Video game scores... the way it should be.

Exofluke · Mar 22, 2011

I always find myself wondering that with all that money that goes into making a lot of the badass contemporary games we love, what keeps happening to the music department? Finding well written and well composed scores, on the level of the motion picture, is starting to pop up. I just hate how it's so damn late. In addition, some scores end up going backwards.

For example, here is an excellent video game score and it was back during the PS2 days:

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. You know that's some bad ass music. I mean, synthesizers may have been used, but fuck is it hard to tell. I'm pretty sure that's an orchestra. Then when Mercs2 came out, it went straight back to the typical bullshit.

Now let's move to something a little different. Mortal Kombat vs. DC, a really crap game but with the exception of a pimp ass theme:

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. That still holds some synthesizing but prevails on the MK level of things. Yet then they take a step back, again.

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.

Now let's move over to people who get it right. The Modern Warfare 2 OST was done by Hans Zimmer himself, you know, the famous film composer who's done

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(<--- that ost is my all time fav ost of anything, ever). Well, congrats to infinityward for getting that shit right.

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.

Now the biggest development in this new age of music comes with Mass Effect. The first two scores were conducted by Jack Wall, who did a splended job at capturing the tech scifi mood. Yet like most VG scores, he failed with the epic orchestrated parts by... bringing in the synths. However, for the final chapter to this epic story, we get a little taste of Clint Mansell.

Clint isn't quite Hans Zimmer, but he has done some pretty damn good songs and most of which are very recognizable. Here's a little taste of Clint's madness:

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- which was remade by corner stone cues

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.

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Now I can only imagine what the director will ask for from Clint for the Mass Effect 3 OST. I can only hope for the best, as listening to some of Jack's epic wannabe scores, and the music used for the ME trailers... maybe BioWare will get this one right.

As a side note, some scores have been pretty good for synths. The best I've heard is the Banjo & Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts ost. Pretty good stuff for lacking a live orchestra:

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.

Edit: I knew it was too good to be true. The B&K ost was indeed orchestrated.

If you're curious about how far tech has gotten, here's an example of a computer based program that can generate orchestrated sounding compositions:

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Oh computers, how you tease us.

Sinfulwolf · Mar 22, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

How can you talk about video game scores without mentioning Chris Vrenna, former member of Nine Inch Nails, who did some great work for American McGee's Alice... in my opinion. As well as DooM 3.

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Granted, Vrenna doesn't work with Orchestras or anything (what did you expect from Trent Reznor's former partner?) but he did some great work with these titles.

The Halo series also has some great scores to them. Though the second added electronic elements to the main theme I don't think it made it worse... just different.

Still... we have music and video game threads, did this really need its own?

Newbie · Mar 22, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

I had never really considered video game OSTs as music, because I mostly just hear them as background music. I will, however, contribute; I think

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did it right.

Exofluke · Mar 22, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

I take back some of that I suppose, in that I can't really blame many composers. Instead, the blame goes on the companies who don't want to give the composer real instruments or orchestras & a chorus.

A lot of game music is excellent. Take that Video Game Music Live performance as an example. Also, here's some more of the power of orchestra & real instruments:

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-

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-

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I should also probably add that fantasy genres usually get good music regardless. Like the Fable franchise or The Elder Scrolls.

Bioshock has some good stuff, but I think would have did better with an orchestra. It's well composed, but damn it... still lacks the goodness of real instruments.

lurker · Mar 22, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

I listen to game soundtracks a lot, usually as during a lets play. Though sometimes the remixes can be just as awesome as the main track.

Guess to toss my two cents in, though, I'll add this:
Destati (Kingdom Hearts)- Normal version:

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Destati- Dramatica Album Version:

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Personally both are awesome tracks, though it should be noted the latter is from a remix album of several of Square's soundtracks (mostly Legened of Mana themes surprienly enough, with a few inserts from KH and Final Fantasy, and Somnus for a bonus track) and was designed with a more dramatic appeal, whilest the other is both the 'explore' and 'battle' track as you set your character growth in the original game. Either way, it does its job to build ambiance to your first boss.

Caulder · Mar 22, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

I have got to say, in terms of videogame scores, the best I've heard had to have come from Nobuo Uematsu. Once Square kicked him off the Final Fantasy team, the lack of quality music just made the games feel like rubbish.

But, I've digressed. Another fairly good musical score was the OST of a fairly unknown PS2 game, Front Mission 4, which comprised of several synthesized tracks, but quite a few orchestral tracks as well. Several

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. Hidenori Iwasaki at his finest, even though a few of the songs sound like they sailed right out of Pirates of the Carribean >.>. Still, it was a great musical score for it's time, and the overall theme of each song just felt like it mixed with the environment and the opponents you were forced to beat back during each mission.

Zelzar · Mar 22, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

A classic guy. Jeremy Soule, composer for TESIII Morrowind, TES Oblivion and in work for TES Skyrim

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(Probably not done yet, but it's something)

Loonizzle · Mar 22, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

TES were all brilliant
MF2 at the end where you just have to throw the knife at the boss and the music rolls in!

and since then i only sat there and listened to 1 song in the menu

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settler 7 title theme, i think it´s really fitting

Sinfulwolf · Mar 22, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

Exofluke said:
I take back some of that I suppose, in that I can't really blame many composers. Instead, the blame goes on the companies who don't want to give the composer real instruments or orchestras & a chorus.

A lot of game music is excellent. Take that Video Game Music Live performance as an example. Also, here's some more of the power of orchestra & real instruments:

Real instruments don't always fit the theme of what the developers and story tellers want to do however. Orchestra would loose much of that power you talk about if everyone did it, and sometimes electronic devices can capture a really good sound the fit the theme and story.

JohnDoe · Mar 22, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

Most of the

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and

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ost by Yasunori Mitsuda, one of my favorite composers.

The opening theme of

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.

Concluding, the entire ost of

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.

Just to mention some.

Exofluke · Mar 22, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

sinfulwolf said:
Real instruments don't always fit the theme of what the developers and story tellers want to do however. Orchestra would loose much of that power you talk about if everyone did it, and sometimes electronic devices can capture a really good sound the fit the theme and story.

Not at all. That would depend on the composer's knowledge of instruments. As an example, let's take the Bioshock OST. It's obviously a score that's meant to be dark, creepy and strange. Soundtracks can meet those demands and beyond:

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Most of the sounds you hear in that ost are really odd, that do come from actual live performances. If I'm correct though, John Frizzell did use some synths (mentioned in the making of AR).

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Ranger Princess · Mar 22, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

I started feeling some nostalgia for Zelda: Ocarina of Time yesterday after watching the tetris video... So I decided to look up the Requiem of Spirit song because it was my favorite ocarina song and temple. But then I started thinking... is it really my favorite? And yeah got a little carried away...

Hope you like some. I think it's really neat how many original songs were made just from those short ocarina songs.

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Newbie · Mar 22, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

Only tangentially related, but I have trouble listening to a conversation about the Ocarina of Time without bringing up the

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.

Rule 34 · Mar 23, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

For me, old SNES RPGs still hold up as having some of the most memorable soundtracks ever. Secret of Mana, Lufia II and Terranigma all have an excellent score - but then again, they're coupled with a lot of emotion on my part. I can only imagine what a reboot of these games would sound like, with the full range of an actual orchestra at the developer's disposal. I can't remember the last time I actually stopped and listened to a game while I played it. One of the few songs that do come to mind is

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.

Exofluke · Mar 23, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

Rule 34 said:
One of the few songs that do come to mind is
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.

I believe that is synthesized as well. Course... I'm guessing you knew that. I think most of Bioware's scores are synth-based with the exception of maybe a title song. *Listening to the theme*... scratch that. I think it's just synths but with a female singer who did a little recording bit to mix. Sometimes it is hard to tell.

Now that I think of it, tons of games usually feature one song that is actually a full orchestra, but then the rest of the score is the synth trash.

It's like that Gauntlet song I found and posted awhile back...

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...
That song was by the Seattle Northwest Sinfonia, and then the rest was the garbarge. Tisk tisk...

Oh... and

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was composed by Danny Elfman.

Twisted · Mar 23, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

To be honest, though this might be my inner otaku channeling through me, Touhou might have the best game music I've heard.. pretty much ever. Specifically Subterranean Animism, which I've been playing the fuck out of simply because of the music.

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And from the other games - 3-

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and many more that i don't really feel like looking up

and then we have ridiculous-ass remixes/orchestral covers, though these don't really count as in-game music they kinda show what could be if ZUN used the same compositions while going in different direction, I guess.

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GargantuaBlarg · Mar 23, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

I haven't really been impressed by a video game's music in a long damn time. Probably MGS4 was the last game that I went "Oh shit, this music is awesome", as opposed to not even noticing it like it is nowadays.

There's Yasunori Mitsuda, who did

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and

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. Yoko Shimomura is fucking Godlike -

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A

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is great, and

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has possibly my favorite music out of any vidya ever.
FFT also had a really awesome soundtrack.

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There's also FF: Mystic Quest. It's got fucking awesome music, though I don't know what happened to the composers.

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I think one of those links mentions how most games no longer focus on the bass and drums or something, going for ambient and orchestral music - I love me some drums-and-bass, so that's a shame.

Towhow's got some great music, yeah. I think my favorite's

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, but Subterranean Animism has some really awesome, moody stuff. Locked Girl, Nuclear Fusion and pretty much any of Marisa's are awesome too.

There's another series that's mostly-Japan with fucking awesome music: Sakura Wars. It's a game series primarily, so that counts, right?

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. They all have a really patriotic feel to them, and while I can't detect any Japanese sorta flair to the Japanese group's, both the French and New York themes are quite thematic in accordance with their countries. The French one's got dat accordion and horns, New York is distinctly Jazzy.

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- one of the character's theme songs. It's a waltz. Classy as fuck.

Here's some unassorted goodness.

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(FYI there's not much too it, it's just a lotta loops)

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(Neo Kobe City, motherfucker!)

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, which I'm not sure actually appeared in a video game, so it's kinda iffy

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Quartz · Mar 23, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

Hrm, as far as stuff not already mentioned goes, I'm a big fan of Jeff van Dyck's work in Medieval 2 Total War. Hrm, on second thought, I'm a fan of the other composers they hired as well. What I'm trying to say is that game had good music.

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lurker · Mar 23, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

GargantuaBlarg said:
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You mentioning the original Musashi makes me wanna track it down even more <3 I've played the Sequal (Musashi: Samurai Legends) and I enjoyed the hack-and-slash style. It had some pretty awesome tracks too, though it's predominately synthetics and metal vibes, thanks to a Japanese rockband called Surf Coasters.

Examples:

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More orchistratal then most of the tracks.

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The Earth element boss's track. Pretty much one of the most orchestrated tracks.

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Told you it had rock and metal overtones.

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The main theme, and according to the title it's the 'Game Edit' version. Not been able to track down a full version however- scratch that.

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A haunting theme to personally one of the hardest mofos in the game, the Void element boss.

Unknown Squid · Mar 23, 2011

Re: Video game scores... the way it should be.

So many links... going through these slowly.

Twisted said:
... Touhou... ZUN... etc...

When thinking of ZUN's compositions, the fact that he produces the music for the games entirely as MIDI synths colours the resulting the music massively. It's a similar area to old retro arcade games, or the likes of the early pre orchestral Final Fantasy scores, though of course using his own rather unique sample set. The strength of his music to me, can be measured by the sheer power of inspiration it has demonstrated through the response of fan arrangements, covers and re-interpretations.

Whilst the fan music is as Twisted says, not in-game music, each one is a direct reflection of the original and the story behind it. Each one takes a different aspect of the music or character behind it and runs with it. Take a single character like Okuu. A progressive rock arrange emphasizing the destructive fire and fury of the re-born hell raven. An energetic upbeat techno piece portraying the more inocent but highly charged personality of the character. Or a slow and mellow orchestral showing a more hidden side, and telling the lonely story of a youkai buried away in a long forgotten fading portion of hell. All use the same underlying theme music, take it in completely different directions, and make it work wonderfully.

When it comes to emotional and creative fan response to music, I can't think of any other series that comes close.

Video game scores... the way it should be.

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