Courtesy of the fine folk at Annapurna Interactive, I got to sit down for the Tokyo Game Show demo of the recently announced People of Note, developer Iridium Studios’ upcoming music-centric RPG. It’s not just a punny title—People of Note follows Cadence, a floundering popstar on a journey across the many genre-based cities of the land of Note, collecting inspiration and cohorts of various musical genres and styles to stop the dark effects of the mysterious Harmonic Convergence that is sowing dischord across Note. In the demo I played, my party of three consisted of the vocalist Cadence, hard rockin’ guitarist Fret, and the disc-spinning EDM jockey Synthia.
My time with People of Note began a fair amount of experience levels into the game. Cadence and co. were traveling through the heavy metal halls of Durandis, now thrown into disharmony (not the usual kind, that is). It felt like I was running through an Iron Maiden album cover, filled with flames and steel and skulls, and some killer BGM best played loud. Visually, the game has a painterly yet edgy aesthetic, full of colour and vibrancy. Also filling the slightly isometric environment were guitar-projected beam puzzles, which required me to knock around a few amplifiers to bounce strands of music around the room. To be honest, nothing in the environmental exploration blew me away—thankfully, People of Note advertises the ability to skip unwanted puzzles, with further promises at the ability to customize how you want to play.
What I didn’t want to skip was People of Note‘s clever turn-based combat. Spanning the bottom of the screen was a musical bar showing varying time signatures, such as 4/3, representing four moves by my party members and three by enemies. I was free to act between Cadence, Fret, and Synthia in whatever order I wanted, but the battle music went through turns of pop, rock, and electronic segments, empowering their respective heroes and strengthening their numerous abilities. Attacks, as you may have guessed, feature timed presses that decide the efficacy of each move (though I had a hard time seeing the ideal sizing of the shrinking ring prompt). Rather than classes, each character has a healthy mix of buffs, debuffs, curatives, and offensive moves, making each “measure” of turns feel thoughtful and strategic. These abilities seemed to be equipped via Songstones, a sort of Final Fantasy VII materia-style item interchangeable between any character.
Further deepening the strategy was the snippet I got during a boss fight with a long-haired metalhead (Frequincy, or just “Quincy” to his friends) in which he severely debuffed my attack power on one segment of the move-measure. What this meant was that the next set of turns, rather than waste a valuable attack on a -50% spot, I reordered my turn to heal myself, and then attacked in the spot where the debuff was gone. Even in the relatively early battle I fought, I had to put great care in every decision, which made me very excited for the ostensibly deeper complexity to come.
The music, by the way? It rips both out and in battle, including the way each measure shifts and blends genres. I look forward to what other lands Cadence will travel to, and how those sounds will incorporate into the fray.
The demo ended when I put the metalhead to bed, and upon taking off my headphones, I found I was being watched eagerly by a man who introduced himself as Jason Wishnov, creative director of People of Note. He immediately commented on the way I’d sifted through and took notes on the many equip and stat menus, and then we talked about the many intricacies I’d seen in the battle system (and he hinted at more tricks yet to be revealed). Jason was clearly very passionate about the game’s ins and outs and with making them harmonize, and I felt things were in good hands.
I was very won over by People of Note’s lively presentation and the bounty of fresh and engaging ideas in its combat. It made my brain spin and my toes tap. With some polish in its overworld and fine *ahem* tuning with the timed attacks, this could land among the greatest hits of turn-based battlers.
People of Note, slated for a 2026 release across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, is available to be wishlisted today.
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