Nobody really knows what happens when we die, but what if, as we lay upon our deathbed, we drift off and dream the most fantastic dream we've ever had. Such is the premise of Eternal Sonata, a game which sees our main character – the famed real-life composer Chopin – near death and in a world that he thinks is just in his dreams…or is it?

THE STORY SO FAR
The central character at the heart of the story is Chopin, who we see through cutscenes in the real world, asleep on his deathbed with a doctor throwing out the idea that upon death we dream our most fantastical dream ever, while within that dream we have the chance to play as Chopin, though he is really but one of many characters you'll amass in the game. However, as Chopin becomes more and more invested in his dream world, will he be able to recognize it for what it is and return to the real world, or is he actually in the real world and the real world was really the dream world? It's a weighty issue and one I can't recall seeing in any RPGs before.

Besides Chopin you're going to be joined by Polka, a young girl who can use magic (which means she's going to die soon); Retto and Beat (Robin Hood like thieves); Polka (the guardian of a forest); and several members from an underground resistance. Everyone slowly comes together because of their own reasons, but soon they find they all share something in common – the king. Why is the king doing what he's doing and can our heroes get to the root of the matter and stop everything?

The philosophical nature of the story hits pretty early and often, but in terms of epic scale it takes a while to pick-up steam and really get going. The early parts have some good moments and emotional situations, but for the most part it takes a while to get going. The problem is that there seems to be a lot of moments that are just wasted on frivolous things and things that will ultimately have no consequences later on or just come off as too forced and corny. For instance, if a character has been stabbed, I don't expect them to have a long melodramatic diatribe about life, death, and love and openly talk about it, because if anything it should've been an inner monologue.

The vast majority of the story unfolds through cutscenes, and though they look pretty good (except one major graphical fault we can't stand) the fact is they just go on and on much like a Metal Gear Solid cutscene. I've literally had to replay sections because I haven't been able to stick around for a cutscene to finish, and not wanting to miss the story I have to fire up the section right before it started. I mean, seriously, 20-30 minute cutscenes is unacceptable, even with a RPG.

Besides cutscenes detailing the story, there are also cutscenes at certain parts in the chapters that show still pictures of places throughout the world while songs by Chopin play. Most people probably aren't classical fans, but if you sit around and listen to the actual pieces, you'll be impressed by how lovely and touching they are. Besides getting to hear the music you'll also be treated to little history lessons regarding Chopin's life, such as why a song was created, when it was created, or the significance of a song in history; not only are these cutscenes informative, but they help the player become even more emotionally attached to Chopin as he tries to figure out life and death and reality and dreams.

GAMEPLAY
Many RPGs share the same fundamentals and Eternal Sonata isn't one to break from tradition. You'll wander around linear environments battling enemies (you can choose not to engage enemies by avoiding them since they are roaming the fields); you'll level up and get stronger and gain new abilities; you'll find treasure chests with new armor and weapons and healing items; you'll have to solve puzzles until you work your way to the end of a section where you'll then have to fight a boss who is stronger than all the enemies you've fought in that area leading up to then. Besides these shared elements, however, there is a whole new world of gameplay just waiting to be discovered.

The big difference between Eternal Sonata and other RPGs is its battle system, which is a mix between real-time and turn-based. You'll have three members on your team at one time who each get a turn dependant on their speed and that of the enemies on the screen – usually most battles are three-on-three events. Once one of your characters get their turn there isn't the usual "sit back and relax" mentality where everything happens by just pressing a button. Instead, you'll actually have to take control of your character, run them over into position, and then press the A-button as many times as you can to attack your enemy. Once the time in your meter has expired it's then time for the next character or enemy in the queue to make their move. Combat doesn't take a ton of skill, but it takes more than the usual RPG, and there is strategy involved.

Besides just mindlessly attacking with the A-button, you've also got the Y-button that issues special attacks. The special attacks will generally cause more damage, but the time it takes to use one means that sometimes you'll only be able to do one a turn (two at the max). With that in mind, you'll generally find yourself attacking with the A-button until the very last second and then unleashing a special attack since as long as you started it before the timer reached zero, the move will be carried out to its final. You can also improve the power of your special attacks by landing blows in succession like this, where one character can just attack with the A-button, building up a successful harmony, and then by the time your second or third character gets done, they may have a 24 or 32 harmony to cause some real damage. Of course, these moves aren't immediately available…

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