Game Journal – Eternal Sonata (Entry 13)

As we walk through the fort, Falsetto tells us the real story behind the construction of Fort Fermata.  A beloved king, scared of losing the support and admiration of even one of his subjects, built the fort so that no one could leave Forte.  This led to a rebellion and his being deposed.  Jazz explains that the fort “eased his cowardly heart”, because he was too afraid to accept his weaknesses.  I like how we can take time out from the main plot to talk about stuff like this; it gives the world some history.

Wow, this was heavy.  I am endlessly surprised at how Eternal Sonata weaves deep concepts into a lot of its conversations.  Sometimes you feel like you are watching a (waaaaay more mature of course) version of Peanuts.  All the characters are simply vehicles for deep thought and discussion regarding topics in society.  The idea of holding his citizens hostage so he wouldn’t lose their “love” is a concept that could carry over even today.  People smother the things they love and many times…destroy them…

I love the line from Jazz at the end: “The truly important thing is to accept both our strengths and our weaknesses; to believe in ourselves without fearing the judgement of others” 

Claves takes the time to explain some more about mineral powder.  The full process is that using mineral powder gives the user the ability to use magic.  This eventually drives them mad, making them perfect soldiers.  This way, Forte can always have a large army at the ready in case Baroque, a neighboring country, attacks.  On the downside, those soldiers eventually die, as magic users are terminally ill (like Polka).  Hence why there is no tax on mineral powder – its constant use ensures a stream of new soldiers.  Beat makes a good point, that if there is no war, the country will eventually run out of people.  Falsetto agrees, explaining that this is why Waltz is hunting for glowing Agogos, to enhance the strength of the powder.  Salsa remarks that even she has never heard of a glowing Agogo.

This was a fascinating discovering.  The impending war (?) with Baroque is something count Waltz is banking on and I wonder how close the two countries are from going at it.  I am pretty much convinced that Mineral Powder is the devil at this point.  I wonder what Waltz plans to do with the other people that die due to mineral powder.  Let’s say tons of people in Ritardando die of mineral powder use.  Won’t that point the finger at Forte and Waltz will lose all this support?!

That’s… a really good point.  How do you keep a nationwide policy that enslaves and then kills everyone secret?

What on earth are the glowing things that Polka saw?!

There’s a lot to take in here; things are much more complicated than we initially thought.  I’m particularly impressed that even the members of Andantino understand why Forte is using the mineral powder, even if they oppose him.  How will they square their desire to fight against him with the fact that his brutal tactics are keeping the country safe from invasion?  I hope we get to visit Baroque at some point.

I’m not sure I think of this situation in such a complicated manner.  Waltz is clearly off his rocker and there are much safer routes to take if he wanted to prepare his country for war.  What he’s doing is almost genocidal.  I don’t really see two sides to this equation so I’m pretty fascinated that you were able to see it that way.

I almost get the feeling that Baroque is a way larger country, and this kind of “always ready for war” attitude is the only way for a small country like Forte to keep itself safe (or so Waltz thinks).  The only thing I have to back this up is that it doesn’t seem like Waltz plans to invade Baroque with this huge army of his, which would make a lot more sense; he’s just keeping it around in a defensive posture.  That’s where he’s obviously crazy – he won’t be able to keep the army’s numbers up without killing everyone!

So here’s a question….Viola can use “Heal Arrow”.  While I’m not complaining about its incredible use…isn’t it magic?  Are we supposed to suspend world rules in battle situations and skills because otherwise we’d have no healer besides Polka?!

Hmm, I’ve wondered that myself.  All of the characters have  MAG stat, so it’s kind of hard to say that only Polka has magic.  I think, early on, Chopin said something about having magic, but then he took it back, so I’m unclear.  Maybe “Heal Arrow” is supposed to be arrows that have some kind of super-fast-acting herbal component?  It doesn’t really seem to fit.  The best I can come up with is that everyone has some kind of “inherent” magic, like Jazz’s fire-based sword hits, but only Polka can cast proper spells that don’t require a medium like a sword or an arrow.

Tuba remarks that everyone stood around talking so long that he was able to catch up.  Maybe we should’ve been walking while having these lengthy discussions…

The battle against him is once again brutal.  Failing to block even one of his attacks can be instantly lethal, especially for someone with low HP like Salsa.  I used up all of my resurrection items, and only Viola’s ability to hit for tons of damage at long range won me this battle.  She is definitely the perfect choice for any boss battle. If I had to fight Tuba again, I would prioritize getting people to move away from him, as his only weakness is his low movement speed.

Ugh…this was CRAZY HARD!!!  My dream team ended up being Polka, Viola and Beat.  I think you were forced to use Beat for this battle?!  I lost nobody AND I was able to make Tuba waste a lot of his attack time by spreading my people out and moving them to triangulate around him.  Wait…did he just…commit suicide?!  The heck?!?!

I agree, it seems like you had to use Beat.  Ah, a classic – since Waltz forbid Tuba to return without being successful, he chooses to kill himself to take everyone out rather than let them get away and have to return to face his (probably) execution.

Once Tuba is defeated, he destroys the Cabasa Bridge, and we fall into the Fusion River.  Polka’s leg is trapped on something on the bottom of the river, and she’s unconscious.  Allegretto tries to save her, but can’t make it to her.  We cut to black, and when we return, we’re following Viola and Allegretto, who are with the members of Andantino, but separated from the rest of our group.  Oh no!  We pick back up in the Adagio Swamp, which we have to pass to reach Andantino’s hideout.

SWIM ALLEGRETTO!!! SWIIIIMMMM!!!  NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!  POLKA!!!!

This may be one of the prettiest areas in the game.  It has a mangrove swamp look, with lots of trees growing out of the water.  Flowers spill over nearly every surface, and a soft sun floats between leaves.  The background music, a soft piano piece, complements the area perfectly.  It is, in a word, peaceful.

You mean besides the deadly barracudas and poisonous scorpions right?!?!  I do think this area is really nice looking though and the background music is definitely one of my favorites.

Yeah, the wildlife isn’t the best, I suppose.  The setting is what’s nice, then, not what’s in the area.

Oh man!  I had thought our roster of playable characters was full, but instead we get all three members of Andantino to join the party.  Let’s take a look.

Jazz – Age 27, he uses a massive Cloud Strife-sized sword.  He has a ton of HP and hits like a freight train, but his low speed means he doesn’t go very often.  When he does, it’s lots of area of effect, short range attacks.  Has a fire theme.

Oh look it’s Cloud Strife and his buster sword!  Man he does do an awful lot of damage, doesn’t he?  That magma move that shakes the ground is epic and can hit many things at once.

Claves – Age 24, she uses a rapier.  She’s the only new member to have healing abilities, and her sword is elementally affine to light, so she’s more of a specialized support than a front-line character.  Her voice actress is kind of phoning it in a little compared to the others, but I’ll admit I laugh each time she says “Unicorn Horn!” with this voice full of wonder, like it’s the first time she’s ever heard of it.

Oh look it’s Aeris Gainsborough and her magic healing abilities.  She is by far the weakest in the set and yes, her voice actress is definitely just earning a paycheck.  I feel bad for her though because her motivation must have been “airhead”.  What do you do with that?!  I use her the least because A.) Viola has waaay better healing and B.) her physical attacks are practically worthless.

Falsetto – Age 22, she uses knuckles.  My favorite member of Andantino, her high speed means she goes often, and her combo attacks look awesome.  One is a series of rapid punches with ice effects, the other is a sweet flying spin kick thing.

Oh look it’s Tifa and her angry face.  Falsetto’s attacks are up and down for me.  Sometimes I’m able to get high attacks out of her but other times her attacks do barely anything at all.  I love how fast she can rack up echoes though.  She is filling the hole in my heart (and my party) that’s been left by the absence of Chopin.  Her attacks are fun to watch too as she spin kicks and back flips.  Good times.

I found this sad looking fish enemy, but instead of attacking it, Allegretto remarks that it needs to get back near water or it’s going to dry out.  Is there some kind of trading quest going on that I’m missing?  There was a guy on the way back from the cave that was asking for shoes or something, but I didn’t think to go back since we were on the run from Tuba, and there was no way I was heading back to Forte.  I may have missed out on something…

Then I missed it too because I wasn’t sure what to do here either!!!  I also don’t remember the guy you are talking about who asked for shoes.  I think we might need some sort of item to help the fish so I hope we didn’t miss a whole trading sequence!  I totally talked to all those people in the bar like…a million times!

As we enter the swamp, Claves starts complaining because it’s dirty, and Falsetto tells her she needs to get moving.  Viola, meanwhile, just walks into the swamp without missing a beat.  Good work, Viola!

Hang in there Claves…hang in there!

I don’t really like the swamp.  This place doesn’t have a lot of save points and it almost felt like you were supposed to clear the whole thing in one go!

That I’ll totally agree with.  This is a pretty big area, and the only save points are at the beginning and the end.