Video games and musicals are two forms of media that you don’t usually expect to go together. Sure, there are plenty of karaoke and rhythm games out there, as well as games like Persona 5 that have banging soundtracks, but a genuine musical RPG is more of a unique concept. Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical edges into this territory, but it is more of a visual novel than a traditional adventure game. That’s what made People of Note so interesting to me. It brings something different to the table. It doesn’t feel gimmicky either. Music isn’t just thrown in there randomly; it’s woven into both the story and the world itself. Music is everything in People of Note.
Story
People of Note focuses on Cadence, a young, aspiring pop artist from Chordia who dreams of making it big. To achieve that, she enters Noteworthy, a popular song contest that guarantees the winner a recording contract and the Key of Chordia. Smolder, your typical boy band, has won Noteworthy for several years. Just about everyone in Chordia loves them – everyone except Cadence, that is.
Unfortunately, Smolder have the backing of Councilman Sharp, a corrupt politician who tells Cadence that her act isn’t enough. She’s not about to give up on her dream so easily, though. She learns that each of the five council members possesses a Golden Clef, which they can give to an artist of their choice, allowing them instant access to the final round of Noteworthy. Obviously, Sharp is out, but there are four others.
With her path to the finale secured, she realises that if she wants to win, she needs to bring something different to the competition. She leaves Chordia to explore the wider world of People of Note in the hope of picking up some band members who can help her shake things up. This leads to an interesting blend of musical genres – pop, EDM, rock and rap.
What initially starts as a quest to build a band for Noteworthy becomes much more when Cadence and the band discover that someone is creating discord between the cities and stealing their keys for some unknown, but likely nefarious, purpose. All they know for sure is that something big is going to happen, and it’s down to them to stop it.
World Building
I briefly mentioned it before, but People of Note isn’t just a game with random musical elements thrown in. The importance of music is evident in just about every aspect of the game. The majority of characters, like Cadence and Fret, have names inspired by musical terminology, and this extends to city names too – the first two you explore being Chordia and the rock city of Durandis. Even the animals are funny, music-inspired plays on words, like Clarinewt, Banjoey, and my personal favourite, the Accorgion (a cross between a corgi and an accordion). There’s one in each city, so make sure you pet them all.
Each city is thoroughly unique and practices a different genre of music. Chordia is the city of pop. It’s bright and flashy, with districts for sub-branches like K-pop. Then there’s Durandis, which leans into a wasteland-esque vibe, with classic rock, metal, and grunge among its main genres. The EDM city of Lumina and the rap city of Pyre are equally distinctive.
I really enjoyed exploring each different city. They all looked amazing, and the music in each area really helped to create a unique vibe, which is important because before Cadence branches out to build her band, all these cities kept mostly to themselves.
Combat
People of Note has all the key mechanics you’d expect from an RPG. You get stronger by levelling up, equipping better gear, and upgrading Songstones that grant abilities you can use in combat. Combat follows a traditional turn-based style but with a musical twist. As you build your band, each stanza (turn) takes on a different style, so whichever band member’s style is active gets a boost in power when they attack, which allows you to be a little strategic.
You have your basic attack, then your abilities, which are determined by the Songstones you have equipped. The damage dealt will fall within a range of numbers, and this is where People of Note’s rhythm-based mechanic comes into play. When you attack, some circles will appear on the screen. You want to press the button to the rhythm, but it’s easier to judge this by when the circles overlap. If you match the rhythm perfectly, you deliver the higher end of the damage range, and if you miss, you deal the lower end. You get that lower end whether you hit the beat or not.
Mash-Ups
One of the key themes of People of Note is the idea of different genres of music coming together to create something new and better than one style by itself. Mash-ups actualise this idea as powerful abilities that at least two bandmates can perform. The first one you unlock is the pop/rock mash-up between Cadence and Fret, but you’ll eventually unlock mash-ups between all of the characters.
I’ll admit that I actually found the combat quite challenging, even on standard mode. The reason for this is the Crescendo mechanic. Bosses have a crescendo meter that fills up over time. The more it fills up, the stronger bosses get, so you want to finish them off as quickly as possible, but in some cases, particularly towards the end, this was a little tricky. Mash-ups are one of the best ways to deal a lot of damage, but the meter is only filled by taking damage, so you can’t spam the abilities.
Puzzles
In addition to combat, there are a ton of puzzles too. They differ from area to area, so you’re not solving the same puzzle all the time. Sometimes you’ll be putting a giant flute back together, other times you’ll be creating a path to travel across. These puzzles can be complex but not overly difficult. A nice balance, I’d say, but I’d argue that sometimes there were too many puzzles one after another, which I felt sometimes disrupted the flow of the story.
Final Thoughts
From musical puns to battles, to character-driven ballads and epic villain solos, People of Note is the perfect blend of musical and RPG.
The different cities are presented really well through distinctive visual styles and music genres, and between combat and puzzles, there’s a nice variety of gameplay. It’s accessible too, because if you’re not a fan of either element, you can turn one or both off in the menu, but for the full experience, you’re probably going to want to keep them both on. Still, it’s nice to have the option.
If you’re a fan of musicals – especially KPop Demon Hunters because there’s definitely a similar vibe – chances are you’re going to really enjoy People of Note. It’s fun, full of charm, even if it’s a little cheesy at times (but musicals usually are). With a story that spans over nine chapters, it’s a nice length, and the musical numbers were well placed at key moments in the story, so they actually had impact.
Developer: Iridium Studios
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Nintendo Switch 2
Release Date: 7th April 2026
Gaming Respawn’s copy of People of Note was provided by the publisher.
