Eternal Sonata

The Good:
+Wonderful Graphics
+Great Soundtrack
+Unique Storyline
+Switchable between English and Japanese in the Options-Menu (even in the PAL-Version!)
+Fast Paced Combat...

The Bad:
-...which is almost too fast-paced
-with 25h a bit too short

First off,If you don´t like Action-based Fighting-Systems you should give it a try.Even if you are no Fan of the "Tales of" or "Star Ocean"-Series you should take a look.I play RPGs for a looooong time and this one is a RPG I will surely remember for a long time.

The Graphics:
Well...this looks exactly what I expected from a Cell-Shading-Game.The whole game looks like a dream-world and that´s what it was supposed to be.The Character-acting in the cutscenes is awesome,and the game runs smooth all the time.

The Sound:
The Music is great!I really love the Soundtrack.It fits perfect and really supports the Atmosphere.In some Cutscenes you even hear Chopin´s works.You can switch between English and Japanese Voices in the Options-Menu,which are both great spoken...What you want more?

The Gameplay:
The Game itself is totally straight forward and filled with cut scenes around every corner.But the dungeons itself are very entertaining and the difficulty could be a problem for beginners at the start of the game.I had no problems,but a friend of mine was complaining.There´s a Bonus-Dungeon later who´s really challenging.
Since the Fighting-System doesn't include magic in a traditional meaning,it could get a bit too hectical and fast-paced,but when the Team-Lv goes up the rules of fighting are always written new and keep the whole thing interesting until the end and you won´t really miss it.
The Storyline is interesting until the end and keeps you watching all those cut scenes until the end,even if there are some who could be shorter.
Great thing that jokes doesn't come too short,a thing I miss in most RPGs the last years.Plus you learn a bit about Chopin and see a lot of wonderful pictures of the places he has been :-)

Too bad it´s only 20-30h long,but after all you have a "New Game+" which keeps some items and Team-Lv and you need to finish it twice to get all achievement's.

So...:
This is a great RPG,who let´s you take place in Story in a unique and wonderful made dreamworld.Even if it got it´s shortcomings,I didn´t really see them a really bad while playing and so I think it´s a RPG no Fan should miss.Eternal Sonata manages to be unique without re-inventing something really new or screw up.I don´t think you will see a comparable game soon.