I'm gonna have to jump in here and defend Eternal Sonata; while I'll agree 100% that the story was non-existent and really boring I thought the combat in the game was really fun and the world was really beautiful so those factors got me through the game even though the story didn't.
But that is kind of how I feel about almost all of the tri-Ace and tri-Crescendo games I've played, like Valkyrie Profile and Star Ocean 3 both of those games I wasn't very fond of the stories but the combat was a blast. And even Baten Kaitos which I adore I wouldn't argue with anyone who thought the story was the ultimate cliche and kind of boring at times (though not even close to Eternal Sonata's level)... but the card battle system made up for that slight short coming, and again Baten Kiatos had a really beautiful world.
But that is kind of how I feel about almost all of the tri-Ace and tri-Crescendo games I've played, like Valkyrie Profile and Star Ocean 3 both of those games I wasn't very fond of the stories but the combat was a blast. And even Baten Kaitos which I adore I wouldn't argue with anyone who thought the story was the ultimate cliche and kind of boring at times (though not even close to Eternal Sonata's level)... but the card battle system made up for that slight short coming, and again Baten Kiatos had a really beautiful world.