You may remember I made some New Year resolutions - one of which was to get back into RPGs and play them ALL THE WAY THROUGH, something I hadn’t done for a while.  So I’ve been making the time for Eternal Sonata, a game I’ve been dipping in and out of for ages. The last few weeks I’ve put aside my gamersore obsession and tried to really invest in this beautiful and very traditional RPG, by the utterly sublime developer tri-Crescendo. It has paid off in spades.

It’s well known that Eternal Sonata is one of the most beautiful looking games ever made. Each new area made me actually gasp out loud at the colours and style of the beautiful towns and fields. Each time I’d think “Well it can’t get any better than this. This must be the most beautiful place in the game,” only to be blown away by the next area. Sometimes I’d stop running around the shops and talking to characters and just stare for minutes at the screen.

I knew the game was spectacular looking and I found the combat pretty good, but as I’ve got further into the game that ‘pretty good’ has become ‘multi-layed brilliance’. I’ve played a lot of RPGs and every one of them made a stab at a unique element to the battle and skills system - whether it was a skill grid, item creation, unusual weapon or fighting technique. Eternal Sonata has different party levels as you move through the game, introducing new elements to battling and skill use as you go along. Using timed hits and guarding as a basic premise for battles, by the time you’ve reached party level 6 (only obtainable in a sidequest dungeon) the game is almost unrecognizable from when you started out. The growing combination of special attacks, healing and counters must seem mindboggling to a casual observer. However, despite this there are no difficulty spikes in the game. Giving the player time with each ability before moving up a party level means you always feel in control of the situation.

And so I’m very glad that my New Year Resolution is working out for me. My gamerscore obsession simmers away underneath, but I’ll happily toss it aside for a game as blissfully transcendent as Eternal Sonata. To show my love, I’m trying to get a hold of one of the beautiful faceplates released for it in the US or Japan. Any help with this would be appreciated!