Long time no see. Got a few more shifts at work, not to mention a cosplay to finish so I've been pretty busy. However here's a quick review about a game that is all about the composer Chopin.
That’s right, an RPG based around the life of the composer Chopin. I know right? It sounds a very strange concept and is one that doesn’t entirely work.
While it’d be wrong to criticise the game for wanting to do an RPG based around the composers life, the game that we do have seems to have very little to actually do with Chopin himself. While some of his music makes it into the game and there is obviously a character called Chopin, the game itself doesn’t really go into his life. At the end of each segment, the game is split into eight chapters, there is a brief history lesson given to the player about his life, these parts just seem like they’ve been put in there at the last minute with very little thought about them. Not to mention they’re rather dull when all you want to do is get back to the action.
Anywho, on with the game itself. The one thing I cannot fault about this game is the graphics. They are stunning. The character designs and scenery are simply beautiful to look at. I’m not going to lie, it was the character designs of this game that made me want to play. After looking for a new costume to cosplay I happened upon Princess Serenade’s design and loved the detail on it. However I have a rule not to cosplay a character I don’t know, so I decided to give the game a play. Not a bad reason for wanting to play a game lol. But that is the problem with this game, like so many games recently, it’s beautiful to look at, but there’s not a whole lot going on underneath. And it really pains me to say that because I wanted so much to like this game.
The beauty of the game aside, the story falls between the standard and the, quite honestly, daft. It starts out with a girl, Polka, wanting to find out why a medicine called mineral powder is so cheap whereas her village’s floral powder is so expensive. On the way she meets other characters who become part of the party, including Fredric Chopin. Turns out in our world Chopin is on his death bed and is dreaming of Polka’s world. It’s not a bad start to the game, and is pretty enjoyable. However it quickly turns into your regular run of the mill RPG story line with the leader of the country of Forte wanting to attack some neighbouring country while a group of rebels try to stop them. I know what you’re saying, ‘Final Fantasy VI does that too but you sing it’s praises’. I do because that is a good game. This is mediocre at best. While the main plot of the story is a little weak, the characters themselves, despite looking awesome, have no growth to them. We don’t learn their back stories which is the main problem I have…why is Viola a shepherd in the middle of no where? Where are Allegretto and Beat’s parents? Why can Polka use magic? These questions are just there. I suppose sometimes you don’t want a game to become bogged down in useless story, but in terms of an RPG where the game should be character driven, Eternal Sonata does a pretty poor job. I mean Polka is apparently dying but it’s hardly mentioned while Serenade is apparently a spy but again very little is said on the matter. There are also WTF moments that at the time you think will be expanded on later, but they never are. You see at one point Polka, who has a special stone, throw it away, however just a few moments later Allegretto hands her the exact same stone. Now it wouldn’t mean much, stones are pretty similar, but the creators make it a big point with Polka having a whole little monologue on how could this stone be the same as hers when she just got rid of it. Then comes the ending in which one of our party members turns around and is actually the final boss of the game with no reasoning behind it. I mean what? Someone I’ve freaking levelled up suddenly wants to kill me? The twist to the story would have been epic, but instead its let down as there is absolutely no reason why they would suddenly turn, nor is any given afterwards. Then comes the icing on a really bad cake…
At the start of the game we are witness to Polka falling off a cliff saying she can do it if it’s for the one she loves…that same scene plays again at the end. Apparently she has the power to right the world or some bullshit like that. Seriously it’s something I’d normally eat up, but it’s so poorly explained that I guarantee you will play the last hour of this game with a very perplexed look on your face. Anywho, waffling aside, Polka leaps to her doom and everyone’s sad. Then we are treated to a younger Polka walking with her mother while her mother talks about things that have happened in the game, then before you know it, Polka floats up from the cliff and is reunited with everyone…WTF!!! Seriously if anyone plays the game and actually understands the ending, please dear god let me know what is going on.
That said, the battle system is freaking epic. You can see the enemies as you explore the world, but when you approach them you can trigger a battle which takes place in an enclosed area. Not too different from other RPG’s, however there’s a big deal made about light and dark on the battle area. As you fight, some areas may be in the shade by a nearby object or passing clouds, or maybe a single flames is the only light on the battlefield. Thing is, the enemies can change appearance depending on whether they are in shadow or light . This means a very small enemy you’re fighting could very quickly change into a much harder adversary. Not only that, but your character’s attacks also change depending on where they are standing. It means as a player you have to change strategies constantly as the battle progresses. Plus, at a later point in the game, you start to collect echoes. What this basically means is that the more your characters land hits on the bad guys, the more echoes you gather. The more you get the better the characters special attacks will be should you choose to release them. It sounds complicated but once you’ve played through a battle or two you get the hang of it. Plus they don’t come in at the start of the game which means you have time to adjust to the battle system without an overload of information all at once. A little letdown with the battle is that the enemies start to get reused a lot. I know lots of RPG’s do this, but it’s very noticeable in this game which makes me think they just had a much lower stock of enemy models.
The music in the game is also wonderfully done. I mean for a game based around music, it’d be a huge disappointment if it was lacking in this area. Luckily it totally delivers here with some great tunes. The battle theme is a really good example of this as is the song, Pyroxene of the Heart. I mean honestly, Pyroxene of the Heart is possibly one of my favourite pieces of game music, shortly behind the Opera theme from FF VI.
So all in all, it’s a beautiful looking game, a beautiful sounding game, a beautiful game to play…there’s just no substance tying it all together which is a shame. Like I said earlier, I really, really wanted to like this game, but the story and lack of character development was just too huge of a flaw for me to overlook. I’m not in the camp that favours graphics over substance. It can look as pretty as it likes, but if I don’t connect with the characters I don’t enjoy the game…..Plus there’s a really weird part at the end with a snail and a caterpillar that makes about as much sense as the last third of the game.
