I’ve been telling myself that I’m done buying new games for the year. The backlog is huge. I’m only maybe a couple dozen hours into Metaphor, which is a phrase that implies I have way more dozens of hours to go. Because I do. Between that game and upcoming 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Alan Wake 2 DLC and every good game I’ve yet to finish this year - shoutout to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom! - I am all set on new games. No mo♉re games! And certainly no mor🌳e buying them!
So when I got an email promoting a virtual reality rhythm game called Maestro where you wave your hands in the air like Lydia Tár, I bought it immediately. Literally put down my laptওop, grabbed my special nerd VR glasses, put on my headset, and went to the store. Maestro might have set the record for the fastest 'learned about it' to 'purchased it' ratio I’ve ever had. Actually, that’s probably not true, because there are games in my Steam library I didn’t even know I had, so those were purchased before I even learned about them. That’s not important. What’s important is that Maestro is some of the most fun I’ve had all year in any video game. It’s a complete delight. It’s pure joy. And, because it’s exclusively in VR, I’m afraid none of you are going to play it.
Maestro In VR, Not Maestro VR
One quick thing before I dig deeper. This game is called Maestro. It’s available on Meta Quest and Steam. However - if you want this game! - it is not Maestro VR on Steam. That iꦿs a different game and it has mixed reviews. So, if by some grace of God I get you to buy this game, please remember: Just 'Maestro' written in big, cartoony letters. Got it? Maestro is the VR game I’m talking about, Maestro VR is not the game I’m talking about. I know, I know, it’s all a mess,🉐 but I’m not the one naming these things.
Anyway, I’ve already described the basic premise of the game: it’s a rhythm game where you conduct an orchestra. You know when the fancy person waves the baton and points at people? That’s the game! If you’ve played literally any rhythm game before, you will understand how this works. Maestro doesn’t actually use controllers: It senses your hands and puts ‘em in nice cartoon gloves. In the game, you’re automatically holding a baton, but I suggest you actually put something in your hand in real life like a marker. Trust me, it’s stupid, but it helps. Anyway, the entire gameplay loop is just - obviously - you moving your hands. The baton hand hits arrows in a way somewhat similar to something like Beat Saber. The free hand is used for everything from hitting a second arrow to pointing at orchestra members to raising and lowering the intensity. All of this is cued with visuals the way you’d expec꧃t in a rhythm experience.
I generally hate VR games that don’t use controllers because my hands naturally shake and I tend to enjoy gripping a physical device rather than feel like I’m trembling while touching absolutely nothing (hence the marker). But in Maestro, it actually makes sense. It’s simpler to be using your hands alone to point and wave and raise and lower your arm. The controller would actually get in the way here. Once you’re past the tutorial - a miraculously fun one at that - you can play songs on a variety of difficulty levels. The more songs you beat, the more you unlock, as well as add♛itional backdrops and costumes - such as the ability to dress your orchestra as French Revolutionaries. This will all be familiar territory to you if you’ve played the genre. If it’s not: rhythm games! They’re out there!
Maestro Has The Guitar Hero Spirit
What I love so much about Maestro is that it does what 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Guitar Hero did back in the day: It makes you feel talented in something you are absolutely not talented in. But it does it in a way that reduces the abstraction of gameplay so far that you really do feel like you’re doing the thing. If you asked me before Maestro to explain how a conductor does their job, I could probably vaguely describe it. Now that I’ve played Maestro, I can definitely vaguely describe it. Because the game is so intuitive and ꧃responsive, you immediately fall into it. I was bouncing and dancing in my empty living room pointing at the string section while waving my hand up at the singers. Suddenly I understood why conductors look so happy and excited. It’s fun, man! I don’t know why Bugs Bunny tries to ruin it for them!
That’s the other thing. If this was just a good rhythm game, I’d be happy. That’s my get-out-of-depression bread and butter. Sure, the songs here are mostly public domain classiꦐcal and jazz standards, but the presentation makes them feel fresh rather than cheap. The game is 'hosted' by a Mozart-looking weirdo named Eric de Roch. He explains things to you and, after every stage, he offers you things like macarons and glasses of champagne, which you can pick up off a platter and 🐼throw on the ground if you want. He judges you a bit, but after you get a standing ovation from the audience, he knows who’s boss.
Oh, that’s right! There’s an audience! Before each song, you can turn around and bow as they applaud. In most rhythm games, you choose a song and you wait for it to st🌊art, right? Not here, girl! In the land of conductors, the ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚmusicians wait for you to start the song. Take as much time as you want getting praised by the crowd before you begin. You have to hit your baton on the music stand a couple times. You have to raise up your hands. And then, when you’re ready, you can begin conducting. Once you start to get a feel for it, it’s seamless and so joyful.
Maestro Gives You Your Flowers
Even finding out your score at the end of a song feels oddly good. As I said, there is an audience. So after your musicians finish, you turn around and face the crowd to bow. If they love you, they throw roses on stage - which you can pick up - and you see social media posts floating over them about how great you are. If they hate you because you failed the level, they throw tomatoes like you’re Fozzie Bear. By the way, those can knock over a loose gꦗlass or dish on your music stand, so be careful out there. It doesn’t actually matter, but it’s a nice touch. It gives the whole performance a sense of place. You’re in an opera house conducting an orchestra for an audience. It’s like the concert venues in Guitar Hero except you actually have to look straight into their dead polygonal eyes at the end of a song.
The problem is, of course, that this is all in virtual reality. It’s a platform I love, but also a platform that I know people aren’t buying tons of games on every day if ever. Plus, there was literally a new 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Arkham Batman game that came out on Meta Quest this week - one of the few games that Meta seems to have put a lot of money behind showing off and advertising. That game looks amazing, too! It’ll also break my 'no new games' mandate. So, even in the smaller market of virtual reality, Maestro is not nearly the biggest game to come out in the last couple weeks. Which is a shame. Because it’s so good and I’m both worried and bummed this won’t get the attention it deserves. That’s not the fault of t⛎he general public, but it’s still a bit of a downer reality. VR is such a great platform and yet so many good games get lost in the static of rare usage.
But Maestro is just fun, buddy. It doesn’t have a deep story. It doesn’t have some wild gimmick. It’s just a very well done rhythm game that actually made me feel like I was a professional conductor. Every so often, the illusion is perfect.🍷 It’s some of the most moment-to-moment joy I’ve had in a video game. When Carmina Burana hits a crescendo, I was bobbing my head and pointing at violinists and just generally making a fool of myself. And maybe that’s another thing: too many rhythm games are cool and too many make you look cool playing them. I’m glad we got something that makes me look like a big old dork. I know I mentioned Bugs Bunny already, but my body type is definitely 'frustrated music conductor'.
No, Maestro isn’t a game that will move headsets. It’s not a triple-A system mover. But it’s a fantastic virtual reality game and a fantastic rhythm game. If you exist within this Venn diagram of fandom, please buy this game. To reiterate, I didn’t get it free either; I’m right there with you. I would not tell you to buy it if I didn’t think it was worth my money. Usually when I rush to buy something the moment I see it, I regret it within a few hours. I’ve disappointed myself so many times buying some random game that seemed cool. But Maestro - oh, Maestro - is the type of virtual reality game that’s screaming to be shown off to friends and relatives over the holidays. It’s the type of video game that doesn’t make you think or strategize or cry or create - it just makes you have the best time. I j🐬ust hope somebody other than me plays it.
Bounce Arcade C⛦leverly Reimagines Pinball🌞 For VR
Bounce Arc🗹ade puts you inside a pinball machine for a bouncing good time.
