New Eternal Sonata details, still 360 exclusive
During an Eternal Sonata conference call last night, we managed to clarify some details on the game and even uncover some new details. First of all, we learned that the game should take about 30 hours to complete for players that wish to simply charge through. If, however, you wish to complete all the side-quests (and you won't get the full story if you don't), it will take much longer. In fact, some of the side-quests aren't even accessible on the first play-through, so players will have at least some incentive to go through the game more than once. RPG fans hoping for some downloadable goodness on par with Blue Dragon will likely be disappointed to hear that very little is planned at this point. In fact, the only DLC planned right now is actually an unlock key to listen to music from the game. What's more, this content is unlockable in the game itself, so the DLC is basically moot. On a more positive note the game will contain both English and Japanese voice tracks, so purists won't have to cover their ears.
On the gameplay side of things, we did learn that there are a total of 10 playable characters in the game, though you can only have three in your party at any given time. Furthermore, not every character will be available at all points in the game. Also, the game has a multiplayer feature of sorts. While not a true multiplayer mode, you can control each party member with a different controller during battles, so you can let your friends get in on at least some of the action.
Finally, Eternal Sonata is still planned as an Xbox 360 exclusive at this point in time. So, if you want get down with Chopin's fever dream fantasy, you can only do it on 360 (for now anyway). Eternal Sonata is due to arrive next month.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mr_oHH @ Aug 17th 2007 5:48PM
This game seems to be shaping up like the Tales series. I just hope more J-RPGs will follow
colin @ Aug 17th 2007 7:35PM
i'm not a jrpg fan at all, but i could get into this game ... i just found it hard to locate enemies in battle. i'd waste so much time trying to locate them, i couldn't attack. all in all excellent though.
Zapper @ Aug 17th 2007 7:46PM
I hate games which make you reply them(particularly if they are very linear) just to unlock "major" parts of the story...If it is that good of a game, add the pieces IN the game.
Kev @ Aug 17th 2007 7:47PM
#2, colin,
The Left Trigger changes the camera angles in a battle. I was having problems too until I was able to zoom out.
This game definitely reminds me of Tales games.
colin @ Aug 17th 2007 8:44PM
thanks kev
GANNONSMASH @ Aug 17th 2007 8:59PM
All the time while playing the demo, I was trying to rotate the camera with the right stick before moving.
Rususeruru @ Aug 17th 2007 9:20PM
I like that the DLC is unlockable from within the game. For 60 bucks you should be able to access ALL of what you paid for.
Joe Schmoe @ Aug 17th 2007 10:11PM
With exception of the fight scenes, the game plays out exactly like Radiata Stories on the PS2. Preset pathways and fixed camara angles. Both games are gorgeous though. Eternal Sonata is even more so in HD.
ZeroCorpse @ Aug 18th 2007 10:31AM
This is SOOOooo not an RPG. It's an anime adventure game... Maybe even a JRPG if you stretch the definition.
See Neverwinter Nights or the original Baldur's Gate (not the console version) for a well-done RPG.
The whole point to a Role Playing Game is that you make a custom character, take on another role, and are free to make decisions regarding your character's destiny. This game makes you play a specific character, puts you on a track, and lets you hit the button every once in a while to make it feel like you're "playing" instead of watching.
If you want a similar experience, pop in an anime and hold on to your 360 controller, and then press a button every time a scene changes or a fight breaks out.
Blacklisted @ Aug 19th 2007 1:25AM
ZeroCorpse is correct. Games like these are not RPG's -they're more like "play novels". The Japanese have never done role playing games correctly.
A few real RPGs:
Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights and NWN2, Icewind Dale 1 and 2, KotOR 1 and 2, Mass Effect, Fallout 1 and 2, Morrowind and Oblivion, and more.
Dash @ Aug 19th 2007 4:52PM
I suppose that games like Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, the Tales series, and Dragon Quest, don't count either? Forget the fact that they pretty much defined early RPGs back in the 8-bit and 16-bit generations, before all of the previously mentioned western style RPGs had been released (or even thought up). I like western style RPGs a lot (Oblivion easily ranks among my top three favorite games) but it was Japanese style RPGs that helped bring about the current day RPG that we know and love.