Childrens Toyshop
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Video Games : Eternal Sonata
Rating: 
- Beautiful
Eternal Sonata, a beautifully cell-shaded linear RPG, doesn't miss the mark, not at all by no means, this game is truly a work of art. You play a range of characters with inter-related storylines. Essentially, famous pianist, Frederic Chopin is on his death bed, and he has a dream that is challenges his ideas of reality. The first playable character, Polka, is a girl afflicted with magic, in the dream those who weald magic are terminally ill, who wishes to do more with her short life, she meets Frederic in the dream and they begin their journey. But in between that you will be introduced to Retto and Beat, two homeless kids trying to save other poor people. As the story progresses Chopin's actual life is examined with a professional pianist playing during the segments.
Since I've only started the game, it's been quite an experience, from the beautifully animated attacks, environments and enemies this game delivers on gameplay and originality with its story. Currently I'm making my way to Forte, interestingly enough all the characters and place, asides Chopin himself, since he's the 'composer' of this dream, all have music inspired names. But the game begs that question that in Alice in Wonderland, are you the dreamer or merely part of the dream.
Although there are some drawbacks to the game, nothing major; unlike, RPGS there's a lack of the free-roaming with the game, it's linear, the story pushes you forward to quest completion, but I guess that's the trade off with having a game this graphically impressive, all on one disc too. There is a small glitch with animation, but it's not a major one, and can only be seen if you look directly at each character during cut-scenes, there is constant flux and movement with the hair and clothing, it vibrates for no reason asides that the character is moving around, I guess it's a version of 'rag-doll'. Also there is no world map, so you're exploring almost blind, but it's a new world you're in so it makes sense that the path you're on isn't a path you've ever travelled.
You can backtrack, but only as far as the game will allow you, it's fairly easy to level up that way, also Beat being able to take pictures and selling them for cash. Which can be fun and interesting, although it makes getting money extremely easy, also with the power of some of your attacks and the way it's all timed with the party the enemies that are beaten cash out large and all the items, weapons, and armour is very cheap compared to what you get from just one fight.
But the most beautiful thing in this game asides everything, is the flower pedals, birds and life that was placed into the game. I realize it sounds silly but there is so much going on when you're in a city or outside on a path towards a city, you'll see birds flying around, or flower pedals caught in the winds, or when it's raining you'll see the drops hitting the characters. These are small things in the game, but it shows the work, the finish, and the polish that was put into this game by the developers and designers. This game is a must own for RPG fans, I realize that the whole linear storyline and progression can be considered as negatives, but when you start playing the game and get past the long introduction, the game just unfolds beautifully. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a new kind of RPG with massive detail, and original story, this game would be amazing if it had the vast environment of Final Fantasy, or any traditional RPG, but with the art design, throw it on 3 discs and there ya go, I've fallen in love with my 360 again with this game and Bioshock. Eternal Sonata is a most own for RPG fans.
Rating:
- Dream world!!!
First, i want to say that i'm not your tradititonal JRPG fan, because of the slow pace of battles and of the games in general. After playing the demo, i was simply amazed. This game really take you in a dream world!!!
When you start the demo, the first thing that strikes you is the beauty of the art design. The use of the cell-shading and of lots of colors really take you in the game and doesn't let you off the hook. If those wonderful graphics aren't enough for you, there is also an amazing soundtrack to complete the athmosphere. It's also important to say that the cell-shading that is used is very soft and doesn't feel too cartony, unlike a game like zelda wind walker.
The characters are also all very attaching. Even if you don't know their backgrounds, you still create a bond with them. It must be those big eyes;) their costumes are also well done. Teir not exagerated like in other games like FF.
I was extremly pleased with the combat system. You have to take quick decisions and there is a strategic side, nowing when to back of instead of attacking and putting yourself in a dangerous situation. I also like the light and darkness system, because it gives a twist to the fights.
If i have to give the demo a negative, it would be that we don't get to know what the story is about. An other thing would be that the control outside of battles could use some tunings (too much moonwalk).
All in all, this demo is extremely promising and hours after playing it, i ran to pre-order the game.
Rating: - Eternal Sonata - Demo Review
I generally don't play many demos or RPG's, however the concept behind Eternal Sonata peaked my interest. For those that don't know, Eternal Sonata is about the final hours of the composer Chopin's life. Quite unusually, Chopin ends up traveling through his own dream world.
Graphically the demo was exceptional. The art design has an anime feel and the environments are well drawn. The colour pallet is quite vibrant which suits the dream world well. At one instance during gameplay you travel into a field of flowers. As you walk towards the field you are met with bright yellows and a lovely blue sky. You can't help but, feel a sense of awe. It's quite gorgeous and a highlight of the demo.
The fighting system seems simple but, you soon realize that there is a lot of strategy involved. The combat is turned based. This means that each individual will get a turn as well as each of the enemies. During the enemies attacks you are able to block. A further feature is that each character's turn is timed. The timer starts as soon as you start moving or attacking. This allows you to move your party like chess pieces so you can maximize the time of attack for the next round.
Each character has a standard attack and a power attack. Interestingly, each character can only have two power attacks assigned at any one time, one which they can use in "light" and one that they can use in "dark". That said, there are additional power attacks located in your inventory. This adds to the strategy element of the game as you can choose to have
some of your characters fight from the light and others fight from the dark.
After playing through the demo I was left wanting more. I am not easily impressed with role playing games but, this one has peaked my interest. The story seems deep and the combat system seems to offer both ease-of-use and a challenge. I would strongly recommend that you download the demo.
Rating: - ES Demo Review
Ive given the demo an 8 out of 10; its a lot of fun, but with a game that contains so much its hard to see it all from such a short glance. It feels cut up and linear but I know there is much more story to be told that I will experience in the main game. Hey, this is a review for the demo, I know when the full game comes out this score will be moving up.
The game is simply gorgeous. The Artistic direction is straight out of a dream. The detail that has gone into the characters and enemies (that Ive seen thus far), animations, particles and FX, User Interface, and the environment is stunning. (From streams trickling in the background to the enchanting forests and towns).
The gameplay looks to be stellar. I enjoy building a characters and watching them grow and this character leveling system has potential. The controls are well thought out. They are not intrusive to gameplay and the button layout is intuitive. Movement is straight forward, conversations are engaging, and the battles really bring the package together. I enjoyed the combat system from what I have seen. The weapons are creative and a nice change to typical mythical weapons. The magic is well done; Effective enough to do some damage, grab your attention, but not overdone and so long that you dread having to cast it again. The battle system itself is familiar, but not in a bad way. It includes a couple needed twists to make it fresh enough to stand on its own.
Overall, exactly what the X360 needs right now; Its a demo for an RPG so its way too difficult to say if this is the best thing Ive had my hands on but I would lean heavily towards welcoming a new critically acclaimed RPG franchise into the video game world. (As a person hope, I would like to see the success of this game stay on the X360, I would like something to grab the eyes and hearts in the Japanese gaming community so they could see the X360 as another great system to play games on I think Eternal Sonata may have the power to pull this off).
- BeautifulEternal Sonata, a beautifully cell-shaded linear RPG, doesn't miss the mark, not at all by no means, this game is truly a work of art. You play a range of characters with inter-related storylines. Essentially, famous pianist, Frederic Chopin is on his death bed, and he has a dream that is challenges his ideas of reality. The first playable character, Polka, is a girl afflicted with magic, in the dream those who weald magic are terminally ill, who wishes to do more with her short life, she meets Frederic in the dream and they begin their journey. But in between that you will be introduced to Retto and Beat, two homeless kids trying to save other poor people. As the story progresses Chopin's actual life is examined with a professional pianist playing during the segments.
Since I've only started the game, it's been quite an experience, from the beautifully animated attacks, environments and enemies this game delivers on gameplay and originality with its story. Currently I'm making my way to Forte, interestingly enough all the characters and place, asides Chopin himself, since he's the 'composer' of this dream, all have music inspired names. But the game begs that question that in Alice in Wonderland, are you the dreamer or merely part of the dream.
Although there are some drawbacks to the game, nothing major; unlike, RPGS there's a lack of the free-roaming with the game, it's linear, the story pushes you forward to quest completion, but I guess that's the trade off with having a game this graphically impressive, all on one disc too. There is a small glitch with animation, but it's not a major one, and can only be seen if you look directly at each character during cut-scenes, there is constant flux and movement with the hair and clothing, it vibrates for no reason asides that the character is moving around, I guess it's a version of 'rag-doll'. Also there is no world map, so you're exploring almost blind, but it's a new world you're in so it makes sense that the path you're on isn't a path you've ever travelled.
You can backtrack, but only as far as the game will allow you, it's fairly easy to level up that way, also Beat being able to take pictures and selling them for cash. Which can be fun and interesting, although it makes getting money extremely easy, also with the power of some of your attacks and the way it's all timed with the party the enemies that are beaten cash out large and all the items, weapons, and armour is very cheap compared to what you get from just one fight.
But the most beautiful thing in this game asides everything, is the flower pedals, birds and life that was placed into the game. I realize it sounds silly but there is so much going on when you're in a city or outside on a path towards a city, you'll see birds flying around, or flower pedals caught in the winds, or when it's raining you'll see the drops hitting the characters. These are small things in the game, but it shows the work, the finish, and the polish that was put into this game by the developers and designers. This game is a must own for RPG fans, I realize that the whole linear storyline and progression can be considered as negatives, but when you start playing the game and get past the long introduction, the game just unfolds beautifully. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a new kind of RPG with massive detail, and original story, this game would be amazing if it had the vast environment of Final Fantasy, or any traditional RPG, but with the art design, throw it on 3 discs and there ya go, I've fallen in love with my 360 again with this game and Bioshock. Eternal Sonata is a most own for RPG fans.
Rating:
- Dream world!!!First, i want to say that i'm not your tradititonal JRPG fan, because of the slow pace of battles and of the games in general. After playing the demo, i was simply amazed. This game really take you in a dream world!!!
When you start the demo, the first thing that strikes you is the beauty of the art design. The use of the cell-shading and of lots of colors really take you in the game and doesn't let you off the hook. If those wonderful graphics aren't enough for you, there is also an amazing soundtrack to complete the athmosphere. It's also important to say that the cell-shading that is used is very soft and doesn't feel too cartony, unlike a game like zelda wind walker.
The characters are also all very attaching. Even if you don't know their backgrounds, you still create a bond with them. It must be those big eyes;) their costumes are also well done. Teir not exagerated like in other games like FF.
I was extremly pleased with the combat system. You have to take quick decisions and there is a strategic side, nowing when to back of instead of attacking and putting yourself in a dangerous situation. I also like the light and darkness system, because it gives a twist to the fights.
If i have to give the demo a negative, it would be that we don't get to know what the story is about. An other thing would be that the control outside of battles could use some tunings (too much moonwalk).
All in all, this demo is extremely promising and hours after playing it, i ran to pre-order the game.
Rating:
- Eternal Sonata - Demo ReviewI generally don't play many demos or RPG's, however the concept behind Eternal Sonata peaked my interest. For those that don't know, Eternal Sonata is about the final hours of the composer Chopin's life. Quite unusually, Chopin ends up traveling through his own dream world.
Graphically the demo was exceptional. The art design has an anime feel and the environments are well drawn. The colour pallet is quite vibrant which suits the dream world well. At one instance during gameplay you travel into a field of flowers. As you walk towards the field you are met with bright yellows and a lovely blue sky. You can't help but, feel a sense of awe. It's quite gorgeous and a highlight of the demo.
The fighting system seems simple but, you soon realize that there is a lot of strategy involved. The combat is turned based. This means that each individual will get a turn as well as each of the enemies. During the enemies attacks you are able to block. A further feature is that each character's turn is timed. The timer starts as soon as you start moving or attacking. This allows you to move your party like chess pieces so you can maximize the time of attack for the next round.
Each character has a standard attack and a power attack. Interestingly, each character can only have two power attacks assigned at any one time, one which they can use in "light" and one that they can use in "dark". That said, there are additional power attacks located in your inventory. This adds to the strategy element of the game as you can choose to have
some of your characters fight from the light and others fight from the dark.
After playing through the demo I was left wanting more. I am not easily impressed with role playing games but, this one has peaked my interest. The story seems deep and the combat system seems to offer both ease-of-use and a challenge. I would strongly recommend that you download the demo.
Rating:
- ES Demo ReviewIve given the demo an 8 out of 10; its a lot of fun, but with a game that contains so much its hard to see it all from such a short glance. It feels cut up and linear but I know there is much more story to be told that I will experience in the main game. Hey, this is a review for the demo, I know when the full game comes out this score will be moving up.
The game is simply gorgeous. The Artistic direction is straight out of a dream. The detail that has gone into the characters and enemies (that Ive seen thus far), animations, particles and FX, User Interface, and the environment is stunning. (From streams trickling in the background to the enchanting forests and towns).
The gameplay looks to be stellar. I enjoy building a characters and watching them grow and this character leveling system has potential. The controls are well thought out. They are not intrusive to gameplay and the button layout is intuitive. Movement is straight forward, conversations are engaging, and the battles really bring the package together. I enjoyed the combat system from what I have seen. The weapons are creative and a nice change to typical mythical weapons. The magic is well done; Effective enough to do some damage, grab your attention, but not overdone and so long that you dread having to cast it again. The battle system itself is familiar, but not in a bad way. It includes a couple needed twists to make it fresh enough to stand on its own.
Overall, exactly what the X360 needs right now; Its a demo for an RPG so its way too difficult to say if this is the best thing Ive had my hands on but I would lean heavily towards welcoming a new critically acclaimed RPG franchise into the video game world. (As a person hope, I would like to see the success of this game stay on the X360, I would like something to grab the eyes and hearts in the Japanese gaming community so they could see the X360 as another great system to play games on I think Eternal Sonata may have the power to pull this off).