Eternal Sonata Review
(Note: Having finished the game in June 2012 and written my review, I finally got around to typing it up/posting it in August)
Finally, my epic 3 month sojourn through my very first Japanese role-playing game has come to an end. I have conquered Eternal Sonata. The game tops out at around 40 hours; my save file actually said 50, but surely at least 10 was me being a slow learning idiot. I found the gameplay to be long and difficult. Many battles relied upon a perfect harmony of quick thinking, strategy, timing, and split-second reflexes. Unfortunately, all of the above are sorely lacking in my video game skill-set. But, that said, I really feel Eternal Sonata is a great starter for someone getting into Japanese style story games.
Let’s start with the story, and tone of the game: Melodramatic. If you’ve ever wondered what the definition of that word was, please play Eternal Sonata. Long-winded speeches about ‘the heart’ and ‘the soul’ are pervasive. In fact, after you finish the final boss, characters talk during the credits (they just couldn’t give you a break, even the credits have awkward and protracted cutscenes). Then, after the credits, there is another prolonged cutscene before the game actually officially ends. So, story wise, I’m not too keen on Eternal Sonata. Some of the characters are cute, but that can’t save them from this snoozer of a tale.
Moving on to the mechanics and gameplay, I actually found Eternal Sonata to be a touch difficult, but quite satisfying. Getting my “Echo Meter” running and doing multiple “specials” was fun. The game mostly consists of somewhat open areas with enemy patrols. When you touch an enemy or an enemy touches you, theme music plays and the screen melts away into a sort of battlefield or arena, where your party fights that enemy in a turn-based style. This type of traditional JRPG combat definitely took some getting used to. In most western games, you just shoot or hit something until it is dead. However, in Eternal Sonata I had to control a set of 2 or 3 people, ensuring they did enough damage to my target, and stayed healed up, all while making sure no turns were wasted. If I wasn’t juggling enough right there, each turn has a timer that gets shorter as you progress through the game. This means you have to figure out what you’re going to do, and execute before your turn runs out. I came into this genre knowing this type of ‘battle system’ was a staple and during my time with the game I’ve came to enjoy the strategy of the arrangement. My main gripe with the gameplay has nothing to do with the battle system, it is that many of the explorable areas are Zelda-style puzzle-dungeons. Every 2 chapters or so, I would find myself wandering around and around trying to figure out what I needed to do to complete the dungeon and get out. The fatigue built up quickly, so within the first quarter of the game I found an IGN guide to walk me through the dungeon mazes when they came up (I strongly recommend doing this from the beginning for any players new to JRPG’s, the game was much less frustrating post guide). The battle camera is also a small problem as it would get annoyingly obstructed occasionally, especially toward the end. Overall, I thought the game was a bit challenging, but I believe that can mostly be attributed to my lack of coordination and experience with the genre.
Where Eternal Sonata really does shine is in the art direction and the music. The characters in the game have a really endearing look to them. Whimsical costumes, great looking hair, and light in the eyes gave me the impression I was watching an anime, rather than playing a game. The games music also stands out, its developer, Tri-Crescendo actually pulled out some Chopin to play between chapters. The whole score feels like it was something someone actually cared about. Painfully wistful, dramatic and sweeping, if the story was as good as the music, this game would be a classic.
If you’re a JRPG veteran, you can safely skip Eternal Sonata as you’ll probably be asleep halfway through it. That being said, I would wholeheartedly recommend Eternal Sonata to anyone who had never played a JRPG before. As long as you use a guide and don’t worry about the story, I feel like the game serves as a good introduction to battle systems and party management/balancing.
