People of Note Review
Hitting All the Right Notes
I love music of all genres and types, and I have a super big soft spot for musicals, so when I heard a turn-based musical RPG was on the horizon, I was all ears. In People of Note , music is everything, and everything is musical in some way, shape, or fashion. From the battle system to the lore, creatures, and society, music reigns supreme. While it's certainly an odd pitch, happily, its novel, refreshing take on turn-based RPGs delivers on every front. The combat is deliberate and tightly designed, while its story strikes chords both hilarious and touching. All the while, bright, eye-catching visuals jazz up the experience, and the soundtrack harmoniously ties it all together, making for a well-paced, impressive, and highly original adventure.
People of Note takes place on the continent of Note, starting players in the pop-based city of Chordia as Cadence, an aspiring, headstrong singer who wants nothing more than to bask in the limelight of music stardom. Luckily for her, the Noteworthy song contest is on the horizon, and winning ensures a major contract deal. However, Cadence has two issues: first, the chart-topping boy band Smolder has won the contest for nine consecutive years. Second, their manager, Councilman Sharp, is one of the five members of Chordia’s ruling government, the Council of Fifths. After her initial audition flops and Sharp shuts her out of the contest, Cadence realizes the inherent corruption. She deduces that, if she wants any shot of breaking through, she'll need something different from Chordia’s pop-centric sound. Hence, she sets off across Note to corral a band together to form a new, fresh sound, capable of winning Noteworthy.
[caption id="attachment_187467" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The K-pop district of Chordia, featuring the Whirls Generation nightclub.[/caption]
As Cadence travels across Note, she discovers many other societies, such as the rock-based desert city of Durandis, split into multiple districts for grunge, punk, and metal; Lumina, the cyberpunk nighttime EDM metropolis; and Pyre, the ornate, towering kingdom of rap. Along the way, she recruits Fret, a washed-up old classic rocker, Synthia, an EDM superstar topping the Lumina charts, and Vox, the reluctant prince of Pyre. The cast has a very enjoyable dynamic, feeling real and organic. There's natural conflict between them as they journey across Note, uncover a world-threatening conspiracy, and confront the country-based Homestead faction. The world is full of tons of music-related puns and references, with the game being self-aware enough to make them land properly, lending it a great sense of humor.
People of Note isn't afraid to touch on more serious or emotional topics, such as the impact of fame, the importance of broadening horizons while maintaining an open mind, and even the struggle of substance abuse. The writing conveys all these themes without being preachy or overly moralizing. The story benefits greatly from its brisk pacing, with the excellent musical numbers and their accompanying cutscenes not only helping to keep the plot moving but also giving players something to look forward to in every location. While there are a few predictable twists along the way and the game is wanting for a few more sidequests for its excellent cast, People of Note has plenty of surprises and outstanding moments that make for a great story.
Where People of Note succeeds beyond measure is its fantastic turn-based combat, which offers some great, riveting challenge due to its firm and calculated design. In battles, players can either attack or use abilities, which cost Beat Points (BP). Both of these have real-time inputs that affect the attack or ability's power. Further, players can execute powerful genre-crossing Mash-Up skills or rest, which restores BP while assuming a defensive stance. Each overarching turn, known as a stanza, has several measures, or character turns, with player and enemy turns dictated by each battle’s time signature. For example, in a battle with four characters, two enemies, and a 4/4 time signature, each character gets one measure, whereas each enemy gets to move twice. During the player’s turn, characters can move in any order. If the time signature is in the player’s favor, say 6/3, then once all four party members act, any two characters can take the two remaining turns.
[caption id="attachment_187466" align="aligncenter" width="640"] A "measure mod" gives a 1.25x damage multiplier on this turn to Cadence. If a character dies and reduces the time signature, the enemy can snag it![/caption]
Abilities available to characters depend on their weapon and its equipped Songstones, which can be slotted into the weapon's distinct Songstone grid. These can be altered through connecting Remix Stones or leveled up in power through Ability Points (AP) earned in battle. For example, the D.D. Revelation Songstone gives Cadence a medium-power, four-step, single-target attack. The Amplify Remix Stone can increase its power by twenty-five percent, whereas the Omnidirectional Remix Stone can make it hit all enemies instead of one, with the downside of reducing the ability's power by twenty-five percent. Other abilities can even change the active time signature or alter turns in some way. Better weapons offer better Songstone grids, giving players a wide range of appreciable build options. Making smart use of grids and abilities in synergy with People of Note 's thought-provoking turn system always feels rewarding and fun.
A large part of People of Note 's success comes from the importance it places on turns, the timely use of skills, and ability management. At several junctures, players will find themselves forced to alter their Songstone grids, adjust their Remix Stones, or change their equipment to eke out an edge. The game constantly encourages the optimal use of every turn, with plenty of interesting abilities to manipulate BP and alter the turn order. Additionally, the game throws plenty of curveballs along the way to keep combat consistently interesting. One of these curveballs is musical styles, in which each turn features an active genre that empowers the respective character’s abilities, always forcing players to think ahead. Where People of Note belts its sweetest symphonies are in the boss battles, which are full of surprises and tension, largely due to the Crescendo mechanic. Every boss has a Crescendo meter split into three sections, which gradually increases during battle, and as each section fills, they gain new abilities and grow increasingly powerful. This build-up creates a fever pitch of tension that culminates in brilliant climaxes for each of the game's memorable bosses.
Outside of combat, People of Note ’s dungeons and cities feature a wide assortment of creative, well-designed puzzles, which aren’t too difficult, but require an adequate level of thought and, just as importantly, bestow great rewards that empower abilities. In fact, puzzles and combat often synergize, with a good number of “puzzle battles,” combat encounters that have preset conditions and setups, scattered across the world. Figuring out their solutions feels satisfying by itself, but they also serve as neat tutorials to either foreshadow soon-to-be-available abilities or test players’ mastery of existing ones. It's an immersive, practical way to teach players mechanical elements, and it offers excellent rewards to boot. While Note has plenty of interesting areas, some, like Pyre, with its grand and inspired architecture, are wanting for a few more side streets or side quests, though exploration remains a joy throughout People of Note 's wonderful world.
[caption id="attachment_187464" align="aligncenter" width="640"] One of the many music-based puzzles featured in People of Note .[/caption]
People of Note has a bright, popping visual style, with a neat paintbrush-like texture over its colorful, eye-catching zones, all of which are visually distinct and memorable. The character portraits are remarkably expressive, conveying the characters' interactions and emotions effectively. There is an unmistakable stylistic confidence in the art direction, and although NPCs and minor environmental elements, namely a texture here or there, could use a little more detail, the game does a superb job of presenting its visuals with conviction and style. The musical cutscenes are also choreographed extraordinarily well, with some outstanding camerawork and smooth, fluid animations.
As a musical RPG, People of Note naturally puts its soundtrack centerstage, making it its best element and defining the entire experience. There are a dizzying number of genres present, offering a smorgasbord spanning pop, rock, metal, EDM, rap, country, Celtic, and classical music. All of these genres are explored and played with clear love, reverence, and attention. This is most noticeable in the phenomenal musical numbers, featuring wonderfully scored instrumentals and a whole range of outstanding vocal performances. At every turn, People of Note keeps players excited, and the musical sections serve as a great prize for clearing a tough boss or puzzle.
[caption id="attachment_187465" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Not hard rock. Not metal. We’re talking iridium density down in the Melting Point under Durandis.[/caption]
What’s most impressive is the dynamic nature of the soundtrack, with each location’s battle music changing from turn to turn and the active musical style seamlessly blending with the area’s genre, brilliantly threading in the theme of musical harmony and Mash-Ups with the combat. The boss themes are also fantastic, whether it’s in-your-face, fierce K-Pop vocals featured in the Whirls Generation nightclub or energetic, high-stepping bagpipes and flutes in the Celtic-inspired Lilting Green zone. Aside from its thoroughly remarkable score, the voice acting is superb across the board, with the main cast’s performance, especially Fret and Cadence, creating a fun, natural dynamic in the band. Councilman Sharp, the four members of Smolder, and the leader of the Homestead, Lasso, also deliver standout performances, making their antagonistic moments against the band shine even brighter.
People of Note excels in both of its main promises: it’s a highly entertaining musical and an incredibly tight turn-based RPG. With its solid gameplay structure, it's clearly tuned in to what makes for outstanding combat, doing quite a lot to distinguish itself and make it interesting. Meanwhile, its jamming musical style, strong cast, excellent puzzles, and musically colorful world layer on top of the turn-based structure to create something so refreshingly original, fun, and passionate. People of Note is overflowing with love for both RPGs and music, pulling out all the stops and blowing the roof off the venue in the process.
Disclosure: This article is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.
The post People of Note Review appeared first on RPGamer .
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