Despite the acronym, the JRPG is more of a genre that everyone has attempted to make rather than something that's exclusive to Japanese developers. Some of those attempts were good, but one of the criticisms of the genre is that most games have stuck to a medieval fantasy theme. It's rare to see one try something different, and that's one of the reasons why People of Note stands out from the more recent JRPG batch. We were able to check out the demo for the upcoming Steam Fest and came away rather impressed.

The story is set in Note, a world governed by music of very different genres. You play the role of Cadence, an aspiring singer in the city of pop who's is trying to make it big via the noteworthy Song Contest. When she realizes that she needs something to stand out among the crowd, she goes on a journey to the different cities ruled by different musical styles to find a unique sound to help her win, all while eventually stumbling into a quest to keep Note from falling into disharmony.

The demo takes place in the game's second chapter, where you're going into the land of rock, and the game nails the environment quite well. You're venturing into a desert-like area with plenty of stone and adobe buildings. Each section is divided into the different rock sub-genres, which look similar but sport different details that give each palace its identity, whether it's the clothes people wear or the metal side looks like it has stuff from Brutal Legend. This is well thought out, but you should also expect a good deal of puns and references to keep things light. For example, you'll see a cage with a sign next to it that says "Free Bird," while you'll encounter a creature named Weird Owl. Depending on your tastes, you'll either chuckle at this sort of stuff or shake your head.

As mentioned earlier, this is a turn-based modern JRPG, and the expected traits of the genre are readily apparent from the start. You have exploration areas, where you can talk to people who have set lines of dialogue, except for the few essential ones that lead to quest progression. There are shops to buy new equipment, and there are chests in the environment to loot. There are also a few puzzles to deal with and some hidden areas that can be unlocked if you deviate from the main path for a bit.

It's standard stuff, but there are a few changes, and they are all for the better. There are no random enemy encounters because all of your foes are always visible in the world, so getting from one spot to another doesn't take longer than it should. Once you buy an item at the shop, you can immediately equip it and sell your previously equipped item without needing to go through several menus. You can also save anywhere instead of being beholden to specific save points. The tweaks aren't numerous, but they feel like improvements on some long-standing quirks of the genre.

The combat system falls into that same category of being familiar with some significant tweaks implemented. You have a timeline to show which person acts in what order. There's a number of regular attacks and special attacks you can employ for either offensive or defensive purposes. Again, it's all self-explanatory if you're familiar with the genre, but those aforementioned changes to the formula are plentiful. For starters, you'll always begin a fight with full health, no matter how low your health was in a previous fight. Dying in a fight means being knocked out for a few turns, so you'll be back at full party strength if you can hold out long enough. Everyone in your party gets a turn to fight, but you can choose exactly who performs which action, since there are no restrictions on that. The timeline also shows you which enemy attacks are happening, so you can more effectively plan for the fight. There are also no items to worry about juggling — at least not in the demo. While the changes are all beneficial for the player, one that works against the player is the timer. Taking more moves to finish off a major boss means having to face an enemy that gains more strength toward the end.

Like the exploration segments, the combat tweaks work to streamline things for the genre, and it works. The changes allow you to focus mainly on attacking and strategy and not get yourself into a situation where you'll be ill prepared for a big fight because you forgot to heal beforehand. For many players, this makes the RPG process simpler, while the boss fights force you to be fast and dump everything you have before the fights get harder. For the demo, this all works great, but it'll be interesting to see if this simplicity still holds up further along in the game.

When it comes to the presentation in the demo, the graphics look good, but the real star of the show is the music. The ambient and battle stuff sounds good, but the demo features one full song that mashes up pop with rock. The song sounds brilliant in a way that's comparable to Stray Gods, where the game feels empty if a song like this were missing. When combined with some of the trailers that have been released so far that show off some of the game's other songs, there's no doubt that the soundtrack will be the game's real highlight for many people.

Based on the demo, People of Note looks to be a solid alternate take on the traditional JRPG. The changes to the genre basics are welcome, and the additions are nice as well. The game looks great, but it is the music that hooks you into playing the game in the first place. With an April release, it won't be long before the full game arrives, and we hope to give it a spin to see where the story goes.