People of Note

I should be much more excited about a game that pays homage to games and pop culture, but odd decisions here and there really keep me from wholeheartedly recommending People of Note. The music is great, and the game is pretty frictionless with everything it expects you to do. I really wish People of Note’s verbosity were more focused on the story or even on helping me learn something about music, as this is a rich world with plenty of stories to tell. With the most egregious bugs fixed, I definitely think if you’re here for the journey of these musicians or are hankering for a strangely old-school turn-based RPG, making it to the very special end credits will be worth it.

Even if we're not seeing the members of Cadence band blend their sounds together much in the story, we at least can see it happen during combat. And while that combat drags a bit in the last act of the game and messes with your mind by not matching the tempo of the quick-time inputs to the background battle music, the turn-based system that's there rewards creativity and strategic thinking. Plus, this game has awesome music and fun puzzle-filled dungeons. If you're down to immerse yourself in puns galore and tons of pop-culture references, People of Note is a delightful musical treat.

People of Note sets out to accomplish something almost impossible: merging the expansive pacing of role-playing games with the brisk rhythm of musicals. At its best, it nearly succeeds, but its compartmentalized structure soon becomes apparent. The musical identity of its characters and their performances truly shine only in the cutscenes, staged like music videos that punctuate the narrative. However, when the game returns to being a game, the centrality of music starts to feel more like a narrative pretext, an excuse to build a kind of theme park that lacks the very energy and sonic richness it promises. It’s a shame, because People of Note ultimately fails at what it sets out to celebrate: the joy of seeing two genres blend almost seamlessly. What remains is a decent RPG, accompanied by some excellent musical performances.

People of Note tries to do a lot – a video game-musical, with turn based combat, a world of musical references and plenty of dungeons and puzzles. Some of that is pretty great. Alas, the gameplay felt to me like a track stuck on repeat, and the story didn’t quite have enough going for it to be truly worth the journey. This is one album I won’t be playing again any time soon.