The videogame music thread

Here's where you can discuss and share music from videogames
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mikeleddy83
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by mikeleddy83 »

I'm back with another ear worm this time from the multi-talented Daisuke Ishiwatari with arrangement from Yoshihiro Kusano.

The biggest problem with the Blazblue series is the huge choice of songs to select a favourite from, there is literally a new favourite for each week of the year. Bang's theme drops relentless guitar hooks on your head, Litchi Faye Ling's theme serenades you whilst taking some lines from the best of Advance wars before knocking you about the place with what I could probably only describe as thrash jazz. The rival battle exclusive tracks take the whole thing to a new level making it a crime they were made only for few opportunities in the games but the one track that pulls me back and gives me a purer more straight forward simple vibe but with a somehow capable mix of genres that's most likely against any rulebook conceived is this.

"The road to hope" is that song I've had stuck in my head when I think about almost any game I've enjoyed recently and earlier today I found the simplest expression to describe it: FUN!

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

Post by Flabyo »

Here's another of my favourite Jereon Tel C64 pieces. This is the title screen music from Supremacy:



Supremacy is a pretty simple little strategy game designed by David Perry during his time at Probe. It had existed on the 16-bit machines for a little while before rather surprisingly a c64 port appeared with almost no fanfare. The game translated to the weaker machine pretty much intact, and had the bonus of this rather nice bit of sci-fi warbling.

(In the US the game released under the name 'Overlord')

An NES port came later, although it's apparently a bit cut down. Meant to be quite a rare cart, one of the last made for it.
xbenblasterx

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

Post by xbenblasterx »



Hadn't seen this game mentioned yet, so I'll just make a quick mention for Downwell

It's not a very big game, nor all that extravagant even when compared to other indie titles, but it provides a hectic and intense adrenaline rush as you plummet toward the bottom of the well in short to longer stints depending on just how good at the game you are, and the sound track that accompanies the ever descending levels of Downwell does a lot to change the atmosphere and the intensity making it seem all that more frantic, and one of my favourite tracks from the game is the first track you encounter caled 'Uroboros' and has a nice sense of exploration and venturing into the unknown.

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

Post by Jobobonobo »

I have technically two songs combined into one for this request and this is a particular lovely piece by Hiroshi Yamaguchi.

Okami is a game I have tremendous fondness for due to its gorgeous graphics, fun combat, great worlds, memorable characters and of course its soundtrack. A particular highlight is when you first enter Kusanagi Village. The windmills have stopped working, the air being full of cursed wind that prevents you from using your paint abilities. The atmosphere of this place is dour and hopeless and Amaterasu is a lot more vulnerable without her godly paint powers. The music exactly reflects this atmosphere with its muted tones but this changes dramatically when you lift the curse. All the life that was suppressed in the village seems to burst out like a broken dam and the music becomes more upbeat and melodious as it too comes to life, like spring after an eternal winter. While the music that accompanies the cured village is triumphant and vibrant in comparison to before, it maintains a slight echo of the sombre tone of its cursed counterpart. This mixture of dark and foreboding with passion and vigour makes this one a particular highlight of an already spectacular OST.

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

Post by AndrewBrown »

If ever there was a game that could support a Sound of Play Special Episode all by itself, it would be Chrono Trigger. I would squee my pants off if this episode ever happened. Just saying.

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

Post by AndrewBrown »

I'm going to try and submit more songs to Sound of Play from now on. For my first recommendation, I'm going to put forth "A Brief Respite" by Stuart Chatwood from Darkest Dungeon.



Darkest Dungeon casts the player as the inheritor of an estate overrun by eldritch terrors and abominations, the results of their deceased relative's meddling with the occult powers buried beneath the mansion. Ostensibly charging the player with righting the wrongs performed by their ancestor, they are ultimately no saint themself, instead sending a motley assortment of heroes into one of five procedurally generated dungeons in a futile attempt to drive back the horror. It's economically impossible to be a benevolent boss; the player must pick and choose who to empower to accomplish their ends, using other heroes as fodder to earn profit that furthers the bigger picture until they are broken, turned away from the estate a shell of who they once were: maimed, diseased, poverty-stricken, and possibly insane.

All of this is accompanied by Stuart Chatwood's haunting and gothic soundtrack, pounding drums and booming horns underscoring the doom that pursues the player's heroes even in the easiest of expeditions into the Darkest Dungeon. But it's not all ominous and violent music; in those brief moments of peace, the soundtrack is much more soothing while still carrying an air of menace. One such time is when the party makes camp within the dungeon itself on longer expeditions. The track is titled "A Brief Respite," and that's exactly what it is–a chance to recover health and morale using an assortment of abilities unique to each hero class, a moment vital to success in the dogged long dungeons where a single misstep or bad roll of the RNG can doom the entire party to death or insanity. Much like the piano pieces that accompany the Save Rooms in Resident Evil, the relative safety of the camp is underscored by lighter instrumentation, particularly a subtle accompaniment by what sounds to be an oboe and a violin to my pretender's ear. But it's not a peaceful piece of music; it's ethereal and otherworldly, communicating to the player that though they may be safe now, it is only a temporary safety–A Brief Respite–and all too often, the party's rest is broken by a surprise attack which can shatter what little recovery was made.
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Tleprie »

A request for the Halloween special, if y'all are taking them:



15 years after release, I still think Luigi's Mansion is one of the greatest horror games made. At the time, at the age of 6, I was terrified of King Boo and of walking through the candle-lit corridors. I have vivid memories of being especially anxious when I would get to the power outage portion of the game.

This track is easily in my top 10 of any video game music. After over a dozen playthroughs of the game I'll still stop and listen for a bit whenever I'm talking to Madame Clairvoya.
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Todinho »

Just o to give a suggestion as well for the Halloween special just in case,I recently watched a full playthrough of Corpse Party and the soundtrack really jumped to me I dont know if the type of music would fit the special but I think it's a ost worth looking into here's a few tracks I really liked from it:




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

Post by Flabyo »

If we're taking Halloween requests, I want Burning Halloween Town. That intro...

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

Post by AndrewBrown »

Paper Mario: Color Splash, "Ruddy Road" by Takeru Kanazaki, Shigemitsu Goto, and Fumihiro Isobe

For all of the criticisms one could levy against the Wii U, I believe Nintendo's first-party titles for the platform have consistently had the best music of this console generation and even part of the last, a nearly-unbroken streak of incredible orchestrated soundtracks since Super Mario Galaxy. Their latest release, Paper Mario: Color Splash, continues that tradition even as all indications are that it will be the Wii U's swansong of exclusivity. This track, "Ruddy Road," credited to the three-person team of Takeru Kanazaki, Shigemitsu Goto, and Fumihiro Isobe, is the backing track to the first proper level after Mario rescues Port Prisma from a cadre of thirsty Shy Guys wielding bendy straws. A jaunty, upbeat tune that suits its happier, wackier home following the rather grim Port Prisma, a clarinet and a violin alternate on the main tune before intertwining in an interlude that lets both instruments be a star. The first three notes of the main tune recall Koji Kondo's legendary "Ground Theme" from Super Mario Bros. but wind away into fanciful flights. It's equal parts jazz and bluegrass, sounding both improvised and rehearsed, free and structured.

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

Post by InsrtCoins »

Thanks for the Halloween requests, everyone! Due to the nature of the show and guests, that setlist is juuuuuust about full up, but I will include one of your requests to play us out of the show, and all of the others will go into rotation to be played in the coming weeks.

Much appreciated. Apologies for not being able to include all of them.
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Sam_What »

This is just a general request, so here goes...

I spotted this lonely game on a shelf and it pulled me in to have a closer look. It was Armored Core: For Answer, what would be the first of my From Software titles. The gameplay was satisfying and I enjoyed figuring out the intricacies of the system and the lore, but there were times that it would just get too much for me. I realised that my repeated failure in later sections meant there were things I should know about in this game but just didn't yet, things I just couldn't solve. It needed more of me... and I put it down. That was many years ago now but I do occasionally return to it, if only to see that mesmerising title screen. Subtlety is its power; the detailed face of a mech under spotlight with this mysterious piano melody ringing over. From Software are specialists at crafting something to be cryptic and vague yet rewarding; I still hope to return to and understand this Armored Core.... and this track reminds me of that unsolved mystery.

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mikeleddy83
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by mikeleddy83 »

Well I'd best leave my wishlist for tracks I've accumulated over a good period of time and splurge them all at once, here goes:


An addictive little loop I can't resist playing over and over and over.


The original Shining Force soundtrack has some of my most cherished songs of all, there are literally too many to choose from. Battle 2 is the one I find to be pretty much the most iconic track of any game but this Battle 3 track is such a brilliant track it's hard to ignore. Still, if dreams come true then there's a spoiler tag below for my more obvious but favourite choice:
Spoiler: show

Battle 2
Final choice would have to be the Soul Edge/Blade track I'd plug a second pad in for just to see the grass swoon and the beauty of this track come alive, still arguably my most played game music and in my ears perfect. I will never know what a Khan Super Session entails but I'd rather like to keep it that way as it only builds the mythos to this captivating creation that captures an era I'll continue to treasure.


I don't mind if you wipe the words just keep up the good music! I'll be listening.
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Tleprie »

mikeleddy83 wrote:

The original Shining Force soundtrack has some of my most cherished songs of all, there are literally too many to choose from. Battle 2 is the one I find to be pretty much the most iconic track of any game but this Battle 3 track is such a brilliant track it's hard to ignore. Still, if dreams come true then there's a spoiler tag below for my more obvious but favourite choice:
Spoiler: show

Battle 2

I second the Shining Force tracks, particularly the 2nd one, though both are good.

Not to butt in on mikeleddy's post further, but Shining Force was certainly an important game in my childhood. Rather than playing it on Genesis however, I played it on PC on a Sega collection disc. I believe it came along with Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Comix Zone, Flicky, and a couple others, though Shining Force was certainly the most played. My brother and I, along with our friends, would gather around the old Windows 98 computer and take turns controlling the heroes in battle.

Shining Force was probably my introduction to JRPGs and tactics games, and even though my enjoyment of the genre has dwindled over the years, I still have fond memories of the characters, world, and music that Sega created.
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Kid Skitzky »



So I was unsure if a credits track affiliated with an independent band qualifies for Sound of Play, but this piece so beautifully exudes the mystique of LA Noire that I would be remiss to at least give it a try. The original song is by The Real Tuesday Weld, a British group whose forte for soft jazz and cabaret lends itself so well to the 1940s film noir aesthetic Rockstar created. Frankly its been ages since I've seen the ending to LA Noire, but this closing track alone is enough to sustain the essence of the game long after the credits roll. The horns, the piano, the haunting croon of Claudia Brücken -- all of it coalesces into something both warm and chilling. It's as if the vocals are lulling me into a false sense of security. This juxtaposition between warm versus cold is really punctuated when Brücken descends in pitch on the word, "kill," but swoops back up on words, "the things I love." There are a number of specific moments like these leading me to wonder if Rockstar literally traveled back in time and recorded a jazz ensemble from the 1940s for this game. In any event, Andy Hale and Claudia Brücken gave a beautiful rendition of "(I Always Kill) The Things I Love."
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Mononoke »

3 months since my last submissions; I'd meant to post more frequently!

My first of two picks this time is 'One Final Effort' from the Halo 3 Soundtrack by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori. The music from the Marty O'Donnell scored Halo games remains amongst my favourite video game music of all time and this track defines the very best of Halo action music. It is played in the climatic level 'The Covenant' as two giant scarabs descend from the sky and you must rise to the challenge to take down these mighty foes. Though the scarabs aren't actually much of a challenge in reality for a seasoned halo player such as myself, this track evokes those feelings of heroic daring-do so well it never fails to spur me on in excitement and energy every time I hear it.



My second pick is another action-orientated piece but it couldn't be more stylistically different. 'Duty Calls' from the Total War: Shogun II Expansion 'Fall of the Samurai' soundtrack by Jeff van Dyck is just one of the many excellently composed pieces that combine the classical orchestral bombast and splendor of a more traditional video game score with the evocative and distinct sounds of traditional Japanese music and instruments. It's a combination of all the different instrumentation that really makes the Shogun music stand out and with this piece one has the call of the trumpets to arms, the booming beat of the taiko drums keeping up the momentum, the soft but powerful melody of the bamboo flute signalling the theme, the rhythm of the strings underneath holding it all together and other Japanese percussion-sounding instruments I don't even know the name of that nonetheless create such a wonderful Japanese-sounding texture. I can already see my bushido warriors and ashigaru footmen rallying en masse on the battlefield!

Jmalmis

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

Post by Jmalmis »

Who likes strange? I like strange!

OFF is a french rpg from the mind of one Mortis Ghost and is easiest explained as being the Anti-Earthbound. The game is made almost entirely by two people; the aforementioned Mr. Ghost and composer Alias Conrad Coldwood. Not sure about any of their real names.
The game itself is very clearly made by people who are artists first and game devs second, since the actual rpg mechanics are the game's least interesting aspect. What the game does really well are the imaginative, twisted places you visit and the people you meet there. The music is appropiately twisted. The main battle theme, "Pepper Steak" is unforgettable to me.

OFF is actually a free game, so nobody's got a good reason to at least not try it.

Benderson

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

Post by Benderson »

I can't help but think that very few people played Breath of Fire 5: Dragon Quarter, and those that did barely remember it. It had little to do with the BoF games that came before it, and in one sense its departure from form may have sunk the series (BoF 6 is a mobile game arriving 13 years after Dragon Quarter, rated poorly in Japan and yet to appear in the US). Worse, the story makes only a very thin sense on one playthrough - multiple trips through the game (and, frankly, abuse of the D-Counter/SOL Restore system) are required to see the whole tale. But Dragon Quarter's novel gameplay and post-apocalyptic subterranean setting struck a chord with me, and that chord might not have been nearly so resonant nor so memorable had it not been for Hitoshi Sakimoto's lengthy, moody, brilliant soundtrack. From that soundtrack I suggest/submit any of the following:

…the eerie, anxious "Conquering the World."


…the steelyard rhythms of "Lifeline."


…or the rushed, frantic footsteps of "Sealed."


After all of that atmospheric tension and industrial dystopia, the end credits song "Castle Imitation" - composed, written, and voiced by Chihiro Onitsuka - is a welcome, triumphant relief of daylight and fresh air. Ikite!
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by ColinAlonso »

Benderson wrote:I can't help but think that very few people played Breath of Fire 5: Dragon Quarter, [snip]
I play quite a number of JRPGs and although it has its issues Dragon Quarter is probably one of my favourites. I first played it in 2011, 8 years after its release, and it still felt fresh.

Its unlike most JRPGs and the driving force is simply to escape the giant underground settlement or, in other words, go up. I love the the battle system with its focus on positioning, the three person party having specific roles (melee, ranged and a magic user who focuses on area attacks and traps) and getting an advantage before the battle begins, including using bait to do so.

I also think that the combination of not having a healer, the limited inventory space and the difficulty of the battles drives home the theme of survival as you try to escape the oppressive society, I found most of my money went on healing items rather than more powerful weapons as is usually the norm in JRPGs.

I could ramble for ages about this game but this is the Sound of Play thread and I'm way off topic.
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by ColinAlonso »

I'm currently playing through Rhythm Paradise Remix and given that its kind of a best of, I'm posting a track from Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise (aka Rhythm Heaven Fever). Flock Step is a level that involves a lot of birds marching in unison. It has a loud and cheery tune just that keeps going and much like the rest of the Rhythm Heaven/Paradise games just puts a big smile on my face.  :D

Edit: The composers for the game are credited as TSUNKU♂, Masami Yone, Shinji Ushiroda and Asuka Itoand the youtube video credits the tune to TSUNKU♂ but I couldn't back that up.
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