Trusty Bell, aka Eternal Sonata
 

I find it quite disturbing that this upcoming RPG doesn't have its own thread.
(Well, I made one for the music, but let's talk about the GAME!)

By now I think many of you are familiar with the concept:
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/713/713699p1.html

As he lay dying, famous classical pianist and composer Frederic Choin began to dream of a fantasy world where the terminally ill were gifted with magical powers. Here he met a girl named Polka who was likewise afflicted. Her friend, Allegretto, is searching frantically for a way to save her.

In spite of the novel concept, it's entirely possible that the game could very well delve into traditional RPG storytelling that'll have very little to do with Chopin at all. But I'm sure players won't mind. :)

There were several stunning pictures released of the game at its announcement. However, the Tokyo Game Show brought us a shiny new trailer:
http://www.xboxyde.com/leech_3030_en.html

Seeing these graphics in motion is a treat; the game looks stunning. The combination of Chopin's pieces with Motoi Sakuraba's music appears to be perfect. And the battle scenes reveal some very curious things going on.

But there's more to it than this.
Namely:
http://www.rpgfan.com/news/2006/1463.html

That's right. Namco Bandai America has announced that this game WILL come to North America, under the name of Eternal Sonata! :D

Even though I don't have an XBox360, I'm still intrigued by this title. It's such an interesting premise that I WANT it to work. And, of course, I do want to hear that music. ;)

Oh hawt. I'm so glad it's coming to the US :) This seemed like one of those titles that would just go poof into obscurity.

But fears laid to rest, here's reason #3 (alongside Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey) for buying a 360 eventually...

Woah, no post on this RPG? This is one of the rare occasions I actually WANT a 360!

http://kotaku.com/gaming/onions-and-...?autoplay=true

http://www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?id=3237

The game now has a demo available via Xbox Live in Japan. The nifty thing is that if you have a Japanese live account you can download the demo and play it under your US account in full English. Yes, English, including voice acting, which from the video sounds on par with VP2 and Grandia 3's quality. Check out the videos, gameplay looks nifty.

The music in this game sounds excellant, composed by Motoi Sakuraba from VP1 and 2.

I want this game.

I downloaded this tonight. The voice acting is the usual grating anime type, but the music is good and the combat system reminded me of Star Ocean, only a little more polished. It'll all come down to how good the story is, which of course you can't tell from the demo.

Do you think this game might be considered an insult to Chopin, since its kinda using him to sell a game?

There seems to be some people out there who think so, what do you guys think? Over reaction or its true?

Wow, this actually looks pretty interesting. If I got a 360 at all, I'd probably pick this up.

Kairi Li: I'd say if anything, it would bring awareness to him and his music. Classical composers aren't exactly on the cutting edge of popular culture these days.

I think it's an insult to Chopin because it looks like a bad game =I The demo is very disheartening (at least from what I saw of the video). Given, though the reviewer was worth a chuckle, he couldn't play for shit~

Anyhow. My brother's been ranting about this for months, and this is what he was making a big deal out of? Puh-lease. NEXT~

Well, what was bad about the game that you saw? The gameplay? What was wrong with it? It seem to play pretty smooth me from the gametrailers.com videos.

Though yeah, if the game is bad, it prob would be an insult, but what if its a good game?

It doesn't seem to really have any nifty, brand-spanking new gameplay mechanics. Seems to reek of past gameplay. Plus the character-types are bugging me immediately. Reminds me too much of Grandia 3, which is a bad thing.

Well its still just a demo and trailers, but I see what you mean. Thought since my RPG libary isn't as big as others here, this might be new to me. Still, I rather not judge a game for re-using mechanics others have.

I'll admit that this game isn't anything groundbreaking in the genre, however seeing that it's either this or Enchanted Arm for next-gen RPG fans, the game isn't bad either.

The gameplay is solid as well as the graphics are captivating and the music is well done. Now as long as it has a decent storyline, it'll make for a decent play through just to see what direction JRPGs may go in the next-gen.

The only beefs I have with the game are these two things.

1) Some sort of circle (like Arc the Lad) that shows your character's attack range would be nice.

2) MAPS!!! For both exploration and battle

It's not bad. It borrows heavily from Grandia and some recent Tales games, but it's hardly bad, Gech. Better than G3, that's for certain.

I'm fully with Slayer on all his points, though. Music's nice, graphics are charming, and the battle mechanics are fun.

And your two beefs are well founded, Slayer. It can be both hard to see the enemies right off the crack in the battles, so a map indicating their position would be nice. And a range would be nice, since there are slightly different ranges for each hit in a combo attack. I've had it so only the third hit of a sword combo would hit, for example. Range markers would be supreme.

Also yeah, JRPG pickings are going to be slim when this drops, but Blue Dragon will be out by that point as well.

It is true that Blue Dragon will be out by then also however I haven't heard many good things about BD, and at a time when MS was counting on it so heavily to establish themselves in Japan. Reviewers even said that BD was perhaps one of Uematsu's worst scores of his career (not horrible, just average).

I'm not judging the game before I play it for I'm a sucker for graphics, artstyle, and RPGs so I'll probably end up getting BD either way, after all it didn't get many scores below a 7/10 either ^^

As an aside I don't know who's all played it but I find Eternal Sonata to have more in common with Radiata Stories then that of Grandia 3, anyone else feel the same?

Eternal Sonata (トラスティベル/Trusty Bell)
 

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/7598/pa888831zm3.jpg

Name: Eternal Sonata (トラスティベル/Trusty Bell)
Console: Xbox 360/PS3
Genre: RPG
Japanese release: 06/14/07
American release: September 2007

Trailer 1: (also available to download via japanese xbox live marketplace/130 MB):

YouTube Video

Trailer 2: (also available to download via japanese xbox live marketplace/125 mb):

YouTube Video

Characters:

Chopin

Sex: Male

Age: 39

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 save her.

Polka

Sex: Female

Age: 14

Weapon: Umbrella

Japanese Voice: 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 Gun

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.

Credits to Wikipedia

There is also a demo available for the japanese xbox live marketplace. It takes you through a forest, through the (main?) town, where Polka lives, and into another forest where you fight a boss before it ends. Surprisingly if you download the demo through a japanese account and play it on an english one, the demo will be in english as well.

After playing through the demo on 1080i, I must say I'm very impressed by the graphics. The voice acting is decent (Allegretto sounds a lot like Luke from Tales of the Abyss), but personally I prefer Beat's japanese voice. It's more fitting. Polka sounds fine though. Aside from that there isn't any other voice acting in the demo.

The battle system is a nice touch. Feels a lot like Tales of the Abyss again, with a mix of real time and turn based action. Each character is given a short period of time to perform as many attacks (which raises a combo counter) as possible, and when the time's over it's the next characters turn. After the time is over for all allied cahrcters, the enemies are given an equally short time period to perform an attack.

The combos and attacks are beautifully detailed, as are the enemies. A lot of things seem to fit into place. Pressing triangle brings up an inventory menu where you can heal your own characters with items, and so forth, like usual RPGs. My only complaint is that there should be an option to set square to a specific item for using in battle.

How's the music?

Sorry I wasn't aware this thread already existed.

INNOVATION INNOVATION INNOVATION

The music's pretty good. Chopin's material is in it, obviously, and a lot of it's fitting. Motoi Sakuraba's Valkyrie Profile 2 themes were impressive as well. Can't complain about it really. Usually if music isn't good, it's the first thing pointed out. Yoshi's Island DS ring any trusty bells?

This game has tracks from VP2?

Uh.. no.. I don't think you're following.

Pieces of this game's music was composed by Motoi Sakuraba, a japanese composer whose known for Shining Force, Valkyrie Profile, and Star Ocean's music.

He also did the music for Tales of the Abyss, which this game plays and feels akin towards. I could've sworn the english voice actor of Abyss is the same as Allegretto in this game, but his profile hasn't anything linking him to Eternal Sonata (BUT HOLY SHIT HE DID THE VOICE ACTING FOR PIXY IN ACZ, FUCK YEAH), and as far as I know there's been no information on whose exactly doing the english Eternal Sonata voice acting for each character.

Jesus like i didn't want a 360 for this enough, now i have to learn Motoi is doing the music for it.

I can't get money fast enough D:

FYI, if you don't own a 360 and happen to own a PS3 (nobody actually bought one of these right?) there are some strong indications this will eventually show up on that platform as well. The information is from the ESRB which is usually a good source for unannounced games.

link

Shouldn't really surprise anyone with hardly anything from 3rd party publishers being one platform exclusive this generation.

Yeah, I was reading about that somewhere as well. Apparently, Eternal Sonata was never exclusive to the 360, and it's also going to be released for the PS3 too. The only difference is that the PS3 version will be released later, and the 360 will get it first.

Recordings by andrewfee from neogaf, afaik it's all the music available in the demo (which in turn is the same as was shown at last year's Tokyo Games Show which again means that they were likely the first compositions for the game). Also it seems correctly playable only in iTunes (it's in 192kHz), other players capable of MPEG4 Audio I tried played it too slow/low pitched.

Ah crap I hope they don't pull the whole "PS3 version will have extras" like RE4 did. The 360 needs more exclusive RPGs.

Anyone able to convert those? Not even my audio editing program can open those sound files.

iTunes was. =P Here you go.

http://colonelskills.belkanairforce....rustybell6.jpg

Interestingly enough, no "Only on Xbox 360" logo. I wonder if this means anything.

Upcoming PSP port confirmed, why lie, etc etc

Oh hey, that's neat.

They've taken a piece of their traditionally styled art (this piece here) and replaced the characters for their cel-shaded versions. I think it's pretty good box art.

God this game looks so good. I can't believe this is one of the reasons I'm putting money away for a 360, and.. pretty much one of my most anticipated games since forever. An RPG! How awful. This is destroying my internet tough guy act of not caring about them. Next thing you know I'll be globbing on some lipstick and writing fan-fiction.

You're not fooling anyone Infernal. I know you're soft like jelly turtle :V

Anyway, the game looks great. I just hope that it'll get a European release. The X360 really needs proper RPGs. Because Enchanted Arms sucked a bit:(

I like the name Trusty Bell better for some reason.

So this game comes out in 3 months. They should probably put the demo on the US marketplace sometime soon so more people know about this game. Namco should also release it sooner. Putting it out so close to Halo 3 isn't a good idea even though both games are completely different from each other. ;_;

I read on Kotaku that a PS3 version will come later, and the 360 version comes first.

Love the cell shaded version of the original art, very nice.

It actually looks decent. The voices will take some getting used to, but they sound a lot better than the ones on Enchanted Arms. Same goes for the music, most definitely. (The sounding better part, not getting used to it.)

The battles remind me a lot of Star Ocean, which is awesome. Star Ocean's battle system is one of my favorites, up there with the traditional turn-based system. It seems like it mixes the two, so that should be great fun.

I really wish JRPGs would stop using children/teenagers as main characters though. I'd like more than the one adult who is almost always 4 times as old as the rest of the party.

So I have mixed feels about this one after playing the demo. I don't like the battle system much as it is just a mind numbing button masher. Basically take the Tales system, remove all of the combos, remove enemies attacking you while attacking and you have the Eternal Sonata system. The light-dark system is interesting, but would have worked out FAR better if the battle system was actually real-time. It could get a bit more complex later in the game, but having to pound that A button as many times as you can in a time limit gets old pretty quick. Oh and the guard system is friggen annoying having to time a 'B' press over and over. I'm hoping some of the later party levels not available in the demo will offer some battle types that are a bit more to my liking.

Graphically the game is sharp in texture quality but the environments and models are a bit too simplistic and last gen. I'm honestly not seeing the stunning and jaw dropping visual experience many others are claiming. They aren't bad by any means but nothing fantastic either.

Overall? Well its a classic jRPG on a next gen system, but it isn't the greatest start in my opinion. The game is a bit rough in many aspects but it does have its appeal in areas as well.

It's just a demo, the only real enemy you faced was the boss. Which did attack you. The thing with the battle system is that, real time battles feel more suited for this game over turn based or sRPG style. Sure they aren't NEW or anything, but it's practically the same as Abyss, which was a good game.

Stop playing it on a 21" CRT.

It's nothing like Abyss. It's a turn based button masher not a real-time combo system found in the Tales games. I mean seriously, most of the game revolves around smashing the A button as fast as you can and the enemies just stand there and take it. There really isn't any strategy involved. To me this game feels like an extremely dumbed down real-time system. I give them credit for trying to mix things up, but in the end the battle system just gets very dull very quickly.

Okay, but I'm playing it on a 55-inch Bravia but whatever. The environments and models are primitive. The explorable paths are highly restricted and the overall polygon count is really low for a next gen game. Now perhaps this was done on purpose for style but it highly reminds me of the extremely simple modeling found in Tales of the Abyss. It doesn't look bad but it's not very impressive either. The shadowing system is also really basic static shadows too which is a real shame considering how important shadow and light are to this game. A more dynamic and modern shadow system should have been developed.

Overall this game shows that Tri-Cresendo is still very much a developing talent and add in the fact that this game most likely didn't get a reasonably high budget. It's rare for me to not find high value in jRPGs but this one just isn't clicking well with me for various reasons.

Most RPGs have button mashing though. I mean, if you don't like pressing A, just don't bother with RPGs at all.

Uh hello, it's cel shaded. Blue Dragon has even less detail in characters compared to Eternal Sonata. I'm not sure what you're expecting from an RPG, but Tales of the Abyss was restricted in it's exploration paths too. If you want to explore open-end areas forever, go play Oblivion.

I think the game looks really well. There isn't many RPGs on the 360 right now to compare it with, but I'd say that it's more interesting than Blue Dragon. Not saying that Blue Dragon isn't great (it is), but still. You should be thankful it isn't Enchanted Arms.

Oh well, I guess people find nit-picking more fun instead of variety coming out.

Most likely because it isn't on a Japanese made console. I generally don't agree with lix, but he made alot of valid points.

Interview with developer

http://au.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/t...=1&sid=6176358

FUCK YES! I was praying that this would be the case, since after seeing Lucky Star and Haruhi Suzumiya, I wanted to hear Aya Hirano's voice as Polka.

God I wish I can play this ASAP, but I can't, not untill I head back to LA... sometime next year...

Awesome news. This month, Persona 3.. next month, Eternal Sonata. Very satisfying. Oh and Polka's by far my favorite character. It's nice that they're doing this.. much like how Blue Dragon is, I guess.

I haven't pre-ordered this yet(I'm pre-ordering in order of release dates right now) but I fully expect to have ordered this within two weeks. It's a great time for RPG(and strategy RPG) fans for August and September. I've already pre-ordered Blue Dragon, Wild Arms 5, Persona 3, and Growlanser: Heritage of War. I'll be pre-ordering this and Soul Nomad soon. And if I have the money left I might get .Hack: Redemption. I don't think much of it but I've got all the other .Hack games so I guess I want to just finish the series. But Persona 3, Blue Dragon, Eternal Sonata, and Soul Nomad are definately the ones I'm most looking forward to(in that order).

Well and Bioshock, but that's not a RPG.

I'm actually getting quite excited about this game and it's probably one of the RPGs I'm most looking forward to, certainly the remainder of this year. It seems it's out here in September so I might leave it a little before picking up a copy.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/endless-noc...hed-290826.php

Anyone who wants a free OST should sign up now, along with the other goodies like the autographed stuff.

So Namco just posted this on their site as being a TBA PS3 game.

Eternal Sonata™ - NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.

So uh, if you own a PS3 or something and were planning on getting a Xbox 360 just for this game, I'd hold out for an official word.

Will these endless multi-platform game rumours never cease to end?!

Man...

I'm pretty sure Eternal Sonata was always a timed exclusive.

I dunno, I never heard of any official confirmation regarding that, when asked the companies they all deflect the question by saying they have not heard of the ES being developed for PS3 etc.

That's how it generally is with timed exclusives.

A bit 'o solid evidence for the PS3 version:

Famitsu Scan

And according to RPGamer the PS3 version will include Crescendo and Serenade as playable characters and provide the player with a costume change system.

This info was originally posted by a credible member of NeoGAF, so yeah.

I think it was pretty obvious this wasn't going to stay 360 exclusive since it wasn't published by Microsoft... and the fact that Namco won't make a profit off it being 360 exclusive in Japan.

Oh GODDAMIT!

This could mean I might drop the 360 version and wait for the PS3 version instead!

New playable characters is probaly my main reason. Looks like I have to get the PS3 version in the far future then. Assuming I can even afford a PS3 at that point in time...

I picked the game up today and logged a good 7 or so hours in. It's not particularly hard, but the battle system is probably the most fun turn-based game I've ever played. Viola is pretty broken though. You have to manually aim her shots, but the farter away she is the more damage she does. So if she starts the fight and aims at the farthest possible enemy, if it's not a boss you can probably down it in a single turn with her. If not two enemies.

The english voice track is superb. Hearing some of Polka's lines outside of battle really made her voice fit, and nothing else has seemed out of place at all. The dialogue is acted extremely well, too. I switched to japanese to hear some Aya Hirano Polka, but Allegretto's voice grated on my nerves far too much for me to keep it there.

I am too sad that this game is region locked.
Can't play on my asian system, also the jap/asian version has no english text or voice.

Asian/jap people are stuck with chinese and jap.

Guess i have to wait for ps3 version.

Well, I just beat Eternal Sonata. I had about 23 and a half hours, and I didn't do the optional dungeon, the pirate's treasure sidequest,



All in all the story was... strange. Towards the end things just started getting weird. I also hit the damage cap for a single hit with Allegretto's Bloody Plume skill. The last hit would hit for 99999. My highest character's HP was Jazz, with somewhere around 35000. The battle system is probably my favorite turn-based system ever.



Worth playing through? Definitely. One of the more fun RPGs I've played in quite awhile, just the story started getting a little too trippy towards the latter end. At least we know there won't be an Eternal Sonata 2.

Unless it's starring Beethoven.

And then there won't be any sound or music.

According to Namco, there's going to be an English "Asian" version released in November. No idea if it has any extra content though.

I just started on the optional dungeon and the sidequest inside of it (achievement unlocked just opening the thing, lawl.) and good God did the difficulty jump up.

Regular enemies now have more HP than most bosses. Hell, from the two bosses I've faced in it the regular enemies were tougher. I've only done the first two floors. The first wasn't too tough and was a great experience fountain. Then I moved on to the second and it threw some souped up Pirates at me. These things don't mess around. If you're not an expert at Counterattacks or Guards you will not survive. Their hits can do upwards of 10000 damage, and even on a character with almost 50000 HP that's a good chunk of health gone. I can't imagine doing this on Hard Mode, although I'm sure I'll try it.

My main team of Viola / Jazz / Allegretto is now around level 70, I can easily see me being 99 before I hit the bottom floor of this.

Also Party Level 6 is the best thing ever. 6 Harmony Chains and an echo gauge that carries from battle to battle makes the battles so much more enjoyable <3

Thread Revival!


The PS3's US release has been officially dated as October 21st. Yes, that's the same day a lot of other games come out.


http://images.gamefly.com/images/games/e/133500e.jpg

The US PS3 Box Art


And, of course, the PS3 version has a couple of extras in an attempt to entice PS3 owners to buy the game a year later, or gamers with both an Xbox 360 and PS3 to buy it again. Among them are: two new characters, new dungeons, a new costume feature, and new events.



I haven't really followed the game too much - never really paid attention to the Xbox 360 version until reviews came out (which were mostly positive). But, I'm looking to pick this one up.


Edit: Also, might want to change it from "360" to "Multi."

I'll change the prefix right now, thanks for the reminder.

That said, it doesn't really do much for the game, regardless of the extra content they add. The plot to this sucker makes so little fucking sense that it's very difficult to recommend, plus it's easy as sin and the battle system is very dull until the very end of the game, when it levels to a point where you actually have to pay attention.

I'd say avoid it, really.

Hopefully it has trophy support. The achievements are there already, just carry the same requirements over.

Yeah... I'm pretty sure it can be interpreted so as to make sense, but it requires a lot of lateral thinking, because it is presented so badly in some crucial parts. Even then there are some dangling threads which were just never resolved. I loved the game, I really did. It just... could have used a rewrite or two. Things to love about it are the graphics and the music... and the scenes which actually do make sense. Things to hate are that sometimes the game just does an abysmal job of getting across the twisted time-loop storyline, and the incessant preaching.

I'll probably buy the PS3 version even though I already beat the 360 version. The reason is simple. They promised to put in some extra cutscenes which I'm really hoping will help bring the whole thing together. Even though I'm quite certain I understand (after considerable thought) the events of the game, it was just so disjointed. Still a beautiful thing though. Beautiful like a vase that has been smashed into tiny fragments and then reassembled by inexpert hands.

I don't think there's enough in there to warrant a second purchase, at least not at release price. If I can find the thing for $20 I might consider it, but that's really about it.

It'd be especially nice if they released this extra content as DLC for the 360 version, too, but it's Namco so they won't.

Oh yeah. I'm definitely not buying this in the first month of release, or probably the first several months. Even though I enjoyed the game more than most people, a double-dip is very low priority for me. Extra content is always good, so I'll go for it, but yeah... the price must be low.

I haven't bought this game yet, so this is probably a day one purchase. I hope this has the JP voice track like the 360 version.

This, oh my god. The game tries to beat it into you even more bluntly than most jRPGs, and it does such a poor job because of the presentation of the story. I just can't stomach how poorly it did what it was trying to go out and do. Disjointed, like you said, is the word for it. So much so that I really can't recommend it, since I found the battle system and everything else about it lacking until the VERY end of the game.

If it doesn't, you're in for a world of hurt.