On October 17, 1948, Frederic Chopin, one of the most influential composers for the piano, succumbed to sickness and died at the young age of 39. Three hours prior to that, in the world according to Bandai Namco, Chopin, crouched on the floor of his hospital, saw a dream. The dream had anime characters that looked like they were out of a Tales game and a world that looked like it was pulled from a fairy tale. In the dream, people carried about their lives like in the real world. But in the dream world, people with incurable sicknesses had magical powers.
Bandai Namco's new Xbox 360 RPG, Trusty Bell: Chopin's Dream ("Chopin no Yume" for the Japanese version) takes place in this dream world. Chopin (yes, the composer) comes into contact with Polka, a young girl who resides with her mother in the village of Tenuto (the names, you'll find, are all musical terms). Polka is near her death, meaning she's got some crazy powers. Unfortunately, people believe that by touching her, they'll be infected with her koodies, so Polka's not particularly popular.
Trusty Bell is the story of Chopin (yes, the composer), Polka, and a Allegretto, a 16-year-old who steals to eat and lives for only one thing: to help Polka.
If Trusty Bell were called Tales of Something-or-other, no one would complain. The game has the absurd premise, peculiar names and colorful artwork of Namco's biggest RPG series. Plus, musical composition is being handled by Motoi Sakuraba, of Tales of fame.
