Eternal Sonata Review

Even Hello Kitty thought this design was cutesy

On starting this site there were a few games that I figured I’d drag back out of my collection to review, if simply because, at the time, they actually managed to have enough of an effect on the frontal lobes to warrant a mention.

Eternal Sonata is one such game. I purchased it originally while looking for some extra RPG titles for the 360. The cover looks a bit kidsy and the story is beyond the ability of a short blurb to encapsulate, but it was cheap and definately an RPG, so I bought it. The other deciding factor was that the game advertises co-op (more on that later), so I figured it’d be good for a laugh. It turns out to be one of the strangest little titles I’ve seen in a long time, and with an oddly mature theme for a game soaked in a cutesy-manga visuals.

OK, where to start on the plot on this one…

This game’s world is set (perhaps, the game could get a bit metaphysical on this one) in the dreams of 19th century classical composer Frederic Francois Chopin. In the “real world” he’s on his death bed, being watched over by his mother, his sister and a doctor.

In his dreams however, he wanders freely. Although Chopin and many others accompany you through the game, the game seems to revolve primarily around Polka, a young girl who can use magic. But in this world, being able to use magic is a sign that one is terminally ill, and so magic users are spurned and avoided. Most refuse to come close to Polka for fear of catching the magic “illness”. And then there’s Allegretto, Beat, Salsa, Jazz, Viola, etc., etc. Location and character names are unfailingly a reference to some variety of musical attribute or instrument. It’s kind of grating at first, but after you spend enough time in game you’ll get used to it. Sometimes they’re even like a little musical pun. Glissando Cliffs for instance (glissando being the musical notation to slide a note either up or down a scale). However, for the most part, it kind of feels like the creators were just looking over a piece of sheet music for inspiration. But even this is forgivable, seeing how the game’s core is in it’s music.

Even though the game is drowned under the tar of cuteness, it’s actually a fairly decent game for content. The story lacks the exploration angle of many J-RPGs, but it both entertains and does a decent job of giving the player a fairly good knowledge of Chopin’s life and works. Each chapter of the game is titled after one of Chopin’s major works, and somewhere during the chapter we are given a historical reference as to the influences behind the composition while listening to the song itself. The people who tout the worth of educational video games could take a few lessons from this title. The story is also very much open to interpretation. Is the world really just Chopin’s dream, or is he somehow visiting a different realm? I finished the whole game and I’m not exactly sure.

You just activated Count Waltz's trap card!

Mature themes wise, the game manages to work in a fair few storylines about the nature of death, belief, love and betrayal. The plot is definitely less kid-orientated than one might assume from its appearance. Disappointing then that sometimes the rather adult level of analogy could get undertreated by it’s presentation. Some of the game’s moralistic elements don’t really see their true potential as they have to be filtered through the character’s voice, which can sometimes come off a bit “after school special”. The ending of the game (which I won’t spoil, as it’s very, well, … unique) even gives you a five minute moralistic recap of what you’ve just played and how you can change your own life to make the world better.

“Wait, what? Change my life? Did they just covertly get me to play a Bible chapter??”

When I watched it I was a little affronted, surely, but it wasn’t the actual story ending, which didn’t disappoint for length. I can’t remember the number of RPGs I’ve played between finishing Final Fantasy 8 (from which I apparently inherited my unrealistic expectations) and now where the designers give you a sixty second clip and roll the credits. And for each and everyone one that did it, I’ve felt so disappointed that they didn’t take the time and effort to finish the game properly. RPGs take more time and effort than most games to complete, and gamers should be rewarded for that with a decent ending. For instance, Knights of the Old Republic 2. Amongst this big and elegant system of morality choices and influences, the ending of the game is 20 seconds.

10> “Are you good? Y/N?” If “Y” goto 20. If “N” goto 30
20> Leave evil place. Goto 40
30> Stay. Goto 40
40> Roll credits and disappointment

-The coding used for the ending of KoTOR 2

But back to the topic at hand.

I'm still looking for the name of Chopin's tailor

Gameplay wise, this game can actually disappoint in a few ways. To begin with, the co-op the box mentions? Almost non-existant. A second player can choose to enter a monster fight and play one of the characters, that’s IF they can be bothered watching the first player do all the exploration and cut-scenes. Hardly worth the bother to code it, in my opinion. The combat system itself is different to your traditional RPG, but still holds almost all of the aspects RPGers know and love. As mentioned above, there isn’t really a lot of open exploration in Eternal Sonata, which may disappoint a few, but the locations provided are generally well fleshed out with enough side missions and easter eggs to entertain folk like myself.

Visually the game is great. Great detail is put into modelling and texturing. The world locations have also been sculpted in meticulous detail, even outside the defined area of where the player can travel. The real shining element however, and quite rightfully for the game’s content, is it’s music. Classical pianist Stanislav Bunin gives renditions of Chopin’s works over the biographical segments of the game, and must have been well worth whatever the developers paid him. The soundtrack in itself is worth the $30AU it probably costs to buy the game these days.

The Verdict:

This game takes some getting in to, but is worth the effort if for nothing else that it’s originality, something that can be a little lacking in many RPG titles. The story is great, although the morality can seem fairly blunt in character’s mouths. It’ll be a thumbs up for RPG fans, and (disappointingly) a thumbs down for most everyone else.

Oh, and if you do play Eternal Sonata and make it to the ending, remember to stay all the way through the credits. There is a short animatic that begins after you reach “Fin” called “The Shape of Life” which is just beautifully constructed. Much like the game, it’s a heartwarming little piece of adult level of philosophy packaged in a child’s medium. Poor Mr Caterpillar!

Official Namco site for Eternal Sonata…