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[ULTROS!]

I picked this up 2 months ago and I've been playing it on and off. I'm currently in chapter 6, heading to chapter 7 and all I can say is:

This. Game. Is. Fucking. Hard.

Seriously, the bosses are strong, you need to always block, and a number of bosses are fast. This game feels unbalanced. I know the Xbox 360 version is easy but this time they made it too hard now.

I'm fighting

Spoiler

Waltz and the Dragon

and the boss is strong and very fast. I'm at level

Spoiler

36-39 for Viola, Jazz, and Alegretto

.

Other than that, the locations are very pretty and the music is ace (and very Star Ocean-y) but the story is a bit generic and the dialogue is kinda childish.

 

[Stone Ocean]

I dunno if there are any balance differences between the 360 and the PS3 version but I always felt that the game was only actually hard until you got

Spoiler

Viola.

lol max range arrows

 

[SkylineRKR]

Compared to the 360 version, the Ps3 port is actually challenging. I'm not sure but I think the Ps3 normal is about equal to the 360 Encore mode.

I beat the game and I thought it was a waste of time though. It had some good moments but other than that I found it really boring. Battle system only gets good when it opens up near the end of the game which is stupid.

 

[Tizoc]

One of my first PS3 games My memories of it were hazy but I don't remember having trouble beating it. I did skip some cutscenes due to how cringy they felt though

 

[ajim]

I loves this game so much

 

[Pankratous]

Great game, but I only got halfway through it. I think something really important came out.

 

[HarryKS]

Yeah man. It's brutal eh. Surprised me a lot the first time I tried it.

 

[Dusk Golem]

I was literally talking to a friend about this game yesterday.

Despite its overly cute outwardly appearance, it is an extremely challenging and dark RPG. That's part of the appeal, the game requires a lot of strategy to complete, and story is quite unique. I wish the studio behind it worked on more games like it and Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, which they also did. I like the strategy the game takes to complete it, and the story as it develops. The dialogue is childlike, but I kind of always viewed the narrative to be a fairy-tale like world full of childish characters and themes that suddenly gets taken with darker themes.

Also the game has such an understated amazing OST. The game has strong musical themes and of course is about the final moments of famous pianist, Chopin, but the PST is seriously great. So many songs one could choose, but even the basic first battle theme is great.

 

[Phu]

I remember the ending credits thing lasting like 30-40 minutes or something crazy like that, so if you feel like you're getting close to the end of the game I recommend ordering a pizza or making some popcorn for when that happens.

I played it on 360 but I have a PS3 version now that I'd like to go through because I enjoyed this game so much the first time.

 

[bomblord1]

Loved this game but I played the 360 version.

I don't know if you know this OP but Viola's arrows do more damage the further away you are. Game can be a cake walk if you manage this properly.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Loved this game but I played the 360 version.

I don't know if you know this OP but Viola's arrows do more damage the further away you are. Game can be a cake walk if you manage this properly.

Viola is one of the best, I agree, but as others have mentioned, the PS3 version was quite a bit more challenging than the 360 version for some reason. They added new party members, quests, bosses, and story to the PS3 version, but also made the normal difficulty in the PS3 version equivalent to the hard difficulty in the 360 version.

 

[Imp the Dimp]

The epitome of a mediocre JRPG that people played because nothing else was around on PS3/360. I can't believe how bad last generation's JRPG library was barring the Souls games which people argue are not part of the gerne.

 

[Philippo]

Great game, made me fall in love with Chopin's life and work which i still listen often.
Gorgeous artsyle and graphics too!

The epitome of a mediocre JRPG that people played because nothing else was around on PS3/360. I can't believe how bad last generation's JRPG library was barring the Souls games which people argue are not part of the gerne.

THis is so true, and the main reason why i switched to Western games so much last gen (and i'm glad i did becuase i got to play many awesome titles)

 

[Fbh]

One of the last gen games I have pending.
Only ever played the demo which was pretty fun, though I mostly remember being impressed by how nice it looked

The epitome of a mediocre JRPG that people played because nothing else was around on PS3/360. I can't believe how bad last generation's JRPG library was barring the Souls games which people argue are not part of the gerne.

Hey...while not perfect, Lost Odyssey was pretty awesome

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

One of the best jrpgs on ps3. Excellent combat and visuals.

 

[Olengie]

Got this game on the 360. Rebought it for PS3

 

[Imp the Dimp]

Hey...while not perfect, Lost Odyssey was pretty awesome

I found Lost Odyssey awfully average. It was so much style over substance. I played Persona 3 right after Lost Odyssey (both in 2008) and couldn't believe how shallow and unmemorable it was in comparison. Going from LO to Persona 3 was literally like going from a 5/10 to a 10/10 game in the same genre.

Blue Dragon was about the best JRPG on 360 and it was a 6/10 at best in my book. Absolutely dreadful JRPG library, I can't stress it enough. (Until Nier came along tbf)

 

[Grisby]

Beautiful game. That flower field in the opening sections floored me when I played the demo on 360. Didn't have too bad of a time on the difficulty, but as others have stated, it was probably changed for the PS3 release.

Also, Viola wrecks shit. She was my favorite character in the game.

That ending is batshit nuts too.

 

[CommandThrower]

I found this game to be really easy. I own it for Xbox 360, was the difficulty reduced on that version? You can land extra hits after your turn timer expires, so that you can cram your "special moves" or whatever they're called to do absolutely ridiculous damage.

I only beat the game once. I heard there's extra content such as a dungeon, but is that only for the PS3 version?

Huh. May have to double dip just to experience it again in a new light.

 

[Azure Phoenix]

I picked this up 2 months ago and I've been playing it on and off. I'm currently in chapter 6, heading to chapter 7 and all I can say is:

This. Game. Is. Fucking. Hard.

Seriously, the bosses are strong, you need to always block, and a number of bosses are fast. This game feels unbalanced. I know the Xbox 360 version is easy but this time they made it too hard now.

I'm fighting

Spoiler

Waltz and the Dragon

and the boss is strong and very fast. I'm at level

Spoiler

36-39 for Viola, Jazz, and Alegretto

.

Other than that, the locations are very pretty and the music is ace (and very Star Ocean-y) but the story is a bit generic and the dialogue is kinda childish.

I dunno if there are any balance differences between the 360 and the PS3 version but I always felt that the game was only actually hard until you got

Spoiler

Viola.

Yeah. Basically the PS3 version ramped up the difficulty significantly through a number of changes. For starters enemies have their 360 NG+ stats by default (1.5x attack, defence, speed and magic, double HP), EXP gain was reduced by a noticeable amount, money earnt from photos was reduced by 90%, certain character's stats got nerfed super hard (eg. Viola's already fairly crappy speed), more bosses were added, other boss fights now have extra enemies

Spoiler

Ruined Body fight now features Count Waltz too, it's absolutely savage

, the new area has a ridiculous tough Polka only fight and finally multiple good equipment items have been made far harder to obtain. Oh and they also patched a trick/glitch that made Falsetto completely and utterly broken (in the 360 version if you set her up correctly she can easily combo for over a million damage).

Basically the 360 version is casual mode, the PS3 version is unfair mode. That said the PS3 version is still the one to play - Serenade is a great new party member (Crescendo is eh), the new dungeon (Lament) is beautiful, they added a ton of new scenes and tidied up some other ones so the story makes a lot more sense and most importantly they completely changed the ending. The PS3 version has a totally different outcome for the first playthrough, and then in Encore (NG+) mode you get the original (terrible) 360 ending instead.

 

[sublimit]

Tri-Crescendo's artistic merit is out of this world but when it comes to gameplay they are not really there just yet IMO.Still i was tempted buying ES just for the art alone even though i remember that i wasn't very fond of the battle system after i had tried the PS3 demo.

But i'd love to see them make another game like Fragile Dreams,hopefully one with better controls this time.

 

[Hopeford]

Liked the soundtrack, the battle system, but the only thing I remember about the story is that it had a death scene so long it literally flashed back to itself.

 

[Videoneon]

I think got to the end of Chapter 5 on the 360 version. Viola and Falsetto are the best

Unique concept for the battle system and storytelling, I'd love to see more things like it. Except I hate that the battle system keeps evolving after each chapter - I like what it becomes but the adjustment/the feeling of "why couldn't I do that before?" is annoying

 

[Modest Mauser]

I remember reading about this back in the day, but I never played it.

Is it worth returning to today?

 

[Skulldead]

I found this game to be really easy. I own it for Xbox 360, was the difficulty reduced on that version? You can land extra hits after your turn timer expires, so that you can cram your "special moves" or whatever they're called to do absolutely ridiculous damage.

I only beat the game once. I heard there's extra content such as a dungeon, but is that only for the PS3 version?

Huh. May have to double dip just to experience it again in a new light.

The remember playing the 360 version and the game was way too easy, lost interest and stop playing.... then i tried the ps3 version, this is freaking much more harder game. I can't imagine on encore...

 

[Iva Demilcol]

The epitome of a mediocre JRPG that people played because nothing else was around on PS3/360. I can't believe how bad last generation's JRPG library was barring the Souls games which people argue are not part of the gerne.

Yes, it was an awful game. Too bad I just found out that after I already bought it. I actually disliked the game more and more as I played it. Even the ost was disappointing: they used Chopin's music for the trailers, but in the actual game they went for Motoi Sakuraba's generic fantasy music...

One of the worst games I played last gen.

 

[Captainbojanglesiii]

Liked the soundtrack, the battle system, but the only thing I remember about the story is that it had a death scene so long it literally flashed back to itself.

Lmao I forgot how long that death scene was until now.

It's literally ten minutes.

What were they thinking??

Fun game though.

 

[joeblow]

At the time I played it on the PS3 awhile back, it was maybe my first JRPG in at least seven years (picked it up as a fan of Chopin music).

I found it challenging, but had no issues beating the game. I recall having a blast with the combat, and the story was interesting enough to play it out (some of the voices were terrible, however). I definitely recommend it for those who have not yet tried it.

 

[aadiboy]

The epitome of a mediocre JRPG that people played because nothing else was around on PS3/360. I can't believe how bad last generation's JRPG library was barring the Souls games which people argue are not part of the gerne.

This is unfortunately something I'm starting to realize with the PS3's selection of JRPGs.

 

[silva1991]

I can't believe I still haven't played this game. it's on PS store right?

 

[Imp the Dimp]

This is unfortunately something I'm starting to realize with the PS3's selection of JRPGs.

Play Nier (and possibly Ni No Kuni which I didn't play) and move on. I'm not even kidding.

 

[ULTROS!]

Lmao I forgot how long that death scene was until now.

It's literally ten minutes.

What were they thinking??

Fun game though.

I remember that scene. That was like wtf.

Spoiler

Claves was talking to herself to death for 10 minutes with flashbacks that occurred only a few minutes ago. WTF.

For reference (major spoilers): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKg9wsOqqyk&t=10m10s

 

[Philippo]

FINAL BOSS SPOILER

Spoiler

Finding out Frederic was the final boss was a really shocking moment for me

 

[walkmetothelake]

I own this on PS3. I stopped sometime in the forest section. The

Spoiler

second Tuba

fight was really difficult for me.

I should go back to it sometime.

 

[Call Me A Hero]

There were few hard bosses in the main story like

Spoiler

the pirate girl, and the man who was fighting on the bridge

but the game is even harder on Encore Mode.

Enjoyed the game more during Encore Mode because it was more challenging.

The epitome of a mediocre JRPG that people played because nothing else was around on PS3/360. I can't believe how bad last generation's JRPG library was barring the Souls games which people argue are not part of the gerne.

Lost Odyssey was really great.

 

[Red Arremer]

The story was rubbish but man the gameplay was fun. And they kept it fresh by adding new shit to it every chapter or so.

 

[Ozium]

I got this game because I like Frederic Chopin but I gave up halfway through because it was just too boring and really really grindy...

 

[jb1234]

Liked the soundtrack, the battle system, but the only thing I remember about the story is that it had a death scene so long it literally flashed back to itself.

That scene got my vote as the worst cinematic of last gen (and for the love of god, it's competing with Star Ocean 4 here. It was just that bad). Eternal Sonata had some strengths (gorgeous graphics, Chopin, okay Sakuraba soundtrack) but lord, the characters and story were excruciatingly bad and they just got worse as the game progressed.

 

[Red Arremer]

That scene got my vote as the worst cinematic of last gen (and for the love of god, it's competing with Star Ocean 4 here. It was just that bad). Eternal Sonata had some strengths (gorgeous graphics, Chopin, okay Sakuraba soundtrack) but lord, the characters and story were excruciatingly bad and they just got worse as the game progressed.

The worst part about it is that the initial plot hook with the medicine types was actually somewhat intriguing, but it just fell apart after the first (way too long) proper dungeon. Fort... Fermata? The one with the half-circled platforms.

 

[jb1234]

The worst part about it is that the initial plot hook with the medicine types was actually somewhat intriguing, but it just fell apart after the first (way too long) proper dungeon. Fort... Fermata? The one with the half-circled platforms.

Yeah, I remember the game starting out decently, enough for me to be optimistic.

Spoiler

The part that makes me giggle is all the build-up with the villain and then after you kill him, he completely vanishes, doesn't even get a death scene or anything. Oh, and the end credits where the characters all go full-on Kojima and preach to the player. So. Bad.

 

[mocoworm]

I clocked this on 360 and didn't find it hard at all. I put in hours after I had finished it to try and grind out the big point cheevs , but gave up as I just couldn't be bothered anymore.

Loved the playthrough though.

 

[Red Arremer]

Yeah, I remember the game starting out decently, enough for me to be optimistic.

Spoiler

The part that makes me giggle is all the build-up with the villain and then after you kill him, he completely vanishes, doesn't even get a death scene or anything. Oh, and the end credits where the characters all go full-on Kojima and preach to the player. So. Bad.

Spoiler

You mean the dude with the glasses? Yeah, haha. The fat guy called Tuba had more depth to him than that villain with the glasses. Why was he even there?

 

[brianmcdoogle]

I liked the idea from what I heard that it was a Chopin fever dream, and I liked playing the demo, but then I bought the game, and it was anime, and the voices were terrible, and the story was terrible, and it remains one of the five or so Xbox 360 games I purchased but never completed. Such a waste of effort on stupid and annoying characters.

 

[jb1234]

Spoiler

You mean the dude with the glasses? Yeah, haha. The fat guy called Tuba had more depth to him than that villain with the glasses. Why was he even there?

Spoiler

Not sure if he had glasses but I remembered his name. Count Waltz!

 

[Red Arremer]

Spoiler

Not sure if he had glasses but I remembered his name. Count Waltz!

Oh, that was

Spoiler

the kid, right? I only remember him getting killed by his butler who turns into this dragon or some shit, and then for some reason you follow him into the netherworld which looks like a desert because you can't have an RPG without at least one desert area. It's in the contract. The guy with the glasses was some other guy, though, an underling of Count Waltz. I don't remember his name, but he had a scripted loss battle. That game's plot was so wacky.

 

[Hopeford]

That scene got my vote as the worst cinematic of last gen (and for the love of god, it's competing with Star Ocean 4 here. It was just that bad). Eternal Sonata had some strengths (gorgeous graphics, Chopin, okay Sakuraba soundtrack) but lord, the characters and story were excruciatingly bad and they just got worse as the game progressed.

I'd agree with the worst cinematic vote. Like it's not just terribly directed...which it is, by the way. Pretty sure there's no background music whatsoever in that cutscene. In fact, most cutscenes in that game have no background music whatsoever which is really odd considering...well, what the game is about. It feels like there's this weird uncanny valley effect in every cutscene and it's just so weird.

Then there's also the fact that this aforementioned death scene is supposed to be super emotional but it involves a character we have barely met like one hour or so ago. It's like "...Okay. She's dead. I don't care."

I also remember the game had an optional quest to revive her which I made a point not to go through because, no, after that scene I just hated her way too much.

 

[Ricker]

I liked enough back then,as I did to all the JRPG that came out at the beginning of the 360 days,especially LO.

 

[kayos90]

One of Sakuraba's best sountrack.

 

[Tigerfog]

One of Sakuraba's best sountrack.

Yeah... that battle music totally rocks. There's sense of elegant urgency to it.
Leap The Precipice

Thanks for people who said Viola makes the game easier.
I'll revisit the game and use her in my team for good.

 

[ULTROS!]

I finally got to kill

Spoiler

Fucking Waltz and his dragon

. Seriously this boss is unbalanced by all means. Too fast, too strong, and the blocking of attacks is difficult to do.

This game is way unbalanced. It's like they just set it to encore mode for 360 without even thinking about it. It's also frustratingly difficulty to get money even with the photos and all.