Eternal Sonata

 PlayStation 3
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 139 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 95 out of 139
  2. Mixed: 31 out of 139
  3. Negative: 13 out of 139
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  1. TylerS.
    Oct 24, 2008
    10
    This game is one of the best RPG's I've ever played. Great music, fun combat system, and interesting characters. It's also a good history lesson on Chopin. I hope they make another game like this one.
  2. skeith
    Jul 21, 2012
    8
    Beautiful game with beautiful graphic, the story is quite confusing you might have to look up for more understanding. The only thing I can complain about is sometimes the cut scene is just too long, and the dialogues have delays, which can be very irritating. The story is actually very good if you can pay more attention and dig up some info by yourself. If you like JRPG, please do tryBeautiful game with beautiful graphic, the story is quite confusing you might have to look up for more understanding. The only thing I can complain about is sometimes the cut scene is just too long, and the dialogues have delays, which can be very irritating. The story is actually very good if you can pay more attention and dig up some info by yourself. If you like JRPG, please do try Eternal Sonata.=)… Expand
  3. PecoTheGreat
    May 2, 2012
    9
    We all know that the PS3 is not the JRPG heavy hitter the PS2 used to be, so it took me some time finding a few that looked interesting to me. One of those that caught my eye immediately is Eternal Sonata. Why you ask? There is something about the game and character design that was appealing to me, much more than most other games I had seen before. Without spoiling too much, the gamesWe all know that the PS3 is not the JRPG heavy hitter the PS2 used to be, so it took me some time finding a few that looked interesting to me. One of those that caught my eye immediately is Eternal Sonata. Why you ask? There is something about the game and character design that was appealing to me, much more than most other games I had seen before. Without spoiling too much, the games events take place in the dream world of a dying Frederic Chopin. Yes, THAT Chopin. Even if that was not the case, the world itself is easily one of the most beautifully designed settings I have seen in a very long time. The playable characters are simply adorable, from a young girl that is "cursed" with the power of magic, two "hellion" boys that fight for the poor kids of their town, Chopin himself (!)and almost a dozen of other unique and interesting characters. The story itself sounds familiar, the ruler of a kingdom is flooding the market with a new type of medicine that is tax-free (thus cheap) but has side-effects that I won't spoil here. On the quest to solve the mystery behind this, the characters join forces. The PS3 version is an enhanced port of the original X-Box360 game, with additional characters and different endings which, afaik, consist of different cut scenes only. What I like most about this game is that, unlike many other RPGs, it does not force you to grind or farm stuff for hours and hours. Instead, all important items you will need can be found through exploring the areas, which is actually FUN (yes!) because the areas are beautiful. What sounds so simple seems to be very difficult in fact, as more and more RPGs rely on farming the s*** out of everything. (Resonance of Fate, anyone?) Fighting in this game is a lot of fun, easy to learn but with some tricks once you go more into depth of the system. I am having a hard time finding negative aspects, but there are some very minor letdowns. What might be an upset for some is that there are no trophies in the PS3 version. I didn't mind, as many trophies only force you to do something that is not actually fun or necessary. Another thing is that you will find items in the game that you can use to interact with some NPCs. These are not numbered and sorted in order of the time you find them, which can be confusing. The last negative point is that there is no map of any kind. As some of the dungeons are quite complex, a map that you can complete by exploring (as XIII-2) would have been useful, or a percentage telling you how much of the map you have explored already. However, none of the above can change the fact that this is one of the best JRPGs for the PS3, a lovable game that every RPG-fan should enjoy.… Expand
  4. EphemSyn
    Oct 10, 2012
    9
    Eternal Sonata contains some of the most beautiful music no other game has ever had. The environment is breath taking and the so are the characters. Each character in Eternal Sonata is full of emotions and spirit. The game mechanic for Eternal Sonata is addicting and challenging. The game includes an interesting light/dark mechanic where your skills change when you're in a shadow or outEternal Sonata contains some of the most beautiful music no other game has ever had. The environment is breath taking and the so are the characters. Each character in Eternal Sonata is full of emotions and spirit. The game mechanic for Eternal Sonata is addicting and challenging. The game includes an interesting light/dark mechanic where your skills change when you're in a shadow or out near some light. The story to Eternal Sonata can become a bit drawn out or you could lose it in general. Eternal Sonata is a perfect example of what most JRPG's need, stunning music, characters with emotions, and a fun combat system that has you always moving and thinking what to do next in a matter of seconds.… Expand
  5. yesterdayatnoon
    Oct 6, 2012
    8
    Much of what I played of this game was cool. The combat system is a little too hard for my seven year old, and requires enough experience with it that I forgot how to play after putting it down for a month, which is nice; the genre needed some originality in the combat mechanics department. The story, the writing, and the monologues are a bit heavy handed. I'm glad to see writers go inMuch of what I played of this game was cool. The combat system is a little too hard for my seven year old, and requires enough experience with it that I forgot how to play after putting it down for a month, which is nice; the genre needed some originality in the combat mechanics department. The story, the writing, and the monologues are a bit heavy handed. I'm glad to see writers go in to philosophy and art in a video game, but their handling of it was a hauntingly familiar throw back to hot boxing in high school.
    There are a few visual elements that don't fit together well, such as the main male character's top hat not fitting on his head; these elements show that certain pieces were created independently, a common fact, but one you shouldn't be aware of. All that said, it's a good game that would have been a perfect fit for me twenty years ago. I would recommend it to anyone interested in philosophy and history who doesn't have much education in either.    … Expand
  6. Geowil
    Dec 12, 2011
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have had this game for quite a while now but had never gotten around to beating it. Well no more, just finished it last night and am now ready to review it.

    First off the thing I noticed most of all was the attention to the color palette. ES has one of the most colorful worlds I have seen in a PS3 game yet. Everything is done in such a way as to bring out the fullness of the colors used and it makes the game loot really pretty; see Baroque Castle being a prime example. The maps are, for the most part, well designed and give you a sense of progression throughout the game in terms of the complexity of the maps.

    One point where it lacks is the number of enemy models. Throughout much of the game you will be running into slightly modified version of enemies that you found in earlier parts of the game. Bosses are also recycled in some areas as well.

    The story is nearly solid. It is one of the few truly nearly plot hole free stories released in recent times. It centers around two main characters, Frederik and Polka.

    At the start of the game you take control of Polka, a 14 year old girl who can use magic, on her way back to her village called Tenuto. In this world people who can use magic are shunned because it seems to indicate that they are inflicted with a terminal illness that cannot be cured.

    Polka soon meets Frederik in the flower field next to Tenuto and this is where our story begins. To Frederik this world he is in is nothing but a creation in a dream he is having. He states this over several times throughout the game and is adamant that this is his dream.

    At some point in the game, however, it ceases to be just a dream and the world takes on a life of its own.

    There are two powers in this world, Baroque and Forte. Each have had wars over power in the past and such a struggle takes place throughout the game's time period. through the game we learn that Count Waltz is manipulating Forte's markets to favor the use of a substance called Mineral Powder. It is said to be able to cure almost any illness and also acts as a stimulant. However there is a major side effect to this powder that the monarchy knows full well about; it turns the users into mindless slaves who can use magic.

    This is, of course, Forte's goal; to turn its populace into mindless golems so that Waltz can invade and overthrow Prince Crescendo, the temporary ruler of Baroque. Waltz, however, is also seeking a way to increase the efficiency of the Mineral Powder. He has learned that when you use glowing Agogos, a type of life form, that Mineral Powder will instantly turn the taker into a extremely powerful monster.

    As he mines Mount Rock for Mineral Power he also sends his henchmen to seek out glowing Agogos and eventually Polka as well when it is revealed that she is the source of the glowing Agogos.

    The game leads up to the ending where you fight, major spoiler, Frederik. He has decided that since this world has become more of a reality to him then reality itself that he wants to test to see if this world is truly no longer just a dream, expecting it to vanish upon his own death.

    The ending for the game is very long, 45 minutes at least, and does take a bit of thought to put into perspective due to its ambiguity. Some people have said that at the end Polka dies and is reborn as a girl and then is magically transformed into her original self at the start of the game, however this is not the case.

    The world that Polka inhabits is cyclical, meaning that all of the events in the game have happened before. There are hints to this when Allegretto give Polka that stone that she throws away and also when they find the fortune teller. What we are seeing at the end is the cycle repeating after Polka's "death", or rather her intentions of sacrificing herself have caused the world to return to an earlier stage.

    What we see at the end of the game is Frederik using his life to break that cycle and to end Polka's eternal path of self sacrifice. The Polka we then see rise back over the cliff is not a different Polka but the same one that jumped over. Like I said it is very abstract and ambiguous and takes a fare amount of deductive reasoning to sort out properly.

    Overall this is a great game and definitely one of the better JRPG's on the PS3. I got around 60 hours out of it but I did not try to find everything nor did I go through the Church of Ezi.

    I give it a 9/10.    … Expand
  7. SethB
    Jan 6, 2010
    10
    This is a prime example of what an turn-based RPG should be. Very interesting storyline, dark life-related themes, and many, many hours of gameplay. The visual effects are stunning, Anime fan or otherwise, and Tri-Crescendo did a spectacular job with music. Every so often they have Stanislav Bunin perform a musical piece by written Chopin, and gives the real-life story on what influenced This is a prime example of what an turn-based RPG should be. Very interesting storyline, dark life-related themes, and many, many hours of gameplay. The visual effects are stunning, Anime fan or otherwise, and Tri-Crescendo did a spectacular job with music. Every so often they have Stanislav Bunin perform a musical piece by written Chopin, and gives the real-life story on what influenced the game. This is a very unique feature I've never seen in a game, and for this JRPG it works and actually makes the game more interesting. If I was to cut that feature out it would still be a must play. This game needs to be played, and as you see from the user ratings it was very underrated. Go down to your game store and get it. Play it. Love it.… Expand
  8. daguis
    Sep 22, 2011
    4
    I can't believe i'm the only one who thinks this game is crap. Visuals are mediocre at best and the artistic design is so boring and generic it hurts. Towns and dungeons especially suffer from poor design, making you lose all the excitement about discovering new places (they all look pretty much the same). Only character design makes the cut. For a game based on a musical theme, music isI can't believe i'm the only one who thinks this game is crap. Visuals are mediocre at best and the artistic design is so boring and generic it hurts. Towns and dungeons especially suffer from poor design, making you lose all the excitement about discovering new places (they all look pretty much the same). Only character design makes the cut. For a game based on a musical theme, music is surprisingly disappointing. The story and writing are so dull and clichéd it is ridiculous, and they will make you want to smash Polka's head against a wall in no time. There is absolutely NO customization for your character development except choosing the skills you want to bring to battle (wow) and your equipment. The battle system is boring, with little strategy involved: it basically consists in button-mashing most of the time and normal battles provide no excitement or challenge at all. Boss battles really do, but the biggest impact on the outcome of those will be pressing a button in time to defend against attacks, suddenly turning this JRPG in some kind of ridiculous rythm/reflexes minigame. The light and dark system makes very little impact on the battles, except when it comes to healing. The controls in battle are clunky, the camera is awful (often hiding where the f**k enemies are), and this combined will make absolutely no guarantee that the game does what you want it to do (especially if you want to play Viola, who loves to miss arrow shots for apparently no reason). The only positive feature I can think about is the inclusion of japanese voices (kudos for that).
    Being a JRPG fan, I was extremely disappointed by this game and i would recommend to avoid it unless you are that type of jrpg fan that plays every genre game even if it is crap. If that's the case, good luck.    … Expand
  9. asdasd33a
    Apr 15, 2014
    0
    I like JRPGS I love video games but this game ooohhhhh my god.
    I start it up it shows some opening cut scenes with terrible dialogue. So far so good. I get to fight some beginning enemies. Usual button mash. Then soon I get to the first boss. The fight takes 5 minutes and during any turn I am at risk at unfair death because boss could/would take multiple turns to my 1 and unless I pressed    I like JRPGS I love video games but this game ooohhhhh my god.
    I start it up it shows some opening cut scenes with terrible dialogue. So far so good. I get to fight some beginning enemies. Usual button mash. Then soon I get to the first boss. The fight takes 5 minutes and during any turn I am at risk at unfair death because boss could/would take multiple turns to my 1 and unless I pressed every single split second guard prompt I am dead. This is with my reaction time being above average. Ok. lets continue. Same thing repeats terrible cutscenes more button mashing and now next boss. This one I find out I can not beat at my character level .... So I spend 15 minutes running back and forth leveling by killing that same poor single design enemy. Come back and impossible battle is now total push over. 10 hours into the game same patern repeats. The difficulty is either below easy or impossible. Every boss fight is a chore. Every dungeon has a single enemy design and is a straight path. Also did I mention that there is no retry option so on death you have to load the game and loose whatever progress you have made ...    … Expand
  10. Ahmedeus
    May 4, 2021
    2
    Worst RPG I have ever played. And I played a lot of rpgs, but this one has the oscar. Except the cell shading and the music the rest is garbage
  11. EricC.
    Aug 9, 2009
    9
    Great RPG for the PS3. Fun and challenging at times. Playing second time around for more than 60 hours now.
  12. JoeB.
    Oct 23, 2008
    10
    I bought this game yesterday and I have to say that it's a really overall pretty game. I love the gameplay in it. And I find the concept to be a really cool as well. It's about time that there was a really good RPG to be released on the PS3. Hope there will be more to come.
  13. TraceM.
    Oct 23, 2008
    10
    This game is beautifully put together. It has a gripping story which also teaches you about one of music's most famous composers. The combat system is easy yet enjoyable and the voice overs are perfect. This game has stunning music as well.
  14. EdwardJH
    Feb 22, 2009
    9
    A little too linear for some - and perhaps too steep a difficulty for others - but the stunning visuals, the brilliant soundtrack and fairly original take on the turn-based combat system makes this a must-buy for any JRPG fan. Even if you are not a JRPG aficionado, it's still worth a try: you might just like it.
  15. Grrsawn
    Jun 28, 2011
    7
    FUN FUN FUN! The battle system is so goddamn fun! The graphics are gorgeous, the soundtrack is uber lovely and the characters are, for the most part, lame as all hell. It does have an ounce of originality but the bad writing does a good job of flushing that down the drain, leaving behind another typical (but fun) JRPG to love.
  16. Camlambelot
    Mar 6, 2022
    9
    Chances are nobody will read this review in 2021 or beyond, but, this game is truly something special and is greatly deserving of a remaster or a remake.. and maybe even a sequel or spiritual successor some day? The battle system is a unique blend of real time turned based features making it a strategic and fun game to play.

    One of the best soundtracks and art style in a JRPG since I've    Chances are nobody will read this review in 2021 or beyond, but, this game is truly something special and is greatly deserving of a remaster or a remake.. and maybe even a sequel or spiritual successor some day? The battle system is a unique blend of real time turned based features making it a strategic and fun game to play.

    One of the best soundtracks and art style in a JRPG since I've ever heard and seen other than Final Fantasy and the Nier series. If you can get passed the bad delivery of lines and somewhat childish characters, the story is something special and memorable.    … Expand
  17. liquideyeliner
    Apr 19, 2015
    7
    Beautiful graphics, beautiful music, fun combat system-all bogged down by a paint by numbers JRPG story line with bland voice acting and obnoxious characters.

Awards & Rankings

42
#42 Best PS3 Game of 2008
51
#51 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2008
29
#29 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 34 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 34
  3. Negative: 0 out of 34
  1. GameSpot
    85
    A year later, this captivating role-playing game is still gorgeous to look at and fun to play.
    Read full review
  2. Gaming Age
    67
    In the beginning, the lengthy and frequent cut scenes really started to grate on my nerves, but after the 6 hour I started to really take an interest in certain characters, and the game felt like it just took off from there.
    Read full review
  3. IGN
    87
    Although sometimes awkwardly paced and linear, Eternal Sonata is an RPG that everyone should consider checking out, especially for the unique premise and touching music.
    Read full review
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