Eternal Sonata (Xbox 360, 2007)

I love RPGs. And when I found out this one was based on Chopin's sorta, I was instantly sold. Sorry if I compare everything to Final Fantasy, which this is definately NOT, but it is still worth playing. It was beautiful, creative battling, and lots of unique characters and big morals, and of course perfect soundtrack. I didn't know it would actually intertwine Chopin's life into this fictional story, but his life is very interesting.

As far as actual game play, the battle system is quite unique and keeps you definately on your toes. Its not an easy style and presented quite the challenge for me who actually enjoys just pressing 'a' for attack. I got about 60 hours out of this game, which I thought was surprising. The depth of the story was definate holding me through out the game.

I would highly recommend this game for any serious RPG'er and I would also strongly recommend obtaining a copy of this game WITH the game guide!

Eternal Sonata has a premise that can be described in no other way than wildly imaginative. You may even be a bit incredulous when you first begin playing, but it won't be long before you begin to appreciate the great care that was taken to ensure that the tale isn't just an exercise in lunacy. The idea is this: Frederic Chopin, the famous pianist and composer, is on his deathbed having a fevered dream. The game takes place inside that dream. The heroes may have a typically anime design, but the idea here is anything but typical. This original concept, along with a colorful and detailed design, is enough to make up for a few shortcomings in the JRPG experience.

Although Chopin is the inspiration for Eternal Sonata, in the game he often takes a backseat to the dream world around him. As soon as you turn Eternal Sonata on, you'll find that this is no big surprise. The world of Eternal Sonata is detailed with a meticulousness not often found in JRPGs. You can see the threads crisscrossing on tapestries. The rich use of color turns a standard flower into an enchanting sight. This is a game that, while likely not taxing the Xbox 360 hardware, is a great example of why you want an HD television. Or at least a reason to show yours off. "IGN"

My brothers and I bought a brand-new Xbox 360 just a few weeks ago. I've heard of "Eternal Sonata" long before we bought it, and so, when we did get our Xbox 360, I decided to rent it. The story is very engrossing with ear-pleasing music to match. The majority of the characters are unforgettable. I liked the fact that they respected Frederic Chopin as well as they did, both character-wise and story-wise. It's a pretty RPG to look at - the characters are all rendered in cel shading with eye-pleasing worlds, and the battle system is easy to grasp and becomes challenging as the game progresses. My only annoying points for this game is that most of the levels are linear (they do branch off here and there, but eventually you'll have to backtrack to your original path and continue on that path). Also, there is at least one puzzle that got frustrating (the fact that enemies regenerate when you leave the screen contributed to completing it longer than necessary). I was surprised that I really didn't need a player's guide to play this game - in most RPGs, I had to have a player's guide handy to fully enjoy the game. To me, if I have to play with a player's guide, it turns me off from that game. The linear path that this game follows, though repetitive, makes me enjoy the storyline and graphical rendering more. If you're a casual RPG player, this game's for you.

I definitely like E.S. Haven't played much of it yet (only 4 hours into the game),though what I have seen so far, it is awesome. One thing that brings it down (not much though) is that it is very linear. NOthing inherently wrong with that. Just with RPG's (normally) one would expect a bit more freedom, oh well. Beyond that, I love it. It's an RPG, it is a Tri Crescendo, Namdai game, and it involves music. Three things I enjoy. So, other than it being linear, I have nothing bad to say about it. Those 3 things mentioned above do more than make up for the one small detail. Highly recommended.

Way back when the 360 was new, I played the demo for this game and enjoyed it quite a bit. For whatever reason I never got around to playing the full game, but a few spare dollars and the itch for an RPG led me to finally pick it up. It has some great elements that still hold up today most of which take place in the battles. Unfortunately they can become a bit repetitive, so it's nice that they aren't randomized. But when you do fight, you get an odd mix of real time and turn based gameplay complete with a light/dark mechanic that changes which attacks you can do and might even change one enemy into a completely different one as he steps into the shadows. Best of all, for the Japanophile in me, you can choose the Japanese voices and turn on subtitles for a more authentic experience. It helps because the English voices are lacking to say the least.