Game Journal – Eternal Sonata (Entry 11)

Thank goodness they brought us to the top of the freaking Glissando Cliffs.  I was not going to be pleased if I had to actually traverse all the way back up.

I am seriously concerned for this kid.  Pretty much every person is town has a “Phil’s mother” story, and they are all pretty scary.  Phil himself says that “falling off a cliff is no sweat” compared to his mother.  I think that kid is being abused…

Why Hello Capn’ Stache’ McEyepatch!  How’s it going?!  Oh wait…it’s Tuba….

He’s pretty mean!  He immediately claims that he knows what our plan is and gets ready to take us into custody.  Is he mistaking us for Andantino?  Somehow, I think Andantino is more clever than to waltz in the front door of the castle in the middle of the day, but Tuba isn’t sweating the small details, I guess.  Beat goes up to talk to him and gets five across the face, and then it’s on!

Damn this battle was hard!  The terrible hammer.  This guy hits so hard.  I was actually worried that I would have to go back to the Glissando Cliffs and grind.  Eventually I put in Polka, Chopin and Viola and I won the day.  Hellz yeah for maximum healing and Viola’s intense damage.  I actually think this a tough point in the game.  If for some reason you weren’t leveled high enough you were in BIG TROUBLE for this boss.  Tuba’s attacks are merciless (he has one attack that hits 3 times in a freaking row), and he sometimes gets two turns in a row.  Yikes!

This guy is hard.  I got lucky and had that same party when I fought him.  At first, he didn’t seems so bad… until he pulled out this jumping attack where he lands with an explosion, then took another turn and unleashed something called “Demonic Embrace”.  Suddenly Polka is dead and Chopin is almost toast.  What the heck dude?  Viola won the day, as I ran her far away and pumped tons of arrows into him from long range.

We end up in the dungeon anyway?!  Ugh!  What’s that all about?!  Oh hey…Salsa, how’s it going?!

Awwww……Salsa has a southern accent!  It’s so doofy!  She rags on everyone.  March is clearly the adorable one.  Salsa is sassy to match her musical name!  I love it!  Now that she has her hat, her amazing sense of fashion is restored and everything is good!

Her accent is hilarious.  She’s practically March’s twin except for her red hair.  She is a total punk, quick to make fun of people (Viola and Beat mostly), while also easy to fool, as she seems to think Allegretto’s thief abilities are magic.  “Precocious” is probably the best word for her.

That scene with her and the mirror is just entertaining.  Poor Beat.

I had a good laugh watching her; she just has to be better than everyone else, even if that means cheating to be “taller” than Beat.

Allegretto, way to fake it till you make it bro.  Also way to show off for Polka.  Smooth moves man…smooth moves….

Hah!  Polka is none too pleased that Allegretto knows how to pick locks.  And boy, does he!  They’re out of that cell is like 5 seconds.

On a totally random note did you realize that you can click on “Piano Music” in the menu you can read through the history lessons we went through (like the one about George Sand or Chopin leaving Poland)?!  So amazing!  I love this game’s dedication to helping you learn more about Frederick Chopin!

Ooh, nifty!  They give you all the text so you can read through it again.

So Allegretto clearly is a weirdo.  “If you don’t go into the lion’s den you can’t count your chickens”.  I was like WTF?!  Thankfully Viola echoed my sentiments.  Also, when did he become our fearless leader?!  I trust Chopin and Polka way more than I trust him?!  Although I will admit he is pretty well informed about life and politics for someone of his age.  What do you think Scott?

That was quite the quote he totally made up.  I feel like Viola put him on the spot by calling him the leader, and he butchered the first halfway inspiring quote he could think of.  That said, I feel like he is kind of the natural leader of the group.  He started this journey with a desire to improve the situation in his town, and for the poor orphans under his care.  He is also incredibly thoughtful and knowledgeable for someone his age, plus he has some real drive to keep going.  Polka is probably the #2 leader, as I don’t think she can put her convictions into inspiring words like Allegretto can, at least not yet, though she is certainly committed.  Chopin is… well, he seems like he’s just kind of along for the ride.  I don’t really know what his agenda is.

We’ve entered the Andantino Secret Passageway.  Time to level up like crazy!  Man this place is a bunch of twisty walkways.  I can’t wait to get all the treasure!  Those scorpions are becoming easier to fight.

What a bizarre way to enter this area.  There’s just, like, a huge hole in the wall of the jail leading into this vast tunnel network.  There’s no way the guards don’t know about it, but I guess they don’t care, or think that the cell doors will hold the prisoners?

The area itself looks very large, with tons of branching paths and treasures.  It has another unique soundtrack, kind of soft with light flute trills.  The environment is a dripping underground tunnel area, with water and glowing plants all over.

So Salsa has the potential to be amazing.  Shadow Silhouette has the ability to do damage AND up Salsa’s attack as well as any person standing next to her for the next special.  She can repeat this process multiple times (the bonus to the person standing next to her goes away after the first turn) so it has limitless possibility if she is high level.  I am very excited  to work with this.  Beat continues to be my weakest character. Right now my dream team is Viola + Chopin.  I keep rotating the other characters in and out as they level up.

Salsa is very useful.  She uses two blade wheels (?), sort of like chakrams that you don’t throw, but which are used in close combat.  Every time she hits, she hits twice, so she is excellent at racking up combo count (which is good, as her damage is low).  Her Shadow Silhouette is incredibly useful; we’re talking damage increases of 50% or more on people’s special moves.  Her battle phrases when entering and exiting battle are hilarious, stuff like “I’m gonna pound you before you can blink”.

I hadn’t really noticed this before, but on the status screen you get the ages of all your characters.  Beat and Salsa are 8, Polka 14, Allegretto 16, Viola 26, and Chopin 39!  That’s quite a range, making our party a lot different than the usual “all 16 and 17 year olds” you see in most JRPGs.  Interestingly, age 39 was when real-world Chopin died.  They continue to have little details like this that show they’ve done their research, and I’m impressed.