So I finished Prince of Persia. I enjoyed my time with it, though the combat got a little boring for most of them. I can't be bothered going back and finding the rest of the light seeds. It's good, but not enough that I want to go back. Did anyone else find the graphic fliter at the end annoying? I had problems trying to figure out where I was going and what I was hanging onto and kept dying because I couldn't see. I recall a few people saying they hated the ending, I guess I'm indifferent.

While out shopping today I considered buying Scribblenauts, but I asked myself "Am I going to play it anytime soon?" and the answer was probably not. It can wait. My DS is in my work drawer aftergetting beaten in one of the levels and I'm not sure if I can be bothered trying again. Maybe I should have got Scribblenauts. Then I could have seen what happened when you put a cat and a cheesegrater together (waits for someone in the comments to try this and tell me). So now I think it's Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Starting playing with a mate who doesn't seem that interested in continuing, so I guess I'll solo the rest.

Just about finished Magician by Raymond E. Feist. I've had a hankering for re-reading his stuff, but for some reason didn't particularly want to read Magician again. But I decided I had to to get myself back up to speed because I haven't read the stuff in years. Great book. So now I have to decide whether to jump straight into Silverthorn, or read somethingnon-fantasy in between. I've still got a couple of Tom Clancy novels my dad lent me, Patriot Games and Teeth of the Tiger. Raven or Ork can probably advise me, noting that I've only read Hunt for Red October and Without Remose so far from his catalogue if order matters. And I also bought an English Reference Collection today. Yeah, I'm nerdy like that.

Probably a couple of months after I played it, but I decided to write a review for Eternal Sonata.

If I asked you to list games inspired by musicians, it would be simple to cite the multiple rhythm based games currently on the market. On the more obscure end, you have Eternal Sonata, a RPG with a story that revolves around the dreams Frederic Chopin is having on his death bed. While a bizarre premise for a story, it works, and an interesting battle system makes it entertaining to play through.

You begin as Polka, a young girl who possesses magic power. A side effect of being able to use magic is a short life span, and Polka may not live for long. As such she is shunned by some, as they fear her using magic will also negatively affect them. Along the journey she will meet up with a number of other characters, including Chopin himself. Everyone has names related to music, including the likes of Beat, Falsetto, Crescendo and Alegretto. The story is a linear affair, and is broken into chapters. While there is no role-playing or character development on your part, the story is told through cutscenes which are in abundance. The visuals leave a lasting impression, and compare to top-notch cel-shaded anime with vibrant colours. There are plenty of standard cliches like traitors in the midst and loves that can not be had, and while overdramatised at times are still effective. It does present the question, if you think you are in a dream but it feels real, which is the dream? The cut scenes can drag at times, but you are able to pause them or skip them.

Another interesting addition is that between the anime cutscenes and standard gameplay, you are treated to the occassional score by Chopin, while photos of locations he lived or visited or other relevant pictures play on a slideshow in the background, while text fills you in on Chopins life. However, these are unrelated to the game at all, and I found this took me out of the experience.

As there is no character development on your part, the leveling up is old school Japanese fare, in that when you level up, all of your stats automatically increase. You can buy weapons and defensive items, or find these on your travels. Most characters have an exclusive set of weapons and clothing/armour that they can wear, so you can't mix and match weapons. This lends all of the characters a difference in combat, as some have long range weapons, some attack slower, or have wider arcs for their weapons and are able to hit two foes in close proximity.

Combat is turn-based, but when it comes to each participants turn, they have a certain amount of time to act before their time is up and it goes to the next turn. While in control of your characters, you can use that time to run across the battlefield towards enemies, fire long range weapons if you have one, use items, or attack close quarters if you reach them in time. While the combat mechanics get complex towards the end of the game, they are introduced slowly so that you are never overwhelmed. At the beginning, once your turn begins you have infinite Tactial Time to consider your options before you begin moving. Once you begin moving, you will start using up your Action Guage and time will pause if you stop moving if you want to reconsider. As you progress through the game Tactical Time changes from infinite to a few seconds, and finally down to nothing, making sure you are always keeping an eye on whose turn it is next. This procession gives you time to learn the nuances of combat early in the game, and applies pressure to keep you active later in the game. If you time it right, it also possible to block opponents attacks, so battles are always engaging. While your party will grow in size, you can only have 3 active members in the party to partake in combat. Sometimes story-based events will force certain characters to fight specific battles, but these are few and far between. Non-active members still earn some experience, so they are never left too far behind if you do favour some characters.

Upon joining your party each character begins with at least one special ability of Light and Dark varieties, and this is another twist in the combat as they are assigned to the same button. Each combat area usually has some mix of light and dark areas; using a special ability in the light activates your Light ability, and... you get the idea. This adds another layer of complexity to the combat, as the special abilities can be quite varied. Healing abilities are related to the light, so in some areas which are almost always dark, you may have to use up most of your action guage just to get into some light. You may come across a strategy that works for you, only to find it ineffective if light conditions aren't in your favour. As your characters level up, they can master new special abilities, and you can change which ones you want your character to use. You aren't the only one that benefits from light and dark either. Some enemies have more effective attacks in the right conditions, or may change shape altogether and become more difficult to kill.

An additional twist to combat comes a little way in to the game; echoes. Whenever one of your characters lands a blow, it goes towards a hit counter. Once you get enough hits, a multiplier increases in the bottom right of the screen. Whenever someone uses a special attack, the combo meter is used up, and the attack or ability is more powerful by that many times. This makes it fun to have your first two characters wail on one enemy, and in the last split second of your third characters turn activating a special and annihilating another one. An additional layer is added once you learn Harmony Chains; if you activate these while your combo is at a certain level, you can activate a second ability, or even have another character use theirs to assist. Later in the game you will be needing to use these abilities to try and knock out your enemies before they can inflict serious damage upon you.

The enemies themselves are a varied bunch, from the onion-looking things that grow enormous if they are in the dark, to rats that carry their own 'dark source' (making the area around them dark even if they wander into the light), to mechanical beasts. Everything here is far from the standard fantasy affair and generated with a great deal of imagination. Even those that might be familiar still have their own styIe here and are superbly animated. On the odd occassion they show signs of stupidity, moving away from your party or not attacking for no apparent reason, but generally will head towards your characters and attempt to beat them into submission. While the mix of creatures in a given area are often the same or similar, you will move on to the next area before it becomes entirely routine. While many battles will only last a couple of rounds, the boss battles will take some extra work. Sometimes these are accompanied by other lesser minions to take out first, and a few even generate additional ones. The bosses are varied as well, such as the nimble female pirate who will take you out with devastating special attacks of her own, to large lumbering beasts whose attacks can hit multiple targets. It's here that thinking about how best to use your echoes and special abilities come into play. Do you inflict as much damage as possible now, or save up the echoes for the next time you need to heal?

As mentioned the game is relatively linear. There are some areas to explore, but they don't veer too far off the path and usually reward you with weapons or items. There are no random battles, enemies appear on the map and can be avoided if you choose. For the most part save points are spaced well, and you will always be able to save before a big battle. There are a few light puzzle elements, and a few areas where you will have to talk to people you come across, but for the most part you can avoid non-player characters in the game.

The negative issues I had with the game are minor. Sometimes the presentation of the battle map means you can't see enemies until you have begun moving to their side of the screen where an enemy may not had been waiting, wasting time. You can collect score pieces and play these with people you may find on your travels, but this made little sense to me. Being able to more easily select a target for long range weapons would have been nice. It's also worth noting that Beat has special abilities that takes photos of enemies. If you line it up and they are good photos, you can sell them at shops which bring in quite a lot of money... too much money. I took and sold only 4 pictures early in the game, and was able to buy everything whenever something more powerful was available except for one point late in the game where I sold a few things.

Perhaps my biggest gripe with the game is that after I beat it, there was little to bring me back for more. I was hoping for an extra challenge mode or more powerful bosses, but alas no luck. And if that is my biggest gripe, then the game must have something going for it. With beautiful artistic vision, an increasingly rewarding and engaging combat system, and an offbeat story, Eternal Sonata is easy to recommend.