Honouring RPGs, rhythm, great stories, puzzles, and math.
After hours with People of Note, I feel like I owe it an apology as a result of my preview. This, the second game from Iridium, isn’t so much a music-based game than one about music. Instead, it’s better to call this equal parts RPG, narrative adventure, and puzzler — and each of People of Note‘s elements has been crafted with precision and care.
People of Note follows the story of Cadence, a young pop singer desperately wants to win the infamous Noteworthy Song Contest. After being told that her own sound won’t be enough, she sets forth in a quest to find new band members, fusing her sound with other genres including rock and EDM. As you’d expect, Cadence and her ever-growing band uncover something far more insister occuring; something with stakes far larger than a simple song contest.
In its early moments, People of Note plays like a narrative adventure, slowing introducing you to Cadence, her friends, potential bandmates, and the world they live in. People of Note‘s narrative and characters are full-fleshed out, and compelling as hell. So too is its original songs, with “Under the Lights” being the first you hear (and can hear, below).
Music and rhythm have their place in combat, thanks to a unique time signature system. In a 2/4 signature, for example, you’ll get two attacks yourself compared to four attacks by the other team. If you select an attack and keep it to the beat, you’ll also enjoy bonus damage. Mash-ups will pair up two of your band to deliver a crushing attack, buff, or debuff. Finally, all-important songstones can provide new, more powerful attacks, or even the opportunity to change a battle’s time signature.
While rhythm has its place within the RPG’s turn-based battle system, so too does math and strategy. As I said in my preview, the real joy in battles is to properly strategise, min-maxxing stat numbers, buffs, and the order in which you pull everything off. Iridium has taken this concept one step further in special puzzle battles that rely upon this; one tasks you to eliminate all opponents in a single stanza — which makes it very dependent on mathematical prowess — while another asks you to simply survive.
People of Note also includes a number of different puzzles that’ll have you scratching your brain, involving bouncing lazer beams, switches and toggles, and riddles that will make you pause and reflect. There are also combo puzzle-riddle encounters that will reward those who truly delve into Iridium’s world of Note.
No matter which of People of Note‘s three pillars interests you the most, they’re all extremely well-crafted. You can see Final Fantasy‘s heavy influence in the way People of Note‘s RPG core looks and operates. Cadence, Fret, and the rest of her band are not only interesting in their backgrounds, but unique in the ways that they sound and play. And if the idea of puzzles on top of all this dissuade you, they shouldn’t — each of these pillars can be dialled up or down to present a challenge that you can set for yourself.
Priced at $24.99 USD, this is an easy commendation for those who love old school RPGs, music, or puzzles. Give it a go for yourself.
Expect People of Note from 8 April 2026 on Windows PC via Steam, the Microsoft Store, and the Epic Games Store, alongside Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PS5, and Switch 2.
People of Note was reviewed using a promotional code on Windows PC via Steam, as provided by the publisher. Click here to learn more about Stevivor’s scoring scale.
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People of Note8 April 2026PC PS5 Switch 2 Xbox Series S & X
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