Eternal Sonata

Vorlage:Cleanup Vorlage:Infobox VG Vorlage:Nihongo is an original RPG created by tri-Crescendo, one of the developers of Baten Kaitos and Baten Kaitos Origins. The game was released on June 14, 2007 for the Xbox 360 in Japan under the title Trusty Bell: Chopin's Dream. The game 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. It was released on September 17, 2007 in North America and October 19, 2007 in Europe. The game will also be released for the PS3 sometime in 2008.

The game features a selection of Chopin's compositions played by pianist Stanislav Bunin, though most of the in-game music was composed by Motoi Sakuraba.

Story

Eternal Sonata takes place in a dream world which centers around famed piano composer Frédéric Chopin, who died at the age of 39 due to tuberculosis. The plot centers around the concept that as he slept on his sickbed in his final hours, Chopin dreamed of a fairy-tale land in which people with incurable diseases have great magical powers. The game frequently throws subtle allusions to the player that elements of the world are in fact, Chopin's dream, and could have their material forms influenced by Chopin's life.

The first six chapters of the game are also inspired and named for Chopin pieces with story elements related to the piece mentioned. For example, Chapter 2, "Revolution," is named for the Revolutionary Etude, and during the chapter, the player is introduced to Andantino, a rebel group. There are also segments in which Chopin's pieces are played along to a high-res photo slide show accompanied by a history lesson on a part of Chopin's life when he wrote the corresponding piece. It should also be mentioned that almost every main character and locale in the game is named after a musical term, such as "Polka" or "Chorus Plains."

The story also focuses around a 14-year-old girl named Polka, who is apparently the victim of an incurable illness that grants her magical healing powers as a side-effect. She bears a strong resemblance to Chopin's younger sister who also died at 14, and her hometown of Tenuto may be an allusion to the town of Zelazowa Wola where Chopin was born.

Polka is selling floral powder for a living at the game's onset, a hand-made medicine from her hometown of Tenuto, for a living in the nearby city of Ritardando, but finds that her business has been completely lost to a new medicine called mineral powder. Apparently, mineral powder is a cheap medicine and the only good that is not taxed by the government, who, coincidentally, also manufactures and distributes the medicine which apparently works faster than floral powder.

After meeting Frederic (Chopin), who believes the world is his dream, the two decide to head to Forte City, where Count Waltz resides, and ask him to lower the tax on floral powder. On the way, however, they are assaulted by Fugue, a servant of Count Waltz, who nearly kills them and leaves them for dead.

It happens that two other people, Allegretto and Beat, two young orphans from Ritardando, are also heading to Forte to ask the Count to remove the tax from bread, which they have been forced to steal to help feed other orphans who live in the sewers under the city. The pair eventually meets Polka and Frederic in Agogo Forest, where one of the area's twin guardians, March, has given them shelter. Apparently, Polka had been saved by small creatures called Agogos that normally were shy around humans. One of them approaches Polka and glows upon doing so, a phenomenon that is unfamiliar to the forest's guardian.

Along the way, the four meet a goatherd named Viola, who is battling people that have been turned into mindless monsters due to overuse of mineral powder. It should also be mentioned that Fort Fermata, Forte's only line of defense and only entrance from way of Ritardando, is unmanned and filled with mineral powder-made monsters.

Upon reaching Forte Castle, the group is assaulted by Tuba, another of the Count's goons and are thrown into the castle dungeon. There, they meet Salsa, the other guardian of Agogo Forest, who claims that she was jailed because she would not reveal the secret of glowing agogos to Count Waltz. The glowing agogos would apparently increase the strength of the mineral powder a hundred-fold, allowing Forte's army to grow stronger and in rapidly growing numbers.

The party escapes through a secret passage used by Andantino, a rebel group that plans to overthrow the Count. Their leaders, Jazz, Claves and Falsetto, decide to join the group and work together against the Count, but before reaching the city again, they are encountered by Tuba yet again, who, upon defeat, commits suicide by destroying the bridge to Fermata and sending the party down into the river.

Separated from the others, Allegretto, Viola, Jazz, Claves and Falsetto decide to head to Andante, the rebel city. On the way, Allegretto warns Jazz that a spy may have infiltrated his ranks and for him to use caution. He initially believes the spy to be Falsetto, but Claves convinces him that evidence suggests that Falsetto is not the culprit. After Jazz departs, Claves is assassinated by Rondo, who works for Count Waltz, for betraying the Count by revealing her purpose. Before dying, she sends a carrier pigeon, initially used for correspondence with Forte, to Baroque. Claves had apparently fallen in love with Jazz and thus decided to protect him. Claves' death weighs heavily on Falsetto, who also loved Jazz, because now "he'll never get over her" and she wanders off to an unspecified location.

Meanwhile, Polka, Frederic, Beat and Salsa have found themselves saved by a Baroque ship, captained by Prince Crescendo, the leader of Baroque. While on board, the ship is attacked by pirates led by Captain Dolce, and the party defeats her, though she re-appears as an optional boss three more times in the game.

Crescendo reveals to the group that he has been aiding Andantino, but, with the suggestion of his wife, Serenade, he has decided to stop supporting the rebels for fear of provoking Forte into all-out war. He asks the group to deliver this message to Jazz personally. After the group leaves, the Prince receives Claves' last message: Serenade is a spy. However, the Prince believes that Serenade's feelings are true, and that she did what she did out of love for her home country.

Arriving in Agogo Forest, the group meets Fugue once again and defeats him. Afterwards, Agogos appear around Polka, all of them glowing. Rondo, in hiding, sees this, and leaves to report deliver this information to the Count.

Most of the group reunites later in Ritardando, though Allegretto soon leaves to go find Polka in Tenuto. He finds a stone on a beach identical to a keepsake that Polka has had since childhood, that came from her "true love." He gives it to her in Tenuto without knowledge of the keepsake, which Polka threw into the ocean. It becomes obvious that feelings have developed between the two, though neither bear the courage to express such emotions.

Upon return to Baroque, the group learn that Jazz has pleaded with the Count make a decision on the escalating situation with Forte. As he deliberates, the party is advised by a priest to seek out "the light" at nearby Aria Temple. Arriving there, the party finds that they have been cornered by Rondo, who plans to take Polka away. However, Falsetto returns to aid the party, and they defeat the assassin.

However, Crescendo and Serenade have left Baroque so they may surrender unconditionally to Forte to avoid the destruction of their homeland. The party uses the castle's warp device to reach to attempt to reach the two, but on the way, they meet a fortune teller who has met Polka before, though she does not remember her. She draws a fortune that portends "bad luck," and the group continues on.

After catching up to Crescendo and Serenade in Mount Rock, where mineral powder ingredients have been mined, the group is confronted by Count Waltz himself, and his servant, Legato. When Crescendo attempts to surrender, Waltz claims he does not desire Baroque, but simply "the girl," referring to Polka, and promises to treat her kindly. When she goes to Count Waltz in an effort to save her friends, the servant Legato takes a glowing agogo and adds it to a batch of mineral powder, confirming Waltz's suspicions on strengthening the powder.

When Waltz strikes Polka, the party attacks him and ultimately defeats him, leaving Legato cornered. He decides he "has no other choice," and drinks the enhanced mineral powder, transforming into a giant beast called Ruined Body that is apparently so powerful that it is able to tear a hole through time and space.

The group follows Legato to the Elegy of the Moon, where the souls of people who used mineral powder have come to rest, unable to reach the afterlife. After conquering Xylophone Tower, a trial for those who wish to proceed, they reach Double Reed Tower and confront the transformed Legato.

After defeating Legato, the group reaches the end of the earth, where Frederic confronts them, saying that the entire world is his dream, and that upon reaching Death, one must face their very own soul before moving to the afterlife. The party faces Chopin in the game's finale, and upon defeating him, he thanks them, as his soul is now free to move on the afterlife.

Polka then approaches a cliff and tells the party that Death has always been her fate, that her mother has prepared her for this, and that her light would illuminate the darkness of the world upon her jump into the unknown. She leaps, leaving Allegretto mortified and their feelings for one another apparently unrealized. Then, Chopin's eyes open and he realizes that the world is not his dream, after all.Vorlage:Or

However, after a Staff Roll for the sound team and voice cast, a cinematic occurs that shows Polka's young self hovering down into her mother's arms. Chopin is proclaimed dead at approximately two o'clock in the morning afterwards. As the game's second opening cinematic occurs again, the player hears Chopin claim that Polka should be free to live her life and not be left to a fate of death. The young Polka then tells her mother that someone is calling her, someone "whose light matches (her) astra" and she leaves with her mother's blessing.

Rising back out of the abyss, surrounded by glowing Agogos, she sets foot on the ground, which turns into a field of flowers, and embraces Allegretto as they run into each other's arms.

Back in the "real" world, Chopin's soul rises from his body, approaches the piano and begins to play. As the melody ensues, a woman who has been by Chopin's side through his ordeal begins to sing along with his posthumous performance.

Gameplay

Eternal Sonata follows many general conventions in a typical console role-playing game; the player controls a party of up to ten characters to explore the world, talking with its inhabitants, buying and selling equipment at shops, and encountering monsters while in the field. These encounters are visible, and the player can opt to avoid the encounter, if possible, as well as gaining an edge on the monsters by approaching them from behind. Experience points are awarded to all members of the party, though at a reduced rate for those not involved in combat, and characters will improve in various statistics with each experience level as well as learning special combat skills. Weapons, armor, and accessories can be used to improve these statistics, which can be purchased through money earned in combat, found in chests, or by selling both equipment and photographs which can be taken by the character Beat during battle. The player may also find Score Pieces scattered about the world, which represent short musical phrases. Various NPCs in the game will offer to perform with the party, requiring the player to match a Score Piece to the phrase offered by the NPC, with the resulting composition being ranked. Distonal matches will result in no reward, but close or perfect matches will gain a bonus item from the NPC.

Combat

Datei:Eternal-sonata-screenshot.jpg

Combat in Eternal Sonata takes place in both lit and shaded areas, affecting the skills the player can use

While the main combat system is turn-based using only 3 characters within the party, it incorporates elements of an action game. Each character's turn is preceded by "Tactical Time", a period of time which the player can use to decide the course of action to take with that character. Once the player initiates an action or "Tactical Time" expires (a function of the Party Class Level), the player then has a limited amount of time denoted by an Action Gauge to move the character, attack the enemy, and use recovery skills or items. Regular attacks are made at melee or ranged distances depending on the weapon choice of the character, and add a small quantity of time back to the Action Gauge, and additionally add to the party's "Echoes" meter. Special skills which can include both offensive attacks and recovery skills will consume whatever Echoes have been generated to that point, and will have a more powerful effect relative to that number. When a character defends against an attack, there is a short period before the attack strikes where the player can press a button to block some of the damage for the attack, or to possibly even counterattack the blow and interrupt the monster's turn. Recovery and other one-time-use items are kept in a common pouch with a limited capacity; the player must "set" items in the pouch so that they can be cycled through and triggered during battle.

Light and dark areas on the battle field generated by the time of day, environment, and shadows of the characters and monsters will affect combat. Each party character has one or more special skills that are active in lit areas, and a similar number but with very different effects in a dark area. Monsters themselves may have a dissimilar set of powers in the area of the battlefield they are in, while other monsters will actually change form when they move between lit and dark areas. The player can manipulate the nature of areas using special items, but this can also be affected by the monsters themselves, or through dynamic changes on the battlefield such as the shadow of a cloud moving across the ground.

As the player progresses through the game, they will increase their Party Class Level. Each improvement in level grants some bonuses while also imposing additional limits on combat. For example, one Party Class improvement increases the number of slots for special skills for each character, but at the same time, cuts down the amount of Tactical Time and time available in the Action Gauge.

Characters

Vorlage:Prose Eternal Sonata features ten playable characters (listed below) as well as a group of colorful villains. All the characters are named after music-related terms, and some of their weapons even resemble musical instruments (such as Beat's gunhammer having the shaft of a clarinet).

Playable Characters

Frederic Chopin

Age: 39

Weapon: Baton

His full name is Fryderik 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

Age: 16

Weapon: Sword

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 save her.

Polka

Age: 14

Weapon: Parasol

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 Powder, extracted from Tenuto's unique flowers. However, due to the circulation of cheap government-recognized Mineral Powder, 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

Age: 8

Weapon: Clarinet Gunhammer

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.

Viola

Weapon: Bow

Age: 26

A young woman who lives in a house in the middle of Chorus Plains and spends her time tending her goats. Viola is always accompanied by her pet squirrel, Arco. She has an outgoing, cheerful personality and an independent spirit. An expert with the bow, Viola lives off of rabbits and other small animals. She prefers a quiet life in the countryside to the crowded and noisy cities.

Salsa

Age: 8

Weapon: Sun Rings

A young girl who has grown up surrounded by nature in Agogo Village. Salsa is full of energy, extremely self-confident, and very opinionated. Because of this, she has rather antagonistic relationships with Beat and Viola. Salsa has a tendency to jump to conclusions that are completely incorrect. She often brings humor to serious situations, without being completely aware of it.

March

Age: 8

Weapon: Moon Rings

Salsa's twin sister. March is an introspective and kind young girl with a great love of nature. She often worries about Salsa's aggressive attitude and behavior but still admires her. Unlike her sister, March is soft-spoken and calm; she can truly get along with anyone. March is also very mature for her age, so she is able to understand difficult concepts with surprising ease.

Jazz

Age: 27

Weapon: Blade

The leader of an anti-government group called Andantino. Jazz has a serious and determined personality. These characteristics help him make clear decisions in any situation, which is why he is a good leader. Jazz's only weakness is the blind spot he tends to have in regards to the people who are closest to him.

Falsetto

Age: 22

Weapon: Knuckles

A young woman who is a member of Andantino, and a childhood friend of Jazz. Falsetto has romantic feelings for Jazz but has never been able to summon the courage to tell him. In part because of this, she is very antagonistic towards Claves, and often speaks to her in a sarcastic tone.

Claves

Age: 24

Weapon: Rapier

A member of Andantino, who is also Jazz's lover. Claves is very dedicated, but often has trouble remembering complicated strategies. She knows that Falsetto doesn't like her. However, Claves is also jealous of Falsetto because of the longtime friendship she shares with Jazz.

Non-playable Characters

Count Waltz

Age: 16

The Count who oversees Forte. Count Waltz is responsible for the raise in taxes that has made life difficult for the citizens of Forte. He is very self-assured and power hungry. It is suspected that Count Waltz is preparing for a war with Baroque.

Legato

Age: 59

Count Waltz's close advisor. Legato handles the everyday tasks involved with running Forte for Count Waltz. He is completely loyal to Count Waltz and obeys his every command.

Rondo

Age: 24

Weapon: Two Swords

A cold-hearted young woman who is working as a spy for Count Waltz. Rondo is an excellent fighter with finely honed battle skills. She is also an expert tracker and assassin.

Fugue

Age: 26

Weapon: Katana

A sarcastic, clever and confident young man who is on a secret mission for Count Waltz. Fugue enjoys inflicting pain and will start fights with people just for the fun of it.

Tuba

Age: 42

Weapon: Mace

The Captain of the guard at Forte Castle, Tuba is also one of Count Waltz's minions. Not particularly bright, Tuba uses his strength and large size to intimidate people.

Prince Crescendo

Weapon: Sword

The prince of Baroque, and captain of his fleet ship. He is a man who seems easily toppled by others ideals, yet he is not easily deceived. He is engaged to a beautiful young lady, Serenade, though their marriage might bring peace or destruction.

Audio

Vorlage:Sect-stub Eternal Sonata features a large soundtrack, mostly composed by Motoi Sakuraba, with seven of Chopin's compositions performed by Stanislav Bunin and presented in 5.1 surround sound. Featured music of Chopin's include Étude Op. 10, No. 12, Étude Op. 10, No. 3 and Polonaise Op. 53.

Voice Actors

Character (JP/EN)	Japanese Voice Actor	English Voice Actor
Chopin	Mitsuaki Madono	Patrick Seitz
Allegretto	Hiro Shimono	Sam Regal
Polka	Aya Hirano	Erin Fitzgerald
Beat	Yumiko Kobayashi	Mona Marshall
Viola	Houko Kuwashima	Megan Hollingshead
Salsa	Mika Kanai	Amy Rose
March	Chiwa Saito	Amy Rose
Jitterbug/Jazz	Jouji Nakata	D.C. Douglas
Falsetto	Tomoe Hanba	Julie Ann Taylor
Claves	Mie Sonozaki	Tara Platt
Crescendo	Katsuyuki Konishi	Cam Clarke
Waltz	Minagawa Junko	Liam O'Brien
Legato	Chafūrin	Jamieson Price
Rondo	Yu Asakawa	Nicole Karrer
Fugue	Takahiro Sakurai	Johnny Yong Bosch
Tuba	Shiro Saito	unknown
Serenade	Fumiko Orikasa	unknown
Solfege	Yūko Kobayashi	unknown
Dolce	Yūko Kobayashi	unknown
Ludwika	Masako Katsuki	unknown

Development

Says director Hiroya Hatsushiba: Vorlage:Cquote

For the localization, the game's text was proofread by the Frederick Chopin Society in Warsaw. The localization team wanted to be as historically accurate as possible, without losing the original message of the script.

On April 23, 2007, the ESRB posted their rating for Eternal Sonata listing the game as being intended for release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. However, when news of this quickly spread, the ESRB removed the listing entirely. On September 11, 2007, Bandai Namco's official site listed Eternal Sonata as coming soon to PlayStation 3, yet also listed the Xbox 360 version as being "available now." Again, as news quickly spread, the information was removed. The following day, scans from Famitsu were released, confirming the game as being released for the PlayStation 3. On September 14, 2007 Bandai Namco officially announced Eternal Sonata was coming to the PS3, during Spring 2008 in Japan.

In addition, Namco Bandai stated that there will be features exclusive for the PlayStation 3 version. This includes new playable characters, Crescendo and Serenade, who played a major role in the Xbox 360 version, but were never playable. It will also include a new clothing system, in which the player can freely change his/her character's costume, which implies an increase in costume variations.

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 pre-orders 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. Famitsu rated the game 9/9/9/8, for a total score of 35/40. During its release week, the game reached second place on the Japanese sales charts. The following week, it had placed 35th. [1][2]

At E3 2007, it won GameTrailers.com's award for Best Role-Playing Game and IGN's award for Best Artistic Design on Xbox 360.

External links

• Official Site (Japanese)
• Official Site (English)
• Endless Nocturne: The Official Community for Eternal Sonata