Eternal Sonata

[twmac]

I know it came out ages ago, but I had a weekend long hangover and didn't want to play anything challenging so I dug out my copy of this and started going through the first few levels.

My only real feeling is that, at the time of release, reviewers were a lot more forgiving than they should have been. Certainly it looks nice and the combat system is a little different and even the story has made me stop and watch some of the cutscenes but it does seem to fall into generic JRPG land very quickly.

You can see all the creatures on the map but the pathways are pretty tight in most places so you have to fight them. The 'real time' combat has lost a lot of its appeal and has become a slog through using the same attack patterns, over and over. The story looks really interesting at first and it does have an interesting sub-protagonist in Chopin but how many more times do I have to see a reluctant hero join a resistance to fight some devious conspiracy/corporation?

There weren't many of its ilk out at the time (I think it was a choice of this or Enchanted arms which I think I like more) so how does it compare to the crop of title out now?

[Roderick]

I haven't played it, but I heard pretty quickly on that it wasn't all that special apart from its visual style and backstory. I think it'll fare pretty weakly compared against something like Lost Odyssey, which is by no means a perfect JRPG in itself, but has a lot more charm and uniqueness going for it.

Xbox 360 RPG's are a mixed bag. Blue Dragon was apparently disappointing, but Tales of Vesperia was a ginormous hit in Japan and brought about a total resurrection of the console on its own there.

[Nachimir]

Tales of Vesperia was a ginormous hit in Japan and brought about a total resurrection of the console on its own there.

I think quickly following it with a price cut may have also helped

[twmac]

I haven't played it, but I heard pretty quickly on that it wasn't all that special apart from its visual style and backstory. I think it'll fare pretty weakly compared against something like Lost Odyssey, which is by no means a perfect JRPG in itself, but has a lot more charm and uniqueness going for it.QUOTE]

Which is funny because judging from the reviews and the visual style I would have assumed the exact opposite of Lost Odyssey. So it would be fair to say that reviewers were chomping at the bit for something that wasn't an FPS or a racer and thus bestowed ES with a rather high review considering what was on offer.

Anyways I've just had Eternal Sonata pick up slightly when I had to fight through a pirate ship and was greeted with some more history on Chopin during the 1930's. I reckon I'll probably pick it up again when I'm suffering from another hangover but until then it is back to the shelf for the sucker.

[Roderick]

Lost Odyssey may look a bit more generic Japanesey, but it does some wonderful things with storytelling that won't be for everyone, but definitely charmed me.

[twmac]

Cool, well in a year's time when Eternal sonata is done with I'll borrow Lost Odyssey as my next 'hangover game'. I know a few people who own it.

[Spaff]

hmmm the story telling stuff in lost odyssey, by which I assume you mean the dream sequences, i find to be horrible. I reckon they are quite literally made in power point, those text transitions are vomit worthy. Everyone knows not to use those ever.

However I'm willing to see more, to me those they are almost as weird a disconnect from the game as the Chopin moments in Eternal Sonata.... not quite though, not much could top those:

http://roflopolis.com/index.php/roflopolis/article/eternal_sonata_has_the_weirdest_game_disconnect_in_the_fucking_universe

Sonata was a lot of fun to play though, but only in co-op really =/ it does get repetitive and annoying in places, then picks up again, but then gets boring, not sure if there's another peak coming or not heh.

I really should complete it.

Edited October 1, 2008 by Spaff

[Roderick]

Haha, those written memories are indeed what's awesome about Lost Odyssey. Not because of their, admittedly, cheesy animated texts, but because of the touching stories they tell. They really flesh out the main character in many subtle ways. I'm not saying it's the best way to do that sort of thing, but I found it very interesting and often beautiful.

[toblix]

Is it the one where the text comes screeching onto the screen like a car, or maybe the one where it's "type written" onto the screen, CHAK-CHAK-CHAK!

[Spaff]

both and then some.

[twmac]

Sonata was a lot of fun to play though, but only in co-op really =/ it does get repetitive and annoying in places, then picks up again, but then gets boring, not sure if there's another peak coming or not heh.

I really should complete it.

There is co-op in Eternal Sonata? How does that work?

[Spaff]

you control a character each, only in the battles though, which are kinda semi real time semi turn based little things...

you need to run about to get better distances etc, and also choose sunlight or shade, which affects which spells or attacks you can use.

it's not true co-op but it is more fun than playing on your own

[twmac]

I'll remember that.

Read yout Roflopolis and disagree entirely, all the the bits about Chopin are great. They are the only bits so far that I haven't been compelled to skip.

I can see why you don't like them though. For me any excuse to get away from the bobble head weirdoes is good.

[Spaff]

it's not exactly disliking them that I'm talking about, it's that they just do not fit within the game space, and are just some dude's holiday snaps, no colour adjustments, not even styled nicely or put into a nice frame or something, just ordinary photographs, and there is nothing at all to tie them to the experience you've jsut been within.

so whilst they in themselves are fine, I just mean that playing the game one minute and then suddenly coming out of the game and going onto the history channel is realllly weird.

[twmac]

I played a bit more of it...

Maybe, and I mean just maybe, it is meant to be jarring. Like Chopin's dream world is so beautiful and beguiling that the bits based on his life are meant to bring the player kicking and screaming towards a cruder, harsher reality.

When the world looks like a crappy postcard, maybe you just don't want to wake up?

I might have read a bit too much into that.

[Chris]

I played a bit more of it...

Maybe, and I mean just maybe, it is meant to be jarring. Like Chopin's dream world is so beautiful and beguiling that the bits based on his life are meant to bring the player kicking and screaming towards a cruder, harsher reality.

When the world looks like a crappy postcard, maybe you just don't want to wake up?

I might have read a bit too much into that.

This is always the kind of thing I wish designers would do on purpose but generally suspect they don't.

[Spaff]

Yeah they might say it now you've mentioned it....

"oh yeah, of course, yeah that's exactly what it's meant to be, why else would there be a photo of some steps covered in tramp piss, come on guy"

But somehow I suspect not.

[twmac]

Yup, I'm blatantly making excuses for them.

Had a look at the achievements... There is one that worth about 300 GP, I'm assuming it is a complete bastard to get. Great.

[Zaarin]

Not really. You just need to find all the EZI items. You usually get them by playing a specific score piece together with an NPC and getting a specific rank. Some of them can only be gotten during a second playthrough though.

[twmac]

Its taken me over a year to get to level 3... Gah !

[twmac]

Okay I'm resurrecting this thread because I finally sat down and finished this game. Thanks to Spaff this was made easier because my Housemate jumped in and played as one of the characters so I didn't go through it alone.

I really did stop a little too early last time, the battle system really starts coming into its own when your party gets to level 4 and they introduce Harmony attacks and also on level 5 they introduce counterattacks. The battles flow more, the choice of characters becomes more important (you'll want one heavy hitter, a ranged healer and some one who can string together long combos both with normal attacks and specials).

The story slipped away into the background as it is practically non-sensical but the backgrounds and monster designs in the later levels really start to shine.

I'm glad I finished it and as I've seen it going quite cheap I would give it a to anyone who likes a sedate pace in their games once in a while.

Also, after finishing the last boss battle I'm going to stick by the theory that the designers did mean for the documentary sections to be so jarring and grim.