, Polka wanted to help people around the world with the remaining time; and so she started a journey with Chopin.
Polka met up with Allegretto and Beet, two orphans who steals to survive, and a group of resistance against King Waltz. The problem with King Waltz is he wanted to seize a kind of living thing called Shining Agogo in order to make his army unstoppable. So this is where the real journey of the 10 characters begins.
Like all RPGs, you'll take control of a character (mostly Allegretto or Polka and Beet sometimes), walk around leveling and solving puzzles. One of the elements that separate this game from others is the battle system. You'll see enemies lurking around as you explore, to start a fight you must either touch them or being touched. Some aggressive enemies will provoke a battle with you by chasing. However, if you can read its movement, you can evade them. It is good to jump onto enemies when their facing its back on you, but if it works another way then it might be bad.
In battle, you'll take control of three characters; each character is given an amount of time to act per turn. In the early stages of the game, player will be granted 5 seconds. The timer starts when your character moves, attacks or uses item. Before that you'll have Thinking Time, which is a small/unlimited amount of time for you to plan your attack strategies.
There are 6 party levels which you will gain in the game. They work as your party skills in battle. Higher party level doesn't mean its good, as it may limit your movement time; However, you will be able to use more skills. For example, level 3 party level enables you to carry more items into battle and perform different attacks, but it also deducts your thinking time from unlimited to 2 seconds, and your movement time from 5 to 4 seconds.
Every character has two attacks, basic and special. Basic attack boosts your movement time and special attack damage, the more you slash the more damage you will deal. Special Attack damage increases by Echo. There are a total of 6 Echo levels: 4 stars, 8 stars, 16 stars, 24 stars, and 32 stars, showed on the bottom right respectively. In short, if you perform a special attack with 32 stars, the damage may be enough to kill your enemy in one shot. Echo also triggers Harmonic Chain. It is a chain of special attacks your character can perform; it can also cause friendly characters nearby to make a perfect combo. This will only happen when your Echo level is above 24 stars.
There are 2 types of area in the battlefield, Light and Dark. Standing in the bright area or shadowed area will change your character's special attacks. If your character's special attack on Dark is Heal, then you may not want to stand in the shadows before landing your finishing move. Monster evolves in different areas; some may be stronger or weaker in the dark; while some may be strong to both. So lure your enemies to the right place and quickly end the fight.
Evading enemies attack isn't impossible anymore in Eternal Sonata. During enemies turn to attack, you'll have a chance to reduce the damage caused. Simply press 'B' when a sign 'Chance' appears above your character. Pressing it too early or too late and that character will suffer from severe damage. This is important as some enemies can kill your character in a turn. However, defending only works when you're facing where the enemy attacks. There's also a counter-attack where you gain no damage from enemies and given 2 seconds to fight back. This option is available after you gain a higher level of party level.
Abnormal status didn't turn its way out of this game, as poison, stunt still haunts you. Of course there are also effects that keep your character in 'Dark' condition anywhere in the battle field or the opposite attribute. Fortunately, the chances of getting abnormal status aren't that high in Eternal Sonata; unless you're facing a boss or stronger monsters, or you don't have to worry about getting annoyed.
A certain amount of item can be brought into each battle. The game manipulates by using item slot. On the early stages, you will be given only 20p (or slots), and one Potion will cause you 2p and a reviving item is approximately 6p. What will you do if you face a tough boss with such a limited item space?
Customizing characters isn't that variable in Eternal Sonata. A character will have four slots of equipment: Weapon, armor and 2 accessories. Weapons and armors work just like any other RPG game, they carry the same theory: The stronger the weapon is, the higher it cost to own it. Accessories may have effects; it can either strengthen your character or weaken them, sometimes both. Like a ring which boost your defense but also cause that character to stunt for 2 seconds before he can move. Bad isn't it?
There are several side quests in the game, though it is nothing special but unlocking hidden dungeons to obtain stronger weapons; but there's 'Section' side quest which requires you to find music notes and mix them with other NPCs. Literally, its like doing music remix, just what DJs does all the time. Then, you will be graded from A to E. Getting an A or B will get you a item, as for the item value, it depends on which NPC. Music notes are mostly found in treasure boxes, but occasionally, it is rewarded as a gift.
Music is the main concern in this game. If you remember who Motoi Sakuraba is, and what he had achieved as a music composer in Star Ocean, Tales of Fantasia and Valkyrie Profile; then you will not only hear, but feel more of his great music composing skills, and soon you will find yourself blended in as part of the game. Without forgetting Chopin, his piano will be played at the end of certain chapters, and words flowing out on the screen, telling stories of his life. Maybe, that is the best way to skip history course right?
There are two phases in this game. Means you can finish the game once, and come back for a second try. Second phase of the game is giving players a higher difficulty level, additional scenes, boss fights and treasures to unlock. Though you can probably finish the first phase in less than 20 hours, but 30-40 hours plus is what you're looking at for the second round.
Closing Comments:
Remember Xenosaga and Valkyrie profile? If you like either both, then Eternal Sonata is for you, like a combination and improved of both game systems. I understand that cute and childish Japanese RPG aren't going to work in the Western side. But, trust me, Eternal Sonata holds a solid gameplay, and enganging storyline that makes you go on. Although, there are boring and talkative times like what you saw in Xenosaga, but with those beautiful, colorful and detailed visuals, this is a game that you must consider putting into your cart this holiday season.