About a year ago I had a brilliant idea for a game. Take the play mechanics of Rock Band and cram them inside a traditional RPG. This would be awesome! My friends tell me it would only work in Japan, but think about it. Let's say your party approaches a mean ol' dragon. Your character plays lead guitar, your two buddies play drums and sing. In order to defeat the dragon, you have to engage in some 'Devil Went Down to Georgia' style dueling instrumentation. Instead of just hitting 'A' when you want to attack, you bust out a blazing guitar solo.
Each of the instrumets have different powers. You could line up guitar with fire, vocals with ice, drums with earth. Different rhythms produce different effects. A hip hop beatboxer or opera singer could join your party. Play sad songs to defuse angry enemies. The strength of your attack is determined by creative improvisation or meticulous beat matching. Every missed note weakens your attacks. Iggy Pop guest stars! A dwarf with a double-neck Flying V! People getting served! The possibilities are endless! Why hasn't anyone done this yet? I'm a lot more confident in this idea than those mockups of Megaman bosses I mailed to Capcom as a seven year old. Sure enough, some developer thinks its a good idea, too...sorta.
Meet Zubo, an action-rhythm hybrid coming out later this year for the DS. Developed by EA Bright Light, Zubo's combat is driven by music, not too dissimilar to my above brainchild.
Players enter the world of Zubalon to help the colourful and zany inhabitants, the Zubos, defeat an evil force which is bent on world domination. Players can befriend the Zubos they meet along the way, feed and nurture them, help them gain skills and strength, and assist them in their battles with the enemy, the dastardly Zombos.
A key element to Zubo is music, which is intrinsic to Zubalon from its tuneful plant life through to its currency of musical notes. The player will use the music to drive the battles forward, synchronising their stylus action and tapping in time with the musical beats to win!
Made for under-twelves, but still sounds awesome. It's not quite the epic rock opera I had in mind, but hopefully it will push others in that direction. Kotaku's got hands-on impressions. Oh yeah, and Harmonix, let me know if you need any more ideas.