Topic: X360 owners, check out Eternal Sonata

[gamegrinder]

I'm about 5 hours into Eternal Sonata and I have to say it's a pretty damn good game!  The box art makes it look like it's more along the lines of Harvest Moon but if you enjoyed any of the Tales or Grandia games, you'll definitely dig this one.  It's got some of the hokey dialogue that we've come to expect from Japanese translated games but the environments are spectacular and the battle system has a few interesting new features.

If the X360 sees more good RPG's like this one, we may have a new go-to console for the genre.  Just like to make suggestions when good things come my way. 

[Slayer]

Wrong thread, son.

[Aridale]

In Reply To #2

you mean wrong forum =D

[Clara E. Leet]

I agree fantastic game. I got it the day it came out and haven't been able to put it down.

[crisis]

The cartoon-ish look kinda puts me off.. 

But it looks like a fun game.

[shelverton.]

I really love the graphics. I'm way too old to care about what is "cartoonish" and what isn't. If it looks good, it looks good, be it Gears of War or Wind Waker.

Anyway this reminds me a little of the Dark Cloud games, though obviously much prettier. The game is supposed to come out here on october 19th. I'm definitely pcking it up.

[A n t r a x x]

I'm behind where J-RPGs are concerned.

Maybe I play too much damn Oblivion and Ys... I dunno.

I still have yet to open FF12 and Dragon Quest 8. SO I prolly won't get this anytime soon. From reviews, it sounds like both Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata come down to rather basic turn-based gameplay.

Not necessarily a bad thing, but I just have better things to play I think.

[Clara E. Leet]

In Reply To #7

Not really. You can move around the battle area and depending on where you stand, you get different powers. There's a heavy emphasis on Light and Dark in this game. If you stand in shadow, your magic turns to darker magic. In light, you get lighter powers. Same with enemies. If, during their turn, they move to an area of shadow, they get different powers or, depending on the creature, they may transform into a different enemy altogether. Of course, when they step into the light, they turn back.

Not your standard turn-based.

[gamegrinder]

In Reply To #8

Yeah, it's actually a nice mix of turn based and real-time because you do have turns but you get 5 seconds to move around and preform different actions.  Plus you get the opportunity to try and block enemy attacks to reduce damage so there is actually stuff for you to do while it's the enemies' turn.

I'm now 8 hours in and still lovin' it! 

[Kale]

i hear its short, easy and lack any type of replayability. And teh ps3 version (i don't think its arumo anymore) will be better with more content.

I originally wanted to get it before i heard it was short, etc.

[Clara E. Leet]

In Reply To #10

Iunno bout that. I'm 8 hours into the game. When I think short for an RPG, I think 8-10 hours. I'm just getting into the main plot.

[Xain]

In Reply To #7

Not really. You can move around the battle area and depending on where you stand, you get different powers. There's a heavy emphasis on Light and Dark in this game. If you stand in shadow, your magic turns to darker magic. In light, you get lighter powers. Same with enemies. If, during their turn, they move to an area of shadow, they get different powers or, depending on the creature, they may transform into a different enemy altogether. Of course, when they step into the light, they turn back.

Not your standard turn-based.

Thats just awesome. I love a turn base system that has major emphases in thinking ahead. Thats what i liked about Xenosaga episode 2's hated battle system. (it was just too labor intensive for most people.)

[Kale]

In Reply To #11

I read that alot of people beat it under 10 hours.

[gamegrinder]

In Reply To #13

I suppose if you have a walkthrough then you could do it.  I'm taking my time with this one though; finding all the chests and fighting lots of trash mobs.

[ringo]

I wish these type of games were shorter. Anything more than 15 hours is way too much to dedicate to a game.