PC Gamer - UK (2022-04)

So it goes in A Musical Story, a game

where the timeline has (mostly)

disappeared. Instead, you’ll feel the

tempo and rhythm of each tune

(tapping your toes or nodding your

head helps). It’s an

uncompromising

rhythm game, and I

like it for that. After

passing each exam-like

song section, you’re

rewarded with another

story chunk, told via

beautiful animation

and (surely) the game

soundtrack of the year.

While you’ll flit between multiple

instruments, the story follows the

guitarist of a 1970s rock band, whose

drug addiction becomes a problem on

a long road trip. There’s no dialogue,

and it’s not needed, thanks to the

quality of the visual storytelling and

the exceptional soundtrack, which

you feel like you have some

ownership of. Funk rock gives way to

folk and big fat ’70s synths, and

extended math rock sections that will

really test your ability to follow along.

So here’s how it works. At regular

junctures in each song, the scene will

dwindle away as little icons appear in

a circle around the screen. These

represent notes, which you have to

press in time to the music, using just

two keys on your keyboard or

controller. Whereas in Guitar Hero

you can see the notes coming

towards you, here there’s no indicator

showing your position in the song.

Mess up just once, and you’ll have to

restart the whole thing.

There is some help offered, in the

form of a subtle position marker that

activates if you fail repeatedly, and

which quietly disappears when you

improve. There’s also an option to

make this help permanent, at the

expense of earning bonus stars – a

gentle encouragement to play the

game as intended.

OUT OF TUNE

I still messed up a

whole lot, despite the

Assist mode’s

(somewhat flaky) help.

A Musical Story is a

game of constant,

slightly unsatisfying

learning. ‘Perfection

through repetition’ – some words I

plopped down earlier. That’s true

here, as it is in Guitar Hero. However,

in that game you’re given entire songs

to memorise, to wrap your muscle

memory around. By contrast, you

only perform brief snippets in A

Musical Story. You’ll do a bass loop,

then maybe drums and guitar, before

finishing things off with a bit of

synth. That’s the ingredients for a

song alright, but... I don’t get to play

the whole thing through?

To be fair, this is an approach that

keeps the music fresh, and the

challenge level high, as you’ll never

repeat anything you’ve already done.

But it also means that that mastery is

essentially thrown away. The game

just shunts you on to something new.

Of course, you can replay that

chapter, or even the whole game.

Returning to earlier chapters, I did

find my playing had improved

slightly, as if I had memorised the

soundtrack by osmosis. But the

playing still feels too bitty, and oddly

separate from the story being told.

Why does it matter that I perfect this

song, when the band is currently

falling apart? The protagonist is

experiencing a drug-induced

breakdown – and I’m in the corner

doing my music homework.

A Musical Story is a game caught

between two worlds. There are the

cutscenes, and the playing bits, and

they don’t meaningfully connect –

the story even fades out, so as not to

be a distraction. Despite that, the

actual rhythm mechanics are strong,

paring the genre down to its

essentials while still making it feel

like you’re playing a real instrument.

I felt connected to the music –

and without having to plug a plastic

guitar into my computer. I just wish

the game knew what it wanted to be:

a story you experience, or a set of

challenges you master. As it is, it’s

awkwardly in the middle.

65

Great music, delivered in

frustratingly bitty form. A

clever rhythm game that

doesn’t mesh with its

prominent story.

VERDICT

I

f Guitar Hero is about the fantasy of being a rock legend, A Musical

Story is about the reality. This is a tough, unusual rhythm game

that insists on perfection for each of its instrumental songs. That’s

perfection through repetition, through learning each rhythm and

getting a feel for the music. Probably, it’s more accurate to the

process of learning to play a song. Real rock stars don’t get a timeline

showing them when, exactly, they need to hit each note.

SCHOOL OF ROCK

Funk, folk, and math rock collide in rhythm game A MUSICAL STORY

By Tom Sykes

Mess up just

once, and

you’ll have to

restart the

whole thing

NEED TO KNOW

WHAT IS IT?

A rhythm game

following the guitarist

of a 1970s rock band

EXPECT TO PAY

TBC

DEVELOPER

Glee-Cheese Studio

PUBLISHER

Digerati

REVIEWED ON

Intel Core i7-10750H,

16GB RAM, GeForce

RTX 2060

MULTIPLAYER

No

LINK

glee-cheese.com

EXTENDED PLAY

Tracks of my tears

1

PIPPED

Your tapping is

accompanied by a

faint popping sound

that sullies the

soundtrack. When

playing with

headphones,

however, I could

barely hear it.

2

LP

Songs can last

for a very long

amount of time, if

you keep screwing

up, or over in a flash

if you ace them first

time. Unfortunately

this can be

unsatisfying.

3

STARMAN

Each song

rewards you with a

star if you don’t

make any mistakes.

If you manage to

collect all the stars,

you’ll unlock a bonus

chapter and get to

play more.

1

2

3

A Musical Story

REVIEW