Eternal Sonata

Eternal Sonata
Also known as: Trusty Bell: Chopin's Dream (JP) Developer: tri-Crescendo Publisher: Bandai Namco Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Released in JP: June 14, 2007 Released in US: September 17, 2007 Released in EU: October 19, 2007 This game has unused graphics.

Eternal Sonata is a surprisingly good JRPG with an interesting story, beautiful visuals, and unique battle mechanics. The game is centered around a fictional world envisioned by the real-life Polish composer Frédéric François Chopin during his final hours before succumbing to tuberculosis. Oh, and the struggles of a dying 14-year-old girl trapped in an inevitable time loop.

Unused Graphics

Baroque Unknown Character

Found in the Xbox 360 version of the game, this unused image seems to display an earlier version of the entrance to Baroque leading up to Celesta Forest. Notable differences include the color of the lamps being blue instead of yellow, slightly different lighting, lack of npcs, and the absence of a second snowman to the left. However, what is most puzzling is the mysterious figure placed somewhat ominously in the center. It is worth noting this figure does not seem to resemble any npcs anywhere in the game. The bottom left corner appears to show developer text in what looks like Japanese, however the resolution is too low to be for certain.

Ritardando Bakery

Early	Final

The bakery in Ritardando went through a few minor changes, as seen in this pre-rendered image. Notable differences include different lighting, the addition of a small table to the bottom left not present in the final release, and the potted plant to the right rather than the left.

Forte Bar

Early	Final

Much like the bakery in Ritardando, there exists another developer screenshot of the bar in Forte. This image seems to have been taken very late in development, with the only notable difference being the odd placement of bottles lined up on the countertop cut from the final game.

Developer Screenshots Cont.

More developer screenshots of various different areas in the game. It is worth noting images two and four appear to be missing the floor.

Unseen Features

Maledictor's Face

Due to the fixed camera angles of the game, it is nearly impossible to see some models in full detail. Since these enemies have very long beaks that always point downward, it is difficult to see their concealed faces. Taking this model in a model viewer, we can see that the maledictors actually have a half-modeled face not usually seen in normal gameplay.

Frederic's Clothing Textures

Frederic’s real-world model is only briefly shown in a handful of cutscenes and is only ever seen lying down. Thus, the player would have no way of viewing the model in its entirety. While the textures themselves are used, only a small portion is actually shown. Since the UVs associated with said textures are missing, it seems the developers removed parts of the model not visible in-game to prevent clipping or to save space. There appears to be a texture for black pants, black shoes, and shirt cuffs that would have been used as part of Frederic's real-world design.