Product Description

Cross the Bridge Between Dreams and Reality... On his deathbed the famous composer, Chopin, drifts between this life and the next. In his final hours, he experiences a fantastical dream where he encounters a young girl facing a terrible destiny and the boy who will fight to save her. On the border between dreams and reality, Chopin discovers the light that shines in all of us in this enduring tale of good and evil, love and betrayal.

Developed by Tri-Crescendo and featuring the music of Chopin, Eternal Sonata for the PlayStation 3 delivers amazingly detailed 3D graphics, a captivating storyline, an innovative action battle system as well as new playable characters, quests, music and more.

• New PS3 Quests, Battles and Events: Experience new quests, battles, events and multiple endings that will shed new light on the dramatic and evolving storyline.
• New Playable Characters and Costume Changes for the PS3: Now players can play as Crescendo or Serenade and change favourite character's costumes.
• Exclusive New Music for the PS3: Listen to newly added Chopin music - a key element in the environment and story.
• Custom-Made for Next-Gen: Enjoy amazing, high-definition, anime style cel-shading and high quality textures delivering an spectacular next gen experience.
• Innovative Battle System: Battle using a unique, hybrid turn-based / action RPG system that combines free-roam and turn-based action (up to three players during battle).
• Strategic Use of Light and Darkness: Adjust your battle strategy in the ongoing struggle between light and darkness. Beware of enemies lurking in the shadows, as their stats - attacks and potency - will change, as will their physical form. Lure them out into the light or destroy them under the cloak of darkness. Change your special attacks depending on whether you are in the light or the dark.
• Dramatic

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2184 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Atari
• Released on: 2009-02-13
• Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
• Format: Unknown format

Customer Reviews

Excellent game, but not for everyone
I own this game on the Xbox 360, so I can't answer for platform specific features, but what I will say is that this is such a uniquely beautiful game, it's hard to compare it to others.

I'll do as I always do and try not get "emotional" and give it the good points versus the bad points:
Good:
1) Absolutely GORGEOUS graphics and scenery
2) Memorable and beautiful scene setting music
3) Fighting system is very impressive, you get a manageable learning curve and some really cool maneuvers as you level up.
4) No random battles hurrah! You walk into enemies to fight them.
5) Good story-line (see below though um...)
6) Unique
7) The story has good pace, you're not constantly interrupted by cut-scenes.
8) Making money is a total breeze
Bad:
1) A bit cringe-worthy at times, pass the bucket!
2) Some of the characters voices are annoying
3) The story-line is very preachy
4) I couldn't avoid using a walkthrough at times because some areas are just so darn confusing, i really can't be bothered with all that I'm afraid!
5) The battle scene's aren't "realtime" in that when you bump into an enemy you transition to a battle ground, which can get quite repetitive when you're in a large area trying to progress.
6) It's soooo girly, trust me!
7) Making money is a total breeze

Considering the serious lack of decent RPG's lately in my opinion, this is an excellent game and although not the best around is worth a look because although it's never going to be a total classic, it's downright fun to play and the music and graphics are an experience in itself.

I think it could well be a good beginners game, even though some of the bosses get pretty tough if you don't spend a little time leveling up.

I'm sure plenty will point out what differs between platforms, so I look forward to reading that myself and seeing if it's worth getting myself a PS3 too!

Style over substance?
I love rpgs and so had to import this game from the US - that, and it is cheaper too! So having played about 15 hours of the game so far, I thought I'd share a few thoughts about it to all of you dying for a PS3 rpg.

This is a japanese style rpg through and through. From the slightly bizarre story, the linear gameplay, the lack of control over levelling up, the invisible walls, to the long cut-scenes, slightly annoying battle sound bites, seperate arena battles. So if you are expecting an open world rpg like oblivion etc, you are looking at the wrong game.

Firstly - the good points, this game is stunningly gorgeous - the environments are saturated with colour and this is highlighted by the areas of light and shade that form an integral part of the gameplay. There are quite a few people and objects to interact with and chests to find whilst exploring that hide weapons, armour and other items. The cut-scenes are great works of animation and there is the ability to skip them if you are not too bothered about the story. The story is bizarre, but interesting - if a bit predictable at times.

The main part of any jrpg is the battles, here the battles are not random, but use a common idea in jrpgs of bumping into enemies which transfer you to a battle arena where you combat a number of foes. The enemies change abilities and even shapes depending on whether they are in shadow or in the light, and your characters also changes abilities as well. The combat is turn-based, but also action-based as you only have a limited amount of time to perform your actions. Also the party level affects how much time you have in the battles and how much access to different skills you have. Therefore you can develop a range of tactics. The battles are lots of fun (thankfully) thus four stars on the fun rating! Also one character can take photos during battles which can generate cash.

Now to the bad points - and with a score of 3 stars I view these as significant It may well be a very pretty game, however there is no camera control during the main exploration phase (annoying when you are back tracking as you can't see where you are going!) and the camera control during battles is limited to 3 zoom settings - this can make some battles tricky if you can't easily find where the enemies are or even if you are standing near enough to them to do a melee attack. The game is very linear with no side quests at all (unless you count finding some chests as a side quest!), although you can search for score pieces which help gain special items - i've found two so far and they weren't particularly hidden. Considering some of the better ps2 rpgs, this is quite surprising for a next gen game - surely we should be moving to greater depth in games rather than less. The same goes with customising your character - it is extremeley limited. Basically all you can do is equip new weapons or armour - levelling up is done automatically as well as gaining new skills. Thus there seems to be little chance of replayability. The enemies you fight are also limited to two types per section, usually followed by a boss - this can get a bit repetative. Also the items you can buy are also fairly limited and, after buying the best weapons and armour, you tend to end up stockpiling your health items to the point of excess (i think i have 80 peach cookies so far!)

Finally to a warning - at the end of each chapter there is a poor quality very slow photo slide show with Chopin's music playing in the background - get yourself a drink and some food as it takes ages to complete and is incredibly tedious. At least the chapters are long and i have only experienced two so far!

So, in conclusion, a beautiful game with fun to be had - but it is concerning that a next-gen rpg can have so little depth compared to many last-gen rpgs. Surely having lush HD graphics is not the only thing a ps3 can do?

the truly definitive version of sonata
i was completly blown away with this game.
since we ps3 owners lack rpgs... ( oblivion, fallout 3, folklore ) i have found that eternal sonata is what truth rpgs player wants. its a big game with gorgeous graphics and awesome sound. the combat can be tricky and complex but at higher levels is top of fun. it can be difficult some times but never impossible. give it a chance and i can garanty you it will be worth of your time. 9.5/10