Last week I was live-in dog sitting for my friend. Though I don’t have regrets, I did struggle with being alone in a house that was not mine and dealing with a dog for the first time. I did know ahead of time that I would struggle with loneliness, restlessness and faux boredom (When you have plenty to do and plenty of time but are still not stimulated/motivated), so Nick and I bought me a game to play. Knowing I would need something long and addictive (That’s what she said), I chose an RPG: Eternal Sonata.

Overall,  Eternal Sonata is cool. It’s your typical RPG, with cute characters, some nutty plot about saving the world, bad ass weapons (except for Polka’s umbrella…I mean wtf?! why does she keep buying umbrellas to kill things?! Sheesh!) and monsters with palette changes. It is a little different because it brings Frederic Chopin into the picture. They even throw in a little history lesson here or there, so I can pretend I’m learning something. This game is music-themed, with music jargon and games, but it is no Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure.

That umbrella is sooooooo scary. Might rain. Better get a drying pan…

What I Like About This Game

• Pretty Colors! The artwork is vivid and lovely. The anime-like character design is cute and keeps the 3D elements relatively timeless.
• The Fight System is neat. It’s turn based but in real time. I also like the fact that the difficulty of using the fight system increases throughout the game. At first, you have much more time to think and act, and as you progress, the game slowly takes away your training wheels. This makes Eternal Sonata a great RPG for noobs.
  

• There is an abundance of catch phrases for the characters  Nothing gets more annoying that hearing the same “Yay! We won!” over and over. I’m over halfway through the game, and I still hear new ones sometimes.
• The plot gets a little preachy…and I like it. It definitely has some jabs for the pharmaceutical industry and politics and just not being a douche. It’s cute. I dig.
• If you take a little time at the beginning of the game to over level your characters, it will pay off. The game does not seem to react to your high level, and so you get the same amount of experience regardless. Score. Guess who never loses a boss fight? This girl.

What I Don’t Like About This Game

• 

  No, Salsa. I don’t like you, except for your fast attack chains. Get over yourself.

  The character development is a little weak. I feel like this is one of the game’s biggest flaws and is why it isn’t more popular than it is. And I hate the character design for Salsa! Everything from her look to her writing and voice is just off. Ugh.

• This game is a bit linear…or so I thought. I got stuck in this one dungeon and decided to look at a walk through (FOR SHAME, PRENTICE). I missed a handful of random things that I really don’t think you’d ever think to do unless you had a player’s guide.  Lame.
• There are a few quirks with some of the characters with long range attacks, like having to wait for the screen to get out of first person view before you can cast a spell.

Like I said, I enjoy the game and plan to see it through to the end. I may even do a game night tomorrow after doing my rum hustling.