In addition to the game's slick battle system, it adds more innovation in the form of 'light versus dark' fighting. Each time a gamer enters into battle, the battlefield has areas well lit with sunlight and areas darkened by shadows. Where you, and your enemies, stand on the battlefield makes the battles feel quite different. Each character has his or her own special attack to deal a great deal of damage or heal others. Each character is equipped with two, one for light and one for dark situations. Players in doing battle in a shadow will fight differently than a player in the sunlight. Likewise, enemies react differently to the light versus the dark, but far more drastically. Enemies change shape completely, turning into different and potentially more dangerous enemies in the light versus dark. The light and dark aspects of the battlefield make for some nice strategic fights, but it is not perfect. Occasionally even an enemies shadow will grant you dark powers while at other times you will appear to be at the edge of the light and dark and have the system randomly select your special attack.
The game's battle system is not without its limitations. The biggest limitation is the lack of actual 'classes', which RPG fans have grown accustomed to. Rather, each character is predestined with their own skills, weapon types, and special attacks. It is even determined what new special attacks will be granted as your characters level up. The game does a decent, if basic, job at giving you healing and dark magic for a few characters and ass-kicking melee attacks for others. The game's party system is really the only way to balance out your group's attacks and magic.
While RPGers are used to the party system and using formations to better protect their mages, Eternal Sonata actually forces you to remove your weaker characters from the action altogether. Regardless of the size of your party, only three of your characters (the three on the top line) will get involved in battles. The other characters are just along for the ride, and get no experience points. This could work if you had a weak character to protect through the game, but even the seemingly diseased Polka is more than capable of whooping up on enemies. In addition, some of the lesser characters have some special abilities that you want to play with from time to time, but they are usually the one's you leave out of the action as the game moves along.
Allegretto's younger brother, Beat has a camera that allows him to take pictures of baddies while in battle, then sell them later for gold. The amount of gold received for each picture depends on the grade, varying from A through D. While the camera system is reminiscent of Dead Rising and recently released BioShock, it certainly does not work nearly as well. Taking pictures never feels quite right, especially when trying to capture a bouncing enemy up close, and they never show you the picture you just took to allow you to correct mistakes. Checking the grades on your pictures will only leave you scratching your head, as it is entirely possible to capture an enemy perfectly centered and taking most of the frame and get a 'C'. Likewise, it is entirely possible to completely cut off an enemy's head in the shot and achieve an 'A' rating. The amount of gold you receive for each picture is unbalanced in the scheme of the game too, as receiving fifty gold pieces for a good battle is typical, while a 'C' grade picture can net you several thousand. In a game where so many of the main characters are poor, you are strangely never short on cash.
The game is among the most beautiful on the 360, thanks to its slick, stylized anime-styled cell shaded art design. It really makes it hard to take your eyes off the screen. In addition to the gorgeous character design, the game's lush, vibrant backgrounds make Eternal Sonata look very much like the dream world it purports to be. The battle and cut-scene animations look similarly beautiful and smooth, never taking gamers out of the experience. Though the game looks great, it works on a fixed camera system that can cause minor annoyances throughout the game. Since it is easy to avoid a battle with an enemy by just walking around them, it makes it hard to decide sometimes if the fight is worth your time when you cannot see if a treasure chest is hiding behind a large non-moving enemy.
Sonically, the game is as rich as a game about a composer should be. The game makes good use of Chopin's classic works, striking just the right mood depending on the situation, bright and cheerful during the wide-open field explorations and stark and moody during intense battles. Annoying pacing aside, the voice-acting is solid with the exception of just how squeaky and annoying Beat can be at times. The game's lone effort at side-quests is the addition of 'score pieces', hidden throughout the world in treasure chests. After you collect your first, at various times you will find a NPC player who also has one, and would like to play together. You must match up your score piece with theirs, to make beautiful music. At the end of each recital you receive a grade and special item based on how well you matched up the pieces.
Eternal Sonata is a solid addition to the (thankfully) growing catalog of RPG titles on Xbox 360. Though an extremely linear experience, the game will eat up a good twenty hours of your time the first play, and rewards those dedicated enough to go back for a second go-around with additional items and achievements not attainable your first time through. If you can look past the forced, linear gameplay, Eternal Sonata is more than worthy of your attention.
