Part I was getting pretty long, so I figured I’d resume my Beatles diary in a separate post. But first, a bit of summary.

So far I’m impressed with the game. The gameplay, it must be said, is nothing at all new — except in the negative sense, as in the removal of any improvisational features like big endings and drum fills. But it’s the extras that are really impressive, especially the lengthy audio and video clips awarded as Prizes after collecting a certain number of Photos — which are, in turn, awarded for completing songs with three or five stars, and finishing off entire sets at the different venues.

I’ve only just started in the studio years, so I’m not ready to say much about the dreamscapes yet, except that so far they’re trippier than I was expecting. Perhaps a bit cornier too, but we’ll see about that.

As for the music? Again, I’ve just started the studio years, so I’m reserving judgment, but I’m wondering if it’s even possible to experience the Beatles’ music without having the thought, somewhere in the back of your subconscious, that it’s somehow derivative, since so much of the music you’ve heard your whole life is influenced by this band. You know what I’m saying? I’m hoping to have a revelatory experience here, but I’ll tell you, so far it’s little more than “pleasant enough.”

But maybe that’ll change in the second half of the game. So let’s get back to it. And remember, if you have questions about anything, feel free to leave them in comments, and I’ll do my best to respond.

4:59 pm: Abbey Road ’67-’68. Now we’re talkin’: “I Am the Walrus,” “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Looking forward to trying all of these.

5:00 pm: Oh, one nice new gameplay/interface tweak I noticed: a little meter that shows the difficulty of the track before you pick what difficulty you want to play at. It’s not what I’d call 100-percent accurate, but it seems to be adequate as a general guide.

5:05 pm: OK, the “I Am the Walrus” dreamscape is going to give me nightmares. Legendary song, of course — even to me — but it sounds (and looks) like stepping into the brain of someone who’s about one panel van away from putting the lotion in the basket. Alas, the guitar part is really strings, and it’s not that interesting, at least not on Hard.

5:16 pm: The whammy bar, it does nothing! Another improvisational element removed from the Rock Band formula. I understand the desire to keep these songs as “pure” as possible, but I mean, come on — you can miss notes, why can’t you whammy if you want to?

5:26 pm: The lead riff to “Hey Bulldog” is killer on Expert. Solo is a blast as well. Never heard the song before (that I’m aware of) but it’s an interesting one to play on guitar, if not really to listen to.

5:30 pm: OH GOD YES “BACK IN THE U.S.S.R.” GUITAR ON EXPERT. AM I SHOUTING? SORRY BUT IT’S REALLY GOOD.

5:39 pm: I could get lost in the photos and associated trivia. Did you know that the Beatles are the only artists to have a number one single out in the U.K. during Christmas week four times? Now you do!

5:52 pm: In the run-up to the game release I’ve read a lot about how unhappy the Beatles were at the end. So, can someone explain “Birthday” to me, then? This isn’t the kind of song that’s written by a band that’s hating life.

5:57 pm: Surprisingly entertaining on guitar: “Octopus’s Garden.” Were the Beatles influenced by the Grateful Dead at this point?

6:03 pm: About to try Helter Skelter on Expert. Don’t believe I’ve ever actually heard the song before now. Pray for me.

6:06 pm: Holy crap, that’s punk rock! I had no idea they had it in them. Hell of a lot of fun to play, too. Would it have been distasteful to have Charles Manson in the background of the dreamscape? Also: Ooooh, that’s where “I got blisters on my fingers!” comes from.

6:07 pm: Breaking for dinner, back in an hour or so.

7:06 pm: “Something” is a beautiful song, and a really nice challenge on guitar. Lots of three-finger chords in there.

7:11 pm: Since learning that the Beatles became pretty much just a studio band in their later years, I’m paying more attention to the arrangements and production of their tunes. There’s a lot of interesting stuff going on in “Here Comes the Sun,” just below the surface. It’s also really entertaining on guitar, though I still wish there were some way to simulate picking individual strings in music games. Would make playing songs like this, with lots of arpeggiated chords, feel so much less artificial.

7:21 pm: On the rooftop. “Dig a Pony.” Never heard it before. Wow, what a lovely tune. Really excellent, laid-back vibe. Also very interesting on guitar, even on Hard (which I’ve again switched down to, the better to appreciate these complex songs).

7:27 pm: The game keeps showing a dude on the ground with a hat and a pipe, looking up at the roof. Should I know who this is? Or is this just Pipe Guy’s Big Break? He’s been lurking for two songs now.

7:35 pm: “I Me Mine.” Oh wow. What a fantastic song. The time (and tone) change comes out of nowhere but totally works. I can’t believe I’ve never heard this song before now. Hey Beatles fans, why have you been failing me all my life? Really nice, fun guitar part too. Just, wow.

7:45 pm: Ample time at the end of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” to catch up with the goings-on in Pipe Guy’s life. Looks like he may be pitching woo to one of the lovely young ladies at Apple Corps, since he made a cameo appearance on the roof during the trance-like last, oh, let’s call it two minutes of the song. I’ll admit it, though: The ending totally got me.

7:54 pm: “Get Back” got done. And…that’s the end of the game. Or is it? The credits are rolling at the moment, complemented by some random studio chatter and following a really lovely closing cinematic, so I’m going to go with…wait, what’s this? “Encore”?

7:59 pm: Ah, of course. The final, unannounced song. I won’t spoil it for you in case you’re really keeping a tight lid on the game, but I will say this: It’s fun to play, it’s fitting, and at the end even I — I, who had never really paid attention to a Beatles song before today — even I had chills.

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So there you have it. Forty-five songs in about six and a half hours, and though I’ve completed the story mode I’ve really just scratched the surface of the game. I started out on both guitar and vocals, did a couple songs on bass, a couple on drums, and then moved to just guitar for the bulk of the game. So I know I’ve got a lot more to do here. I’m especially interested in playing through the rest of the songs on bass, since many — if not most — had the bass rated as significantly higher difficulty than any other instrument, and as I said earlier I had absolutely no idea Paul was so active on the bass.

But the question is: Will I bother? In other words, is the game worth playing for someone who, like me, doesn’t come into it already a Beatles fan?

The answer: Absolutely. Now, this may be in part because I’m a musician and songwriter, and so I’m interested in these songs from an intellectual standpoint as well as the visceral. Your mileage may vary. But between the many (many!) familiar songs I became reacquainted with today, I got a few tantalizing glimpses into the Beatles legend — a small whiff of why people speak of the band with the reverence they do.

Not from the songs I already knew. Oh, those are fine. I can recognize their quality even if, thanks to commercials and films and snippets heard blaring from passing cars, I can’t experience them outside their cultural frame. It’s a horrible thing to admit, but for those of us of a certain age and musical background, “Revolution” will always remind us of Nike, first. And “Twist and Shout” will always be Ferris Beuller.

But “Something,” “Dig a Pony,” and especially “I Me Mine”…these are — yes — revelations. The thing that occurred to me while playing these songs (aside from, “Ah, this is why people worship the Beatles”) is that Harmonix was in a bit of an unfortunate position here. I’m sure they wanted badly to introduce a new generation to the Beatles. But so many of the Beatles songs are already so popular — I’ll say it, so overplayed — that I’m sure they wanted to pick songs for their quality and not for their popularity. But had they done that, no one would have bought it. (Or so, I’m sure, the number-crunchers would have insisted.)

So we’re given a healthy assortment of perhaps overly familiar tunes, interspersed with some lesser-known gems. But I’ll say this: If there’s more where those came from, Beatles fans, I may be one of you very soon.

Besides, it’s what Pipe Guy would have wanted.