Ok, I'm a few hours in ownership, and maybe a dozen games in. Thought I'd stop by and share some first impressions.
To set context on my pinball knowledge/experience (I've always felt that was helpful in understanding one's point of view), I'd thought I'd share a few notes. In short, my Wife and I share this hobby, and have discovered in our relationship that both of us (thankfully shared a childhood fascination with pinball that we have been able to connect over later in life. It played a particularly strong part of helping us maintain sanity in our relationship as we navigated recent tragic health decline of my in-laws, who sadly both passed away last year. I get it. Too much info. Wanted to at least point out that it's something that's important to us. We're relatively new to the modern hobby (We have a few modern Sterns that we adore, A CGC Monster Bash that we love, and had a Cirqus Voltaire that was amazing and beautiful and "everything I ever wanted in a pinball machine, but never had the time to adequately maintain" that we ultimately let go. So, in short: We've played a ton of Pinball in our lives, have recently found ourselves connecting over this hobby later in life, and, most importantly, are *so thankful* that we have a modern industry to enjoy that supports this worthy hobby.
Ok, that being said:
My God. What an accomplishment.
This is the best Rock and Roll themed pin I've ever played. Period. It's not close.
It's fun. It's really fun!
I know, you say, where are the mechs? They aren't missed, and it becomes laughable to complain about it once you play through a song or two.
The experience is second to none.
I know, you say, I *hate* November Rain.
You will freaking *LOVE* November Rain.
My God.
The attention to detail in this machine is inspiring, and could only be a product of a team that is absolutely firing on all cylinders.
Yes, please, support this work. Support this Team. More of this craftsmanship in the hobby, please.
And, let's please talk about craftsmanship. It's everywhere here. The Design (both technical and physical) are astonishingly well done. Bravo to the software team. Seriously, folks, this is inspiring work.
Each song is a unique and enveloping experience. So well designed. So well presented.
Oh, and it balances such a great line between modern and classic pinball layout/feel. And it's as modern as the most beautiful of modern city neon light skylines.
Someone is bound to ask about playfield quality, dimples, pooling, etc.
Honestly, it would be foolish to even think of spending a moment looking for flaws here instead of appreciating the product of what was no doubt amazing teamwork. I'll get there. Someday. Maybe.
On Theme: I've had a love/hate relationship with this band over the years. I've seen them in concert a couple times (both as opening bands), and as much as I respect the energy and focus on delivering this style of Rock and Roll, I'm equally as appalled by every reason to distance yourself from some of this band's past lyrics and statements that can only be viewed in hindsight as hateful and misogynistic. We're Pinball lovers and Rock and Roll lovers, however, and this game has both in tremendous amounts and I'm so impressed with just how well crafted this machine is.
Looking forward to sharing more thoughts (if you aren't tired of me already here), but I get *tremendously* excited when I see execution that is done at such an extraordinary high level. When it combines kinetic movement with technology to present an *EXPERIENCE*, I'm personally inspired.
Absolutely bravo to the team at JJP. Extraordinary work.