Readers, a random Jarenth Info Tidbit for you: my favourite famous classical composer is Frédéric Chopin. I’ve never quite managed to figure out why this is, but it is so regardless. I mean, his music is beyond excellent, there’s that. And his war-torn history of exile and turbulent personal life are definitely interesting reads. And I may just have a soft spot for the name ‘Frédéric’, e-accents and all.
But really, probably both the dumbest and most influential reason I came to like Chopin as much as I do is that, back when I bought my Xbox 360, one of the first games I got to play on it was Eternal Sonata, the JRPG that — and this summary doesn’t really do it a lot of justice — you watch and play the story Frédéric Chopin as he explores a magical musical dream world which represents his dying mind. It’s a game I enjoyed on many levels: while it’s often held up as a prime example of the nonsense and weirdery that JRPGs tend to get up to, it turns out that there are people who really enjoy things like that! And the fact that it implies that Chopin, literally on his death bed, had the presence of mind and the mental fortitude to think up an entire world, backstory, and oddly engrossing location-based RPG combat system, cemented him in my mind as Probably A Pretty Amazing Dude Overall.
Now, the reason I’m telling you all this is because, while browsing Steam for inspiration a few weeks back, I ran across a game called Frederic: Resurrection of Music. A creation of one Forever Entertainment S.A., Frederic: Resurrection of Music promises to follow the journey of a resurrected Frederic Chopin as he travels around the world, challenging other musicians to duels based on modern interpretations of his work.
So, basically, another game where I’d guide Frédéric Chopin through a magical wonderland of musical whimsy? I couldn’t not play that.
(Spoiler levels: Narrative, medium, but it’s also madness. Mechanical, high, but unimportant.)
