Eternal Sonata

"Eternal Sonata Review - Basic"

The Good

Eternal Sonata has excellent graphics, brilliant character design, and takes place in a beautiful (and heartfelt) world. The character design, in fact, is among the best I've seen in any medium... including movies, comics and anime. Monsters are unique and imaginative (I have yet to fight a rat, although I was bitten by a burning gerbil.). The battle system is innovative and fun. The game has no random battles, but monster populations aren't fixed either. The number of things this game does right, or perfectly, is staggering.

The best part... and the core of any rpg/quest game... is the story itself. A dreamy existentialist fairy tale woven together with fictional scenes at Chopin's deathbed and historically accurate documentary. Rendering it impossible to look at any of the three parts without considering the others. It's rare, if not downright unheard of, to find this level of sophistication in a console game. This is "Being John Malkovich" for the Xbox 360, presented with the rich warmth of a Studio Ghibli production (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke).


The Bad

The objective bad is almost always lack of choices in this game. The costumes are fantastic, but you can't change, or even recolour them. New weapons and equipment don't actually change the graphics, just the stats. It's a little sad sometimes, because almost every item in the game has a physical description. You constantly get new stuff that sounds interesting looking, but you never get to see it.

The English voice cast isn't as good as the rest of the game. They're not bad, but they're not great either. The writing is great, and it suffers a bit beneath deliveries that alternate between too flat and overly saturated. If you're comfortable with Japanese tracks and subtitles, I recommend them for this game.

The save system is straight out of first generation ps1 software. Yes, I want save. Yes, in the hard drive. I'll wait while you find that. ok, yes, file 1 please. Yes, I really want to overwrite. ok, I'll wait again...

The real danger though, is that this game will go over people's heads. Eternal Sonata doesn't spend much time spoon feeding, and much of the interaction between the three colliding worlds is understated. You'll be left to draw your conclusions. Its complex and delicately paced storyline will require patience and thought to fully enjoy. If yelling "Leeroy!" or the "final battle between good and evil" are what you're looking for in a rpg experience, much of this game will be lost on you.


Final Thoughts

Rpg/quest games walk a hard line. It's not enough to be a great game, you have to be a great book and a great movie too. Eternal Sonata is the first time since Final Fantasy III (FFVI Japan) I've seen anyone truly nail all three aspects. It might change the way you look at this genre of games. It will certainly change the way you look at Chopin.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/20/07

Game Release: Eternal Sonata (US, 09/17/07)