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The injustice of The Game Awards.

STARSBarry

Gold Member
In but a few hours a man who is known for selling out will be wheeled on stage, stand before you beaming with a fake smile, a fake smile paid for by Doritos and Mountain Dew, look you in the eye and lie to you.

what will this lie be? what will this thinly veiled knowing smirk hide?

he will stand on stage and announce that one of these titles has the best soundtrack and score of the late 2022 - 2023 period

9HSbL5b.png


Naturally he already knows this to be false, but how does he know it to be untrue? after all its just opinion, different people like different things right? In the same way you can have the correct opinions such as "racism is bad" you can have incorrect ones too. This is obviously an incorrect opinion, worse its not even factual, it is scientifically incorrect because the factually correct choice is

KzUnfYD.jpg


Released in late November 2022 (and therefor ineligible for last years GOTY) this... broken lumbering GaaS game released to near universal indifference. Reviews at the time state over monetised and underdelivered, it was by all accounts a bad game.

However despite this two things stood out, and was mentioned in every single review, Art Direction and Soundtrack. This game while hampered by the suits trying to milk every player for as much green as possible left the parts that could not be sold off piecemeal alone, and they shine like the light of the Astronomican in the grim darkness that is Darktide.

Where the fuck is it? It wasn't even nominated, have all the judges gone deaf from masturbating too loudly to Breath of the Wilds full priced expansion? Who knows, but there wrong.

let me explain, while some of the above have maybe enough memorable tracks to count how many hands a triple amputee has, Darktide is created by the BAFTA award winning composer Jesper Kyd, back when you could win one as a strait white man. Hes been working on games since 1993, and has worked on such series as

MDK
Messiah
Hitman
Unreal Tournament
Borderlands
Darksiders
Assassins Creed

and of course Fatsharks prior title Vermintide

But late last year he managed to slam down the Elden Ring of soundtracks onto an otherwise unremarkable title, and its just the stupidest thing ever to not see it above the likes of Zelda, Alan Wake and Baldurs Gate III (I love you Baldurs Gate III but your music is just great, not genre defining like the rest of you) the list is just a "games which people have played" list, rather than gaming's very best of the year.

so for the uninitiated what does Darktide sound like? well like this.





and of two days ago (because new maps need new unique themes)



The whole game is full of these. What makes all these truly special in that because its a video game each one is weaved in as more intense versions and ebbs depending on the action on screen, if the AI director throws more hordes at you its going to up the intensity of the music until the slaughter the last heretic on screen, this creates those "hero moments" that designers look for in titles, but multiple times per run, and I cant really think of another game that manages this based almost purely on a soundtrack, its doing all the heavy lifting. As a visual aid of what this sounds/looks like please see the video below.



I have a true love hate relationship with this game and its all down to the art teams, both sound the art direction are on point, voice acting too, it elevates a game that is just like one of the most mediocre GaaS titles released in recent years to feel more than it is, it elevates it into something I cant stop playing even though the end game loop and engagement traps annoy me constantly, and not seeing it on a show meant to celebrate the very best the genre has to offer is just wrong.

I'm interested to know if anyone else (outside of best score and music as that's obviously Darktide) has found a lack of a title a glaring issue in some of the other categories, like the people nominating these aren't even trying or playing games outside of the main stream.
 
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Punished Miku

Gold Member
You shouldn't look to the Geoffs for justice. You should look to see if they have any credibility and are serious. If they aren't, then you should stop giving it respect.

But that ship has sailed. Put on a big enough show and people can't help themselves. Viewership numbers go up every year.
 

Soodanim

Gold Member
Darktide's music reminds me of bygone times when games didn't have to be orchestral and in the background. It's a bit more wub-wub Dubstep influenced than I'd like, but that fact that I would actually notice it in a game makes it instantly better than most of what's in games I've played in recent years.
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
I love Jesper Kyd's music, he is wasted on crap like Warhammer. Wish he still did Hitman. The first one reminds me a little of this Hitman piece, which I think is one of his best.



no please, let me keep him. He's the thing I look forward to every time they drop a new map on this God Emperor forsaken game.
 
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Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
Great ost but 16 shits all over it.

Final fantasy soundtrack this year is a certified hood rat clsssic
 

Quantum253

Member
I'm in for Mario Wonder for best Multi-player.
In all honesty, I looked at each category and was meh...
It was mostly the same games and I'm really only curious of any premiers or trailers
 
I was very surprised to see Darktide mentioned. I've probably lifted more to the Darktide soundtrack than I have played the game itself, and I really like the game. But I agree, the music is fantastic.

Not as good in my mind over BG3, but it's very different than it too and it is dark and melodic and has that crunchy hint of industirial undertones. It's great.
 

calistan

Member
no please, let me keep him. He's the thing I look forward to every time they drop a new map on this God Emperor forsaken game.
The guy's a legit computer music genius, I've always thought of him as the modern Rob Hubbard. Like Hubbard, his tunes don't necessarily get into the best games, but they're often the best part of whatever games they're in.

How could anyone looking for a dark, atmospheric soundtrack even think of employing another composer after hearing something like this:

 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
Great ost but 16 shits all over it.

Final fantasy soundtrack this year is a certified hood rat clsssic

It sounds good, never heard Dark tide music before this.

FFXVI still wins for me though.

notice how I mentioned 3 games that I didn't think deserve to be in the same league of the scientifically perfect OST above Darktide, I specially named 3, and left 2 alone, 16 is one of those 2 because it really has some great music (I own the physical OST). For me is came down to that there was a few tracks I really enjoyed in 16, but theres so many that are just... ehhhhh, Darktide is strange because the damn OST is full of bangers, like its unreal I didn't want to just list out the whole OST so I have a mix of 3 to try and show off the range (and the most recent to show there still making them). But every time you load into a level you hear something new and its like "WAIT THIS A BANGER TOO?! HOW!!!" and I think its that consistently of amazing tracks vs a handful of game defining ones that create OST of the year for late 2022 - 2023, its just that much of a Unicorn to me.
 
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Audiophile

Gold Member
Jesper Kyd is the game-scoring GOAT. I had the ACII score on a loop forever, it's a my favourite game to this day for atmosphere and it's 50% because of that score. Wandering the rooftops of night-time Venice with those tracks is still my greatest gaming memory. The nostalgia I have for that time is brutal. It's amazing how dead those games felt as soon as he left.

I'll make sure to take a listen to this too.



 
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Fbh

Member
The true injustice is Chained Echoes not being nominated at least for best indie when stuff like Sea of Stars (an inferior JRPG-like) and Dave the Diver (not even a true indie) are
 

RyRy93

Member
It’s absolutely true that if a game isn’t well received overall that it’s individually great elements are overlooked when it comes to awards
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
That's a bit hypocritical. The guy made a sponsored video, like every youtuber today does. Only difference is instead of a 12 second ad break, it was physical props.
I mean if I didn't use hyperbole the OP would be pretty stale and unfun to read... or write... I had fun writing it.
 
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Holammer

Member
The guy's a legit computer music genius, I've always thought of him as the modern Rob Hubbard. Like Hubbard, his tunes don't necessarily get into the best games, but they're often the best part of whatever games they're in.

How could anyone looking for a dark, atmospheric soundtrack even think of employing another composer after hearing something like this:


The music and the cinematic shots of the submarine in the Freedom Fighters intro still gets me. Like the Killzone intro with the speech, it gets you pumped.



Saw this video a few weeks ago. An opera singer reacting to Disposal Unit and pointing out all the interesting things it does.

 

hinch7

Member
Man.. Disposable Unit slaps. Feels great mowing down mobs with that on and your Bolter and Power Sword melting hordes.

Hoping FFXVI gets a win though from all the nominees. Brilliant OST from start to finish with some of the OG FF tracks in there.
 

Mozzarella

Member
I'm surprised that Cyberpunk PL was not nominated.


TGA was wary of nominating Cyberpunk for too much, they will face backlash if they do.
IMO Cyberpunk deserves not just nomination for best Soundtrack, but also RPG, Art Direction and Performance for Songbird.
But if they do that, then the internet will be pissed off. In a year like 2023 a lot of good games are being left out due to the competition, the forks and sticks will be out if Cyberpunk got more nomination.
Xenoblade Future Redeemed fans were all over Twitter crying about Phantom Liberty making its way to the nominations.
 
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SJRB

Gold Member
The true injustice is doing this at 1 am EU time on a weekday.

What the fuck is the matter with you, Geoff? You couldn't do this on Friday or Saturday? Really?


images


You understand that regular people have to work on Friday, right? Hello? Is this thing on?
 
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Laieon

Member
Hogwarts Legacy has some fantastic music too. Too bad the media wants to bury the best selling game of the year.



 
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MidGenRefresh

*Refreshes biennially
I think if you have to own the original game (i.e. it's DLC) then it shouldn't qualify for this year's awards three years after release.

It's an expansion, not a DLC and it was nominated in other categories (best narrative for example).
 

Mossybrew

Member
OP I'd smile and lie to your face too. And I wouldn't even need Dorito or Mountain Dew money. I'd do it for free. Just for fun.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
FF 16 should 10000000% win best music this year. It's one of the best soundtracks I've heard in my life.
best reasoning why ff16 got the best music



But forspoken not getting a nomination is crazy. Just listen to this

 

Robb

Gold Member
The new Zelda games have music?
Not only does it have music but it has pretty darn great music! Also has some really fantastic design where the music is divided into phases (within temples for example) and ramps up as you’re getting closer to the finish.






Although there’s still plenty of other games I’d pick before it for the music award.
 
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