Eternal Sonata

Eternal Sonata - (PS3)
Developer: in-house
Format: PS3
Genre: RPG


You'll come for the gameplay - but stay for the music



Finally ported over form the Xbox 360, PlayStation fans can now immerse themselves in a truly original RPG premise that bristles with innovative combat and quest mechanics. The story begins at a poignant historical moment. Lying on his 19th century deathbed the composer Chopin drifts in and out of consciousness and finally slips into an imaginative dream realm full of quests, creatures and companions.

What first hits you if you're a newcomer to the story is the astounding soundtrack to all this, with original compositions from RPG guru Motoi Sakuraba and Chopin's own works. Breathtaking music entwines with gorgeous scenery as you venture deeper into the world interacting with a dazzling array of colourful characters and facing some truly fearful foes.

Lifting this above the usual RPG gameplay is the intriguing Light and Dark battle mechanic once a monster has decided to have go. Depending on your positioning, whether you're in sunlight or shade you'll have access to different tactics and abilities. The flipside of this is that your enemies will have the same, often assuming different and more dangerous forms depending on their battlefield position. It immediately throws a curveball into your usual RPG tactics and raises the bar of the game.

There are also new dungeons and locations to explore and new characters to control and interact with including the previously locked ones in the Xbox version of Princess Serenade and Price Crescendo.

Though it's a little linear in form, from the usual dash between A and B collecting treasure and solving puzzles, there's enough subtle plus points and many outstanding elements to keep you enthralled. And all the while you'll be enraptured by the beautiful soundtrack. And that's not bad at all for an RPG.