Not a lot has changed since I checked out Fantasia: Music Evolved last year. Multiplayer mode was recently announced and this E3 I made sure to try out the demo to get a feel for the gameplay, which consists mostly of Kinect-guided sweeps of the upper body to mimick the motions of conducting to music.
The creative direction of Fantasia: Music Evolved has stayed on track in the twelve months: it "game-ifies" the concept of air-conducting but adds innovative flourishes that innovately polish its surface into a masterpiece. Harmonix, in that sense, are the masters of spinning a good idea into gold.
The basic concept of Fantasia: Music Evolved likely would have worked by itself, but their choice to go a step further illustrates ther team's continued dedication to bringing each game they create to its full potential.
Upon starting the demo, I wasn't given an instructional mode so I had to pick up the techniques as I played, which can lead to a lot of inept flailing. Despite that I was able to draw on my past as both a band nerd and sometime student conductor to catch on. In high school I trained with an internationally competitive marching band, and was actively involved as a band officer, sometimes leading warmups or filling in as a temporary drum major.
There's something very satisfying about getting to conduct again, even if it isn't for a live set of musicians. I have a theory that just about everyone likes to air-conduct (think The Maestro from Seinfeld), and as Guitar Hero once allowed us to fulfill our lofty dreams of rockstardom, Fantasia: Music Evolved too let's us play pretend. It's a nice little form of escapism that makes me better understand why Rock Band and Dance Central were so popular in the first place.
It wasn't ever about actually being a dancer or a rock star, it was just about pretending to be, in the comfort of your living room.
Fantasia: Music Evolved allows the player to choose from different arrangements and remixes of each of its songs during gameplay, and in each performance there is a mini-game allowing you to compose and record your own snippet of music, which then gets folded back into the song. The Kinect responds superbly to every swipe of the arm, each perfectly coordinated to the tune.
There are over 23 announced songs in the playlist so far, from Bowie to Bruno Mars. I played "Enjoy The Silence" because of course I did, that's my 80's jam. Fantasia: Music Evolved is due on October 21, 2014 on Xbox One and Xbox 360.
