Eternal Sonata

The Good
Beautifully drawn characters in a lush, colorful landscape. Movie-quality camera work and lifelike animations. The visuals are stunning and immersive! Cute story but overly simplistic (childish) and somewhat eccentric. The cut scenes are (too) long (5+ minutes) and are filled with philosophical musings (or tirades, depending on your tolerance for such). The Chopin/sonata concept is original but unfortunately just serves as a wrapper around a very average JRPG.

The Bad
Linear plot more fitting for a movie than a game. The player is led through a story where every detail is already decided. This means, for example, being forced to lose battles in order to build up tension between characters. The combat system is a frustrating button masher better suited for a beat-em-up. The combat system "levels up" and degrades even further throughout the game (more mashing). Generic combat encounters can easily be avoided but this will leave the party too weak for the bosses. Progressing through the story thus necessitates countless repetitive encounters in order to reach sufficient character levels. This shallow arcade-style combat system is a poor match for the peaceful and philosophical pacing of the story.

The Bottom Line
A charming, original and immersive world that unfortunately suffers from average gameplay. There are no player choices and no character customizations. The combat system is annoying and repetitive and lacks any opportunity for tactics. If you enjoy simple beat-em-up mechanics, however, this might work for you. On the positive side, up to 3 players can control separate characters in the party in combat (alternating turns, not simultaneously).