People of Note is a musical, party-based, turn-based RPG that I think fans of the genre need to hear more about

There are very few things the vast majority of humanity can agree on: food is one of them. We all eat, and we all enjoy good food. And then there's music. We all hear or feel it, and we all enjoy it to some degree. Everything about the upcoming RPG People of Note is influenced by music and how it brings people together. The names, the gameplay, the storyline, just about everything you could imagine is themed around music or just a fun music pun. The turn-based combat features musical instruments as weapons, and it's even rhythm-based (think Expedition 33-like QTEs when it comes to dealing max damage on attacks) in its very nature. Image via Annapurna Interactive The game's locations are all themed around music (like Durandis, the city of rock and roll, pictured above), and it's all so incredibly tongue-in-cheek and dripping with whimsy. The game is an ode to the art form of music itself, and "music is the DNA" of the whole game, according to what creative director Jason Wishnov told me in a group interview presentation earlier this month. People of Note stars a young woman named Cadence, a pop music singer who's out to make a name for herself as a musician and win a contest to earn fame and fortune... but she needs a band. She's eventually joined by a classic rocker named Fret (yes, EVERYTHING is a music pun) on their journey of creating a band that's a mash-up of genres to create something special and new. The group eventually fills out with EDM DJ Synthia and rapper Vox, and they all combine their different music styles to work together throughout People of Note's events. Exploring Durandis in an early-access hands-on demo, I quickly came to see how this game truly was crafted by bona fide music nerds. There's a shop called 3 Stores Down (a la the band 3 Doors Down), I found an armor piece called Tom Petticoat (no Heartbreakers were found), and even pet an elongated corgi called, you guessed it, an accorgion (like an accordion). And that's just record-scratching the surface. On their journey, Cadence and crew will visit themed locations and regions for genres like the aforementioned rock, plus EDM, rap, and K-pop, with each region featuring its own fitting battle theme. The combat is classic JRPG style. As Wishnov said, the game is heavily inspired by the likes of Final Fantasy 9 and 10, Chrono Cross, and even The World Ends With You, but it's still musical throughout. The turns are called Stanzas, visually represented at the bottom of the screen during combat so you can plan your attack. Image via Annapurna Interactive And as mentioned before, the active rhythm-based combat, where you must time a button press with a visual circle closing on itself (this is optional and can be turned off if you so choose), is reminiscent of the hugely popular Expedition 33. But this game has been in development way before last year's game of the year launched. The combat gameplay is supplemented with puzzles, with several in the demo themed around directing lasers to bounce across a room to reach an endpoint to move on to the next objective, but I think a lot of the fun will be based on combining different abilities and genre mashups to min-max battle success. Wishnov said that People of Note has been in development for "five to seven years," with a maximum of 15 people working on it at any given time. It definitely has the vibe and feel of a passion project by people who truly love music and everything about it. The demo I played featured one really cool musical cutscene between Cadence and Fret, but the majority of the dialogue is delivered Hades-style with static animations speaking back and forth, and silent chat bubbles with NPCs you meet around town. The fully 3D animated scenes are meant for special, "emotional climax" moments, but Wishnov said that there are "several" throughout the full experience. To bring home these important moments, People of Note's voice cast is quite impressive, with some characters having both a voice actor and a singing actor (Cadence's voice is Heather Gonzalez, while her singing is done by an artist named LEXXE, for example), with several notable actors on board. The list includes Jason Charles Miller, Erika Ishii, Debra Wilson, and more. Image via Annapurna Interactive The demo I played will be available in Steam Next Fest starting on Feb. 23, so I encourage everyone to try it out if they're a fan of music, JRPGs, or games in general. It launches on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 on April 7. The post People of Note is a musical, party-based, turn-based RPG that I think fans of the genre need to hear more about appeared first on Destructoid.

Feb 19, 2026 - 00:18

People of Note is a musical, party-based, turn-based RPG that I think fans of the genre need to hear more about

There are very few things the vast majority of humanity can agree on: food is one of them. We all eat, and we all enjoy good food. And then there's music. We all hear or feel it, and we all enjoy it to some degree.

Everything about the upcoming RPG People of Note is influenced by music and how it brings people together. The names, the gameplay, the storyline, just about everything you could imagine is themed around music or just a fun music pun. The turn-based combat features musical instruments as weapons, and it's even rhythm-based (think Expedition 33-like QTEs when it comes to dealing max damage on attacks) in its very nature.

Image via Annapurna Interactive The game's locations are all themed around music (like Durandis, the city of rock and roll, pictured above), and it's all so incredibly tongue-in-cheek and dripping with whimsy. The game is an ode to the art form of music itself, and "music is the DNA" of the whole game, according to what creative director Jason Wishnov told me in a group interview presentation earlier this month.

People of Note stars a young woman named Cadence, a pop music singer who's out to make a name for herself as a musician and win a contest to earn fame and fortune... but she needs a band. She's eventually joined by a classic rocker named Fret (yes, EVERYTHING is a music pun) on their journey of creating a band that's a mash-up of genres to create something special and new. The group eventually fills out with EDM DJ Synthia and rapper Vox, and they all combine their different music styles to work together throughout People of Note's events.

Exploring Durandis in an early-access hands-on demo, I quickly came to see how this game truly was crafted by bona fide music nerds. There's a shop called 3 Stores Down (a la the band 3 Doors Down), I found an armor piece called Tom Petticoat (no Heartbreakers were found), and even pet an elongated corgi called, you guessed it, an accorgion (like an accordion). And that's just record-scratching the surface.

On their journey, Cadence and crew will visit themed locations and regions for genres like the aforementioned rock, plus EDM, rap, and K-pop, with each region featuring its own fitting battle theme. The combat is classic JRPG style. As Wishnov said, the game is heavily inspired by the likes of Final Fantasy 9 and 10, Chrono Cross, and even The World Ends With You, but it's still musical throughout. The turns are called Stanzas, visually represented at the bottom of the screen during combat so you can plan your attack.

Image via Annapurna Interactive And as mentioned before, the active rhythm-based combat, where you must time a button press with a visual circle closing on itself (this is optional and can be turned off if you so choose), is reminiscent of the hugely popular Expedition 33. But this game has been in development way before last year's game of the year launched.

The combat gameplay is supplemented with puzzles, with several in the demo themed around directing lasers to bounce across a room to reach an endpoint to move on to the next objective, but I think a lot of the fun will be based on combining different abilities and genre mashups to min-max battle success.

Wishnov said that People of Note has been in development for "five to seven years," with a maximum of 15 people working on it at any given time. It definitely has the vibe and feel of a passion project by people who truly love music and everything about it.

The demo I played featured one really cool musical cutscene between Cadence and Fret, but the majority of the dialogue is delivered Hades-style with static animations speaking back and forth, and silent chat bubbles with NPCs you meet around town. The fully 3D animated scenes are meant for special, "emotional climax" moments, but Wishnov said that there are "several" throughout the full experience.

To bring home these important moments, People of Note's voice cast is quite impressive, with some characters having both a voice actor and a singing actor (Cadence's voice is Heather Gonzalez, while her singing is done by an artist named LEXXE, for example), with several notable actors on board. The list includes Jason Charles Miller, Erika Ishii, Debra Wilson, and more.

Image via Annapurna Interactive The demo I played will be available in Steam Next Fest starting on Feb. 23, so I encourage everyone to try it out if they're a fan of music, JRPGs, or games in general. It launches on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 on April 7.

The post People of Note is a musical, party-based, turn-based RPG that I think fans of the genre need to hear more about appeared first on Destructoid.

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People of Note Turns Music Genres Into RPG Mechanics, and It's Got Me Tuned In

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