Eternal Sonata

[ZebraheadDude]

Hi all,

looks like we're getting another JRPG on the XBox 360 (great news IMO), you can check out the demo on XBox Live. It is similar to Blue Dragon in the movement aspect, and borrows heavily from games such as Tales Of Symphonia / Eternia for the combat sections.

Release date is rumoured to be September.

What are your thoughts on it?

ZHD

 

[RandomLee]

I enjoyed the demo, it looked really nice and was good fun to play. Reminded of RPGs I used to play when I was young. Only thing that bothered slightly me was the static camera as it made some areas quite had to see. Not sure if I'll get it on release but it's definately a game I'll pick up at some point.... probably when I finish Blue Dragon.

Lost Odyssey is the other JRPG I'm really looking forward to. It's meant to be out in October I believe... although that probably wont be for the PAL version. Looks stunning anyway. Also from Mistwalker like Blue Dragon, although it's a totally different visual style.

 

[ZebraheadDude]

I enjoyed the demo, it looked really nice and was good fun to play. Reminded of RPGs I used to play when I was young. Only thing that bothered slightly me was the static camera as it made some areas quite had to see. Not sure if I'll get it on release but it's definately a game I'll pick up at some point.... probably when I finish Blue Dragon.

Lost Odyssey is the other JRPG I'm really looking forward to. It's meant to be out in October I believe... although that probably wont be for the PAL version. Looks stunning anyway. Also from Mistwalker like Blue Dragon, although it's a totally different visual style.

I agree, it has a very "traditional" sense to it.

Lost Odyssey has kept my interest since it was announced all those months ago . As for Blue Dragon, I know I previously mentioned it, but i've only played the demo (which seems very good). How does the actual game hold up? Does it have a good storyline (always important to me)? What about the learning curve?

Cheers for your help, looking to pick it up if I can get it for ~£25 (which shouldn't be too hard, looking at the amount of Elite owners trading it in & selling on the 'net ).

ZHD

 

[RandomLee]

To be honest mate, I've only played the demo of Blue Dragon too. I got the full game on Tuesday last week but since it's a game that's going to require a fair bit of time to play I've been holding back playing it. Not only that but I seem to have developed an addiction to the Skate demo, then BioShock turned up

I just started a Blue Dragon Play & Help thread so it may be worth checking that later to see what others are saying about it. I'll hopefully be starting the game this week sometime.

Too many good games too play! Certainly a good time to be a 360 owner!

 

[ZebraheadDude]

Too many good games too play! Certainly a good time to be a 360 owner!

Isn't it just . Thanks for the reply mate, i'll probably have another crack at the Blue Dragon demo later, just need to keep one eye on the "Sale & Trades" threads now.

 

[RandomLee]

No probs

You should just stick a wanted ad in the trades section. It'll save you the hassle of looking for it.

There's a few cheap ones on eBay at the moment too so you might be able to grab yourself a bargain on there.

 

[ZebraheadDude]

No probs

You should just stick a wanted ad in the trades section. It'll save you the hassle of looking for it.

There's a few cheap ones on eBay at the moment too so you might be able to grab yourself a bargain on there.

Hi again,

decided to sell the old 360 to a mate today and took the plunge on an Elite, got Blue Dragon with it and I must say, the demo does NOT do it justice, it is utterly fantastic!

 

[Mr-Bananas]

Hi again,

decided to sell the old 360 to a mate today and took the plunge on an Elite, got Blue Dragon with it and I must say, the demo does NOT do it justice, it is utterly fantastic!

Agreed, Blue Dragon is an amazing game.

 

[RandomLee]

Hi again,

decided to sell the old 360 to a mate today and took the plunge on an Elite, got Blue Dragon with it and I must say, the demo does NOT do it justice, it is utterly fantastic!

Haha, that's pretty cool

 

[steviebwoy]

Back on topic, has there been any further news on a release date for this one? And how does it compare to Lost Odyssey?

 

[dennis]

i'm on 93 hours on blue dragon so far!,cant wait for eternal sonata,should while away the cold autumn nights

 

[Bushido]

Back on topic, has there been any further news on a release date for this one? And how does it compare to Lost Odyssey?

According to the news it is shipping to US stores as we speak.

The reviews have been very good across the board. As far as comparing it to LO...how could you when nobody has played it yet?

Im might pick this one up but with Mass Effect coming I don't want to overdo it!

 

[Mr-Bananas]

Is it region free ?????

 

[Tufty McTavish]

Is it region free ?????

Keep checking the VideoGames+ blog to find out.

 

[steviebwoy]

As far as comparing it to LO...how could you when nobody has played it yet?

What I mean is, how does the style of the game differ!?

 

[Bushido]

Check out the review of Eternal Sonata here

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/24973.html

Personally I think there were some things that LO did that were very outdated for RPG's...invisible enemies is just one of them.

Does look nice though.

 

[Anodyne]

Hope there's an option to have the original Japanese voices, can't stand American voice acting on these types of game.

 

[Moogle]

Is it region free ?????

It's not.

http://vgplus.blogspot.com/

 

[Urien Rheged]

Good a great review on Gamespot.
8.5 / 10.

http://uk.gamespot.com/video/934162/6179160/eternal-sonata-video-review-1

 

[MANGABOY]

This was released today wasn't it? Anyone actually get this?

 

[Kahled]

I did.... went hunting all over for it and thought I was just going to have to settle for The Orange Box for the evening. Managed to get one in the out of town Tesco's though thankfully so not sure what the problem was with all the usual outlets not having a copy.

Not got very far so far but by god what a beautiful game. The audio and visual presentation is for me head and shoulders above anything else out there, although I do prefer this sort of styling to the gritty grunge of the likes of GoW visuals. Now I am a real fan of the Studio Ghibli work and playing for the first hour or so (I was running late last night) definately had me thinking of the richness of such works as Spirited Away.

Not so sure about the battle system just yet as at the moment it is more of a case of just button bashing as fast as you can, as a firm proponent of the turn based style that's a bit off-putting.

It is also really quite unclear as to what you are meant to do at times and I am currently a bit stuck already, annoyingly facing the prospect of having to go to gamefaqs or something just to get a jump start.

The voice acting is a pleasant surprise because that is something that usually annoys the hell out of me as the choices they make.... oy!! But for Eternal Sonata the voices are pleasant and comfortable so far, nicely fitting the ebb and flow of the game.

Definately looking forward to exploring more of this when I get home from work today. So very, very beautiful!

 

[dennis]

played around six hours so far,nice game if you like jrpg,graphics and sound are very nice and battle system is a bit different to the usual,at least you can*avoid*a fight if you want to.

 

[Kahled]

About four hours gameplay into this now and I am really beginning to love the game!

The battle system is growing on me with its light and dark elements, not to mention echoes. Really was not sure about this variance from what I would consider a traditional JRPG historically but I think it does work without being to onerous.

You can get quite jaded playing combat games all the time so it is really nice to have something with the 'innocence' that this title has, between the characters now I am more convinced than ever that if you like the Ghibli films then you will like this game.

If we had a review thread I would be inclined to give the game a 8/10 rating.

The only annoying aspect so far I think is the lack of a rotate function on the view, in combat you can zoom out and lose detail but when exploring it really could do with the ability to look around easier so you do not miss a treasure chest etc.

 

[drskhaled]

just played the demo and i have to say i was gobsmacked by its beauty, sure GoW is technically more impressive graphically but this is jsut so pleasing to the eye (well to me at least). It's meant to be pretty short by rpg stabdards mind so i'll wait for a bargain price before shelling out. In the demo theres some very nice envioronments and cliff edges where w first person look option would have been ideal, but i spose that would have meant alot more work for the artists. as you can imagine with a game about a classical composer the music was also very pleasing. If it was the midsummer games draught when this was released i wouldve snapped it up by now but i've got too many games on my plate at the moment.

 

[Kahled]

just played the demo and i have to say i was gobsmacked by its beauty, sure GoW is technically more impressive graphically but this is jsut so pleasing to the eye (well to me at least). It's meant to be pretty short by rpg stabdards mind so i'll wait for a bargain price before shelling out. In the demo theres some very nice envioronments and cliff edges where w first person look option would have been ideal, but i spose that would have meant alot more work for the artists. as you can imagine with a game about a classical composer the music was also very pleasing. If it was the midsummer games draught when this was released i wouldve snapped it up by now but i've got too many games on my plate at the moment.

As I understand it the main game is somewhere in the region of 20 hours to completion but then you can play again, an encore, whereby a lot of unavailable things before now become available.