Opinions on Eternal Sonata

What do you think of the game, Eternal Sonata?

It's a great game with a fun battle system, cool characters, and gorgeous graphics. Story is a bit lacking, but it's still decent in my opinion. One of my favorite JRPGs for sure.

Its an excellent JRPG... has a great combat system which is engaging and with some strategy in it..

The visuals are great, not a tech powerhouse or anything but the art is good and the scenery is beautiful. With that I mind consider that there's not so much exploring and everything is kinda linear, think classic JRPG with a revamped combat system. I enjoyed the game so much but after beatin' it I didnt found any real reason to come back to it.

I would say an 8.0 / 10 , I got it for the 360 on bargain bin (15bucks) and it was a great deal. The ps3 ver should be better with the new characters and such so I would say get it!

I really enjoyed it, the battle system is rather unique.

Its a great, fun and cute game, with some memorable characters and a good battle system, story is meh, with some nice twist here and there, but the overall plot is interesting, its relative short and linear but is not bad at all, the music is superb IMO, and has very beautiful visuals, overall is a solid 8.5.

I agree with much of what everybody else has said.

Gorgeous visuals, fun combat,good music, somegood characters and a story that seems to progressively get worse. Ireally enjoyed it.

I've only played the demo but from that I really liked it. Amazing graphics and nice battle system.

I've tried the demo and is uncertain if I should pick this game up...yet.

Is the battle system in the demo as deep as it gets? If so I'm not really thrilled about it.

it took my 81 dollars, while i could get it at 40 bucks at the most if i waited few more days so im gonna have to see how this one goes but i have to say hirano aya was a big miscasting, in my opinion.funsohng

I thought Hirano Aya was perfect casting.

timid weak sickly voice while being kind and determined. Fits the character well I'd say.

Anyway I love Eternal Sonata. One of the better JRPGs I've played.

Battle system is inconsistant with characters being rather unbalanced. Dungeons are extremely linear for the most part and too long for the most part, which throws off the pacing.

Graphic is nothing special, and art design too, is nothing special by itself but add the story and music to go with that art design, it works to perfection in harmony.

Story is probably strongest aspect of the game. One of the most enjoyable story I've seen in game (minus few overly drawn out scenes)

It could have been so much better. The only reason I got it was because it was 2 player, I finished it but will never touch it again because of.

-Worst RPG story I've ever played through.

-very annoying characters (beat, polka , fredric)

-cheesey vioces and dialogue.

but on the plus side, the battles were OK.

[QUOTE="funsohng"]it took my 81 dollars, while i could get it at 40 bucks at the most if i waited few more days so im gonna have to see how this one goes but i have to say hirano aya was a big miscasting, in my opinion.TriangleHard

I thought Hirano Aya was perfect casting.

timid weak sickly voice while being kind and determined. Fits the character well I'd say.

Anyway I love Eternal Sonata. One of the better JRPGs I've played.

Battle system is inconsistant with characters being rather unbalanced. Dungeons are extremely linear for the most part and too long for the most part, which throws off the pacing.

Graphic is nothing special, and art design too, is nothing special by itself but add the story and music to go with that art design, it works to perfection in harmony.

Story is probably strongest aspect of the game. One of the most enjoyable story I've seen in game (minus few overly drawn out scenes)

What story? Stop the prince from making mineral powder because it turns people into zombies.. oh and lets not forget **-SPOILER- **

Polka jumping off a cliff at the end for no reason other than her mother telling her to when she was a child...

[QUOTE="TriangleHard"]

[QUOTE="funsohng"]it took my 81 dollars, while i could get it at 40 bucks at the most if i waited few more days so im gonna have to see how this one goes but i have to say hirano aya was a big miscasting, in my opinion.Abicus7

I thought Hirano Aya was perfect casting.

timid weak sickly voice while being kind and determined. Fits the character well I'd say.

Anyway I love Eternal Sonata. One of the better JRPGs I've played.

Battle system is inconsistant with characters being rather unbalanced. Dungeons are extremely linear for the most part and too long for the most part, which throws off the pacing.

Graphic is nothing special, and art design too, is nothing special by itself but add the story and music to go with that art design, it works to perfection in harmony.

Story is probably strongest aspect of the game. One of the most enjoyable story I've seen in game (minus few overly drawn out scenes)

What story? Stop the prince from making mineral powder because it turns people into zombies.. oh and lets not forget **-SPOILER- **

Polka jumping off a cliff at the end for no reason other than her mother telling her to when she was a child...

Perhaps you are forgetting the game is about Chopin's DREAM?

The story was used to represent all the important events Chopins experianced in his life. His past relationship, the state of Polish government, etc.

The game didn't spoon-fed the players with all the info. It took more subtle approach like a poem. If you managed to uncover that, you would've realized what a great story it was and how well they managed to construct a fine story that managed to capture all the important events of Chopin noted by the developers.

try to pick up symbolism next time instead of going by what's on the surface.

[QUOTE="Abicus7"]

[QUOTE="TriangleHard"]

I thought Hirano Aya was perfect casting.

timid weak sickly voice while being kind and determined. Fits the character well I'd say.

Anyway I love Eternal Sonata. One of the better JRPGs I've played.

Battle system is inconsistant with characters being rather unbalanced. Dungeons are extremely linear for the most part and too long for the most part, which throws off the pacing.

Graphic is nothing special, and art design too, is nothing special by itself but add the story and music to go with that art design, it works to perfection in harmony.

Story is probably strongest aspect of the game. One of the most enjoyable story I've seen in game (minus few overly drawn out scenes)

TriangleHard

What story? Stop the prince from making mineral powder because it turns people into zombies.. oh and lets not forget **-SPOILER- **

Polka jumping off a cliff at the end for no reason other than her mother telling her to when she was a child...

Perhaps you are forgetting the game is about Chopin's DREAM?

The story was used to represent all the important events Chopins experianced in his life. His past relationship, the state of Polish government, etc.

The game didn't spoon-fed the players with all the info. It took more subtle approach like a poem. If you managed to uncover that, you would've realized what a great story it was and how well they managed to construct a fine story that managed to capture all the important events of Chopin noted by the developers.

try to pick up symbolism next time instead of going by what's on the surface.

Yeah the Chopin stuff was cool, I even wanted to learn more about him after playing.. too bad in the game itself there is like 5 scenes out of 1,000 that talk any thing about that at all. Like I said before.. It could have been done a million times better..

Yeah the Chopin stuff was cool, I even wanted to learn more about him after playing.. too bad in the game itself there is like 5 scenes out of 1,000 that talk any thing about that at all. Like I said before.. It could have been done a million times better..

Abicus7

It was your job to see how those events were represented WITHIN the story.

The story of the game was made so you would need to approach it like psychologist. You have to interpret each events and meaning behind it.

The story was near perfect. No one can say what exactly Chopin's emtions and thoughts were since he is dead, so no one can say anything in definite. Eternal Sonata managed to use his music as hints and approach the state of Chopin's mind and heart through less tangible form by using his dream, in order to attempt to understand him better, and pulls that off successfully.

There is almost nothing I would change with the story. Not much games can make any story better than this. Not much games even put this much effort in story than Eternal Sonata. Eternal Sonata has one of the best story I've seen in a game, period. Not the THE best, but one of the best.

I dont know why a musician would dream about a young boy named beat, who is trying to lower the taxes in his home town of Retardando. Or how that is a reflection of his own life. And i dont want to know.

I dont know why a musician would dream about a young boy named beat, who is trying to lower the taxes in his home town of Retardando. Or how that is a reflection of his own life. And i dont want to know.

Abicus7

Good for you. I mean not everyone can enjoy certain elements Eternal Sonata gives out and that's entirely up to you and your taste.

Just saying, you can't be critical of something that you lack understanding of. It is unfair to the game. Just your like or dislike is enough. Your opinion of it being good or bad can come after you get good understanding of it.

Maybe I should get a triple degree in musical history / Poetry / and psycology and then try playing again...:P

I didnt know when I put the game in that I would have to be an English major to understand anything thats going on..

I just wanted to play an RPG on my PS3 for Gods sake.

Oops, that came out ruder than my intention. Maybe a second playthrough would help my understanding of the story, cheers.

TriangleHard... guy... I respect your opinion, and your willingness to defend it, but Eternal Sonata did not have a well crafted story. It ALLUDED to having one, and it was set to be quite grand if they had executed everything properly, but it absolutely fell to pieces, and even lost touch with the Chopin aspect entirely later down the line.

Maybe I should get a triple degree in musical history / Poetry / and psycology and then try playing again...:P

I didnt know when I put the game in that I would have to be an English major to understand anything thats going on..

I just wanted to play an RPG on my PS3 for Gods sake.

Abicus7

Well variation is good thing isn't it? :P

Straight-forward story is good (like most modern shooters that says "nukes r bad"), but subtle story such as this can be wonderful too.

I loved the depth of Eternal Sonata. Also it was really well structured, as it uncovers itself in right pacing with right amount of symbolism and events.

Also they managed to cover it with slightly shallow, but understandable plot with good structure. It's not entirely abstract B.S many other RPGs tends to put out (Kingdom Hearts for example)

Well JRPG tends to do this kind of things, so if you are JRPG fan, you should start getting used to it lol. I haven't played Enchanted Arms, but other JRPGs for PS3 so far has this kind of depth. Different kind of depth but similar level. Forklore is one game that's like that, and Disgaea 3 has so much parody within the game for you to pick up (not to mention references to their previous games)

I couldnt get into enchated arms. but I really wanted to. Im actually playing through chrono trigger for the first time now.

And Wild Arms 3, not bad. Hopefully they will tide me over untill tales of vesperia and white knight chronicles comes out..

Back on topic, I guess I shouldnt judge the story just because I didnt fully understand it and never really gave it a second chance.

TriangleHard... guy... I respect your opinion, and your willingness to defend it, but Eternal Sonata did not have a well crafted story. It ALLUDED to having one, and it was set to be quite grand if they had executed everything properly, but it absolutely fell to pieces, and even lost touch with the Chopin aspect entirely later down the line.

raven_squad

Yes it did fall apart a bit later in the game, and what could've been truly grand ending had less weight to it because of that. Also it does have big problem with overly extended and overly dramatic scenes (poor directing on those parts), but that doesn't take away all the things Eternal Sonata did right. More than half of the game, the story managed to march in perfection in just about every way. Certainly better than anything else Namco put out. (Unfortunately failed Xenosaga series or shallow Tales series)

This was truly impressive to me considering that this is first game the developers made. They had grand ambition with the game and their execution was much more refined than most other experianced developers. Makes me look forward to what else they can come up with next.

And in this generation, not many games have story that can top Eternal Sonata. That includes MGS4, which was great disappointment to me since it actually took a step back when it comes to story compared to nice progression of Kojima's storytelling ability in previous MGS games. Although that should be understandable considering he was up for a huge task where he had to wrap up 2 overly convoluted and 1 covoluted stories with one final game.

I couldnt get into enchated arms. but I really wanted to. Im actually playing through chrono trigger for the first time now.

And Wild Arms 3, not bad. Hopefully they will tide me over untill tales of vesperia and white knight chronicles comes out..

Back on topic, I guess I shouldnt judge the story just because I didnt fully understand it and never really gave it a second chance.

Abicus7

Wild Arms series is good. They usually have pretty straight-forward story that might be shallow, but entertaining. They also have good pacing and structure for the most part (although their pacing does get slow near the end thanks to some MASSIVE dungeons)

Well back to topic lol. Well you can never blame players for disliking story and games because it doesn't fit their taste. That's entirely up to them. However, I do feel it is rather unfair for players to talk about quality if they didn't at least have an idea of what the developers were trying to do.

Try Eternal Sonata again, but with little bit more careful observation. I've found many games I managed to enjoy more later in my life after I've matured bit more.

So whats your opinion on Squaresoft / squareEnix/ SquareEnixEdios or whatever they are now... I loved squaresoft but not so much the rest of them.

Abicus7

I was always bigger Enix fan than Squaresoft fan. Until PS1 era that is.

Enix have made some great games in the past. Dragon Quest is the obvious one (although I do have on and off relationship with 7 and 8), secret gems like EVO was another, 7th Saga (forgot the title, but I'm pretty sure that was it) was lesser known gem... that not many people would appreciate. And they made other fine games like Illusion of Gaia, etc.

It might be shocking for a JRPG fan to say this, but I was never big Final Fantasy fan until FFVII. (yes I disliked FFVI) Squaresoft games I liked were all the side stuff they made. Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, etc.

Then they just rocked PS1. Xenogears, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics, FF VII (again not a big fan of FF. didn't enjoy 8 and 9 very much), Parasite Eve, etc.

Enix meanwhile didn't do much. Tri-Ace did all the important works for them and Enix just published. Valkyrie Profile and Star Ocean 2 were just awesome (especially Valkyrie Profile)

As of now, I think most SquareEnix problem comes from Square side. I'm pretty sure the reasoning for the merge happened because Square's funding was short and Enix had problem publishing. Square had no problem publishing while Enix had money, so it was a merge that made plenty of sense. Now that they merged, Square is taking most budget from Enix has less budget to work with (seen by Dragon Quest being made on low budget platform.... although I can't blame the decision)

Biggest problem with Square right now is that they lost way too many talented individuals. Matsuno was the latest to leave the company and he was by FAR, most talented game designer of the company. Square right now is riding Nomura's captivating visuals little too much. It's not a bad idea since people are enjoying it, but Nomura is not very talented when it comes to game designing. Art design is his strength and everything else, Nomura is pretty darn weak. Square lacks talent and gaming industry is starting to get too expensive for them. That's their main problem now.