Eternal Sonata PS3 Demo Impressions

In 2007, Xbox 360 owners received a few games which PS3 only gamers were not invited to. Two them included 2K Games’ BioShock and Namco Bandai’s Eternal Sonata. A year later, those two games are no longer exclusive. I’ve already taken a look at BioShock’s PS3 demo and now it’s Eternal Sonata’s turn. Will the PS3 demo finally convince me to pick up this JRPG?

The answer is no. Not immediately, to be precise.

Eternal Sonata is still a beautiful game and as far as I can tell, it is identical to the Xbox 360 version. The art style is still as vibrant as ever and the audio cues resonate just as nicely as they did back in 2007. So where are the differences? If they do not lie within the visuals and audio, perhaps they lie within the gameplay.

That’s a negative on the gameplay. (At least not within the demo.) The real time light and dark based battle system works just the same. I personally find this particular battle system to be quite engaging. It required attention to enemy and friendly locations, efficient use of time and a bit of reflexes.

I bet you’re wondering why I don’t want to pick up Eternal Sonata then. It has good combat and great visuals, but I’m not fond of the setting and premise. It feels too light and flimsy. It may pick up in the retail version, but I’m not willing to spend the money just to find out if that’s the case or not. Was it too much to ask for more hooks or details on what I’m getting into?

I didn’t pick up Eternal Sonata in 2007 and I considered picking up the PS3 version when I heard about the additional content being stuffed into it. Now after trying the PS3 demo and looking at the autumn gaming lineup, it’s so difficult justifying this game now. I guess those of you who are in desperate need of a PS3 Japanese role playing game will find Eternal Sonata somewhat acceptable. Others? They may want to wait it out until it drops to Greatest Hits prices.

For more information on Eternal Sonata, visit the official website.