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NeoGAF's Official Game Soundtracks of the Year 2013: Voting Ends January 12th
- Thread starter Nert
- Start date
Nowhere Man
Member
1. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
2. Valdis Story: Abyssal City (Full OST here)
3. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Honorable Mention: Tales of Xillia
2. Valdis Story: Abyssal City (Full OST here)
3. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Honorable Mention: Tales of Xillia
SatelliteOfLove
Member
When it comes out here and I play it will I hear it in situ, and NOT before...not one...moment...before...
Spieler Eins
Member
1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Final dungeon
2. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
World map
3. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Credits
Honorable mentions
Ni No Kuni
Fire Emblem
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
Final dungeon
2. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
World map
3. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Credits
Honorable mentions
Ni No Kuni
Fire Emblem
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
Nocturnowl
Member
So I went from not being able to type up much of anything to exploding with sheer levels of waffling because that's what I do apparently, yes i'm appreciative of this deadline extension. I will say that no one soundtrack this year truly runs away with a victory for me, these and even my honourable mentions are all pretty close as a whole so really this numbering doesn't mean much to me on this occasion though I found a reason to get behind the top spot choice.
1. Rayman Legends
The soundtrack for Rayman Legends is a peculiar blend, its got its share of grand orchestral fare to fit the backdrops of old castles within a dense woodland, its also got sneaky spy themes with spoof Bond film track names pointing directly at their inspiration. Then theres the distinct eccentric nature of the predecessor Rayman Origins own soundtrack that serves to tie all the various themes together into one lovingly mad whole, I hope you like Kazoos!
Whats interesting about some stages in Legends is how occasionally bits and pieces of a track are either separated, played out of order or even spliced with other tracks to fit the action on screen. For example the challenges that take place within the infinite tower setting and the "when Toads fly" stage use both the games main Medieval Theme and Moving Ground which in itself is a more forceful booming version of the medieval theme, it all happens so seamlessly it took me a while to notice when going through the soundtrack release and thinking that the tunes progressed differently in my head. On top of this some tracks will drop out bits of the backing and other small tweaks which make the experience between listening to the soundtrack and hearing the music in game quite a bit different. Boss themes are made up of usually three separate pieces of music for each phase of the fight ramping up in intensity (and sometimes absurdity) as they go.
Such musical details push through right until the end of the game,
Its hard to talk about music in this game without of course bringing up the music stages which involve platforming action synced up with the music playing on the stage itself. Here Legends dips its toes into the world of licensed music yet lets no so quickly forget what series were dealing with here, its Rayman so that means we get the likes of a crazed Mariachi band rendition of Eye of the Tiger which never failed to elicit a grin from anyone who I played multiplayer with. From jumping gaps, hitting enemies to sliding down long ropes the music matches the motion, the game is a bit of a sneak here and speeds characters up should you start lagging behind or might help the placement of jumps so to speak as to not entirely lose the platforming rhythm (so Origins treasure chases they are not) yet I cant really fault it for that, the music stages serve as a pleasing end of world bonus and yet another example of how well integrated music is with Legends as a game.
Luchador is my standout theme from the game, for this one we truly enter the realm of Raymans own quirky musical traits. A boss battle against an imposing yet showy luchador is supported by a theme that draws upon upbeat Mexican stylings alongside the crowd chanting in favour of said luchador. This brings a unique twist to what you could call a vocal track, why I almost want to chant along with the fervent crowd in support of their masked hero (while Im slamming into his cranium no less) , throw in some almost stereotypical sounding yelping and youve got something that may be positively mad yet remains impossible to dismiss capturing what I can only imagine is the essence of a luchador wrestling spectacle in the land of the dead. Oh and of course theres a crazy Kazoo section in there.
Sticking to the boss themes Medieval Dragon is another favourite of mine, yeah its the medieval theme back for another round but with a vengeance. Both valiant and grandiose to fit a dragon slaying encounter, you might be able to notice the parts where the song splits into the previously mentioned three segments to fit the three rounds of the boss battle. Though grand it still carries that Rayman style and you know what this means, KAZOOS! Also whistling and some bagpipes, whats missing here in the soundtrack version is the Kazoo trailing off as the delirious defeated dragon crashes into bits of the scenery before just dropping down on a batch of enemies which is touch I find quite hilarious.
I just cant let go of my boss themes or dragons for that matter, Mechanical Dragon has an opening that brings it right out of the gate, strong percussion that soon explodes into a lot of brass which gets me good, especially as it ramps up in pace. Following this things get a bit more intense and more traditional boss style as an electric guitar enters and the tone in general shifts to a more formidable one.
Okay no more bosses, time for something completely different, Lost in the Clouds sticks to the orchestral approach for its entire duration, yup theres no surprise Kazoos to be heard this time around and in its place a rather moving piece of music that hits all the right notes for me. I think the theme also draws from a portion of the melody of Rayman Origins Lost Beats track which is a nice callback if so, in fact Im pretty sure, it was one of my favourite tracks in Origins after all.
Rayman takes my top spot for its more interesting use of music throughout the game, stages based around platforming to the rhythm, music thats segmented to dynamically fit the situation and delivers a blend of styles that dont clash regardless of all logic pointing towards the fact that they should. It embraces the strengths of the medium to deliver itself and therefore feels that much more integral to the experience of Legends itself and that is what elevates it to the next level.
2. Sonic Lost World
I was feeling pretty lukewarm on Lost Worlds soundtrack when I first finished the game, much like the game itself the soundtrack felt like a jumble of varying quality, upon going back through Lost World again for collectables and what not my opinion of the game itself lessened further but my thoughts on the music did the opposite.
Sonic music is no stranger to taking various directions across the series, from raps mostly memorable for dodgy lyrics to undertaking various styles of world music. Lost World has an approach thats not so simple to nail down yet in a sense for me it came across like a back to basics approach, like it was just going to be a game of platforming arse platforming music with no overarching unifying theme, I guess in a sense this isnt too different from say Colours but Lost Worlds sheer mishmash of stage settings and concepts leads to the music casting a wider net, an inconsistent net but it hits much more than it misses and at this point I feel comfortable in saying the music is the best part of the whole game.
Windy Hill Zone 1 kicks off the game with music that sets the scene for starting a new adventure with the right amount of upbeat kick in its step alongside some more orchestra like elements, its an interesting mix of instruments that work well together infusing the strings and light piano with a distinctly sonic like style which I'll contribute to some brass elements popping up in the background every now and then.
Speaking of brass theres Desert Ruins opening act that takes the rather stock stylings of sitar heavy video game desert themes and jazzes it up to great effect leading so a more funky ska style desert theme, usually desert themes are hit and miss with me but Im a big fan of this one, its anything but slow and dreary.
By far my favourite piece of music from the game and quite possibly my favourite piece of VGM from this year is Sea Bottom Segue, its like it was whipped up with my personal preferences in mind, from the moment I heard the opening piano it instantly grabbed my attention and when the strings kicked in I was entirely entranced.
Sea Bottom Segue angles for that beautiful and mysterious ocean vibe, its just so pleasantly relaxing and when I slammed on the headphones especially for it I could've welled up joyful tears which tells me that its well and truly hit the mark. One notable thing here is that the percussion side of things isnt quite so chilled out and thats possibly because despite this theme being incredibly mellow on the whole it still needs to carry a sense of urgency as the stage it plays in is in fact a rail grinding stage reminiscent of a DKC mine cart stage complete with some strict timing for jumps and little margin for error which makes the theme kind of funny in a sense, you need something like this to keep you calm after being ista-killed by a cart of bombs for the umpteenth time.
Sky Road Zone 1 stands out quite a bit further from the rest. I didnt really know what to make of this theme when I first heard it, it feels like a throwback to some platforming themes of past eras with its peppy electronic vibe that somehow reminds me of some cheesy nineties dance anthem crossed with an airy sky aura. It took some time to grow on me but grow it did.
Theres plenty more from an oriental theme to accompany platforming across mechanical dragons in the clouds to a light Christmassy jazz track when you are inexplicably rolled up into a snowball, both the music and stages may be all over the place but where the stages have trouble making it all work the music fares a lot better coming across as more of a fun variety selection.
Plus there's a track titled Midnight Owl which I'm fully behind, it's like my character theme for writing up loooong lists well into the early morning.
3. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies
*It goes without saying but video comments will be spoiler minefields for a game like this and even this writeup may allude to some light spoilers so just a warning*
Ace Attorney soundtracks work in such a manner that you know a number of the general musical theme types youre going to be getting before you even play it such as empowering cornered themes for your counter-attack and tenser variations on a previous theme as your cross examination brings you closer to bringing about a break in the case. This round of Ace Attorney is more of the same in this respect with Noriyuki Iwadare once again returning to helm the soundtrack which is fine by me as hes the man behind a lot of my favourite themes in the series.
A change this time around is that were taking a jump up from DS sound quality which makes the music a touch more dramatic in a number of pieces, when I first finished Dual Destinies I was unsure how I felt about it among soundtracks from the series but after I found myself returning to certain themes on a regular basis I can safely say that not only is this another good AA soundtrack, its one of the best in the series.
Making music for a Lawyer em up (this may not be a real genre, just a hunch) may sound a bit bland to those looking at the series from a distance but Dual Destinies always has the right music on hand to match a situation, whether youre meeting a zany character or stumbling across a crime scene the music plays a role in helping set the scene, jubilant, mournful, puzzling, all these words can fit Dual Destinies soundtrack at one time or another.
While DD is home to some pleasing remixes for previously known characters like Phoenix and Apollo theres a new lawyer playing a part in this entry, the addition of Athena Cykes brings some of what I find to be the more interesting new musical pieces into play.
Athena has three variations on her character theme, sharing the same basic melody but bringing a different vibe each time. Of course such things are nothing new to music but I can always appreciate when its done well. Her standard character theme is a positive and encouraging track with a hint of playfulness to accompany her eager can do attitude. The courtroom variation puts a more powerful spin on it while retaining that same attitude and is one hell of an ear worm as well making it my favourite track in the game. Lastly theres the more sorrowful Reminiscence take on the same theme effectively turning it upside down with a slower subdued approach to such a degree that it took me a while to notice it was using the same melody as the previous themes.
Dual Destinies has a new prosecuting rival in Simon Blackquill who has has the rather unusual gimmick of being both a convict and having a strong Samurai influence in his personality and appearance, his theme Distorted Swordsmanship plays with these tropes using more traditional Japanese instruments to deliver a rather pressuring theme that also calls back to his intimidating convict side.
Synaptic Resonance is a recurring track across Dual Destinies that turns up towards the end of each case as the player character (and the player as well for that matter) pieces together various pieces of information to figure out the final twist in a trial, in particular this theme works alongside the visual imagery to really sell the deduction angle its driving for, the escalation towards the end of the loop really hits it home and this type of theme may become another one of those recurring theme types if the idea returns in future games and it really should.
Dual Destinies music is more of the same in a sense and that's fine by me, another round of fitting tracks that support the situations as they play out in game with more of an audio boost than previous entries in the series.
HM: Super Mario 3D World
Coming back down to earth was never going to be easy for me, the grand spacey soundtracks of both Super Mario Galaxy games are easily my favourites in the Mario series and while 3D World isnt quite the same sweeping spectacular it has a very good thing going with its own swinging style. It feels more like a return to tradition as a whole with a greater amount of live instruments to jump up the quality. At any rate the EAD Mario games have my favourite soundtracks across the entire series and this one helps show why, the credits rendition of the main theme and second Athletic theme stand out as my favourites, plus I finally got a SMB2 character select remix.
HM: A Link Between Worlds
Well when youre building off from the majority of ALTTPs classic soundtrack then its pretty much guaranteed to be a good thing. ALBW has what is now my favourite rendition of the Dark World theme on top of a few new pieces like the Yuga battle theme that seems to get more unhinged in its vocal style as it progresses. I cant forgive the lack of a remix for ALTTPs opening theme though, I waited all game for it and it wasnt there, it still hurts.
LTTP 2012: Dustforce
Well with two of the most writeup happy members championing this soundtrack in the thread last year I had to take some notice, Dustforces soundtrack has some fantastically chill chiptune style tracks that go further to bring an atmosphere to the in game settings through smart usage of sound effects or more ambient moments, its a small soundtrack that packs a punch in nearly every entry working as a strong example of quality over quantity. In my house its always Cider Time, Id say to the point of intoxication but I guess were not talking in Brit Cider terminology here.
Remix thingamajig of the year: Banjo-Kazooie Symphony
Banjo-Kazooies soundtrack has long held a high place in my favourite game soundtracks with its jaunty dynamic themes that really sold the games cartoony style and settings. Capturing this essence in an orchestrated (well synthetically at least) approach could lose that what makes the music work but fortunately Blake Robinson nailed it with the right choice of instruments and balance between more sweeping flourishes that the orchestra approach entails and the cheery original soundtrack.
Alas I have nothing to work with for examples other than previews which is a shame. Something I do love about albums like this is the potential to improve upon or highlight themes that arent as well known as the rest of the soundtrack and in particular the simple Save the Twinklies theme gets a delightfully warm Christmas expansion and Gnawtys House is another more short but sweet song that benefits from its orchestra overhaul. Of course all the classic world themes are handled with care and the Gruntilda Medley marries all the world themed variations of B-Ks hub theme into a long and varied track that calls back to the more dynamic side of the original games soundtrack. Just take my word for it that this is really good stuff and I heartily recommend it if you enjoyed the original soundtrack.
Boy I could go further if I highlighted various single tracks I really enjoyed from games this year as well as from those I haven't played posted in this here thread but I think that maybe I should call it quits here, yes I think I will.
1. Rayman Legends
The soundtrack for Rayman Legends is a peculiar blend, its got its share of grand orchestral fare to fit the backdrops of old castles within a dense woodland, its also got sneaky spy themes with spoof Bond film track names pointing directly at their inspiration. Then theres the distinct eccentric nature of the predecessor Rayman Origins own soundtrack that serves to tie all the various themes together into one lovingly mad whole, I hope you like Kazoos!
Whats interesting about some stages in Legends is how occasionally bits and pieces of a track are either separated, played out of order or even spliced with other tracks to fit the action on screen. For example the challenges that take place within the infinite tower setting and the "when Toads fly" stage use both the games main Medieval Theme and Moving Ground which in itself is a more forceful booming version of the medieval theme, it all happens so seamlessly it took me a while to notice when going through the soundtrack release and thinking that the tunes progressed differently in my head. On top of this some tracks will drop out bits of the backing and other small tweaks which make the experience between listening to the soundtrack and hearing the music in game quite a bit different. Boss themes are made up of usually three separate pieces of music for each phase of the fight ramping up in intensity (and sometimes absurdity) as they go.
Such musical details push through right until the end of the game,
after one of the world bosses is defeated you wallop one of the villainous Mr Dark clones across the galaxy whereupon they get their comeuppance getting stuck in one of five craters on a small planetoid of devilish imp critters that will start making music through the pulling of legs or some shall we say backside percussion, each boss defeated adds another instrument to this humorously twisted composition which ends up completing the opening to the credits.
Its hard to talk about music in this game without of course bringing up the music stages which involve platforming action synced up with the music playing on the stage itself. Here Legends dips its toes into the world of licensed music yet lets no so quickly forget what series were dealing with here, its Rayman so that means we get the likes of a crazed Mariachi band rendition of Eye of the Tiger which never failed to elicit a grin from anyone who I played multiplayer with. From jumping gaps, hitting enemies to sliding down long ropes the music matches the motion, the game is a bit of a sneak here and speeds characters up should you start lagging behind or might help the placement of jumps so to speak as to not entirely lose the platforming rhythm (so Origins treasure chases they are not) yet I cant really fault it for that, the music stages serve as a pleasing end of world bonus and yet another example of how well integrated music is with Legends as a game.
Luchador is my standout theme from the game, for this one we truly enter the realm of Raymans own quirky musical traits. A boss battle against an imposing yet showy luchador is supported by a theme that draws upon upbeat Mexican stylings alongside the crowd chanting in favour of said luchador. This brings a unique twist to what you could call a vocal track, why I almost want to chant along with the fervent crowd in support of their masked hero (while Im slamming into his cranium no less) , throw in some almost stereotypical sounding yelping and youve got something that may be positively mad yet remains impossible to dismiss capturing what I can only imagine is the essence of a luchador wrestling spectacle in the land of the dead. Oh and of course theres a crazy Kazoo section in there.
Sticking to the boss themes Medieval Dragon is another favourite of mine, yeah its the medieval theme back for another round but with a vengeance. Both valiant and grandiose to fit a dragon slaying encounter, you might be able to notice the parts where the song splits into the previously mentioned three segments to fit the three rounds of the boss battle. Though grand it still carries that Rayman style and you know what this means, KAZOOS! Also whistling and some bagpipes, whats missing here in the soundtrack version is the Kazoo trailing off as the delirious defeated dragon crashes into bits of the scenery before just dropping down on a batch of enemies which is touch I find quite hilarious.
I just cant let go of my boss themes or dragons for that matter, Mechanical Dragon has an opening that brings it right out of the gate, strong percussion that soon explodes into a lot of brass which gets me good, especially as it ramps up in pace. Following this things get a bit more intense and more traditional boss style as an electric guitar enters and the tone in general shifts to a more formidable one.
Okay no more bosses, time for something completely different, Lost in the Clouds sticks to the orchestral approach for its entire duration, yup theres no surprise Kazoos to be heard this time around and in its place a rather moving piece of music that hits all the right notes for me. I think the theme also draws from a portion of the melody of Rayman Origins Lost Beats track which is a nice callback if so, in fact Im pretty sure, it was one of my favourite tracks in Origins after all.
Rayman takes my top spot for its more interesting use of music throughout the game, stages based around platforming to the rhythm, music thats segmented to dynamically fit the situation and delivers a blend of styles that dont clash regardless of all logic pointing towards the fact that they should. It embraces the strengths of the medium to deliver itself and therefore feels that much more integral to the experience of Legends itself and that is what elevates it to the next level.
2. Sonic Lost World
I was feeling pretty lukewarm on Lost Worlds soundtrack when I first finished the game, much like the game itself the soundtrack felt like a jumble of varying quality, upon going back through Lost World again for collectables and what not my opinion of the game itself lessened further but my thoughts on the music did the opposite.
Sonic music is no stranger to taking various directions across the series, from raps mostly memorable for dodgy lyrics to undertaking various styles of world music. Lost World has an approach thats not so simple to nail down yet in a sense for me it came across like a back to basics approach, like it was just going to be a game of platforming arse platforming music with no overarching unifying theme, I guess in a sense this isnt too different from say Colours but Lost Worlds sheer mishmash of stage settings and concepts leads to the music casting a wider net, an inconsistent net but it hits much more than it misses and at this point I feel comfortable in saying the music is the best part of the whole game.
Windy Hill Zone 1 kicks off the game with music that sets the scene for starting a new adventure with the right amount of upbeat kick in its step alongside some more orchestra like elements, its an interesting mix of instruments that work well together infusing the strings and light piano with a distinctly sonic like style which I'll contribute to some brass elements popping up in the background every now and then.
Speaking of brass theres Desert Ruins opening act that takes the rather stock stylings of sitar heavy video game desert themes and jazzes it up to great effect leading so a more funky ska style desert theme, usually desert themes are hit and miss with me but Im a big fan of this one, its anything but slow and dreary.
By far my favourite piece of music from the game and quite possibly my favourite piece of VGM from this year is Sea Bottom Segue, its like it was whipped up with my personal preferences in mind, from the moment I heard the opening piano it instantly grabbed my attention and when the strings kicked in I was entirely entranced.
Sea Bottom Segue angles for that beautiful and mysterious ocean vibe, its just so pleasantly relaxing and when I slammed on the headphones especially for it I could've welled up joyful tears which tells me that its well and truly hit the mark. One notable thing here is that the percussion side of things isnt quite so chilled out and thats possibly because despite this theme being incredibly mellow on the whole it still needs to carry a sense of urgency as the stage it plays in is in fact a rail grinding stage reminiscent of a DKC mine cart stage complete with some strict timing for jumps and little margin for error which makes the theme kind of funny in a sense, you need something like this to keep you calm after being ista-killed by a cart of bombs for the umpteenth time.
Sky Road Zone 1 stands out quite a bit further from the rest. I didnt really know what to make of this theme when I first heard it, it feels like a throwback to some platforming themes of past eras with its peppy electronic vibe that somehow reminds me of some cheesy nineties dance anthem crossed with an airy sky aura. It took some time to grow on me but grow it did.
Theres plenty more from an oriental theme to accompany platforming across mechanical dragons in the clouds to a light Christmassy jazz track when you are inexplicably rolled up into a snowball, both the music and stages may be all over the place but where the stages have trouble making it all work the music fares a lot better coming across as more of a fun variety selection.
Plus there's a track titled Midnight Owl which I'm fully behind, it's like my character theme for writing up loooong lists well into the early morning.
3. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies
*It goes without saying but video comments will be spoiler minefields for a game like this and even this writeup may allude to some light spoilers so just a warning*
Ace Attorney soundtracks work in such a manner that you know a number of the general musical theme types youre going to be getting before you even play it such as empowering cornered themes for your counter-attack and tenser variations on a previous theme as your cross examination brings you closer to bringing about a break in the case. This round of Ace Attorney is more of the same in this respect with Noriyuki Iwadare once again returning to helm the soundtrack which is fine by me as hes the man behind a lot of my favourite themes in the series.
A change this time around is that were taking a jump up from DS sound quality which makes the music a touch more dramatic in a number of pieces, when I first finished Dual Destinies I was unsure how I felt about it among soundtracks from the series but after I found myself returning to certain themes on a regular basis I can safely say that not only is this another good AA soundtrack, its one of the best in the series.
Making music for a Lawyer em up (this may not be a real genre, just a hunch) may sound a bit bland to those looking at the series from a distance but Dual Destinies always has the right music on hand to match a situation, whether youre meeting a zany character or stumbling across a crime scene the music plays a role in helping set the scene, jubilant, mournful, puzzling, all these words can fit Dual Destinies soundtrack at one time or another.
While DD is home to some pleasing remixes for previously known characters like Phoenix and Apollo theres a new lawyer playing a part in this entry, the addition of Athena Cykes brings some of what I find to be the more interesting new musical pieces into play.
Athena has three variations on her character theme, sharing the same basic melody but bringing a different vibe each time. Of course such things are nothing new to music but I can always appreciate when its done well. Her standard character theme is a positive and encouraging track with a hint of playfulness to accompany her eager can do attitude. The courtroom variation puts a more powerful spin on it while retaining that same attitude and is one hell of an ear worm as well making it my favourite track in the game. Lastly theres the more sorrowful Reminiscence take on the same theme effectively turning it upside down with a slower subdued approach to such a degree that it took me a while to notice it was using the same melody as the previous themes.
Dual Destinies has a new prosecuting rival in Simon Blackquill who has has the rather unusual gimmick of being both a convict and having a strong Samurai influence in his personality and appearance, his theme Distorted Swordsmanship plays with these tropes using more traditional Japanese instruments to deliver a rather pressuring theme that also calls back to his intimidating convict side.
Synaptic Resonance is a recurring track across Dual Destinies that turns up towards the end of each case as the player character (and the player as well for that matter) pieces together various pieces of information to figure out the final twist in a trial, in particular this theme works alongside the visual imagery to really sell the deduction angle its driving for, the escalation towards the end of the loop really hits it home and this type of theme may become another one of those recurring theme types if the idea returns in future games and it really should.
Dual Destinies music is more of the same in a sense and that's fine by me, another round of fitting tracks that support the situations as they play out in game with more of an audio boost than previous entries in the series.
HM: Super Mario 3D World
Coming back down to earth was never going to be easy for me, the grand spacey soundtracks of both Super Mario Galaxy games are easily my favourites in the Mario series and while 3D World isnt quite the same sweeping spectacular it has a very good thing going with its own swinging style. It feels more like a return to tradition as a whole with a greater amount of live instruments to jump up the quality. At any rate the EAD Mario games have my favourite soundtracks across the entire series and this one helps show why, the credits rendition of the main theme and second Athletic theme stand out as my favourites, plus I finally got a SMB2 character select remix.
HM: A Link Between Worlds
Well when youre building off from the majority of ALTTPs classic soundtrack then its pretty much guaranteed to be a good thing. ALBW has what is now my favourite rendition of the Dark World theme on top of a few new pieces like the Yuga battle theme that seems to get more unhinged in its vocal style as it progresses. I cant forgive the lack of a remix for ALTTPs opening theme though, I waited all game for it and it wasnt there, it still hurts.
LTTP 2012: Dustforce
Well with two of the most writeup happy members championing this soundtrack in the thread last year I had to take some notice, Dustforces soundtrack has some fantastically chill chiptune style tracks that go further to bring an atmosphere to the in game settings through smart usage of sound effects or more ambient moments, its a small soundtrack that packs a punch in nearly every entry working as a strong example of quality over quantity. In my house its always Cider Time, Id say to the point of intoxication but I guess were not talking in Brit Cider terminology here.
Remix thingamajig of the year: Banjo-Kazooie Symphony
Banjo-Kazooies soundtrack has long held a high place in my favourite game soundtracks with its jaunty dynamic themes that really sold the games cartoony style and settings. Capturing this essence in an orchestrated (well synthetically at least) approach could lose that what makes the music work but fortunately Blake Robinson nailed it with the right choice of instruments and balance between more sweeping flourishes that the orchestra approach entails and the cheery original soundtrack.
Alas I have nothing to work with for examples other than previews which is a shame. Something I do love about albums like this is the potential to improve upon or highlight themes that arent as well known as the rest of the soundtrack and in particular the simple Save the Twinklies theme gets a delightfully warm Christmas expansion and Gnawtys House is another more short but sweet song that benefits from its orchestra overhaul. Of course all the classic world themes are handled with care and the Gruntilda Medley marries all the world themed variations of B-Ks hub theme into a long and varied track that calls back to the more dynamic side of the original games soundtrack. Just take my word for it that this is really good stuff and I heartily recommend it if you enjoyed the original soundtrack.
Boy I could go further if I highlighted various single tracks I really enjoyed from games this year as well as from those I haven't played posted in this here thread but I think that maybe I should call it quits here, yes I think I will.
cj_iwakura
Member
Mine is currently the boss Secret Shop track, but I still LOVE the Palace music. It's just so perfectly appropriate for a final dungeon, an artform that a lot of RPGs lack nowadays.
1. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
My GOTY just deserves SOTY as well. Countless good tracks!
Fate Boss Theme
2. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
This game always comes with a moving OST!
3. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
"In The End, It Has To Be This Way"
My GOTY just deserves SOTY as well. Countless good tracks!
Fate Boss Theme
2. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
This game always comes with a moving OST!
3. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
"In The End, It Has To Be This Way"
Hey folks! The archive, while still very much a work in progress, should be looking a little less anemic now. Once the initial voting period is complete, we will do a second pass through it and incorporate snippets from all of your lovely descriptions, so keep it up!
Also, while it's obvious that I'm not longer sticking to a daily schedule with the write-ups (I had to abandon that idea once it was clear that the deadline was going to be extended, haha), there will still be a least a couple more to come from me.
Also, while it's obvious that I'm not longer sticking to a daily schedule with the write-ups (I had to abandon that idea once it was clear that the deadline was going to be extended, haha), there will still be a least a couple more to come from me.
1. Bioshock Infinite
Not a fan of this game, but the thing that made me think while playing it that I was going to be playing one of the best games ever made in that first hour was the music. Sadly that didn't happen, but the music always stood out. From the licensed stuff to the original score for the action bits. The stinger at the end of every battle was especially great.
Notable Track: Will the Circle Be Unbroken (intro version), The Songbird, Elizabeth
2. The Last of Us
Sets the mood really well. Listening to the tracks I remember very specific moments.
Notable Track:The Last of Us, Home, The Path
3. Kentucky Route Zero
Half of what makes this strange game so strange is the music. The score is generally electronic with a lot of low key tones. Then out comes these great little folk songs.
Notable Track: Long Journey Home, You've Got to Walk
4. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
Notable Track: Blood Dragon Theme, Power Core, [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n92PTOCIGQw"]Love Theme[/URL]
5. Remember Me
Another game with a ton of flaws. The music however is so refreshingly weird. Taking these already great electronic tracks and augmenting them in strange, but cool ways.
Notable Track: Nilin the Memory Hunter, Fragments
6. Little Inferno
Notable Track: Titles, Little Inferno Just For Me, Reporting from the Weather Balloon
7. Gone Home
I'm not a huge fan of riot girl stuff, but this vote goes mainly to the original score and the integration into the game. There isn't a ton of it, but like the licensed music it adds a ton to the atmosphere and becomes one of the most memorable things about the game.
Notable Track: I Said Yes, First Day of School
8. Grand Theft Auto V
Notable Track: Intro, From Nowhere
9. The Wolf Among Us Episode 1: Faith
Notable Track: Main Theme, Prologue
10. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Notable Track: Lorule Field, Kakariko Village
Honorable mentions Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, Paper's Please intro
Not a fan of this game, but the thing that made me think while playing it that I was going to be playing one of the best games ever made in that first hour was the music. Sadly that didn't happen, but the music always stood out. From the licensed stuff to the original score for the action bits. The stinger at the end of every battle was especially great.
Notable Track: Will the Circle Be Unbroken (intro version), The Songbird, Elizabeth
2. The Last of Us
Sets the mood really well. Listening to the tracks I remember very specific moments.
Notable Track:The Last of Us, Home, The Path
3. Kentucky Route Zero
Half of what makes this strange game so strange is the music. The score is generally electronic with a lot of low key tones. Then out comes these great little folk songs.
Notable Track: Long Journey Home, You've Got to Walk
4. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
Notable Track: Blood Dragon Theme, Power Core, [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n92PTOCIGQw"]Love Theme[/URL]
5. Remember Me
Another game with a ton of flaws. The music however is so refreshingly weird. Taking these already great electronic tracks and augmenting them in strange, but cool ways.
Notable Track: Nilin the Memory Hunter, Fragments
6. Little Inferno
Notable Track: Titles, Little Inferno Just For Me, Reporting from the Weather Balloon
7. Gone Home
I'm not a huge fan of riot girl stuff, but this vote goes mainly to the original score and the integration into the game. There isn't a ton of it, but like the licensed music it adds a ton to the atmosphere and becomes one of the most memorable things about the game.
Notable Track: I Said Yes, First Day of School
8. Grand Theft Auto V
Notable Track: Intro, From Nowhere
9. The Wolf Among Us Episode 1: Faith
Notable Track: Main Theme, Prologue
10. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Notable Track: Lorule Field, Kakariko Village
Honorable mentions Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, Paper's Please intro
1. Shin Megami Tensei IV
I’ll preface saying that some if not all of my of my links will probably have game spoilers in them. I’ve tried to be as non-spoilerly as I can in this post, so bear with me if some of the things I say aren’t backed up by specific examples or are blocked by black bars (they’re probably too spoilery). The following is just basically a non-linear, mildly coherent, unorganized mind-dump of how I feel about some elements of the compositions in SMT IV, and brief surface-level analysis of a few pieces and observations on the analysis performed. I stopped caring pretty quickly about having a nice paragraph flow and just wanted to keep writing, so there’s that. I dictated almost all the pieces or parts of pieces I talked about in here just to be sure I got my talking points and observations absolutely correct (if you want some of the examples/sheet music or chord analysis, I did save pretty much all of them including phrase-period diagrams in my notebooks). So anyway, let the fun begin!
Shin Megami Tensei IV has the best soundtrack in gaming this year. The variety is astounding, the production values are of a high quality, and is just an all-around solid choice. It's got this electronic 80's funk/rock nature to it at times, sometimes dubstep (wubwubwub), chill rock tunes, and really incredible battle music, with throw-backs to the older games in the franchise.
The variety of music in this game is astounding. Not once could I find a section of music that I didn't like, nor could I find one that didn't fit the game perfectly. I would argue the use of this music in this game is some of the best i've heard, with the music being a device to completely fill in the the atmosphere of the world you're exploring. It’s a character in and of itself.
To begin, i’d like to compare and contrast Mikado and Tokyo a little.
A really easy example to use to compare the two is found in the Overworld music of both worlds (well, you know what I mean with regards to Mikado’s “Overworld”
, The Mikado music is much more traditional, tonally stable, and almost unhumanistic in how strict it was, especially with regards to the rhythm (which harkens back to the proper role of music within that given time period). The Tokyo Map music is, by comparison, is so full of emotion, extended-tertian harmony, and just has so much soul and freedom in it. It evokes a sense of the unknown and really nails down everything it sets out to do with its carefully chosen instrumentation.
The melody is totally contrasting to the Mikado music in the way it moves. Mikado always featured very linear, step-wise motion from note-to-note, and never allowed for any real deviation. It’s very baroque in terms of what composers valued with regards to structure and counterpoint in music during that time period but not of the baroque genre itself. Tokyo is more the romantic. The melodic line jumps and flows naturally, more like human speech, and outlines harmony so well. The phrasing is more uneven here, and the buildup to each section from the previous is so natural and not strict at all. And man, that tritone leap in the melody gets me right in the pleasure center of my brain every time.
Speaking on overall sound presentation...
In Mikado there are more pure intervals being used with standard tertian harmony, and with a ton more pedal points accompanying the simple melodies. The harmonic structure is simple, the phrasing standard, and the instrumentation is acoustic in how it comes across. Those sweet bagpipes, strings (usually quintal and quartal), drones, and skin-percussion (think hand-drumming) come across in these tracks frequently.
To totally contrast this, we have Tokyo.
Tokyo -a destroyed remnant of modern society- naturally has a more synthetic and broken sound to it. Generated electronic sounds are used almost exclusively here (keeping that battle themes out of this discussion for now), with an occasional acoustic instrument slipping in here or there. A lot of this has to do with the portrayal of technology available to the different peoples of this world as well as their cultures. Imagine the delight on my face the first time I walked into a Hunter’s Guild, only having been exposed to K’s Tavern this whole time. I nearly had a culture shock in how different the two places were, and it was done through both the neon-filled art and the music.
I won't talk much about (mega spoilers!)
Between worlds...
To bridge the gap between worlds, we have music (in only a few pieces) that incorporate musical elements of both worlds. I’ll only talk about the non-spoilerly ones in here, but if you were wondering what the second and third ones are, they’re Kiccigiorgi (which incorporates pentatonicisim and that asiatic 1-7 tonic sub-tonic motion that is just beautiful) and (mega spoilers)
For this discussion i’m going to talk about Naraku.
Naraku is quite literally a zone that connects both the worlds. This concept is something that shows up musically in the dungeon. When the player first enters the dungeon, the impression the music gives me is that it’s something that is mysteriously different than upper Mikado, and something that I can’t quite put my finger on at first. A lot of the quicker structures and natural timbres of the Mikado music are gone and we’re presented with our first electronic sounds. If you haven’t listened to the piece with headphones, please do! There’s some things you’ll miss if you don’t.
The familiar elements from Mikado are mostly the skin/hand-drum sounds that provide the movement of the piece. There’s a primal sense about the pattern in this voice, and it provides a sort of ritualistic consistency to the overall presentation of the piece. The first time I heard it I would consistently tap the drum part on my steering wheel while on the way to work, and would always have it in my mind. It’s probably the most addicting (because of this primal/ritualistic sound) part of the piece to me, and the most attractive. The other element that could be heard from Mikado would be the sort of “Ahhhh” male-sounding vocals/drone, but those are nearly electronically fused to create a really cool timbre.
The electronic elements in this piece are also really awesome. My favorite feature would have to be the descending sine wave that just drops and drops and bends down in register till it hits the bottom. You can’t really hear it without headphones, but man is it AWESOME! It’s a constant in the piece until the end of the loop, but when it is heard it provides a really nice foundation for the harmonies to build on. It also doubles as a sort of percussive sound, mimicking something similar to if someone played a concert bass drum undampened; it just sounds after that first hit and takes a nice long time to sustain and decay at just the right length.
Then you have the actual melodic line, which are just the three notes. The first note sounds for half the phrase, while you have a harmonic accelerando to complete the phrase with the last two notes. These last two notes really set up a nice resolution to a half-cadence that occurs on the last note. Being what it is, it’s perfectly structured to loop right back into the first note of the small phrase.
And then you look at the harmonic structure of those notes. While you’d usually have nice open fourths and fifths with some tight melodic structures (as the listener has been previously exposed to), Naraku changes it up. The first chord is just a plain old dominant 7th chord, but curiously omits the 3rd and uses the third inversion, which would instantly make someone think of a more extended-terian structure. I know I was fooled by it. The E-flat could be mistaken as the root and the F would be the 9th, providing this listening experience instead. But when you take into consideration the F provided by the sine wave, it’s simple to see the structure this way instead (being based around F instead of E-flat, losing some modality in order to fake it by omitting a D). So now the cadential structure changes and makes use of the sub-tonic in inverted form to subvert the way the listener thinks cadence is going to happen, making for a really effective use of being restricted to a loop-based medium.
And on top of this structure, there’s a lot of uneven oscillation used in these moving chords, which really add a ton of texture to the sound. They’re always constantly wavering in and out of sync with one another, and have this really cool inconsistency that lines up atmospherically with the kind of environment that Naraku is.
The last element in there are the electronic “bell” sounds. These aren’t terribly important as the rest of the elements of the piece, but add a nice texture to the music, add an element of disassociation with the rest of the piece that comes off a little eerie and playful, and goes back and forth between the top and bottom pitches pretty consistently with ostinato it maintains.
Naraku is an effectively timed piece in terms of how and when it’s used in the game. It sets up a different tonal (har har) expectation with the player about what they are going to experience, and introduces some important musical elements that are to come with the rest of the OST as the player explores further down. Of important note is how much the music changes (becomes more synthetic) once you beat your first boss, and progress even further down into Naraku.
To go back to some more sub-comparisons...
We have the different factions down there too. The Ashura-Kai tended to have more electronic music associated with it, while the Ring of Gaea were more acoustically focused (despite the lack of anything that compares to Mikado’s style of music), and more metrically free (making heavy use of syncopation, ostinato, and hemiola). The Ring of Gaea often had modal music that was patterned off of typical Asian modes, and stuck with using sound patches of things that sounded more Asian in their timbral influences. Maybe in true character to their alignment, the music was a little more chaotic (from attitude in some sections, to entrance-timings in others), upbeat, forward-pushing, and fiercer in many cases.
The Ashura-Kai music, in comparison, was almost always more synth-focused, metrically stricter, with solid 2 and 4 snare emphasis and 1 and 3 bass beat placements. There’s more organization and stability in the way the tracks move and flow from section to section. There’s the Shop Music, which is basically an R&B tune, the Reverse Hills, which is a pretty intense piece of music when you learn what goes with it, and basically all the underground town music belongs to them. Ikebukuro (probably my favorite music in the game) was awesome and ready for a fight (true to its inhabitants), the atmosphere of Ueno was accurately portrayed (and a great first insight into aurally portraying the current position of humanity in Tokyo), and Shinjuku was the upbeat middle-ground where you could feel a sense of populous, stability, and fight in the area. The only real challenger to this notion is the
music, but it's inhabited by the
Though I won’t go into too much detail because of spoilers (Mega spoilers ahead!),
The overworld/field (not map theme) music was exemplary too. In this particular track, the feeling of exploration in this decaying urban environment was so well conveyed through the music, and you have this kind of dirty vibe to all of it. It really conveys the sense of scavenging, searching, and oppression this world has to offer. A particular melodic part in one of the overworld themes is so great at conveying this. The first melodic line never changes during the A section. It’s made up of a long and connected four notes (two two-note pairs making one phrase that lasts 4 bars) repeated 4 times over , has practically no portamento, and (if you know these sound envelope definitions) is so solid and unrelenting in in its utter lack of decay, has an instantaneous attack with no delay, a sustain that never breaks in intensity, and a release that almost never has an opportunity to let up. It’s brutal in the way its written.
The bass line is unrelenting and never lets up, nor changes pitch (is a pedal point and brilliantly syncopated, and doesn’t sound on the 4th beat of the measure), the melody is so brash and heavy handed in timbre (almost like people yelling in terms of coarseness), and the percussion is really heavy and tightly integrated, providing an incredible amount of texture to really form the presentation of the piece. It nails the atmosphere perfectly. The B section is a really wonderful contrast to the A section, eliciting a complete shift in tone. It has portamento, a much softer and less oppressive timbre, smoother attack that is lead into and not hit on the head, a nice amount of sustain that lets go when it needs to, and a wonderful decay that is just the right length. There’s so much contained within these short loops that its really a testament to the skill of the composer that so much variety and character could be fit into something so short.
Battle Music...
The real show-stopper is the battle music. Like, holy shit. If you want some of the best battle music in any game ever with an astounding variety, look no further than this soundtrack. There’s boss battle music, three flavors of normal battle music, mid-boss battle music, quest boss battle music, VR battle music, specific boss encounter music, optional/side boss battle music, character battle music… WOW there’s a lot going on here! Each piece is completely unique too, and varies in levels of intensity to match what you’re actively doing. The first time I fought
I could literally feel the blood pumping faster through my body, the adrenaline ramping up, and can’t even describe how much I felt engrossed in the fight and situation my characters were in. I really felt like I was fighting a fierce foe that would kick my ass if I didn’t put up an equal demonstration of power. Just all of it… I am totally speechless on how much all of the battle music really connected with me.
Title music...
The main title music, SSDS, is also incredible. It has so much badass attitude in it, and yet even has some bittersweet moments in it when that high drone kicks in towards the end of the piece that I can’t help but get engrossed in all kinds of emotions every time I hear it. It’s confident, mysterious, and you can’t help but get a good feel on the tone of the game from just that music. It’s complete in being something like an overture to the game because it really offers a piece of heart from each portion of the game.
And hell, I didn't even mention the quest music!
In summary...
I feel like saying this game has the best OST of the year is an understatement. It is by far one of the best soundtracks i’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to in a video game ever. Ryota Kozuka has done an OUTSTANDING job, and is the true next composer to the legacy of mainline Shin Megami Tensei music. His job in this game fits the series so succinctly in ways I can’t even begin to explain. It’s as if he really did his research and understood what it meant to be music in a Shin Megami Tensei game, and imbued his heart and soul into the heart and soul of this franchise, getting it SO RIGHT on his first foray. He didn’t conform the series to his aesthetic, but instead chose to become one with it, composing first and foremost for what the game demanded, synthesizing his style, intuition, heart, and soul with that of the series. This paved way for grundgestalt that was perfect for this game from inception.
====================================================================
I'll maybe write this stuff up later, albeit much shorter lol
2. Ace Attorney Dual Destinies
Investigation, Athena Objection Theme, Questioning ~Moderato, Chill Apollo Theme, Blackquill Theme, Thought Route.
3. Tearaway
Gibbet Hill - Pilgrimage, The Barn,
(dem double tenor pans pulling at my heartstrings), Renaissance Hop,
, The Traveller.
Honorable Mentions:
EO IV (I voted for it last year, didn't want to repeat)
Attack of the Friday Monsters - Hideki Sakamoto doodness is never a bad thing.
The Wonderful 101 - Man, Tables Turn still gives me a Pavlovian rush of adrenaline every time I hear it.
Fire Emblem Awakening - Holy crap all this stuff is incredible. The music that plays during the final battle is great, and that accordion is awesome.
Super Mario 3D World - More orchestrated goodness from the Nintendo composers? Big band stuff in there? A cute girl playing the bongos? Hell yes.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - Old classics brought into modern times with really kick-ass arrangements of old favorites? Sacred cows were preserved really nicely here, and the music is outstanding.
Sonic Lost World - I am a Tomoya Ohtani fanboy.
Etrian Odyssey Untold - Some seriously amazing re-imaginings of old songs. Really amazing stuff here which is par for the course when it comes to Yuzo Koshiro. Really well done here.
I’ll preface saying that some if not all of my of my links will probably have game spoilers in them. I’ve tried to be as non-spoilerly as I can in this post, so bear with me if some of the things I say aren’t backed up by specific examples or are blocked by black bars (they’re probably too spoilery). The following is just basically a non-linear, mildly coherent, unorganized mind-dump of how I feel about some elements of the compositions in SMT IV, and brief surface-level analysis of a few pieces and observations on the analysis performed. I stopped caring pretty quickly about having a nice paragraph flow and just wanted to keep writing, so there’s that. I dictated almost all the pieces or parts of pieces I talked about in here just to be sure I got my talking points and observations absolutely correct (if you want some of the examples/sheet music or chord analysis, I did save pretty much all of them including phrase-period diagrams in my notebooks). So anyway, let the fun begin!
Shin Megami Tensei IV has the best soundtrack in gaming this year. The variety is astounding, the production values are of a high quality, and is just an all-around solid choice. It's got this electronic 80's funk/rock nature to it at times, sometimes dubstep (wubwubwub), chill rock tunes, and really incredible battle music, with throw-backs to the older games in the franchise.
The variety of music in this game is astounding. Not once could I find a section of music that I didn't like, nor could I find one that didn't fit the game perfectly. I would argue the use of this music in this game is some of the best i've heard, with the music being a device to completely fill in the the atmosphere of the world you're exploring. It’s a character in and of itself.
To begin, i’d like to compare and contrast Mikado and Tokyo a little.
A really easy example to use to compare the two is found in the Overworld music of both worlds (well, you know what I mean with regards to Mikado’s “Overworld”
, The Mikado music is much more traditional, tonally stable, and almost unhumanistic in how strict it was, especially with regards to the rhythm (which harkens back to the proper role of music within that given time period). The Tokyo Map music is, by comparison, is so full of emotion, extended-tertian harmony, and just has so much soul and freedom in it. It evokes a sense of the unknown and really nails down everything it sets out to do with its carefully chosen instrumentation. The melody is totally contrasting to the Mikado music in the way it moves. Mikado always featured very linear, step-wise motion from note-to-note, and never allowed for any real deviation. It’s very baroque in terms of what composers valued with regards to structure and counterpoint in music during that time period but not of the baroque genre itself. Tokyo is more the romantic. The melodic line jumps and flows naturally, more like human speech, and outlines harmony so well. The phrasing is more uneven here, and the buildup to each section from the previous is so natural and not strict at all. And man, that tritone leap in the melody gets me right in the pleasure center of my brain every time.
Speaking on overall sound presentation...
In Mikado there are more pure intervals being used with standard tertian harmony, and with a ton more pedal points accompanying the simple melodies. The harmonic structure is simple, the phrasing standard, and the instrumentation is acoustic in how it comes across. Those sweet bagpipes, strings (usually quintal and quartal), drones, and skin-percussion (think hand-drumming) come across in these tracks frequently.
To totally contrast this, we have Tokyo.
Tokyo -a destroyed remnant of modern society- naturally has a more synthetic and broken sound to it. Generated electronic sounds are used almost exclusively here (keeping that battle themes out of this discussion for now), with an occasional acoustic instrument slipping in here or there. A lot of this has to do with the portrayal of technology available to the different peoples of this world as well as their cultures. Imagine the delight on my face the first time I walked into a Hunter’s Guild, only having been exposed to K’s Tavern this whole time. I nearly had a culture shock in how different the two places were, and it was done through both the neon-filled art and the music.
I won't talk much about (mega spoilers!)
the Blasted and Infernal dungeon music cause everything would be hidden behind bars! Pluto Castle's music was the shit though! So goooood!
Between worlds...
To bridge the gap between worlds, we have music (in only a few pieces) that incorporate musical elements of both worlds. I’ll only talk about the non-spoilerly ones in here, but if you were wondering what the second and third ones are, they’re Kiccigiorgi (which incorporates pentatonicisim and that asiatic 1-7 tonic sub-tonic motion that is just beautiful) and (mega spoilers)
Isabeau’s Battle Theme, the one that plays during the battle where you defeat her and she commits suicide.
Naraku is quite literally a zone that connects both the worlds. This concept is something that shows up musically in the dungeon. When the player first enters the dungeon, the impression the music gives me is that it’s something that is mysteriously different than upper Mikado, and something that I can’t quite put my finger on at first. A lot of the quicker structures and natural timbres of the Mikado music are gone and we’re presented with our first electronic sounds. If you haven’t listened to the piece with headphones, please do! There’s some things you’ll miss if you don’t.
The familiar elements from Mikado are mostly the skin/hand-drum sounds that provide the movement of the piece. There’s a primal sense about the pattern in this voice, and it provides a sort of ritualistic consistency to the overall presentation of the piece. The first time I heard it I would consistently tap the drum part on my steering wheel while on the way to work, and would always have it in my mind. It’s probably the most addicting (because of this primal/ritualistic sound) part of the piece to me, and the most attractive. The other element that could be heard from Mikado would be the sort of “Ahhhh” male-sounding vocals/drone, but those are nearly electronically fused to create a really cool timbre.
The electronic elements in this piece are also really awesome. My favorite feature would have to be the descending sine wave that just drops and drops and bends down in register till it hits the bottom. You can’t really hear it without headphones, but man is it AWESOME! It’s a constant in the piece until the end of the loop, but when it is heard it provides a really nice foundation for the harmonies to build on. It also doubles as a sort of percussive sound, mimicking something similar to if someone played a concert bass drum undampened; it just sounds after that first hit and takes a nice long time to sustain and decay at just the right length.
Then you have the actual melodic line, which are just the three notes. The first note sounds for half the phrase, while you have a harmonic accelerando to complete the phrase with the last two notes. These last two notes really set up a nice resolution to a half-cadence that occurs on the last note. Being what it is, it’s perfectly structured to loop right back into the first note of the small phrase.
And then you look at the harmonic structure of those notes. While you’d usually have nice open fourths and fifths with some tight melodic structures (as the listener has been previously exposed to), Naraku changes it up. The first chord is just a plain old dominant 7th chord, but curiously omits the 3rd and uses the third inversion, which would instantly make someone think of a more extended-terian structure. I know I was fooled by it. The E-flat could be mistaken as the root and the F would be the 9th, providing this listening experience instead. But when you take into consideration the F provided by the sine wave, it’s simple to see the structure this way instead (being based around F instead of E-flat, losing some modality in order to fake it by omitting a D). So now the cadential structure changes and makes use of the sub-tonic in inverted form to subvert the way the listener thinks cadence is going to happen, making for a really effective use of being restricted to a loop-based medium.
And on top of this structure, there’s a lot of uneven oscillation used in these moving chords, which really add a ton of texture to the sound. They’re always constantly wavering in and out of sync with one another, and have this really cool inconsistency that lines up atmospherically with the kind of environment that Naraku is.
The last element in there are the electronic “bell” sounds. These aren’t terribly important as the rest of the elements of the piece, but add a nice texture to the music, add an element of disassociation with the rest of the piece that comes off a little eerie and playful, and goes back and forth between the top and bottom pitches pretty consistently with ostinato it maintains.
Naraku is an effectively timed piece in terms of how and when it’s used in the game. It sets up a different tonal (har har) expectation with the player about what they are going to experience, and introduces some important musical elements that are to come with the rest of the OST as the player explores further down. Of important note is how much the music changes (becomes more synthetic) once you beat your first boss, and progress even further down into Naraku.
To go back to some more sub-comparisons...
We have the different factions down there too. The Ashura-Kai tended to have more electronic music associated with it, while the Ring of Gaea were more acoustically focused (despite the lack of anything that compares to Mikado’s style of music), and more metrically free (making heavy use of syncopation, ostinato, and hemiola). The Ring of Gaea often had modal music that was patterned off of typical Asian modes, and stuck with using sound patches of things that sounded more Asian in their timbral influences. Maybe in true character to their alignment, the music was a little more chaotic (from attitude in some sections, to entrance-timings in others), upbeat, forward-pushing, and fiercer in many cases.
The Ashura-Kai music, in comparison, was almost always more synth-focused, metrically stricter, with solid 2 and 4 snare emphasis and 1 and 3 bass beat placements. There’s more organization and stability in the way the tracks move and flow from section to section. There’s the Shop Music, which is basically an R&B tune, the Reverse Hills, which is a pretty intense piece of music when you learn what goes with it, and basically all the underground town music belongs to them. Ikebukuro (probably my favorite music in the game) was awesome and ready for a fight (true to its inhabitants), the atmosphere of Ueno was accurately portrayed (and a great first insight into aurally portraying the current position of humanity in Tokyo), and Shinjuku was the upbeat middle-ground where you could feel a sense of populous, stability, and fight in the area. The only real challenger to this notion is the
Tokyo Station
Ring of Gaea.
Though I won’t go into too much detail because of spoilers (Mega spoilers ahead!),
the music in the Blasted Tokyo and Infernal Shinjuku were just INCREDIBLE. They accurately portrayed the attitudes of their worlds perfectly. I really loved how the map themes demonstrated this immediately, and the town music only served to exemplify this difference. Compare the differences between Infernal Shinjuku and Blasted Shinjuku! Pretty incredible tonal shift that delivers a clear message to the listener!
The overworld/field (not map theme) music was exemplary too. In this particular track, the feeling of exploration in this decaying urban environment was so well conveyed through the music, and you have this kind of dirty vibe to all of it. It really conveys the sense of scavenging, searching, and oppression this world has to offer. A particular melodic part in one of the overworld themes is so great at conveying this. The first melodic line never changes during the A section. It’s made up of a long and connected four notes (two two-note pairs making one phrase that lasts 4 bars) repeated 4 times over , has practically no portamento, and (if you know these sound envelope definitions) is so solid and unrelenting in in its utter lack of decay, has an instantaneous attack with no delay, a sustain that never breaks in intensity, and a release that almost never has an opportunity to let up. It’s brutal in the way its written.
The bass line is unrelenting and never lets up, nor changes pitch (is a pedal point and brilliantly syncopated, and doesn’t sound on the 4th beat of the measure), the melody is so brash and heavy handed in timbre (almost like people yelling in terms of coarseness), and the percussion is really heavy and tightly integrated, providing an incredible amount of texture to really form the presentation of the piece. It nails the atmosphere perfectly. The B section is a really wonderful contrast to the A section, eliciting a complete shift in tone. It has portamento, a much softer and less oppressive timbre, smoother attack that is lead into and not hit on the head, a nice amount of sustain that lets go when it needs to, and a wonderful decay that is just the right length. There’s so much contained within these short loops that its really a testament to the skill of the composer that so much variety and character could be fit into something so short.
Battle Music...
The real show-stopper is the battle music. Like, holy shit. If you want some of the best battle music in any game ever with an astounding variety, look no further than this soundtrack. There’s boss battle music, three flavors of normal battle music, mid-boss battle music, quest boss battle music, VR battle music, specific boss encounter music, optional/side boss battle music, character battle music… WOW there’s a lot going on here! Each piece is completely unique too, and varies in levels of intensity to match what you’re actively doing. The first time I fought
Minotaur and he kept giving his speeches
Title music...
The main title music, SSDS, is also incredible. It has so much badass attitude in it, and yet even has some bittersweet moments in it when that high drone kicks in towards the end of the piece that I can’t help but get engrossed in all kinds of emotions every time I hear it. It’s confident, mysterious, and you can’t help but get a good feel on the tone of the game from just that music. It’s complete in being something like an overture to the game because it really offers a piece of heart from each portion of the game.
And hell, I didn't even mention the quest music!
In summary...
I feel like saying this game has the best OST of the year is an understatement. It is by far one of the best soundtracks i’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to in a video game ever. Ryota Kozuka has done an OUTSTANDING job, and is the true next composer to the legacy of mainline Shin Megami Tensei music. His job in this game fits the series so succinctly in ways I can’t even begin to explain. It’s as if he really did his research and understood what it meant to be music in a Shin Megami Tensei game, and imbued his heart and soul into the heart and soul of this franchise, getting it SO RIGHT on his first foray. He didn’t conform the series to his aesthetic, but instead chose to become one with it, composing first and foremost for what the game demanded, synthesizing his style, intuition, heart, and soul with that of the series. This paved way for grundgestalt that was perfect for this game from inception.
====================================================================
I'll maybe write this stuff up later, albeit much shorter lol
2. Ace Attorney Dual Destinies
Investigation, Athena Objection Theme, Questioning ~Moderato, Chill Apollo Theme, Blackquill Theme, Thought Route.
3. Tearaway
Gibbet Hill - Pilgrimage, The Barn,
Desert of the Mind
Between the Pages - Page One
Honorable Mentions:
EO IV (I voted for it last year, didn't want to repeat)
Attack of the Friday Monsters - Hideki Sakamoto doodness is never a bad thing.
The Wonderful 101 - Man, Tables Turn still gives me a Pavlovian rush of adrenaline every time I hear it.
Fire Emblem Awakening - Holy crap all this stuff is incredible. The music that plays during the final battle is great, and that accordion is awesome.
Super Mario 3D World - More orchestrated goodness from the Nintendo composers? Big band stuff in there? A cute girl playing the bongos? Hell yes.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - Old classics brought into modern times with really kick-ass arrangements of old favorites? Sacred cows were preserved really nicely here, and the music is outstanding.
Sonic Lost World - I am a Tomoya Ohtani fanboy.
Etrian Odyssey Untold - Some seriously amazing re-imaginings of old songs. Really amazing stuff here which is par for the course when it comes to Yuzo Koshiro. Really well done here.
I speel my dreenk
Member
1. Tearaway ; The whole thing feels very Celtic-inspired, but with lots of weirdness. Usually emotionally engaging, not often upbeat, it set an unforgettable tone for an amazing game.
- Renaissance Hop (Record Scratching Tune)
- Pilgrimmage
- The Orchards
2. Spelunky ; I walk around humming these stupid songs all the time. They're so good!
- Adventure!
3. Remember Me ; Odd symphonic electronic mixture, helped set the tone for a strange near-future Paris exceedingly well.
- Nilin the Memory Hunter
- The Zorn
- Renaissance Hop (Record Scratching Tune)
- Pilgrimmage
- The Orchards
2. Spelunky ; I walk around humming these stupid songs all the time. They're so good!
- Adventure!
3. Remember Me ; Odd symphonic electronic mixture, helped set the tone for a strange near-future Paris exceedingly well.
- Nilin the Memory Hunter
- The Zorn
1. The Last of Us
All Gone (No Escape)
The Choice My favorite song, specifically the version I linked. On the soundtrack, this song is missing an instrument (a violin I think).
The Last of Us
2. Shin Megami Tensei IV
Boss Battle
Quest Boss
Tokyo Map
3. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Main Theme
Pyrates Beware
The Ends of the Earth
All Gone (No Escape)
The Choice My favorite song, specifically the version I linked. On the soundtrack, this song is missing an instrument (a violin I think).
The Last of Us
2. Shin Megami Tensei IV
Boss Battle
Quest Boss
Tokyo Map
3. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Main Theme
Pyrates Beware
The Ends of the Earth
Manipulated...I quite like how that sounds, actually. It's so true though, it seems like a certain sect/group of RPG fans that have more or less "been there" connected on some universal wavelength (Xenogears/Saga style) when we all made our first steps on Tokyo. It's pretty cosmic stuff, I'd say. Man, I couldn't even pick a favorite current track or anything like that, hah! That OST is just way too massive, I always end up jumping from one song to the next because there's just too much grabbing for my attention.
Yo, Thoraxes, that SMT IV writeup, my god, you're making want to go play SMT IV, like, hardcore right now. Pretty much said everything I tried to say about it, hah!
cj_iwakura
Member
Beautiful, Thoraxes. I truly hope Kozuka gets the accolades he deserves, at least on par with all the love Meguro gets(which he deserves as well).
Yeah today my favorite song is Ueno. That track is so good U.O.E.N.O!
Top notch stuff Thoraxes, I never thought to make the romantic/baroque connection, no wonder I wasn't a fan of that Mikado music.
Top notch stuff Thoraxes, I never thought to make the romantic/baroque connection, no wonder I wasn't a fan of that Mikado music.
Thanks you all
I really enjoyed writing up my thoughts on the music!
GhaleonQ
Member
I'm using Spotify links. Open in your browser, right-click, and copy the url.
Andrew Korenchkin
Member
I'll do mine:
3. Gone Home-Chris Remo did a good job.
2. The Last of Us-Not too much to say. Amazing job.
1. BioShock Infinite-Garry's penchant for composing absolutely sublime melodies, texture, and his penchant for composition was unmatched. One of the best soundtracks I've ever listened to.
3. Gone Home-Chris Remo did a good job.
2. The Last of Us-Not too much to say. Amazing job.
1. BioShock Infinite-Garry's penchant for composing absolutely sublime melodies, texture, and his penchant for composition was unmatched. One of the best soundtracks I've ever listened to.
Slamtastic
Member
Votes:
1. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
2. JoJo no Kimyo na Boken: All Star Battle (Import)
3. Killer Instinct
Honorable Mentions:
Anarchy Reigns
Dishonorable mentions:
DmC
Injustice: Gods Among Us
1. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
2. JoJo no Kimyo na Boken: All Star Battle (Import)
3. Killer Instinct
Honorable Mentions:
Anarchy Reigns
Dishonorable mentions:
DmC
Injustice: Gods Among Us
Thanks, buddy! I never even heard of this site until now. I updated my post so the links should be working now.
Between this thread and the GOTY thread, I'm a little written-out. I wanted to do some honorable mentions, but I just don't have it in me this weekend. I was also going to do a "disappointing OST" of the year category, but I'd rather stay away from being negative in a more or less positive thread. Plus, I was going to talk about how a particular game's soundtrack that's quite popular here that almost did nothing for me, so I think I better stay way from that one...
Hint: It's one of Platinum's games...sorry!
eXistor
Member
1. Puppeteer: Very grand, sweeping, very melodic and memorable. Pretty much all I want in a soundtrack. The game itself is fun, but the music makes it better.
2. The Legend of Zelda: a Link Between Worlds: I almost feel like this is cheating somwehat, seeing as there are so many LttP tunes in here, but I'm trying to rate it based off of the new tracks there are and thankfully they didn't skimp on those. The dungeon themes especially are very cool and I'd say series-best. They last few games' dungeon themes tended to be more atmospheric, but they're very melody-based here, which is always better imo.
3. Bravely Default: My top 3 ost's are really very close to each other, BD could have easily be number 1 and I wouldn't really mind. This one goes for nostalgia in just about everything it does and even the music sounds very reminiscent of the 16-bit classics. Finally a game that knows battle-music needs to be invigorating, not sleep-inducing (Ni No Kuni, I'm looking at you!).
Honorable Mentions:
-Tearaway: what there is is AAA quality; folksy, whimsical, quirky, it's quite the package, shame there's so little of it. A few more songs and it would be top 3 easy.
-The Wonderful 101: Same problem as with Tearaway: not enough variety. What's there is amazing, but I need more. Still, nothing quite gets the blood pumping like when the main theme kicks in.
-Super Mario 3D World: a great Mario soundtrack. Not quite as original and pleasant as Galaxy 1, but quite diverse. Like the game's mechanics, no tune is overused and never outstays its welcome. A perfect fit to an almost perfect Mario game.
2. The Legend of Zelda: a Link Between Worlds: I almost feel like this is cheating somwehat, seeing as there are so many LttP tunes in here, but I'm trying to rate it based off of the new tracks there are and thankfully they didn't skimp on those. The dungeon themes especially are very cool and I'd say series-best. They last few games' dungeon themes tended to be more atmospheric, but they're very melody-based here, which is always better imo.
3. Bravely Default: My top 3 ost's are really very close to each other, BD could have easily be number 1 and I wouldn't really mind. This one goes for nostalgia in just about everything it does and even the music sounds very reminiscent of the 16-bit classics. Finally a game that knows battle-music needs to be invigorating, not sleep-inducing (Ni No Kuni, I'm looking at you!).
Honorable Mentions:
-Tearaway: what there is is AAA quality; folksy, whimsical, quirky, it's quite the package, shame there's so little of it. A few more songs and it would be top 3 easy.
-The Wonderful 101: Same problem as with Tearaway: not enough variety. What's there is amazing, but I need more. Still, nothing quite gets the blood pumping like when the main theme kicks in.
-Super Mario 3D World: a great Mario soundtrack. Not quite as original and pleasant as Galaxy 1, but quite diverse. Like the game's mechanics, no tune is overused and never outstays its welcome. A perfect fit to an almost perfect Mario game.
Nocturnowl
Member
I feel written out and I haven't even finished my GotY list yet, so close though.
But while we're alluding to disappointing soundtracks I've got to get it off my chest somewhere.
Pokemon X/Y's soundtrack is okay with a few nice tracks within (Sycamore's theme is pretty grand as is Route 15) but otherwise for the most part it's what I can only really describe as the most safe sounding soundtrack in the main series and coming off the variety and quality of the Gen 5 entries I really expected a lot lot better, a lot of tracks come across like they're missing that extra spark to make the theme standout.
The Gen 6 themes that did branch out a bit more in style went from pretty cool like the power plant to just plain messy like the distorted approach of Team Flare's battle theme that just grates after a few battles then again everything Team Flare related is pretty awful so par the course I guess, as I said it's not a bad soundtrack but it is kind of unremarkable compared to every Gen that came before it outside of the higher sound quality.
cj_iwakura
Member
x. Black☆Rock Shooter: The Game
This game is set in a dystopian science-fiction world, so don't expect a lot of happy and cheerful music here. But it's good music, just listen to a few examples. And it's a small thing, but I really liked the Mission Clear music.
I had to look up the composer to find out why stuff like this sounded so familiar to me. It's Manabu Namiki, who also composed for a lot of Cave games, including the wonderful Mushihimesama Futari. Still it's kinda funny, because he's also responsible for DoDonPachi Saidaioujou, one of my least favorite soundtracks of this year.
Very good choice, and one heck of an underrated gem. I loved the game, and almost no one seemed to play it.
Always been meaning to download this game, keep ignoring it/forgetting about it when I'm browsing the store. That music is totally up my alley, may just go bite the bullet now.
Yeah, I've got no steam left, hah! I'm pretty sure I'd be chased out of here if I wrote up my feelings on "that" particular game too, so I'm just not going to bother. It's not that I think the OST is "bad" or anything. It's very well produced and it fits the game perfectly, it just didn't resonate with me and I have like no desire to download/listen to the music outside of when I'm actually playing the game. I mean, it's pretty easy to guess at this point, considering it's one of three games. =/
Nocturnowl
Member
Well regarding Platinum's games I can safely say that even though they fit like a glove both the soundtracks for Anarchy Reigns and Rising aren't quite my cup of tea, though that said two tracks in Rising stand out as some of my favourites from this year so I'm still somewhat on board, it's simply a personal taste thing really.
W101 fares a bit better for me as a whole, quite a few themes I enjoy in that one but there's more of a quantity over quality thing going on in my mind.
brandonh83
Banned
Whew, almost forgot, doing some last-minute tinkering. Even adding a couple of things to my list that I felt like I was unfairly disregarding.
Allan Holdsworth
Member
1. Mighty Switch Force 2
Favorite: Dalmatian Station
2. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
3. Animal Crossing New Leaf
Favorite: Dalmatian Station
2. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
3. Animal Crossing New Leaf
1. The Last of Us
2. Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies: Questioning - Allegro 2013
3. Bioshock Infinite: Elizabeth
2. Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies: Questioning - Allegro 2013
3. Bioshock Infinite: Elizabeth
1. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
I'll be screaming RULES OF NATURE until I'm senile. Rarely has a game's soundtrack gotten me so pumped, so ready to destroy everything -- In style. I've always been able to appreciate character-action soundtracks, but Metal Gear Rising tops them all. The way the songs progress throughout the boss battles in stages, until finally kicking into full vocals at the climax of the battle is just unmatched.
2. Rogue Legacy
3. The Last of Us
Honorable Mentions:
4. Risk of Rain
5. Bioshock Infinite
I'll be screaming RULES OF NATURE until I'm senile. Rarely has a game's soundtrack gotten me so pumped, so ready to destroy everything -- In style. I've always been able to appreciate character-action soundtracks, but Metal Gear Rising tops them all. The way the songs progress throughout the boss battles in stages, until finally kicking into full vocals at the climax of the battle is just unmatched.
2. Rogue Legacy
3. The Last of Us
Honorable Mentions:
4. Risk of Rain
5. Bioshock Infinite
1. Fire Emblem Awakening (Yuka Tsujiyoko, Hiroki Morishita, Rei Kondoh)
A lot of great songs already posted, here are some others:
Farewell my Friends
"Here we are! The shepherd's garrison"
"Shh... Easy now, girl. I won't hurt you"
2. Thomas Was Alone (David Housden, Paul Housden)
Thanks to the gaffer who posted this. Wonderfull soundtrack. I'll give the game a shot when I can.
United We Stand
Ghosts Of The Past
Inertia
3. Ni No Kuni (Jo Hisaichi)
Hisaichi. Period.
In Loving Memory of Allie
Battle
Pieces of a Broken Heart (JP)
Honorable Mentions:
Kentucky Route Zero Haven't heard of this one before this thread. Thanks again guys. Amazing.
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Super Mario 3D World
The Wonderful 101
Rayman Legends
A lot of great songs already posted, here are some others:
Farewell my Friends
"Here we are! The shepherd's garrison"
"Shh... Easy now, girl. I won't hurt you"
2. Thomas Was Alone (David Housden, Paul Housden)
Thanks to the gaffer who posted this. Wonderfull soundtrack. I'll give the game a shot when I can.
United We Stand
Ghosts Of The Past
Inertia
3. Ni No Kuni (Jo Hisaichi)
Hisaichi. Period.
In Loving Memory of Allie
Battle
Pieces of a Broken Heart (JP)
Honorable Mentions:
Kentucky Route Zero Haven't heard of this one before this thread. Thanks again guys. Amazing.
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Super Mario 3D World
The Wonderful 101
Rayman Legends
1. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Rules of Nature
Collective Consciousness
The Hot Wind Blowing
The War Still Rages Within
2. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
Athena Cykes ~ Courtroom Révolutionnaire
Revisualization ~ Synaptic Resonance
Difficult People
Reminiscence ~ Wandering Heart
3. Shin Megami Tensei IV
Mikado Battle
Tokyo Overworld
Hunter Association
Ikebukuro
Honorable Mentions
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
Tales of Xillia
Rules of Nature
Collective Consciousness
The Hot Wind Blowing
The War Still Rages Within
2. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
Athena Cykes ~ Courtroom Révolutionnaire
Revisualization ~ Synaptic Resonance
Difficult People
Reminiscence ~ Wandering Heart
3. Shin Megami Tensei IV
Mikado Battle
Tokyo Overworld
Hunter Association
Ikebukuro
Honorable Mentions
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
Tales of Xillia
Dr.Thunder
Member
1. Fire Emblem: Awakening
2. Ni No Kuni
3. Killer Instinct
Honorable Mentions go to. Wonderful 101, Link Between Worlds and Anarchy Reigns.
These picks were so hard...So many soundtracks I really like.
2. Ni No Kuni
3. Killer Instinct
Honorable Mentions go to. Wonderful 101, Link Between Worlds and Anarchy Reigns.
These picks were so hard...So many soundtracks I really like.
PhantomOfTheKnight
Member
May not have time for a full write-up, but just so I don't forget:
1. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
2. Soul Sacrifice
3. Mario and Sonic at the Sochi Olympic Games
Honourable Mentions:
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Puppeteer
Tearaway
The Witch and the Hundred Knight
Ys: Memories of Celceta
1. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
2. Soul Sacrifice
3. Mario and Sonic at the Sochi Olympic Games
Honourable Mentions:
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Puppeteer
Tearaway
The Witch and the Hundred Knight
Ys: Memories of Celceta
Reticent Rhino
Member
1. Etrian Odyssey IV
Lemme tell you something: I haven't even played this game, but this is still my number 1 choice. Sometime early last year I happened across one of EO4's tracks simply because I'd heard that the composer was also responsible for Streets of Rage and Actraiser's scores, and I've been listening to this soundtrack every so often for months now.
What really impresses me about EO4's OST is the sheer variety of it. You've got your standard (well-executed) bombastic JRPG battles themes in Faith is My Pillar and Storm. And there's also The Land Beyond the Clouds, with its long crescendo starting around 1:30 punctuated with thunderous drumbeats, finally giving way to calm by the 2:50 mark, perfectly evoking the feeling of bursting through the turbulent clouds and seeing serene skies above them.
But some of my favorite tracks are actually the low-key ones. You've got the subdued jazzy brass of City of Radiant Ruin. You've got the soothing melodies of Cerulean Woodlands and the town theme. And all of it's great!
I might even...play the game-even though 1st person-tilebased dungeon crawlers aren't usually my thing-just to hear these tracks in context because Yuzo Koshiro's work here is that amazing.
2. Fire Emblem: Awakening
Almost solely on the basis of Don't speak her name! being my favorite track of the year, used for the aftermath of a pivotal scene. Conquest is another great one, because it blends a somber tone with a sense of determination. It plays during random encounters when you're grinding and it really makes you feel like your party members are gritting their teeth together and resolving to become stronger.
3. Rayman Legends
This gets my third place vote because of how memorable scaling one of those infinite tower climb Daily Challenges was with Moving Ground triumphantly playing.
Most of the songs in the 20,000 Lums Under the Sea world are also notable, (intentionally) reminiscent of something you'd hear in a Bond movie.
See also: Fiesta de los Muertos, where the moans of the dead don't stop this from being an upbeat, jaunty song.
Honorable mentions: Guacamelee! and Bioshock Infinite
Lemme tell you something: I haven't even played this game, but this is still my number 1 choice. Sometime early last year I happened across one of EO4's tracks simply because I'd heard that the composer was also responsible for Streets of Rage and Actraiser's scores, and I've been listening to this soundtrack every so often for months now.
What really impresses me about EO4's OST is the sheer variety of it. You've got your standard (well-executed) bombastic JRPG battles themes in Faith is My Pillar and Storm. And there's also The Land Beyond the Clouds, with its long crescendo starting around 1:30 punctuated with thunderous drumbeats, finally giving way to calm by the 2:50 mark, perfectly evoking the feeling of bursting through the turbulent clouds and seeing serene skies above them.
But some of my favorite tracks are actually the low-key ones. You've got the subdued jazzy brass of City of Radiant Ruin. You've got the soothing melodies of Cerulean Woodlands and the town theme. And all of it's great!
I might even...play the game-even though 1st person-tilebased dungeon crawlers aren't usually my thing-just to hear these tracks in context because Yuzo Koshiro's work here is that amazing.
2. Fire Emblem: Awakening
Almost solely on the basis of Don't speak her name! being my favorite track of the year, used for the aftermath of a pivotal scene. Conquest is another great one, because it blends a somber tone with a sense of determination. It plays during random encounters when you're grinding and it really makes you feel like your party members are gritting their teeth together and resolving to become stronger.
3. Rayman Legends
This gets my third place vote because of how memorable scaling one of those infinite tower climb Daily Challenges was with Moving Ground triumphantly playing.
Most of the songs in the 20,000 Lums Under the Sea world are also notable, (intentionally) reminiscent of something you'd hear in a Bond movie.
See also: Fiesta de los Muertos, where the moans of the dead don't stop this from being an upbeat, jaunty song.
Honorable mentions: Guacamelee! and Bioshock Infinite
cj_iwakura
Member
You picked the song that really encapsulates Soul Hackers for me.
Origami Superman
Member
1. Sim City
Don't let the terrible game detract from Chris Tilton's great soundtrack.
Notable Track - The Long Construction
2. Rayman Legends
3. Link Between Worlds
Don't let the terrible game detract from Chris Tilton's great soundtrack.
Notable Track - The Long Construction
2. Rayman Legends
3. Link Between Worlds
breakfuss
Member
DAMN, some of these replies are thorough as hell, lol! The passion on GAF never ceases amaze. Anyway, my entries:
1. Fire Emblem: Awakening (Can't even begin to describe how lush and dynamic the music is. It demands to be played with headphones, and I was always excited to hear what was next).
2. Ni No kuni (The music was the game's saving grace).
3. Bioshock: Infiinite (Breathtaking, especially the opening hour).
H. Mentions:
Tearaway - Just really catchy and cute. The closing song actually nearly brought me to tears.
Zelda: LBW - May have been higher had the songs been completely original, but they're still damned good.
1. Fire Emblem: Awakening (Can't even begin to describe how lush and dynamic the music is. It demands to be played with headphones, and I was always excited to hear what was next).
2. Ni No kuni (The music was the game's saving grace).
3. Bioshock: Infiinite (Breathtaking, especially the opening hour).
H. Mentions:
Tearaway - Just really catchy and cute. The closing song actually nearly brought me to tears.
Zelda: LBW - May have been higher had the songs been completely original, but they're still damned good.
akachan ningen
Member
1. Metal Gear Rising
2. Anarchy Reigns
3. Resogun
2. Anarchy Reigns
3. Resogun
Ranger Taffles
Member
1. The Last of Us
2. Bioshock Infinite
3. Kentucky Route Zero
2. Bioshock Infinite
3. Kentucky Route Zero