Pumpkin's Video Game Diary!

[Pumpkin]

Eternal Sonata (PlayStation 3)

I had previously played the Xbox 360 version of this game, and this was my first time playing the PlayStation 3 version. There are a number of differences. The PS3 version is notably more difficult, there are palette swap outfits for a few characters, two additional playable characters, certain things are moved around, certain bonus features are added. There are also altered scenes, including the ending.

Story:
Eternal Sonata is the story of Frederic Chopin on his deathbed. He finds himself in a whole new, fantastical world. In this world, an evil Count Waltz is selling a dangerous powder to his subjects. A powder shown to have some very serious and very bad side effects. On top of that, it's offered much cheaper than the alternatives, forcing a lot of people in to a bad position. Frederic accompanies some new found allies as they try to figure out what's going on and how to stop it. During the journey, he will also need to determine if this is just a dying dream, or if this world is real.

Gameplay:
Eternal Sonata is a role-playing game. You will have 3 characters in a battle party at a time, and they will each get a turn (as will the enemies). On their turn, there are numerous actions that can be performed, such as attacking, using special attacks, or items. In this game, each turn has a time limit and the turn ends once the time limit is over. The battle system will also very slightly change as the story progresses. In the beginning, the time does not begin to count down until the character moves or takes action, but as the game progresses, time will begin to count down immediately as the turn begins. Certain other features also become available, such as echoes, which increase with each successful strike.

This game has a light/dark system in battle. The special attack being executed will depend on if the character is in a light area or a dark area. Light areas can include the field during the daytime, or under lights on a dark ship, for example. Dark areas can include places like shaded areas, or just in the field during night time. Certain enemies will also have areas surrounding them which will affect the light/dark system. Some monsters will even transform depending on if they're in the light or the dark. This makes positioning crucial if you want to use certain skills, like a healing skill, for example. As the game progresses, you will also be able to change which special attack is used by holding down the special attack button and releasing it when the desired skill is shown.

World:
The world is fairly linear to explore, but is actually quite beautiful. You'll have a wide range of areas, such as rolling fields, snowy mountains, caverns, lava-filled caverns, cemeteries, and many others. There's a lot to explore and see, and there are a decent amount of towns in between to shop and socialize. You can even perform musical scores with people you meet throughout your travels. Overall it is very impressive and one of my favourite video game worlds.

Characters:
(Ordered from favourite to least favourite)
Viola: A goat farmer and archer who always travels with her squirrel-like buddy, Arco. She's a very strong-willed woman and she likes to tease her friends.
March: Twin sister of Salsa and one of the protectors of Agogo Forest. She's very soft spoken and kind.
Polka: A terminally ill young girl who can use magic, she's treated as an outcast by most people, although she only wants to help and spread joy.
Claves: Working with the resistance group, Andantino, she is the right-hand man of the group's leader.
Falsetto: Also working with Andantino, she isn't afraid to speak her mind and she takes her job very seriously.
Jazz: Leader of Andantino, he wants to do what's best for the people.
Serenade: Princess of Forte and fiancee to Prince Crescendo.
Frederic: Frederic Chopin, the composer, who finds himself in this other world and can't determine if it's real or just a dying dream.
Allegretto: A street boy with some spunk who takes care of some of the other street urchins.
Beat: A young street boy and friend of Allegretto, he has a passion for photography.
Crescendo:Prince of Baroque who must make some difficult decisions for his country.
Salsa: March's sister, very spunky and loud and not afraid to make her opinion known. She also likes hats.

Overall:
I really enjoy Eternal Sonata. It's charming, it has a lovable cast (to me), it has fun, interesting, and engaging gameplay. The world is beautiful, and so is the music. The game has a certain charm to it that I really respond to and it never fails to put a smile on my face. With that being said, don't expect award winning writing; the plot has more holes than swiss cheese, although it's part of it's goofy, lighthearted charm in my opinion. The PS3 version did clear up a few things and improve on this, although it's hard for me to tell exactly how much it was an improvement and how much I was just used to the story from previous playthroughs. There are also some nice periods where the game takes a small break to teach you about Chopin while some nice music plays through the background. I would recommend it for RPG fans who likes some cheesy charm, and I'll definitely continue to play it in the future.

Verdict:
LIKED IT A LOT