System: X360
Dev: Tri-Crescendo
Pub: Namco Bandai
Release: Sept. 17, 2007
Players: 1-3
ESRB Rating: Teen
Review by D'Marcus Beatty

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Review Rating Legend
1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
2.5 - 2.9 = Average
3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
3.5 - 3.9 = Good
4.0 - 4.4 = Great
4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
5.0 = The Best

Eternal Sonata has a unique fighting system which mixes turn-based combat with real time. Each character is given an action gauge and they are allowed to move and attack while the gauge runs out. Once the gauge is empty, the next person or enemy takes their turn. There are also a lot of intricacies to the system as well, including the ability to make special attacks more powerful by building up a shared combo meter and the fact that attacks from enemies can be weakened or blocked by a timed button press a la Super Mario RPG. Also, the aforementioned light and dark contrast comes into effect in combat as well, with areas of the combat field having shaded or dark areas as well as light areas. Some enemies take different forms depending on whether they are in the dark or in the light and the character's special attacks also change depending on their position.

This system is unique and makes the gameplay fresh. However, the while the demarcation between light and dark on the battlefield is usually obvious, if your character or enemy is on a line they may shift areas without warning, causing you to do the wrong attack sometimes. It isn't a horrible flaw, considering that there is no MP meter to limit to your special ability use, but this can occasionally irk some gamers, especially if you were building your combo meter for a big attack and accidentally use a healing spell because they shifted between light and dark.

Since the game is about a classical music composer, you can expect the soundtrack to be excellent, as it utilizes a great deal of his own music. The voice acting and script, on the other hand, doesn't quite live up to the standard set by the soundtrack, but that is due to the localization that translates the dialogue without quite incorporating the cultural context correctly so that some lines of dialogue actually sound like written dialogue and not natural conversation. The voice acting, which is passable but not quite believable, serves to intensify this feeling. This lack isn't something that is horrible, as most players of RPGs will not even notice it, but those that are used to Western RPGs may feel the difference.

The game's setting is already strange, and the divide between chapters continually reminds you of that fact with breaks that present the gamer with real-world stills and a history lesson on Chopin's life. While the biographical clips fit thematically with the story segments they preface, they are also a jarring reminder that the game is based on a real individual. The real-life photos also don't exactly mesh well with the colorful cartoony gameworld. Both of the intrusions create a barrier to the suspension of disbelief and dissolves the game's immersion, even if only momentarily.

Overall, Eternal Sonata is a fun RPG and a great game to play. The incredible visuals, mature storyline, and fun, pseudo real time combat keep the game feeling fresh from start to finish. Even if you're a little off-put by the idea of having a Romantic composer as one of your protagonists, you'll find yourself enjoying Eternal Sonata.

By D'Marcus Beatty
CCC Co-Site Director

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