A Sorrowful Serenade of a Struggling Jazz Pianist
The life of a struggling jazz artist; primarily a sorrowful tale well documented over time. I think this mostly comes from the real-life stories of Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Billie Holiday, but there’s no doubt it’s been a major influence in fiction across all the media with films like La La Land and Whiplash.
Whatever, it’s never a happy time for these musicians; forever stuck in a period of depression, self-doubt, and impending poverty.
Blue Wednesday covers some similar tropes as it follows a poor young jazz pianist who is down on his luck and full of self-doubt, all as he tries to get by in life.
Evans City and Existential Angst
You are Morris, a jazz pianist who feels he has failed in his chosen career. A jazz album was released that no one brought and now he works as a checkout assistant in a downtown supermarket in the fictional city of Evans.
We first meet Morris in his small apartment struggling to get out of bed. The small apartment is a mess and he is behind in his rent. You have a piano in the middle of the room that you start to practice on but soon you are upsetting the downstairs neighbour. Now you are late for work…
Morris is depressed, yet after finding work in a jazz club and starting a relationship, things start to look up. As you may expect to hear, soon the black cloud of self-doubt starts to raise its head again.
A Musician’s Tale
The most substantial element of Blue Wednesday is the storytelling, as well as the characters you meet along the way. The city itself feels full of life; living and breathing. I would think that the story must have been written by musicians, because it captures the look and feel of the world perfectly, taking in the anxiety of playing a form of music that isn’t that worldly popular and the stress of honing the profession whilst still trying to pay the rent.
I’m not going to spoil things, but the story unfolds in a nuanced way, far from cliche, and allows the player to feel as if they are discovering something new and fresh.
Keys to the City
The gameplay consists of exploration of a 2D world, walking around the city. Occasionally you will meet someone in the street or have the ability to interact with objects or places to get some information about the city or Morris’s thoughts about it. You then have some mini-games to play in certain situations as well.
The big one is that of tinkling the piano; something that you will be doing a lot in this game. Working as a rhythm music affair, very much in line with something like Guitar Hero, you’ll need to go about hitting the right notes at the right time. This starts off pretty hard, as you realise playing jazz is tricky. Thankfully, it doesn’t impact the story too much if you don’t do well, but your own personal standards might be tarnished.
Other mini-games focus on some scanning of supermarket goods, requiring the use of certain timing, as well as playing through a couple of addictive sliding picture puzzles.
Vibrant Visuals and Jazzy Vibes
The visuals found in Blue Wednesday are full of colour and that is complemented by some brilliantly designed characters and animation. The city of Evans (looking very much like New York) is full of life with characters and animals moving around. There is some lovely attention to detail throughout and the jazz club sections look so cool.
Soundwise and, well, it’s all about the jazz, with some cracking tracks playing out through your journey with Morris. You can also collect jazz albums that work as collectibles, playing them on your record player back in your flat.
A Melancholy Melody Worth Hearing
If you’re a jazz fan, then you’ll enjoy how Blue Wednesday plays, and how the main story elements unfold. The music and mini-games are pleasing to take in, very good on the ear, helping push along this music odyssey and journey. Certain elements may not be as satisfying as others, and parts of the narrative fail to land, but the main thrust of Blue Wednesday plays as an amazing symphony.
Important Links
Become the Greatest Piano Player of All Time in Blue Wednesday on Xbox, PlayStation and Switch – https://www.thexboxhub.com/become-the-greatest-piano-player-of-all-time-in-blue-wednesday-on-xbox-playstation-and-switch/
Buy Blue Wednesday on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/blue-wednesday/9nj300gbpjbr
