The Piano Player

The Piano Player - by SquirrelHorse

First Thoughts:
If you're looking for a poignant, short story with a lot of meaning, look no further than "The Piano Player" by SquirrelHorse. While it's a game, it's more of a short visual story that has more cutscenes than actual exploration. RPG Maker is great for these kinds of stories because when it's time to get interactive, the player can take control and move about.



The Story:
You play as Warren, a young gifted piano player who is his own worst critic. He is never satisfied with his performance no matter how many people tell him how good he is. When a girl named Caesura entered his life, she began to help him get over his stage fright by offering encouragement and support.

In the present time, however, Warren is currently plagued by a maddening dream, full of past memories, dangerous dark spirits, and other versions of himself. What is the meaning of this nightmare? And why are they taunting Warren saying "You know what you did."

Well, I'm not going to give it away, because the reveal in this game had me choking up and nearly brought tears. It just goes to show that music combined with a carefully planned foreshadowing, build-up, and reveal can really hit someone's emotions hard. This might be SquirrelHorse's first game, but you wouldn't guess that from the way this story unfolds!



Game Play:
The Piano Player has a very straightforward linear story with tiny bits of exploration in between scenes. At several points in the game, the save menu appears and it's a good idea to save immediately because you will be dying very soon. Why is that? Well.. if you take the wrong action in this game or touch an enemy, it's instant game over! The first time I encountered a lone dark spirit, I though he was someone I could talk to, nope! Thankfully I saved as suggested.

I remembered that these are dream sequences we're walking through, so the placement of piano's around the room don't need to make sense. Your challenge is to find the right place to go to continue the story without dying.


Just turn around and run!

Needless to say... I died a lot. Most of the time it was because I was sprinting with the shift key straight into the enemy.

At the last save point, you'll be presented with three choices, and these give you the three possible endings to the game. I recommend all three.

Graphics and Music:
The graphics used, besides the Piano, are the standard assets from Rpg Maker. The music is NOT however. If you didn't know that this game was going to have some sad moments, you will as soon as you start the game. The title screen features Gymnopedie no. 1 by Erik Satie, which you've undoubtedly heard before, if not by name. It's a sad tune that I imagine would be used in commercials showing old people in nursing homes or animals in cages waiting to be adopted. Also featured is Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven and others.

Overall:
I was very moved by "The Piano Player". SquirrelHorse is a talented storyteller and the narrative was delicately crafted around serious subject matter. I can't help but be a fan and I'm looking forward to more games and stories from him.