Eternal Sonata - Xbox 360 Review

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TEH GOOD: Beautiful graphics and voice acting / Intelligent plotline / Novel and effective combat system

TEH BAD: Repetitive combat / Characters are a little too chatty / Linear nature might be too restricting for some.

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), composer and pianist, lived an unfortunate life. While blessed with outstanding musical talent that would make him one of the most celebrated innovators in musical history and the greatest Polish composer of all time, he was also cursed by constantly bad health, which lead to his early death at the hands of tubercolosis.

I can see by your face that you are confused. Well, I can’t actually see your face. I’m presuming. You see, this isn’t a real-time conversation we’re having, and I find it hard to work off nothing, so I’m just guessing your reactions to what I write. I need a few JPEGs of your facial expressions to use as visual aids while writing these things. Please provide.

While you’re working on those, let me explain. If we are to journey into the Xbox 360 RPG that is Eternal Sonata, we should bone up on the subject matter. And Eternal Sonata is a game based on the life, and works, of Chopin. Quite an unusual subject for a video game, I’m sure you’ll agree (I’m presuming this too), but creative nonetheless.

In Eternal Sonata, Chopin is on his deathbed. To his loved ones, he is sleeping in a restful coma. In his mind, he lives in a second reality, a fantasy world based on his works. This world and its residents are in turmoil – the product of a tyrannical, abusive government and a spirited rebel uprising. As he explores and adventures in this world, he learns of its characters and its characteristics, and soon starts to doubt his own reality – is his home in Paris the dream, as this new world seems so real? This question, alongside many others, is one of the deep philosophical themes the narrative of the game explores.

The first person Chopin meets is the spritely young girl Polka, an irritatingly bouncy anime lass who lives with a sad curse. She is ill – dying, in fact – and in this world, that means she is able to use magical powers. Although Polka only wants to use these powers to help people, others are fearful and ostracize her, believing they can catch her (unspecified) illness. Elsewhere in the world, loveable vagabonds Allegretto and Beat (noticing a trend in the names here?) realise that stealing bread for their impoverished friends is not a longterm solution, and set off to seek a better answer.

All four characters have their own reasons for heading towards the capital city of Forte. On their respective journeys, they meet and join forces, and soon unravel a world of monstrous leaders, of impending war, of rebellion and combat, sacrifice and hope, poison and control. Along the way, they discuss many in-depth topics, dwelling on the nature of their world and the relationships within it, and meet a variety of peculiar and heroic friends.

Traditional in its format, Eternal Sonata is a RPG which owes a lot to the Final Fantasy games – specifically VII and VIII. Running about the lush and beautiful environments, with its secret routes and hidden treasure chests, will remind the player of their earlier adventures with Cloud and company. This is no bad thing, however – each environment is delicately put together and looks simply divine. Although the path through the adventure is very linear, every area that is explored seems to have its own theme and puzzle style. There’s a swamp maze to be traversed, a fort which rotates according to what switches the party flicks, and a graveyard with gates that only open under the influence of specifically coloured lights. Granted, most of these locations are simply complicated mazes, but some of them require some logic and smarts to traverse.

The game may lack a fair bit of exploration, but it wants for nothing in the storyline department. In fact, it oozes storyline – a little bit too much. To be honest, if you’re oozing anything, it’s probably too much, but I’m not claiming to be writing A1 quality literature here. However, the writers of Eternal Sonata can make that claim, and that’s a bit unfortunate. Despite the merits of the writing involved (characters show remorse after boss battles, ponder the nature and meaning of their quest, and even argue over who is the tallest when passing mirrors), there is just too much. Barely a minute passes without some cutscene interrupting things. They’re not too bad when taken one at a time (although nothing really happens in them), but there are sections of the game where the storyline unravels in front of you and you are helpless over its destiny. You will be hit by one scene featuring some characters, which will then shoot off to another cutscene starring some of the other characters, then there will be a brief slideshow of images while subtitles narrate a section of Chopin’s life while one of this compositions plays in the background. After these interludes, a whole new series of cutscenes begin, and you pretty soon start to forget you’re playing a game and zone out in response to the stream of talking anime heads bobbing up and down on your screen. Too much story, not enough control.

In contrast to this level of cerebral rambling is a fairly competent combat system. Each character (three are in your control at a time, although you can have up to six in your party) is given a set amount of time to pull off their tactical manoeuvres. Mixing button-bashing with battle-planning, the fights are wild and fierce but still have enough meat for hardened tacticians to take a decent bite. You can slam the attack button as much as you want for a series of close-up or projectile attacks, or you can use your special attacks. However, the more hits you put in as a team without relying on your special moves, the stronger they become. The moves are interesting and varied – they range from healing spells, to fire walls, and even wielding a camera at the enemy, taking some shots which can be sold later on for bonus cash.

The moves also rely on whether or not your onscreen buddies are in the sun or the shade. Light and dark plays an important role in what goes on upon the battlefield, so moving your boys and girls around to the right position is key to success. In addition, the creatures you face may mutate into bigger, badder (or smaller, stupider) versions if they move from light to dark. A well-crafted, sharp as nails combat system with some fun, but not overly gimmicky, twists which is only let down by the sheer amount of repetition in the enemies you face and the locations you do it in. You will probably end up fighting the same fights numerous times.

The remainder is simple, traditional RPG fare. Finding and selling equipment will improve your party’s chances of success, as will their insistence on levelling up. There is a side quest that involves the collection of ‘score pieces’, which you can play alongside those of random people you find all over the place in order to win prizes. This is disappointingly long and lacks enough interaction, but sticking with it eventually earns you a massive Achievement. But you can find that out yourself.

It feels wrong to fault Eternal Sonata. Mostly, this is because it plays, and looks, like a work of art, a lovingly produced monument to Chopin’s work. It does not belittle the audience by treating them like immature power gamers, but takes them by the hand on a beautiful journey through colour and darkness. As long as you prepare yourself for this, you’ll have a great time with Eternal Sonata. Just don’t load it up expecting a massively creative, interactive, customisable RPG experience. The story is linear and talkative, the characters are set in stone and there is little you can do to rearrange their fate, but this is a masterpiece of a story, plain and simple, and it’s excellent fun to play if you can ignore its minor flaws. If this is what happens when a video game based on a composer is put together, then I look forward to seeing the names of more famous musicians in our instruction manuals. Maybe not Philip Glass though.

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