It just wasn't good.

I don't remember a lot about the game, I just remember cringing when people mention it so I assume that meant I didn't like it.  After reading some old posts of mine, it made me remember the stupid money issue at the beginning of the game, the mindless combat, the worst dungeon ever made in any video game ever, and the horribly broken bow chick.

It definitely shouldn't make anyone's worst of list but beyond the art style and music, it was just bland.  It's the same way that if someone gave me a list of most underrated hamburgers and they put Wendy's on there.  It's not that Wendy's burgers are particularly bad, they are what they are, but they aren't really that good either.

Honestly, I LOVE Chopin (I'm a pianist), and the premise of Eternal Sonata is cool, but the game itself is awful. The art style is cool, but the quality of it is last-gen. The story itself is weak, and certain characters are completely useless/annoying. The regular game is too easy, and the story sucks too much to be worth playign through again on hard mode. And the combat system is abyssmal. Once you get Viola, the whole thing is trivial, and pretty much no matter what you fight, you end up doing the same things over and over. There is no strategy required for this turn-based strategy rpg.

i've been eyeing up dead to rights when i walk past it in the shops as its cheap and has a dog

i fancy a bit of brawling

She's the one with the bow, correct?

The game actually had a decent challenge until the point you got her.  As soon as you got her though,you could kill most any non-boss enemy and heal your entire party in a single turn.  Once you had the ability to do that, the game was beyond trivial and it just started to become pretty pointless.

I imagine if I had ever gotten to a point where I could spend the obscne amount of money I made in the first 10 minutes of the game it would have been even easier.  Too bad I got more than 10 hours into the game and never had a single place to spend that incredible amount of money I got in the first 10 hours of the game.

...

And I know too much money in a game may seem like a weird thing to rant about, but it is something that has always bothered me.  On that first rat boss, you get a HUGE amount of money for every picture you take.  I would assume maybe the game uses some crazy currency where everything takes a huge price, but I doubt that since everything else gives you a small sum of money.  So that's frustrating on several counts:

1.  I get a huge sum of money in the first 10 minutes of the game and have no place to spend it even more than 10 hours later.
2.  I get a huge sum of money in the first 10 minutes of the game and then everything else is giving me almost nothing.
3.  In the following 10 hours of the game I didn't even make as much money as I got in the first 10 minutes.
4.  Even now years later one of the few things I remember about the game is stupid money situation, not the game itself.

I 100% back Eternal Sonata and Nier on this list, both are great games, not perfect, but still great and well worth playing for any RPG fan

and doobie_wop, I totally agree, I found both mass effect games beyond awful (I have now given up on bioware so hopefully this stops any repeat offences) and RDR doesnt interest me in the slightest.

In the list must be included SPLATTERHOUSE.   It is waaaaay better than Force Unleashed 2.   The story at first glance may look a bit like a "SNES era" game, but as you play the story gets more and more interesting and complex (in a good way).

Also the gameplay is "visceral" fun lol XD.  In the beginning you may find yourself smashing buttons like crazy, but as you progress you cant do that because you will get killed, so in order to survive you will learn different kinds of movements and in-game tactics that make the game really enjoyable.

Obviously this is not GOW3, but it is a really great game if you give it a chance.  And by the way, if you are interested in easy trophies then you should get the game NOW!!.

Just bought Sacred 2, bundled with a gaming mag last month, happy to know it wasn't a bad choice. Now it sits comfortably in my backlog.   

As I suggested also in another thread, I'd say

Temple of Elemental Evil: the story is bland, but the party system is well done, the AD&D rules are well implemented, and it offers some furious fights with hordes of enemies, so good tactics and choice of weapons and spells become an essential part of the gameplay.

I own all 3 so I can comment a little.

Nier is like a Devil May Cry/Legend of Zelda RPG hybrid with a pretty interesting story. I still have to finish it, but I picked it up for $20, which was a steal. It isn't the best game made, but it is pretty darn good for an Action-RPG. It starts out under a pretty interesting real-world premise, then puts you in a pretty engrossing world.

Sacred 2 is a rogue-like RPG. That is, you start out as one character (co-op is available, too), and go around doing quests, getting loot, and leveling up. Graphics aren't fancy, but if you like RPGs with a bit of customization and massive worlds, Sacred 2 is freaking huge. I dropped about 40 hours into my first character, and hadn't even obtained the "Reveal 30% of the Map" achievement. The game is 100 hours if you run through most of it and 200 if you want to explore.

I kind of disagree about Eternal Sonata. The graphics are fantastic, but it gets kind of repetitive. I'd rather get the game that uses the same engine, but is vastly superior - Tales of Vesperia.

So Nier is the best ofthe lot?  Sacred sounds cool too though, off to youtube for gameplay vids I suppose lol! Thanks!

Eternal Sonata was one of the reasons I wanted an HD console. To be honest, though, I wanted it to be on Wii, which didn't happen. Too bad because I would have bought it when released, but after playing the demo on PSN I lost interest.

Never say never, right? I might still play it some day.