I’ve played a lot of crazy RPGs over the years, but Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands is definitely one of the more unusual ones. As you might have guessed from the name, music plays a big role in this game. You play as members of the band Deathbulge as they enter a battle of the bands competition that turns out to be much more than they expected.

The story follows Faye, Ian, and Briff as they reunite their old garage band to compete in a tournament together. What starts as a simple musical competition quickly turns into a fight for survival. The story is full of weird characters and plenty of humor. There are also a lot of NPCs to interact with, and exploring the world can uncover side quests, secrets, and plenty of other surprises.

The combat is where things get a little more interesting. Deathbulge uses a turn based system, but instead of just taking turns like you normally would, characters move along a timeline called Measures. You might have seen this in other RPG style games, like Child of Light. Different attacks and abilities can affect this timeline, allowing you to change when characters act or cause status effects to trigger as they move across it. It takes a little time to understand, but once you get used to it, battles become much more strategic.

You also have quite a bit of freedom when it comes to building your characters. There are nine different classes, along with plenty of skills and other upgrades to experiment with. This makes it fun to try different combinations and figure out what works best for your play style. I also liked that enemies are visible while you’re exploring instead of having random encounters. You can pretty much choose whether you want to fight or avoid them, which makes exploring much less frustrating. Especially when you’re in a hurry.

Visually, Deathbulge has a colorful hand-drawn art style that fits the game’s personality perfectly. The characters and environments have a cartoon like appearance, and there are a lot of funny animations and details to catch. It’s not trying to be an overly impressive game, but it doesn’t need to be. The art style gives it a lot of charm and helps the characters stand out. It reminded of the show Adventure Time.

Of course, a game centered around a band wouldn’t be complete without good music, and thankfully, the soundtrack is one of the highlights. There is a great variety of music throughout the game, including rock, metal, punk, funk, and other styles. The music fits the different areas and battles well, and does a good job making the musical theme feel like an actual part of the game rather than just a gimmick.

That said, Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands isn’t without a few rough edges. Combat can become somewhat repetitive during longer stretches, and the timeline-based system occasionally makes battles feel slower than they need to be. Exploration can also be a little confusing in some of the more maze like areas, while the difficulty curve has a few noticeable spikes that can catch you off guard. None of these issues are deal breakers, but they do keep the experience from being as polished as it could be.

Overall, Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands is a really fun and original RPG. The story and humor won’t be for everyone, but I enjoyed how different it feels from the typical fantasy RPG. The unique combat system, colorful art style and the soundtrack all work together to make this a memorable experience. If you’re looking for something a little different and enjoy RPGs with plenty of personality, Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands is definitely worth checking out.