Trusty Bell confirmed for US release
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Sep 23rd 2006 at 7:30PM }
At least, that's assuming Namco Bandai is only releasing one RPG set within the mind of a dying composer next year. The official press release reveals a new RPG called Eternal Sonata and describes the inevitably epic story as such: The story of Eternal Sonata begins as a famous composer, on his deathbed, drifts between this life and the next. In his reverie, a happenstance encounter of a young girl who accepts her terrible destiny and a young boy fighting to save her, changes the destiny of the world. Though piano maestro Chopin (not pronounced chop-in') isn't directly mentioned, it seems safe to assume that Eternal Sonata and Trusty Bell have his final and frighteningly colorful dreams in common. Judging by the TGS trailer, screenshots and IGN's preview, Eternal Sonata features absolutely charming graphics, classy music and a turn-based combat system that seems slightly reminiscent of those found in Xenogears and two thirds of Xenosaga. We certainly look forward to playing the English version next year and facing off against an evil, bio-mechanical Beethoven boss.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
PSWii360 Fanbot @ Sep 23rd 2006 7:56PM
I have to admit, this game has my interest piqued. Maybe I'll buy an XBox someday.....
xSLOMARx @ Sep 23rd 2006 8:59PM
Saw this game at TGS06 and thought it was one of the cooler ones there! The premise grabbed me more than Blue Dragon or Lost Odysee... that and I didn't have to sit in line for 45 minutes to play it.
Kamizar @ Sep 23rd 2006 8:10PM
I trust it wont suck, end lame joke...
rockintom99 @ Sep 24th 2006 1:57AM
Holy crap, a giant mechanical Beethoven would be beyond awesome. Maybe they could throw in a Mozart, as well? ;)
Walshicus @ Sep 23rd 2006 8:59PM
I'm a tad torn over the removal of the name Chopin from the title and possibly the US/EU version of the game entirely. On the one hand it seems to dumb down the experience for the user. On the other hand it means I don't have to go mad explaining to every uncultured git alive that it's pronounced "sho'pan", not "chopping".
LaughingTarget @ Sep 24th 2006 8:02AM
Walshicus -
The way you spelled Chopin's name phonetically makes him sound like he is a music composing dragon. Kinda funny.
This may have been a good move. Us westerners can take things way too literally sometimes. I can see it now. They leave Chopin in it and a bunch of people get up in arms about how Chopin never went into a dream world and assisted two people in saving all of reality. Of course, that could have been real, but none of us can tell, can we? :D
O_o @ Sep 23rd 2006 9:28PM
@#2 heh?
Hopefully it will sell a few more units of 360 in JPN.
As for the US release, i'll be looking forward to it. So far, the graphics are looking great. The story is also moderately interesting.
Yardarm51 @ Sep 23rd 2006 9:32PM
I've got to say that this was my biggest suprise of the show. I'm not really a big Japanese RPG player. However, this game was so arresting visually. This is the kind of thing the Japanese market needs from the 360. The game really is very charming. The clean graphics, colourful backgrounds and fanciful enemies made this actually stand out more than something like Devil May Cry 4 in my mind.
Knoxximus @ Sep 23rd 2006 9:54PM
HUZZAH!!
Dark Morford @ Sep 23rd 2006 10:28PM
Excellent news. The trailer showed during Sensui-san's keynote totally blew me away; I went from "'Trusty Bell'? Wuzzat?" to "This game is going to be great!" in the span of about half an hour, as I started digging for information. The combat engine looks like a lot of fun, the graphics are absolutely breathtaking, and the musical score is quite good as well. I'm hoping a direct-feed trailer pops up on Marketplace as part of Bringing It Home; all I've seen so far is a cam-cap video.
There is one thing, though, that concerns me about an impending US release, and it's not the name. Removing Chopin fom the game's title isn't that big a deal (for that matter, is it confirmed that the English version will not have "Chopin's Dream" as a subtitle?), and I don't see how they'd be able to get away with pulling him from the game altogether. No, my concern is with the in-game voice work. The Japanese cast lineup is incredible, and I can honestly say I wouldn't be nearly as excited about this game as I am if not for that. I fear that, during the localization process, the Japanese voices will be completely stripped and replaced with an English track. While I have nothing against English-dubbed voices, I sincerely hope that Bandai-Namco will give US gamers the option. There's probably more than enough room for two vocal tracks on the DVD-9.
Just my two cents on the matter. Eagerly awaiting a release date announcement.
indysurfn @ Sep 25th 2006 1:09PM
With all the great RPG music connections FFIII (SNES USA) FFVII, Tales of series, Xenosaga I & II, etc its about time someone realize hey lets make a RPG with a direct music connection! Duh! Go Namco. Now if you have Yuki Kajiura as a composer I will kiss your @ss!
n8dogg @ Sep 24th 2006 2:32AM
Morford: You actually know different actors by name? Other than "That guy who plays Vegeta" and "That woman who plays Naruto", they all pretty much sound the same to me.
n8dogg @ Sep 24th 2006 3:40PM
Oh, and by the way. The coolest thing eva would be if Chopin spoke in Polish or French. A classical great saying "desu" doesn't really work for me. At least English is used in the same hemisphere.
Dark Morford @ Sep 24th 2006 6:58PM
n8dogg: Yes, actually. I'm anime geek enough to know far more Japanese seiyuu (voice actor) names than I probably should, and there are a handful or so who I can name just by hearing their voices. One of these is Aya Hirano, who voices Polka in Trusty Bell. Her opening line in the trailer was the first exposure I had to this game (even before I saw any visuals, because I was listening to the keynote audio recording), and when I heard that, my reaction was something along the line of "Waitaminnit, what game is this and why haven't I heard of it?"
And now I think I'm starting to sound like way too much of a geek, so I'll just shut up...