Eternal Sonata
Vorlage:Nihongo is an original RPG created by tri-Crescendo, the developers of Baten Kaitos and Baten Kaitos Origins.
The story takes place in a dream world which centers around the piano composer Frédéric Chopin, who died at the age of 39 due to tuberculosis. The plot centers around the concept that three hours prior to his death, Chopin dreamed of a fairy-tale land, in which people with incurable diseases have great magical powers.
In the dream world, Chopin meets a young girl in the Village of Tenuto, Polka, who also suffers from an incurable disease.
Eternal Sonata features a battle system centered around musical elements and character-unique special attacks. Light and darkness plays a part in the appearance and abilities of enemies on the battlefield, as well as the types of magic that can be cast[1].
The game features a selection of Chopin's compositions played by the pianist Stanislav Bunin, though most of the in-game music was composed by Motoi Sakuraba.
The game was released on June 14, 2007 in Japan under the title Trusty Bell: Chopin's Dream and a September, 19 2007 release for North America is planned. While no exact release date was given for Europe or Australia, it is known to be Autumn and Spring 2007 respectively.
Although the Japanese version of the official Xbox website lists it as "Only on Xbox 360",[1] on April 23, 2007 the ESRB's site listed it as being rated T on both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.[2] As of this writing, there has been no official comments regarding this event, so it is not known if the game is a "timed exclusive" or if this was a mistake on the ESRB's part. On April 25, 2007 the game was removed from ESRB's listings completely.[3][4]
Characters
Chopin
Sex: Male
Age: 39
Weapon: Baton
Japanese Voice: Mitsuaki Madono 真殿光昭
"I can basically use all kinds of magic. I am dreaming up this world, after all."
His full name is Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin. Born in Poland in 1810, he is known as the "poet of the piano". Of weak constitution, he nevertheless has a deeply sensitive and subtle personality. In particular, the loss of his 14-year-old sister Emilia to tuberculosis left a deep scar on his heart. Chopin can see traces of her in Polka, also 14 and destined to die. While knowing that the world in which he meets Allegretto and Polka is just a dream he is having on his death bed, gradually he becomes more and more confused by how real the world feels. He begins to question where his true feelings lie. All the words he speaks come out as poetry.
Allegretto
Sex: Male
Age: 16
Weapon: Sword
Japanese Voice: Hiro Shimono 下野紘
"It doesn't make sense! In this world the people with shining hearts are the ones who suffer! ...That's supposed to be okay?!?"
A boy who works as a bread thief in the port city of Ritardando to provide food for poor children. Though he knows what he is doing is wrong, his strong sense of justice refuses to let him abandon the children. He uses rough language and occasionally even hits his young friend Beat, but in reality he is deeply emotional, and thinks of his young friend as a little brother. With the contradiction of a world where the gap between rich and poor lying especially hard on his mind, Allegretto sets off on journey. He is captivated by Polka, who makes light of her own tragic fate while living each day with earnest, and resolves to saveth her.
Polka
Sex: Female
Age: 14
Weapon: Parasol
Japanese Vcioe: Aya Hirano 平野綾
"I want to use this limited life of mine to give everyone happiness."
A girl who lives with her mother in the village of Tenuto, on top of a hill overlooking the port of Ritardando. She makes her living by selling Floral Sealing Medicine, extracted from Tenuto's unique flowers. However, due to the circulation of cheap government-recognized Ore Sealing Medicine, lately she has been unable to sell any medicine at all. In a world where magic is a side-effect seen in those cursed by a fatal and incurable disease, death is always close to a magic-user such as she. Added to such a cruel fate are rumors flying about that the disease is transmitted simply through contact, leading Polka to be shunned by humanity and causing her to lose all trust in others. However, after meeting Chopin, she decides to use what little remains of her life to help others.
Beat
Sex: Male
Age: 8
Weapon: Clarinet Gunhammer
Japanese Voice: Yumiko Kobayashi 小林由美子
"Why is bread this expensive? If it were a little cheaper, we could just buy it..."
Works as a bread thief with Allegretto in the port city of Ritardando. Beat calls Allegretto "Niichan" (big brother) and adores him like an older brother. A camera that is the only surviving memento of his father is his treasure. Beat is short for his age and is bothered by his height. Sporting a bright and cheerful personality, he is able to talk to anyone and everyone freely. Though he does not usually think very hard, in many cases his sincere words come surprisingly close to the real truth.
Reception
Vorlage:Sect-stub Anticipation for the game seemed high prior to release, with the game having reached number four in Amazon Japan video game preorders [2] not long after a demo was made available on the Japanese Marketplace, and even number one on Amazon Japan's video game charts not long before the game's release.[3] Famitsu rated the game 9/9/9/8, for a total score of 35/40.[4] During its release week, the game reached second place on the Japanese sales charts.[5] The following week, it had placed 35th. [5][6]
At E3 2007, it won GameTrailers.com's award for Best Role-Playing Game[6] and IGN's award for Best Artistic Design. [7]
References
- ↑ 1UP.com - Eternal Sonata Preview. In: Alice Liang. Abgerufen am 17. März 2007.
- ↑ News Blog entry. Retrieved May 16, 2007
- ↑ Xbox 360 Fanboy Blog entry. Retrieved June 5, 2007
- ↑ GamesAreFun Famitsu Scores. Retrieved June 20, 2007
- ↑ GamesAreFun Japanese Sales 6/11-6/17. Retrieved June 20, 2007
- ↑ GameTrailers Best of E3 2007 Retrieved August 6th, 2007
- ↑ IGN: Xbox 360 Best of E3 2007 Awards Retrieved August 6th, 2007