Maestro

You don't know this, but once again, gaming has let me realize another dream. I was in the marching, jazz, and concert bands the entirety of high school. My band director doesn't know this, but one time, when he was dealing with something in the office, I picked up his baton, and led a makeshift version of the band to play a song. I don't remember what the song was, but I do remember breaking said baton. I also remember my band director making me feel bad for breaking it, and rightfully so. I broke his baton, tapping it on the podium, like a dumb kid. When he pulled me in his office, he told me that it was funny, but it wasn't cool that I broke his stuff. As he took me on a disciplinary roller coaster, the man asked me to open a drawer, only to reveal an entire drawer of them. They weren't expensive at all. It was the principle. Now, X amount of years later, I get to try my hand again, thanks to Wild Sheep Studio, Double Jack, and Creature. The VR sure-to-be-a-hit Maestro allows me to break things without repercussion, if only at the expense of my butler. 

The game used to be a demo called Maestro: The Masterclass, and people were showing off their VR playthroughs on social media. This went viral immediately, prompting the people behind this game to create a full version. This version of the game is fully immersive. So much so, that it tells you to turn on your hand tracking, and put those controllers down. This is the theater, not your cluttered game den. In this theater, you will learn poise. You will learn respect. You will be courteous to the pieces presented to you. You will show etiquette. Your musicians respect the craft, and you will show them the culture. You are the Maestro. 

The tutorial is a hilarious pick up and playthrough, but is an absolute must. Your butler (Is he a butler?) will take you through what is necessary to conduct an orchestra. Keeping tempo is the first thing you learn. I will admit that this seems a little off at times, as the songs are more familiar than you think. You may not know Danse Macabre by name, but you'll know it when you hear it. Tempo is controlled by one hand mostly, and you conduct directionally ala Dance Dance Revolution. Sometimes you will use both hands, and use down beats, up beats, and even different colored half notes. These come from all directions, and the game is good at indicating where to turn next. It's the orchestra, which means you need to keep your head on a swivel. 

The next thing the game teaches you is how to do those cool orchestral hits. The staccato note or chord puts emphasis into a specific part of a piece. These are indicated by a circle closing around another circle, in time They appear in a specific part of the orchestra. You trigger it by pointing to that circle, and going back to controlling the song. These also pop up all over the place, because yes, an orchestra is made up of more than just strings. Sometimes you need the horns, or the timpani, or the drum set to hit some things. The singers come into play sometimes too, which to me, is the best part. This makes the game even more cool, and I'm fully in. 

Then the game teaches you note holds, crescendos, and decrescendos. Again appearing where they're needed, these will be shaped like a semi circle for a note hold, or with an arrow for the note down. You have to physically turn your palm up, depending on which way the semi circle is pointing. If it's an arrow, you have to raise or lower your arm, palm facing the direction it needs to go. Sometimes, you actually have to close your hand, indicating that you are cutting that section off.  This feels really cool, and honestly feels like the best part of the game. The game also shows you that you're going to need to know all these fundamentals to play the game. A short but thorough tutorial. 

Now, onto the show. Your butler will standby, patiently, but judgingly waiting to make your next move. When you first go into the game, you have a few songs to choose from. My advice is to just pick the first song, as some of them are short and sweet at 2:30, while longer ones can last up to 5 minutes. At your podium, you have the program in front of you, and you can just pick it up and hand it to the butler. You can interact with a lot of things here. I picked up the champagne glass, because I'm a classless street urchin. Then I ate one of the macaroons, because I'm a lint licker. The butler mumbles something, and I'm off. I easily got by on normal without the tutorial, but I went back and did it and did a lot better the second time, but that second time made me fall in love with this game. 

You start off by turning to the crowd, and letting them acknowledge you. They are there to see you conduct, and conduct you shall. You can bow to them, and then turn to your musicians. You tap the podium, and raise your hands. This readies the musicians, and they start on your downbeat. Maestro shines truly here. The sound coming through this headset is magnificent. You can hear every string, and every horn. Every drum hit. I felt like I was really leading an orchestra, and I shouldn't. This is a VR game, and I'm sure there are more immersive games out there. I have to say that this is the coolest one so far. 

There's a meter at your podium ranging from green to red. Once you miss enough notes, the song stops, and the crowd boos you out the building, throwing tomatoes, and letting you know you'll never conduct in this town again. Even your own orchestra looks at you with disdain. There's also a score, which I don't think matters much. Every note you hit is heard, and so it every note you miss, with a hilariously loud misplay. When the song is done, you can turn to receive your public. Depending on how much they loved it, they'll take pictures and throw roses accompanied by applause. You'll get social media posts, and a rating, from one to five. It's cool to catch a rose, and throw a tomato back, if need be. Again, what a concept. 

The game rewards you with unlocks, like new songs, and outfits for your orchestra. You get these from beating a song with a 4 or 5 rating note. The butler will even bring your champagne in a new glass if you're really good, or one of the tomatoes if you're really bad. There is no advice or anything. It's just on to the next one. The outfits are pretty funny, and again, the soundtrack isn't robust, but it's enough to keep you busy for as long as your battery lasts. The coolest thing to unlock are the different environments. Instead of conducting to a theater, you can change the entire backdrop to the revolution, full with cannons, and explosions. You can also change your baton, and your own gloves. I don't think there's a cooler VR experience. 

That's pretty much it, however. They made it short and sweet. In your settings, there aren't volume options, which is fine. There is the ability to change the height of the podium, or even use seated mode. You'll want to stand to get the full experience. The unlockable items are going to be the best part here. Some of the songs just go on and on, but you're not here to play some rinky dink theater. This is your time. Can you conduct an entire orchestra while they play Sing Sing Sing? The whole version? Sure you can, and then unlock more challenging, and more sophisticated pieces. If there are more songs coming to this game, I'm all for it. Great idea, great execution, great game.