Eternal Sonata PS3 | 8.5

I bought this game with a little trepidation. I'm always afraid that I'm going to spend $60 on a game, get it home and have it suck. I was especially nervous about this game because I was looking for a co-op game to play with my fiance. I didn't want to have to worry about wandering around looking for fights to get into so the other person could play, I wanted it to be fun for both of us.

With that being said, let me tell you why I give this game 5 stars:

I am absolutely in love with Eternal Sonata. It's everything I could have ever wanted in an RPG. Some people may say it's a little short or that the game is very linear, but in my opinion these are pluses. I played FFVII and I never finished it. I really really wanted to finish it and be one of *those* people, but I got stuck and couldn't figure out where to go next. I'm not one for looking up walk-throughs online to find out where I should go next, I really just want to play the game not figure out what I need to do next. If I wanted a puzzle, I would play a puzzle game.

The battle scenes in this game are great and there are plenty to keep both you and a friend interested. The graphics are just amazing and I was really surprised to see that the game actually looked like the trailers. I love the animations on the special attacks, my fiance said to me "This game probably makes us look pretty impressive because of all of these flashy moves." The best part of battles is that you are actually cooperating. It's not just you and your friend controlling different characters. When your party levels you can start earning echos for each hit you make that isn't blocked. These echos can be stored up and any player can use them to make their special actions more powerful. It's great for building up the last hit on a boss or saving a character whose near death.

I'm also really impressed with the story for this game. It's historical and philosophical and fantastic all at the same time. You get to learn about Chopin's life and meditate about the reality of dreams. Not to mention having a game based on a musician makes for excellent score. Each chapter is based on a different composition of Chopin's. I love playing just so I can listen to the music...it's not repetitive or boring.

I would definitely recommend this game to people who enjoy rpg's and want to play with a friend or significant other. I think it's a great game for all ages and it doesn't have a gigantic learning curve, but it's got just enough mystery to make it fun to figure out.