The videogame music thread

Here's where you can discuss and share music from videogames
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Flabyo
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Flabyo »

Forgotton Anne isn’t out yet, but early reviews are more promising than I’d been expecting. So here’s a piece from the soundtrack that they put out a few days ago. Seems like the game has a very strong orchestral score...

Tbone254
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Tbone254 »



My selection is from Silent Hill 2. Forest is played when we first meet Angela. It starts with this very light, almost erratic piano sounding instrument, accompanied by some strings, that never quite settles into a uniform melody. And beneath that is this low, slow moving drone. It sounds all at once both innocent and menacing, and gives the scene in which it is played an eerie dream-like quality. The music from Silent HIll 2 is nothing short of amazing and I think this piece really exemplifies that.
ParasiticTween

Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by ParasiticTween »



The totally under the radar 2017 magical girl themed JRPG "Blue Reflection" is an imperfect game. The turn based combat and Atlus-esque social link systems are charming but fail to meaningfully develop much, and the brief but frustratingly obligatory moments of uncomfortable sexualization and "JRPG fanservice" often sour moments of genuine sweetness within the game's simple story about teen female friendships and coming of age.

However, as an aesthetic object, the game is stunning. Blue Reflection pairs hyper-feminine pastel hues with beautiful cel-shaded character designs, and the crisp, glossy combat menus and UI animations are just as modern and stylish as a Persona game. The brilliant soundtrack accentuates the game in inspired and unexpected ways: it combines elements of harsh EDM and dubstep music (genres I normally hate for their bro-ey aggression) with exuberant strings and dancing pianos straight out of a magical girl anime theme. Violent, atonal wub-wubs build up into chaos, breaching into hopeful waves of glistening melodies and prismatic synth leads. This call and response song structure not only speaks to the themes of the game, but to JRPG turn-based combat structure as a whole. I would really recommend checking at least the soundtrack out: the 3-phase boss mixes (too long to feature here) are a particular highlight. Here's one of my favorite of the many outstanding battle themes from the game.
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Spacefarer
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Spacefarer »

Here's a nice track from Jazz Jackrabbit 2, one of my favourite games. It turned 20 last week, so it seems appropriate to throw it in there.

Before we begin: I'd played the shareware demo of the first Jazz Jackrabbit to death and back. With that out of the way...
The first time I played Jazz 2, it was at my uncle's house. It didn't take long before it made its way to our own computer, and I played it and played it and played it some more. One could say I caned and rinsed it. I found many of its secrets and made sure to play as both Jazz and his brother, Spaz, equally. I played multiplayer with my brother on occasion. I toyed around with Jazz Creation Station, the level editor included with the game. My dad managed to scrounge up a printout of all the game's cheat codes, even though we only had dial-up at the time. My mum even let me take a day off school to play it! (Side note: I was four years old.)
It wasn't until several years later that I discovered we had a weird version of the game: an OEM disc that must have come packaged with my uncle's computer. I've still got that disc, alongside original boxed copies of both Jazz 2 and its expansion, The Secret Files - not a great expansion, perhaps, but more Jazz is good news in my book.

One of the most memorable levels from the first Jazz was Tubelectric, and as you can probably guess, it contains a lot of electricity and quite a number of tubes. Jazz 2 brought this level back, but with additional pinball-related gubbins for some reason, as well as a remixed version of its music track. Great bit of tracker work from Alexander Brandon (can't remember if he's been featured yet).

rob25X
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by rob25X »

Street Fighter IV - Character Select. A fantastic remix of classic SF music.
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Suits
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Suits »

E Gadd's Groove - Class.

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ReprobateGamer
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by ReprobateGamer »

Just putting a shout out for this piece of music ... from a Lego game of all places. This is a truly epic piece of music for a truly epic final sequence from the game Lego City: Undercover - and who would have thought you would get something like this from a kids game. The whole soundtrack riffs from a number of sources (bluegrass to the Matrix) and composers Simon Withenshaw and Suddi Raval use the variety well to set the mood throughout the game



(edited to put in Youtube link)

If you never plan to play the game, there are enough version of the final sequence again on Youtube to watch (and I recommend a no commentary version ...)
Sam_What

Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Sam_What »

I would like to request a track from Star Fox Assault. In my opinion, Namco put valiant effort into re-energising the sound (as well as the gameplay and story) of Star Fox, though it's a shame that Assault is so short.
In terms of music, I've found that most of the newer games, including the latest Star Fox Zero, seem to just customarily layer on top of the established melodies, beat for beat, with very little artistic or personal interpretation.

The often overlooked Star Fox Assault managed to avoid the homogenised sound of an orchestred score and made great use of that acoustic power with memorable melodies and that delicious orchestral echo. The Star Wolf theme in particular is brimming with energy! It's loud and vainglorious, with a hint of threat. This track is so bold in its approach and distinct from its original form that it feels more like the effort of a fan project.
The Star Wolf theme stands as one of my favourite pieces of score and was one of the many musical delights of Star Fox Assault.

Todinho

Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Todinho »

Its already stuck in my head:

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OneCreditBen
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by OneCreditBen »



I spent forever trying to get a decent no death clear on Castlevania on the NES a few years back.

I played it a lot at home via emulation and at work, my boss was on holiday, but there were sections that I really couldn't quite crack.

My final eureka moment came at 30,000 feet however. I downloaded it on my trusty 3DSXL ahead of some foreign adventure and finally cracked it sitting in a window seat flying with a stunning view of the sun rising over Belgium early in the morning. I remember the woman had just asked me if I wanted another cup of tea, it's almost as if she knew somehow.

Dracula fell, as did the strange giant chicken looking monster he subsequently transforms into, and I lost myself for a second before yelling "SIT DOWN!!" as is the norm in these situations. I quickly sunk back into the recesses of my chair, sitting down even lower than before ironically before anyone figured out it was me, in reality most people were asleep though so I think I got away with it.

I knew I could do it now though, all I had to do was get back and replicate this feat. That proved tricky when it came to it, but I got there in the end.

Every single time I hear this song I'm transported to that scene somehow, that tiny little plane taking me on yet another adventure, unable to encapsulate the joy I felt in finally putting the curse of Castlevania to bed. Until next time Dracula...
rob25X
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by rob25X »

I would like to recommend this beautiful theme from my personal favourite game of the current generation and the 7th highest user rated PS4 game of all time on Metacritic.com.

Phillip Sheppard's 'Kara's Main Theme' from the amazing Detroit: Become Human.

Enjoy!

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Scrustle
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Scrustle »

Playing through Vampyr lately, the soundtrack was one of the highlights of the experience. Full of gloomy and melancholic cello music that adds a lot to the atmosphere of the game. My favourite track though is "New Home", by Olivier Deriviere (great name), which is the theme for the hospital that acts as something of a safe haven and base of operations. While it captures the overall mood of the game really well, it also has something that most other pieces of music in the game don't. It has a sense of hopefulness and tenderness to it that helps bring a bit of light and a sense of safety, albeit a fragile one, to a setting that is mostly oppressive and dark.

Todinho

Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Todinho »

Caught myself listening to the God hand sountrack lately, other then the combat system I think the music is the best aspect of that game it manages to be relaxing and zanny in a game that is without a doubt the hardest I ever played and I think the music is a big reason I didnt snap and was able to finnish it, here are some of my favorite tracks:





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Megadirt
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Megadirt »

The peace walker theme from mgs peace walker. a slow starter but the first time in a game I was happy with relentless death. That giant mech peeking around a building shooting me to bits to the most incredible music I've ever heard, changed my opinion on mgs for the better. This music made me feel like I was snake and I could talk about it forever.
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MauricioMM
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by MauricioMM »



"Spoiler", by DJ Hyper (Cyberpunk 2077)

Honestly, no better reason to post this piece here other than immense hype for Cyberpunk 2077 8-)
Joshihatsumitsu

Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »



My go-to for when I'm at work and need to tune out those around me... love the drums in this!

Also, my audio happy place! :D
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ReprobateGamer
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by ReprobateGamer »

I was watching a missed broadcast on Twitch with the caster playing Murder Trivia Party and I was reminded how good the music is for the last section in that game.



The game itself is just a variation on trivia questions with penalties from mini-games for getting answers wrong, and comes with Twitch chat integration so that an audience can participate (even with streaming lag ...) but the aesthetic for Murder Trivia Party always reminds me of what would happen if John Doe (from Seven) had taken a quiz show as his inspiration rather than the deadly sins.

The final piece of music is a wonderful suspenseful building from the slow chime and haunting strings that open it, kicking up a notch with brass and a discordant drum backing ratcheting up the tension as the survivor attempts to get enough questions correct to escape before the darkness (or the other players) catch them.

Can't quite decide on my favourite part of the track - I'm torn between the purposeful stance of It begins (starting at 2'02") or the build of Nearly Out of Here (starts at 6'23")
Dingle Dongle

Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Dingle Dongle »

For Treasure + Decisive Battle II (Octopath Traveller) by Yasunori Nishiki
Yasunori Nishiki does an amazing job with the entire sountrack for octopath traveller but the transition found in this piece escalates the scene perfectly. Superb work!

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Spacefarer
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Spacefarer »

I kind of want to listen to some of these and read the posts, but at the same time I want to listen to them on the podcast. A first-world problem for sure.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by ratsoalbion »

We have hundreds in the queue for the podcast, so it could be years before we get to them all!
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