Genre: RPG
Developer: Tri-Crescendo
Publisher: Namco Bandai

Cel-shaded character art fits the whimsical fantasy dream-like world of Eternal Sonata perfectly; art direction with these memorable characters is splendid, and their stylistic hair, manner of moving, and clothing are fantasy-meets-Chopin era mid-1800s European fashion. The special-effect laden world art does not quite meet these lofty standards however, as it attempts to look cel-shared without being such. The result is that it simply lacks detail. Still though, Eternal Sonata is capable of some occasionally jaw-dropping, screenshot-worthy sequences and backdrops.

I always play with Japanese voice acting if it is available, and it is because of casts such as the one employed in Eternal Sonata that I do so. From top to bottom the voice acting ranges from good to great, with the semi-famous Chafurin providing the real grade-A stuff in his part as the antagonist's right-hand man, Legato. While Motoi Sakuraba's soundtrack isn't as good as his works with Shining the Holy Ark or Valkyrie Profile, it is better than his Golden Sun accompaniment and is competent and easy to hum along with during play.

Eternal Sonata is the most rigid and linear RPG I have perhaps ever played, which led to constant frustration for me during my roughly thirty hour play-through. Towns are linked via linear path networks, ala The Legend of Heroes, and there is never a reason or often even a possibility to backtrack. Even the camera is set at static points as the player moves through towns and dungeons. The battle engine is superb, and while it becomes a smidgen too convoluted towards the game's end, combat is hardly ever tedious.

The story is a nonsensical Japanese plotline typical of Eastern video games and anime, but at least the characters endear, even if the suave, calm, and painfully cliche in-game Chopin fails to realistically portray the unbalanced, emotional basketcase that Frederic Chopin was in real life. But Eternal Sonata is paced well, which is more than I can say for its main 360 competition, Blue Dragon, and it's a fun ride all the way through.