There is no doubt in my mind, in perhaps many of your minds, that Zero Punctuation is the funniest new reviews on the Net. A part of the also excellent Escapist online gaming e-zine, these no holds barred and definitely adult oriented game reviews are as hilarious as they are spot on. If you have never heard of them, then let me introduce them to you with the latest entry: Guitar Hero III.
Well its time for another monkeygames PSA about a great game that may have slipped under the radar but deserves your attention. The game in question is a Japanese style Role Playing Game called “Eternal Sonata” for the xbox 360.
Eternal Sonata was released on 9.17.2007 in the USA and may have been overlooked because of the hype and anticipation of Halo 3 being released just one week later.
Eternal Sonata takes place within the mind of Frédéric Chopin in the last hours of his life [Chopin contracted tuberculosis in 1849] This “world” helps to set the stage for one of the most compelling stories I have ever seen. There are several intriguing plot lines going on in Eternal Sonata and if you are a fan of good storytelling this is the game for you. Some of the plot lines include Philosophy of life and death, governmental corruption, revolution and poverty.
All the characters in Eternal Sonata that comprise your party are names after musical references, and the names fit perfectly both in personal conduct and on the battle field.
Eternal Sonata’s strongest element is its story. This may be a bold statement but the integration of music, thought and storytelling is something I have not seen since Cowboy Bebop [Bebop is still better, but Eternal Sonata comes close].
The game play of Eternal Sonata is a lot of fun as well. Much of the game takes place in beautifully surreal areas. The graphics look very good, and have a nice hand drawn 3d feel to them. Areas do seem a bit linear but there are some good puzzles to solve, and if you take the time exploration of each path in a forest, or dungeon it can yield some cool loot. No matter what area you are in most monster encounters are optional. There are no random encounters if you want to fight you can if you don’t just avoid the monster, either way its good to see random encounters in RPG’s going the way of the 8-Track!
When you do fight the battles play out in an active turn based system. The key word there is active, you can move party members around a 3d battle field, attacks are done with button combos, when you are not attacking you still need to be on your toes because you have the ability to block attacks, or counter them with a well timed button press. When attacking each hit goes into a combo meter, if you wait and build up this meter a massive bonus is given to your special moves. The combat system is one of the best active turn based systems I have seen in an RPG.
The list of character powers and abilities grow as you level. In the beginning you are given the option of selecting two special abilities, one light and one dark. The light and dark mechanic some into play on the battlefield. Some powers will only work when you move your character into a light source, others will only work if you are in the shadows [in sunlit areas monster or party member shadows count as dark as well] In outside areas the sun is constantly moving so the light and dark areas are constantly changing. There are also moments in Boss battles where the changing position of the sun, and movement of shadows can quickly turn the tide of a battle or allow you tank to fire off a much needed light based healing spell.
Now there is one issue with Eternal Sonata and this is mainly the long cut scenes, 15 to 20 minuets can be a bit much but they only serve to tell more of the story so its forgivable to an extent. Once you get through the prologue, and first chapter its not that bad. Over all its annoying to play for 15 min and then spend half an hour watching a cut scene.
So far I am about fifteen hours into this game, the story still remains interesting, and I still go out of my way to get into a battle. Eternal Sonata’s strengths lie within its intriguing story, and active combat system. If you are a fan of RPGs, good storytelling, combat, and off beat humor you owe it to yourself to play Eternal Sonata.
Gotta love the Red versus Blue shenanigans. The new content update - which goes live today - includes a new base versus base rendered in a similar pallet as Ascension from Halo 2 - one of my favorite maps. There’s also some new content for use with forge, including some very large soccer balls, and one of the maps even has a small race track stringing along the outer edge of a bunker. I smell new game types!
The dreamcast was so far ahead of its time. An amazing system even by today’s standards.
I don’t know if this is true or not.. but if its true….”mmmm… This is a very exciting time.”
SEGA Corporation has filed a new application to protect the trademark Dreamcast - sparking rumours that the Japanese publisher is planning on making a shock return to the console manufacturing market with the Dreamcast 2.
Here it is: two minutes of GTA IV bliss known as “Move up, Ladies.” I especially appreciated that Rockstar opened with a shot of the Statue of Liberty some random, giant statue in no way affiliated with New York that most definitely did not make an appearance in Ghostbusters II. For those interested in seeing this trailer on the big screen, it should be available on Xbox LIVE now. And you probably wish that we’d told you that before you clicked play. Sorry, we were lonely.
Numbers are supposed to be impressive, right? Well, it’s been 10 years, two hardware generations, and about seventeen thousand rumors since the last pure number Street Fighter came around. And today we have the first ever official details on Street Fighter IV.
We don’t blame you if your eyes have already skipped down to the screenshot lower on the page (yes, that’s from the game engine). Take your time. But we’ve got some information as well, so the rest of this is probably worth reading when you get a chance.
Yeah, so I just finished pumping up Trinity.. and they go and do this. Nice work gentlemen. I can say.. yes in fact the graphics are HAWT. And yes in fact, it WOULD screw yoru machine up if you got the premium patch within that timeframe.
(luckily I hadn’t rebooted before I fixed it)
But in order to spread the word:
6.12.2007 11:47:45
ALERT: READ THIS IF YOU INSTALLED TRINITY BEFORE 4 A.M. GMT
If you have Windows AND upgraded EVE Online: Trinity Classic before 4 A.M. GMT to Premium using the content upgrade path then you MUST read this before doing anything else.
PLEASE DO NOT REBOOT YOUR COMPUTER
Check the root directory of your hard drive and see if you have a boot.ini file. Boot.ini file is normally hidden so you need to click Tools : Folder Options : View and select “Show hidden files and folders” and uncheck “Hide protected operating system files” to be able to see it. You can also check for the presence of this file by clicking Start : Control Panel : System : Advanced : Startup and Recovery : Settings (third button down). Windows will alert you if the boot.ini file is missing.
If boot.ini is still there then you are not affected and do not have to take any further steps.
If boot.ini is NOT there then please click here: FORUM LINK
We have removed the faulty updater so anyone installing the Trinity Expansion now will not be effected.
A new updater will be available shortly.
We apologize profusely for this error and are working on offering more extensive help those that have a non-working Windows PC, so please stay tuned.
Gaming Steve is fantastic. And he has a great podcast. But thats not what this post is about. This is the balls-out coolest extension of your MMO gaming experience I’ve see net. They basically make a very nicely detailed model of YOUR character in WoW. Frickin sweet.
Dave and I have been checking out EvE-Online now for a few weeks. The game is slow at first, glacially slow. And if action-y combat is your think, this game is not going to scratch that itch for some time. But if you like depth in game play, and truly user-driven political systems, then this game is unparalleled.
Today will mark the launch of the (free) expansion, Trinity to the game, and also debut a brand new graphics overhaul to the game, which was already sexy to look at. If you are feeling the boredom of WoW, and looking for a very different MMO to check out, you might want to give EvE a try.
Zero Punctuation: Guitar Hero III
