Eternal Sonata

Eternal Sonata (AKA Trusty Bell: Chopin's Dream in Japan) is a role-playing video game developed by tri-Crescendo and published by Bandai Namco Games. The Xbox 360 version of the game was released on June 14, 2007 in Japan, September 17, 2007 in North America, and October 19, 2007 in Europe. The game was also released on the PlayStation 3 with additional content on September 18, 2008 in Japan, and in North America on October 21, 2008, and in Europe on February 13, 2009.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Motoi Sakuraba's beautifully crafted, arranged soundtrack captures the appeal of several classical composers from the Romantic period.
 * 2) Fantastic narrative that blends imagination with real-world occurrences, such as the death of composer Frederick Chopin at the age of 39.
 * 3) Kumiko Yoshioka and Nozomi Shibahara's character designs and paintings are spectacular.
 * 4) *In truth, the game seeks to teach players about real-life composers.
 * 5) Except for Frederick Chopin, the character names are based on musical themes and phrases.
 * 6) Fun and balanced, action turn-based combat that allows you to roam around the battlefield until the time limit runs out.
 * 7) * You can only carry up to 3 party members per battle and can also play multiplayer co-op too.
 * 8) The PlayStation 3 port includes additional content that wasn't present in the Xbox 360 version which are costumes and some fixed dialogue changes.
 * 9) Impressive voice acting in both the English and Japanese dubs respectfully.
 * 10) Unique boss battles are balanced to their difficulty to where it's not too easy and not too hard.
 * 11) Incredible and colorful graphics and visuals for 2007 standards that define the PS3 and Xbox 360 systems.
 * 12) You have the ability to find score pieces throughout the game that allow you to earn certain items and unlockables.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The game intends to have dark themes that seem out of place.
 * 2) Some of the dialogue, particularly around Clave's death, is terribly written.
 * 3) Beat (while adorable) can be quite annoying at times.
 * 4) The game is quite short for a JRPG, with few sidequests; in fact, players may complete the main story in 10 to 15 hours.
 * 5) Though it has a fun combat system, the time limit on the characters makes it feel more like a turn-based RPG rather than an action RPG.
 * 6) Enemies do not display any health which can somewhat make it frustrating for players to keep track of the combat including boss battles at times.
 * 7) Some of the exploring dungeons have very confusing paths and puzzles to solve.

Reception
Eternal Sonata was met with very positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. The game holds a score of 80 out of 100 on Metacritic, GameRankings rating it 80% to 82% on both Xbox 360 and PS3 and IGN giving their final scores of 8.3 out of 10 on the Xbox 360 and an 8.7 on the PS3, giving the highest praise for the port due to the game including exclusive content.