[Multiplatform] Trusty Bell, aka Eternal Sonata

I picked the game up today and logged a good 7 or so hours in. It's not particularly hard, but the battle system is probably the most fun turn-based game I've ever played. Viola is pretty broken though. You have to manually aim her shots, but the farter away she is the more damage she does. So if she starts the fight and aims at the farthest possible enemy, if it's not a boss you can probably down it in a single turn with her. If not two enemies.

The english voice track is superb. Hearing some of Polka's lines outside of battle really made her voice fit, and nothing else has seemed out of place at all. The dialogue is acted extremely well, too. I switched to japanese to hear some Aya Hirano Polka, but Allegretto's voice grated on my nerves far too much for me to keep it there.

I am too sad that this game is region locked.
Can't play on my asian system, also the jap/asian version has no english text or voice.

Asian/jap people are stuck with chinese and jap.

Guess i have to wait for ps3 version.

Well, I just beat Eternal Sonata. I had about 23 and a half hours, and I didn't do the optional dungeon, the pirate's treasure sidequest,

Spoiler:

or the sidequest to revive Claves.

All in all the story was... strange. Towards the end things just started getting weird. I also hit the damage cap for a single hit with Allegretto's Bloody Plume skill. The last hit would hit for 99999. My highest character's HP was Jazz, with somewhere around 35000. The battle system is probably my favorite turn-based system ever.

Spoiler:

The final areas, though, with all of the introspective dialogue, felt thrown in just for the sake of being there. Also Chopin as a final boss took me completely by surprise, and made me glad that he wasn't in my main team.

Also I had noticed that for a JRPG, the usual life lesson theme throughout the game was surprisingly absent. However, all of this was made up during the first staff roll, when every character basically said "Do something with your life. Don't waste it." (or: "why the fuck are you playing video games").

The actual ending was extremely strange. First Polka jumped off the cliff, then after a modified childhood scene with her mother she TIME PARADOXed back up the cliff and lived. Her and Allegretto fall into each other's arms for a tender moment, and then it's over. Chopin dies, it's never explicitly stated what happens to the world.

It seemed like it was in a constant cycle, what with Polka's special being a gift from "someone she loved," and Allegretto handing her that very stone right after she tossed it off a cliff. Chopin as the final boss seemed as a device to break the cycle, although I'm not exactly sure how.

Worth playing through? Definitely. One of the more fun RPGs I've played in quite awhile, just the story started getting a little too trippy towards the latter end. At least we know there won't be an Eternal Sonata 2.

Unless it's starring Beethoven.

And then there won't be any sound or music.

Originally Posted by Sexninja

I am too sad that this game is region locked.
Can't play on my asian system, also the jap/asian version has no english text or voice.

Asian/jap people are stuck with chinese and jap.

Guess i have to wait for ps3 version.

According to Namco, there's going to be an English "Asian" version released in November. No idea if it has any extra content though.

I just started on the optional dungeon and the sidequest inside of it (achievement unlocked just opening the thing, lawl.) and good God did the difficulty jump up.

Regular enemies now have more HP than most bosses. Hell, from the two bosses I've faced in it the regular enemies were tougher. I've only done the first two floors. The first wasn't too tough and was a great experience fountain. Then I moved on to the second and it threw some souped up Pirates at me. These things don't mess around. If you're not an expert at Counterattacks or Guards you will not survive. Their hits can do upwards of 10000 damage, and even on a character with almost 50000 HP that's a good chunk of health gone. I can't imagine doing this on Hard Mode, although I'm sure I'll try it.

My main team of Viola / Jazz / Allegretto is now around level 70, I can easily see me being 99 before I hit the bottom floor of this.

Also Party Level 6 is the best thing ever. 6 Harmony Chains and an echo gauge that carries from battle to battle makes the battles so much more enjoyable <3

Thread Revival!


The PS3's US release has been officially dated as October 21st. Yes, that's the same day a lot of other games come out.




The US PS3 Box Art


And, of course, the PS3 version has a couple of extras in an attempt to entice PS3 owners to buy the game a year later, or gamers with both an Xbox 360 and PS3 to buy it again. Among them are: two new characters, new dungeons, a new costume feature, and new events.



I haven't really followed the game too much - never really paid attention to the Xbox 360 version until reviews came out (which were mostly positive). But, I'm looking to pick this one up.


Edit: Also, might want to change it from "360" to "Multi."

I'll change the prefix right now, thanks for the reminder.

That said, it doesn't really do much for the game, regardless of the extra content they add. The plot to this sucker makes so little fucking sense that it's very difficult to recommend, plus it's easy as sin and the battle system is very dull until the very end of the game, when it levels to a point where you actually have to pay attention.

I'd say avoid it, really.

Hopefully it has trophy support. The achievements are there already, just carry the same requirements over.

Originally Posted by Pew pew pew

That said, it doesn't really do much for the game, regardless of the extra content they add. The plot to this sucker makes so little fucking sense that it's very difficult to recommend, .

Yeah... I'm pretty sure it can be interpreted so as to make sense, but it requires a lot of lateral thinking, because it is presented so badly in some crucial parts. Even then there are some dangling threads which were just never resolved. I loved the game, I really did. It just... could have used a rewrite or two. Things to love about it are the graphics and the music... and the scenes which actually do make sense. Things to hate are that sometimes the game just does an abysmal job of getting across the twisted time-loop storyline, and the incessant preaching.

I'll probably buy the PS3 version even though I already beat the 360 version. The reason is simple. They promised to put in some extra cutscenes which I'm really hoping will help bring the whole thing together. Even though I'm quite certain I understand (after considerable thought) the events of the game, it was just so disjointed. Still a beautiful thing though. Beautiful like a vase that has been smashed into tiny fragments and then reassembled by inexpert hands.

I don't think there's enough in there to warrant a second purchase, at least not at release price. If I can find the thing for $20 I might consider it, but that's really about it.

It'd be especially nice if they released this extra content as DLC for the 360 version, too, but it's Namco so they won't.

Originally Posted by Taco

I don't think there's enough in there to warrant a second purchase, at least not at release price. If I can find the thing for $20 I might consider it, but that's really about it.

Oh yeah. I'm definitely not buying this in the first month of release, or probably the first several months. Even though I enjoyed the game more than most people, a double-dip is very low priority for me. Extra content is always good, so I'll go for it, but yeah... the price must be low.

I haven't bought this game yet, so this is probably a day one purchase. I hope this has the JP voice track like the 360 version.

Originally Posted by Soluzar

the incessant preaching.

This, oh my god. The game tries to beat it into you even more bluntly than most jRPGs, and it does such a poor job because of the presentation of the story. I just can't stomach how poorly it did what it was trying to go out and do. Disjointed, like you said, is the word for it. So much so that I really can't recommend it, since I found the battle system and everything else about it lacking until the VERY end of the game.

Originally Posted by Kairi Li

I hope this has the JP voice track like the 360 version.

If it doesn't, you're in for a world of hurt.