October 17, 1849

In the wee hours of the morning, famed composer Frederic Chopin lay very ill, about to die. Ever the frail, his sister, Ludwika, whom he first gained piano lessons, was at his side for the better part of a year. Quietly, he passed on, leaving behind a legacy of music, and a reputation of being the foremost piano composer of the Romantic period, if not ever.

August 8, 2007

On XBox live, the demo for the game Eternal Sonata is released. The game is due to be released in September 17.

Now, what does this have to do with each other? Well, the premise for the game is that in Chopin's final hours, he withdraws into his own mind and views the landscape within. A lush and vibrant world, with many references to the music which he loved so dearly, stood before him. There, he meets a young girl named Polka. The same age and resembling his younger sister Emelia, who passed away of tuberculosis, Polka suffers a tragic fate. Wielding the ability to use magic, this curses her with a fragile constitution. Although outcast from her own village, she still has a desire to save it from the economical hardships that have befallen them all. Thus is a catalyst for a great adventure, one where the fates of both Chopin and the world are closely entwined.

Graphically, this is an achievement of design, where everything looks very lush and detailed. The cell shaded characters really come alive, thanks to the 60 frames per second animation. Like a well animated film, everything does, in fact, seem like a beautiful dream, one that anyone could ever hope for before dying.

The gameplay is more than just a standard menu driven RPG, where multiple actions can be performed per character during their active phase, rivaling the "one hit, wait," formula of Final Fantasy. Light and darkness play a significant role as well, where special attacks are varied depending on whether or not you're standing in the light or shade. The enemies are affected by this as well, with some of them going so far as turning into different creatures.

Chopin's music plays a vital role in this game as well. Although lightly touched on in the demo, the entire game is saturated with references that would make any music major squeal with glee and think that their college education was not a total waste, if only for a brief moment.

All in all, I would definitely say that I am excited for this game, after the lackluster showing that was Blue Dragon. I can't wait to get my hands on this one.

For more information, visit http://eternalsonata.namcobandaigames.com/