Of Eternal Sonatas and Simpsons Games

I know I said I'd post on Mondays and Fridays, but it just turns out that Fridays are difficuly for me. So here's Friday's post, today!

Recently I told you that I had received three games for Christmas this year. Now that I've had a little time to play with two of them, I thought I'd share my impressions on them.

The Simpsons Game

I should probably start by saying that I'm a pretty big Simpsons fan. Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, on to the real news. As a fan I had obviously tried several other Simpsons games, but most of them had left me disappointed and wanting more. This new game, although not quite the game of the year, is a refreshing view on what a Simpsons game should be. The story itself is quite short and shouldn't take you more than a day or two to get through, so renting it is probably the best option unless you want to get 100% completion. The environment is very well reproduced: you really feel like you're in the Simpsons universe. The graphics are crisp and simple, and even though you will experience loading times between "episodes", they're relatively short compared to some other next-gen games out there.

The original Simpsons cast does the voice acting, which is always a huge plus. The same humor and satire you'd find in the series is also present. The only difference is that rather than mocking Fox, the characters tend to make fun of EA instead.

You also see most of the characters from the series in some form throughout the game. Apu, Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy, Burns, Smithers and more all lend their talents to help or counter the Simpsons in this game.

All 5 members of the family are controllable: Homer, Marge (+Maggie), Bart and Lisa. Controls for the game are rather simple (jump, attack, special ability), although special abilities are different for every character. Most episodes are limited to two characters, and using the right ability from the right character is often required to pass certain obstacles.

I said earlier that completing the storyline could be done in 1-2 days. However, full completion does not stop there. For those of you that cannot rest until there is nothing left to find/do in a game, there are plenty of hidden Duff caps, Try-N-Save coupons, Krusty Koupons and Malibu Stacy seals to find. You might also try your hand at the time challenges for every episode (they're not called challenges for nothing!).

What also makes this a great rental title is that you can go through the missions with a friend in split-screen co-op mode. My recommendation? Rent it, unless you're a Simpsons fan like me. In that case, you should definitely buy it. It really does feel like you're playing through an episode of the series. If you enjoy watching reruns of the series over and over again, you'll love replaying through this game.

Eternal Sonata

If I were to describe this game with just one word, it'd have to be beautiful. The colors, the characters, the music, the crisp graphics, everything amounts to the sheer beauty of Eternal Sonata.

The game takes you to Chopin's deathbed. As the doctor and his loved ones pray for his survival, he dreams of a world where pirates, Princes, Counts, flower sellersand thieves unite to create a colorful world where terminally ill people can use magic.

I'll start right now with my negative points for this game. Although voice acting and translations are very well done, the dialogs tend to be rather long. However, this is a Japanese RPG and it was to be expected. At some times, I would put my remote down after a couple of minutes because I didn't need to interact. You can always skip dialogs and cut scenes, but that's a little against the point for a first play through. Also, between "chapters" the game will present you with one of Chopin's masterpieces and while it plays a narrator describes parts of his life. Although it is all very interesting (and one of the goals for the game's director was to get people to know Chopin more), I have yet to see a situation in the game where that information is needed (these "presentations" can also be skipped).

Combat is turn-based, and rather straight-forward. There's a tactical gauge, that gives you time to plan your actions, and an action gauge that limits the time you can spend moving around and attacking the enemies. Attacking is simple enough: tap the A button until the monster's dead. You can also use special attacks pressing the Y button, depending on whether you're in a dark or light area of the battle field. Some characters, however, attack differently. For example, Beat attacks with a rifle, which means you can use ranged attacks. Another character you unlock later on uses a bow, and attacking implies you actually have to aim your bow and release arrows in succession. The farther you are, the more damage you do to your enemy.

The storyline is really interesting, however I find gameplay to be a bit linear. I'm currently at 20 hours in, and if I were to guess I'd say I'm probably at about halfway through the story so it could still change. At this point, though, there is no world map so following the game's wishes is mandatory. I don't consider this a negative point as of yet, since I haven't really felt the need to go back to old areas, however the freedom of exploring is always nice.

All in all I have to say I'm really enjoying this game so far. Eternal Sonata is a must for any true RPG fans. Anyways, don't take my word for it: the demo's available on XBox Live, so go ahead and try it out for yourself!

You may have defeated this SparkleMon, warrior, but you will never defeat anot... Wait, this is your second one? Aw, man... - Mr. Dirt (Milhouse)