People of Note preview - An electrifying JRPG performance to watch out for 

People of Note was one of the three games showcased at the Annapurna Interactive Tokyo Game Show 2025 reveal and is an upcoming indie turn-based RPG from developer Iridium Studios. As an RPG fan, this one grabbed my attention the most among them, and we were fortunate enough to go hands-on with the game thanks to the publisher.

Here's our hands-on impressions of People of Note, the upcoming musical RPG hybrid set to blow fans off their feet with its electrifying soundtrack and strategic action. Read on to know more.

---

People of Note puts on a banger of a show

The game centers around Cadence, an up-and-coming singer in the world of Note, a realm where everything is based on different musical genres, like rock, EDM, and so on. While the overall narrative is focused on her rise to stardom, the short demo is set in the Melting Point area of the full game.

The demo features a pre-made setup of party members, equipment, and so on, so all I had to do was progress. The first couple of enemy encounters familiarize the player with the basics and mechanics. This is a turn-based RPG combat system that will be instantly familiar to anyone who has played JRPGs released over the past two decades.

People of Note records the journey of Cadence and her friends as rising stars in the industry (Image via Annapurna Interactive)

Each of the three characters - Cadence, Fret, and Synthia - has different attacks, abilities, and powers to utilize in battle. Abilities use BP, which can be recovered by defending, though one of Synthia's abilities can grant bonus BP to any character. These are quite varied, like Cadence being able to boost self-damage, Fret can heal and raise the Defense of himself and one ally, and more.

All of this takes place across a timeline system where players can perform a specific number of actions on the timeline before the enemies get their turn, which are also visible. This makes strategizing and deciding which characters should defend, use an ability, and so on, important in People of Note.

Puzzles bar progress across the Melting Point dungeon in this demo (Image via Annapurna Interactive)

Between fights, the team will navigate the dungeon and solve environmental puzzles. These saw Cadence position mirrors in a way to direct a light beam from one end to the other to open a door. While not much of a challenge, the final boss fight against Freq is where the stakes are truly raised to new heights.

This fight was truly difficult and forced me to utilize everything in the team's kit to see it through. The boss can reduce the number of player's actions per timeline, debuff the party's attacks and abilities per turn, strike thrice in a row with heavy-hitter moves. Most importantly, he has the Crescendo mechanic that boosts his power as the fight goes on.

Freq pulls no punches during this fight (Image via Annapurna Interactive)

I must have lost about a half a dozen times to the boss before striking a balance between offense and defense, while also using Cadence's ability that boosts actions per turn. The fight also introduces the Mashup bar, which allows two party members to unleash powerful moves, like party-wide healing, dealing heavy single-target damage, or heavy target debuff, when full.

Knowing when to use Mashups to get out of sticky scenarios is also important, and I do not exaggerate when I say that a single mistake can result in a party wipeout. Despite the challenge, the vibrant artstyle, the earworm of a soundtrack, and fun combat kept me coming back to finally see the fight through.

All in all, I had a fun time and can't wait to experience the full game when it launches next year. JRPG fans, keep an eye out for this one, because People of Note is a promising candidate for being a sleeper hit.

---

People of Note is set to arrive in 2026 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S platforms.

Check out more articles:

• D-topia PC preview