Precious little has been revealed about the upcoming PlayStation 3 version of Namco Bandai's Eternal Sonata, despite the fact that gamers have been aware of the port's existence for well over a year now. Originally revealed in early 2007 as an Xbox 360/PS3 role-playing game, the title quickly shifted to a 360 exclusive and was released last September in America to fairly decent reviews and gamer response. The PS3 version is still in the works, though, despite the silence and a couple of delays -- the port is now officially due out September 18 in Japan, at a price of 7,329 yen.
By and large, the PS3 Eternal Sonata (titled Trusty Bell: Chopin no Yume in Japan) is the same game we played last year on the Xbox 360. Set in a dream world created in the mind of classical composer Frédéric Chopin just before his death, the musically-themed RPG stars Polka (a young girl whose terminal illness gives her the power of magic) and Allegretto (an orphaned boy who steals bread to help feed his homeless friends) as they travel across the world and get caught up in a war between two rival kingdoms. The game is developed by tri-Crescendo, makers of the Baten Kaitos series on the GameCube, and its unique battle system (a mixture of turn-based strategy and real-time action) is arguably its most standout feature, even in the PS3 port.
Not that Sony fans are getting shafted -- the PS3 Eternal Sonata features a raftload of enhancements, ranging from the trivial to the extremely impressive. Nearly everything related to the game's story and characters is getting an upgrade. In addition to two new playable characters (Prince Crescendo of the Baroque kingdom and his fiance Serenade, both of whom appeared in the 360 version but weren't controllable), there are a handful of new dungeons to explore and a variety of new quests, including one that brings you into the forest the agogo sprites call home and another that more fully explores the story behind Polka's illness. The game now has multiple endings that branch out depending on your decisions in-game, and you can also dress up your party in new costumes, which you'll find in treasure chests along the way. Even the audiovisuals are getting a little boost -- there are new 2D illustrations for all the main characters, and a selection of new music is set to be added from composer Motoi Sakuraba and Russian pianist Stanislav Bunin.
Namco Bandai Games has not announced an American release date yet for the PS3 version of Eternal Sonata, but given that the game appeared on the ESRB's website for a short time in 2007, an eventual announcement seems more than likely.
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