Cover artwork of Eternal Sonata's U.S. PlayStation 3 release
Eternal Sonata, originally released under the title トラスティベル 〜ショパンの夢〜 Torasuti Beru ~Shopan no Yume~ (Trusty Bell: Chopin's Dream), is a video game published by Namco Bandai Games and developed by Tri-Crescendo. Originally released for XBox 360, it was reissued about a year later as Trusty Bell: Chopin's Dream Reprise (retaining the title of Eternal Sonata for the international issuings) with revised and expanded cutscenes, as well as two new playable characters and dungeons and optional character costumes for the playable characters that could be controlled in the field.
Story[]
As famous composer of classical music Frederic Chopin lays dying in Paris, France, he finds his consciousness occupying a world he believes to be entirely his dream. In the dream, he meets Polka, a girl aged 14, the same age as that of his younger sister, Emilia, when she died from tuberculosis. As she herself doesn't have long to live, the girl Polka decides to travel to the city of Forte, hoping to make a difference in the world by speaking with the region's leader about mineral powder, a substance that has greatly curtailed sales of her village's floral powder. As they journey forward, they soon encounter other concerned citizens and learn that the mineral powder is part of a conspiracy much greater than they imagined.
Battle[]
Eternal Sonata features a battle system combining both turn-based and real-time combat. Both playable characters and opponents are given a set period of time in each time during which they may freely move about and act in a field of light and darkness. Light and darkness affect the special attacks of characters of characters and new abilities and options are granted based the "Party Level" as the game progresses.
Music[]
Eternal Sonata features a score that includes a number of compositions by Chopin himself (one featured in each of the game's chapters) as well as original compositions by Motoi Sakuraba, a prolific video game composer. The game's original soundtrack was released on four discs, including the Chopin compositions as presented in-game, though it did not include the additional music created for the game's PlayStation 3 release.
Reception[]
Overall reception to Eternal Sonata was strongly positive, with favorable reviews from both critics and consumers. The game was praised for its story and social commentary, as well as breathtaking graphics and music, though received some criticism for a plot many felt contained too many cliches as well as lengthy cutscenes and lack of opportunities for exploration. The improvements to the PlayStation 3 version were generally received with delight, as they fixed many of the perceived weaknesses in the game's story as well as offering exclusive new areas and playable characters.