Eternal Sonata PS3 gets firm date

By Robert Purchese Published 13 January, 2009

As does Family Ski & Snowboard.

Atari has whipped out the calendar and circled February dates for Eternal Sonata PS3 and Family Ski & Snowboard.

The Japanese role-playing game will be with us on 13th February, which is well over a year after the Xbox 360 release. However, developer tri-Crescendo has used the extra time productively, adding new quests, battles and even multiple endings.

Pop over to our Eternal Sonata Xbox 360 review for an idea of what to expect.

Family Ski & Snowboard - Family Ski with snowboards - arrives slightly later on 27th February following its Japanese release in November.

This sporty Wii outing uses the balance board for control in conjunction with Wiimote and nunchuk. There's also Mii avatar support and multiplayer for four people on one console.

Ellie quite liked Family Ski, if only briefly, and the promise of more content and beefier features places the sequel somewhere on our 'what else can we do with our balance board' list.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Widge #1 3 years ago

    *imported it*

  • siro #2 3 years ago

    Eternal Sonata is less than a tenner nowadays on 360, isn't it? I see huge sales numbers for the PS3 version (not).

  • Widge #3 3 years ago

    I only played a bit of it before Valkyria Chronicles came along and I immediately hit that. The first sewers type place I went through was pretty much exclusively populated by rats, the foresty place has been populated by strange duck things and coconuts that turn massive in the shade. Its not a massively wide variety so far.

    Having said that, its gorgeous to look out, stands out amongst the rather generic looking jRPGs that have been surfacing recently. The combat system is ok (which I'm glad about as the Star Ocean ones are a bit sucky imo, and while similar, this has been more fun). I like the music and the gentleness of the game too.

    I don't see why this wouldn't sell alright on the PS3... unless you find it graphically a turn off and generally prefer your games to feature one lead character who is a stubbly man with an assortment of firearms.

  • GamesConnoisseur #4 3 years ago

    I honestly doubt they would have radically changed the 'repetitive dungeion layout and reused enemy sprites' as put by Crofto as otherwise they could have released it as the sequel!

    Sure PS3 version will have added items and quests but the central game would be the same!

  • Der_tolle_Emil #5 3 years ago

    I really enjoyed Eternal Sonata. If I had a PS3 I would probably get it to play it with the added bonus content.

    Also good to see Family Ski & Snowboard getting a spring release. I would have gotten Family Ski as well but since that was released sometime in summer I really wasn't in the mood for a game like it.

  • berelain #6 3 years ago

    Meh, great. I was completely underwhelmed by Eternal Sonata on the 360 because, beautiful art style aside, theres just nothing to it. The story is bollocks, the cutscenes dull, the battle system overly simplistic and the overall design of the enemies and dungeons repetitive. Yes, it looks great, but that doesnt carry the game through enough. One of the most boring JRPGs I've ever played, and I'm normally a fan of the genre.

  • FenderMaster #7 3 years ago

    if this was released before christmas, it would have been a definite purchase, but now i'm jobless and have yet to finish Valkyria Chronicles, Naruto: UNS or PoP, I just cant justify the purchase

    + I think I'mgetting a little old for jrpgs T_T

  • kissthestick #8 3 years ago

    wheres my tales of vesperia scamco?

  • Collymilad #9 3 years ago

    It wont be radically changed.

    It will be the same occasionally touching and frequently boring RPG that came out last year with a few token extras added on.

    You know it's the truth.

  • Aretak #10 3 years ago

    Eternal Sonata is one of the best games released thusfar this generation. I've completed it twice on the 360, but I'll still be buying the PS3 version to play through it again.

  • Widge #11 3 years ago

    The game is extended by about a quarter I seem to remember reading on IGN.

  • Irien #12 3 years ago

    I played Eternal Sonata on 360 in co-op mode, sharing chars with GF on second controller. She'd never played a JRPG before and absolutely adored the game, despite it being one of the more surreal examples. Co-op gameplay in RPGs is definately something more devs should consider...

    Curious about the multiple endings, because the original was just plain wierd. The "typical medival fantasy" part of the story just kinda stopped after a random boss battle, and then the game shifted to a complete separate "end section" for the Chopin story. The whole thing seemed rather nonsensical, although the GF didn't seem to notice! Would be interested to hear what they've added to flesh this out.

  • Cappy #13 3 years ago

    If only somebody could wave a magic wand and turn it into Valkyria Chronicles 2. I'd settle for an expansion pack with just a few missions even.
    Edited by 1 at 13/01/09 @ 16:10

  • spookyzombie #14 3 years ago

    Will ES have trophies I wonder?

  • Der_tolle_Emil #15 3 years ago

    Of course Eternal Sonata was like a 'JRPG lite' but that is one of the reasons why I enjoyed it. It was a nice distraction and it wouldn't matter if I would only have half an hour to play it. I really like RPGs but sometimes the amount of time they require put me off a bit. The quite linear style of ES made it easy to just pick it up and play for a while.

  • tomkuryakin #16 3 years ago

    Opinion on Eternal Sonata seems evenly spilt. I always thought it looked interesting, indeed I considered buying a 360 to play it and Lost Odyssey.

    Dear Sony, how about a bundle with Eternal Sonata, Valkyria Chronicles and an extra DS3 controller? Make it £250 and I would be extra tempted. Added value and money off, you see?

  • Widge #17 3 years ago

    No trophies on my copy

    EDIT:

    I didn't know it was co-op. Hell if they made it real time as opposed to turn based, this could have been the new Secret Of Mana!
    Edited by 1 at 13/01/09 @ 17:02

  • Cappy #18 3 years ago

    All games certified this year have to include trophies so the Euro version might get them.

    I bet the game was put through certification last year then sat on to avoid putting in the extra work though.

  • michaelius #19 3 years ago

    They better make it half price from start. There's no way I'm paying 40 pounds for it.

  • Gaol #20 3 years ago

    Imported it, about 25 hours in. Very nice rpg but they have upped the 'difficulty' on PS3. As difficulty in JRPG terms simply means time spent grinding, it does mean I am getting a bit bored towards the end. There's also a few additional dungeons and characters, which again = grinding.

    It was probably a better length before.
    Edited by 1 at 14/01/09 @ 00:52

  • Slipstream #21 3 years ago

    There are also 2 Additional playable characters aswell. One of them I REALLY wanted to be playable on the 360 version but he never was.
    His character design alone tempts me to this version >.