That's the synopsis of the upcoming Xbox 360 RPG from Namco Bandai, Eternal Sonata. Developer tri-Crescendo crafted a pretty unique sounding title, working the classic composer Chopin as the protagonist of the game. Hiroya Hatsushiba, the founder of tri-Crescendo, came up with the concept of having Chopin as the central character, allowing gamers to get a taste of some classical music. With most of us gaming around guitar or techno laden tunes, its a welcome contrast. There are seven classic Chopin compositions in the game, some of which can be sampled on Eternal Sonata's web site.

The game's unique premise is only reinforced with its rich artwork. Just take a look at the playable demo, downloadable from the Xbox 360's Marketplace. The game is an anime-style RPG, allowing Chopin's dream to be framed in a fantasy world. There are plenty of musical references in the game. Characters having names such as "Allegretto," "Viola," "Beat," and "Jazz." Weapons may include a french horn or flute. There are "harmony chain" special attacks. Throughout the game, you can collect pieces of music throughout the world from characters. You'll be able to preview the pieces and match them up to create a composition.

Eternal Sonata is an RPG at heart, but has its own unique gameplay qualities. A "light and dark" system affects how you play. Throughout the game's environments, the light and dark behaves just as it would in the real world. Take a look at some of the environments under "Game" and "Locations" here. If you are fighting an enemy under the shade of a tree, you may have a different attack option. Just as it affects your attacks, the light/dark also transforms your enemies. A giant iguana may change into a fish. A character that may dwarf you at one point may become a giant at another. While in one of those turn-based encounters, you have a limited "tactical time" to execute a move. Towards the beginning of the game, the tactical time is unlimited, but as you grow in your adventure, the amount of time you have to execute a move diminishes. As you reach the higher levels of experience in the game, the button configuration itself will switch on you. The battles also take place in real-time, so you aren't just executing menu-based attacks. A cool part about the real-time battles is that you can bring your friends into the action. With your party supporting up to three characters at a time (with a total of ten total playable in the game), you can bring up to two more friends to play with you. If you are playing solo, then you will control the next character after you've executed a move. If random battles in RPGs annoy you, you'll be happy to hear that encounters only happen when your character runs, or bumps into, a visible enemy on the screen. Boss battles are required, so no chickening out there.

In regards to how long the game is, the quickest you'll be able to get through it is about 30 hours, according to Namco Bandai. Eternal Sonata is a linear RPG, however, it can be replayed to experience additional side quests. The side quests can only be reached using things from the first go-around.

Eternal Sonata definitely sounds like something fresh on the Xbox 360, and worth looking into for a unique experience. Thanks to Stephanie Fernandez, the localization manager for Eternal Sonata, who helped wrap my mind around the game in an interview this past evening.

Watch a preview trailer below. Visit the official web site for Eternal Sonata here. Eternal Sonata ships 9/17/07 (ships with pre-order bonus Xbox 360 faceplate from GameStop).

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