Ok Wow, this video is getting a lot more traction than I expected so thank you guys for the positive feedback. But tbh you guys won't see much of this type of high effort content on here since this is just the channel where I upload school projects. I only spent so much time on this because it was a topic I enjoyed for once. If you want a higher chance of seeing videos with actual effort put in like this one, you're much more likely to see it on my main channel that's linked in the about section of this one
Y'know, this channel is actually doing really good now for a school project dump channel, I might just unlink it from my college email and link to a new one so I can make it just my actual second channel because I don't wanna lose access to this when I graduate in a couple years
Im sure being named Gabriel and having Minos suddenly appear to announce that he's going to splay "gabriel"'s gore across hell was menacing the first time around 😂
I remember someone in the comments on Hakita's original upload of order mentioned that it scared the shit out of him, as his name was Gabriel So there's at least two people that Stephan Weyte scared the shit out of named Gabriel
correction: gluttony does not actually take place inside the corpse of king minos! i used to think this as well, but it is supposedly an illusion that only v1 sees. gluttony is its own separate layer (which also aligns with dante's inferno, in which gluttony is a layer where sinners are punished by having to swim in stomach acid)
@@eater9494 h*ck isn't the most physical space out there so just about everyone who goes there sees a different layout kinda like some fucked up pmd fanfic
Honestly, I wouldn’t have been so quick to pass over 2-3. Level-Wise, it shows just how developed Lust was before it’s fall, with actual factories and water treatment, with the latter being something I can only assume to more of a luxury than a requirement for the cursed souls of hell. As for the music itself, you end up cutting it right as it goes from its energetic opening to, while still energetic, something with somber undertones to it. It almost feels like it’s the the theme less for Minos himself and more for the denizens of lust, trying their best to keep the gears turning and the water running to return to that by-gone era when they didn’t have to worry about their once-king crushing everything they’ve built up again.
That's a very good point, me just glossing over was mostly due to time constraints with needing to get this project submitted on time. If I had procrastinated less and didn't leave this until 3 days before submission I could've thought of a way to fit it in but I'm bad at time management. Great analysis you did there though, maybe you should try your hand at this type of thing you'd probably be good at it
One could also consider it a representation of Gabriel showing his face and causing issues. It's horribly different from the rest, and "Panic Betrayer" could possibly point towards Gabriel, another/next in line for the Judge of Hell, betraying Minos, the current Judge of Hell. The title of the level itself could also possibly imply the terror of Minos watching by, the glass window he looks down on in turn being similar to the divorce between his body and his soul, with his "Heart" being with the city and his body trampling upon it. I might just be looking too far into it though.
Exactly my thoughts, 2-1 is high above the city, and even 2-2 is on the rooftops where you can see a great overview of everything. 2-3 is in the gritty and broken world of lust's denizens, not disconnected and aloof, instead very present and aggressive to the player, you're no longer looking at the city from the top, you're now on the ground level where most of the people lived, and even though you're closer to Minos than before, even his massive corpse seems less present through the tight ceiling windows. And then 2-4 is of course in an underground metro system, again gone from the masses, because what would the ever suffering victims of hell need a metro for. It's empty, lonesome, and you can come back to wondering about the bigger picture.
Whenever Minos Prime says "WEAK" halfway through the fight, he isn't saying that to you. He's calling himself weak. He feels as if he can accomplish nothing, as it will always be destroyed in the end. Him calling himself weak just fuels him to see his goals through more.
I really like that in 3-1, Glory begins playing in the very room where you can find the Prime Sanctum as if it was an indication that you were getting even closer to King Minos.
The fact that you can hear the spinal staircase theme in 2-1 and 2-4 itself feels like you ARE getting closer to Minos.. it's like fresh prison is singing it
I actually think Panic Betrayer could be representative of V1 and the machines in a way, with how detached it is from the rest of the layer it could possibly represent how V1 and the other machines just... doesn't care. all this tragedy and its just worthless noise to them, they just want more blood.
I think Panic Betrayer represents Minos's rage towards the angels and how he might have tried fighting back or in another case was just enraged by his unability to set his people free (from sorrow to anger and rage)
Well in Act 2, it did say Minos attempted a peaceful revolution, while Sisyphus was the one who attempted to fight back, so I guess he did try to save his city, albeit not with violence. So I can understand his pent up anger in the song
Made worse by the fact Gabriel struck him down by tricking him into going peacefully into talks. Minos' rage towards Heaven is amplified by their trickery and betrayal.
I think the greatest thing about Minos' reform of Lust, is that most of the sinners in the layer weren't actually Sinners, or deserving of hell. They had just been thrown down into hell by the mass-extinction event that was brought about by the rampant machines Minos was essentially trying to make a place where those people who did not deserve hell, but were closed out of heaven, could live And where those he himself judged to the layer were simply able to exist in a city on high, loving, and living, and praying. Because where the council judged in the name of an absent God, the denizens of Lust prayed for their king's return
The elevator to 3 - 1 goes straight down, and the corpse’s head is lying sideways on the ground. If gluttony was actually inside of Minos’ corpse the elevator would be a tunnel instead.
how do you think necks work? Minos’ entire body wasn’t lying sideways, so it was literally just his head that was connected to his neck, which, believe it or not, is vertical since Minos is and has been standing upright
this game absolutely nails the use of leitmotif in the game, especially the Glory motif. They all lore-wise and thematically connects to each other seamlessly.
looking at the lore of Minos and then trying to beat him just making me thinking "is there a another way to beat the level without killing him?" a story of a person who made a paraside for residents of the Lust layer to not feel tormented and being struck down just for trying to make people of the layer he judged happy is just full of sorrow and empathy and music gives out what feelings were trough that character,especially the requiem leitmotif,it just gives the vibe that you are so much sorry for him,looking what he created and how he was punished for it and being honest,i didn't knew that Gluttony was going inside of the corpse of king Minos
One particular tidbit I like about Ultrakill's OST is that 5-3's soundtrack has the same leitmotif as 2-3 - just as Lust has fallen, it's a good metaphor, as that level includes the fall of the Ferryman's ship, the last safe beacon of Wrath, and to a larger extent is the metaphor for the fall of Wrath itself
@@jamesrego2724 so Panic Betrayer at 0:44 matches up with the intro of Death Odyssey, even though they're different time signatures it still parallels like how ORDER vs Requiem have different signatures
I like the idea that V1 is just following his programming, and that’s pretty much the only reason he travels deep into hell in order to kill everything
This is why ultrakill might be my favorite game I've ever played. I mean whenever I listen to the songs, it ALWAYS gives me chills and that isnt even the only reason why it is my favorite. great video and i hope you get an A!
It amazes me how musician could create such an interesting experience. Music is truly in different realm of art, watching over others. Thank you for this video!
Great video! Though there are some inaccuracies. Like Gluttony not taking place inside the corpse of king Minos, Hakita said during the dev stream that the level transitions aren't meant to be taken literally. As well as Guts being literally just a slowed down version of Glory. You also didn't mention how the track gets more distorted (or maybe overpowered by wind) the further down you go the spinal staircase in P-1. Also fun unrelated fact: you can see bodies in some of the gluttony's flesh textures.
@@DanzTheGB Hakita said it isn't. The exact mechanism isn't known. Exit pit of his bossfight doesn't lead down his through anyway, the exit door just appears in his mouth sideways(relative to the head)
love how you actually looked deeper into the game and its songs, its something I personally do too and I love that its not just me feeling that the songs have deeper meaning!
I like to think that the title of the songs are very important. Cold Winds as a reference to Lust as a whole, with the strong winds of it. Requiem, as to remember the people who lived in it after passing, and Minos' death. Panic Betrayer being Minos' "betrayal" to Heaven and the angels, as well as Gabriel, who killed Minos as the old Judge of Hell, now becoming the current one. And lastly, In the Presence of a King, where you have come face to face with what Minos had become by the hands of Gabriel. He's bound by wire and forced to destroy what he, as the king himself, built with his own hands.
Also, as a small side tangent. The songs Guts and Glory both have incredible meanings to me. Guts feels like the desecration of Minos' body, while Glory is the fame and praise Gabriel obtained after defeating him.
the reason minos' stage is named P-1 is because he's a prime soul in the Prime Sanctums. by the looks of it, there will be more prime sanctum levels after P-1 further along the road of development. when reading minos prime's entry in the enemy catalogue, he's classified as a "prime soul" type enemy, so that almost guarantees there will be more prime souls to occupy those "P-" levels later on.
I've been waiting for a video essay on this whole leitmotiff, it's genuinely such an evocative theme, listening how it changes fr level to level, track to track, and it's so goddang good. I love order do much.
choosing to end the video with versus playing is honestly a genius choice; its easily a theme that really encompasses what ultrakill is all about i'm glad someone's made a video on how the music compliments not just gameplay, but the story itself; the story of the lust layer and the fall of king minos
2-3 feels like the moment minos is destroying his own city as he lost the battle to gabriel. The statue could be like him looking upon what's left from that city and you destroying things in there. He's probably getting pissed that someone's destroying his city even though he's cursed to do this himself. Very strong feelings indeed.
You're telling me people actually believe that game music shows less strength than other music? Personally, Ive never found a song outside of a game song that actually portrayed emotion for me. Also, I think sheer heart attack represents the panic of king minos being killed by Gabriel as everyone runs in terror.
Another interesting thing is that the beginning of glory before the leitmotif has ANOTHER LEITMOTIF, one that is shared with altars of apostasy from wrath's 1st level. Interesting that it is also the 2nd track of the level before a bossfight against Gabriel.
As much as i am excited for p-2 and sisyphus prime (soz if i misspelled it) i cant help but wonder if he'll rise up to the expectations minos has set for prime souls
First off, your spelling of Sisyphus was perfect. Second off, at least the music for panopticon sounds pretty dang awesome. ua-cam.com/video/MG5L-1pI8bI/v-deo.html
I just noticed something, guts and glory are songs representing opposite things just like the chaos and order songs. Maybe it represents Flesh and Soul and the separation of the two for Minos
This is a great video, but there’s an issue with your observations of gluttony in that it doesn’t actually take place in minos’s corpse!! its revealed in a dev qna stream that the entrance is just a representation visible to V1 because hell is sentient or something something vague magic, but gluttony is its own full layer like all the others. its just a cool way to take the player to the next layer im pretty sure edit: its also worth mentioning that guts is also just glory but slowed down 300%, and in the actual level, in and out of combat the drums will dynamically come into the song, and the combat mix and calm mixes should be identical if the speeds are changed, every other part of the video is really good and well done!!!! final edit: how dare you not mention altars of apostasy’s requiem motif, it brings tears to my eyes!!! im gonna sue
Good points. I did watch the Dev commentary but it was a while ago so I definitely forgot some of those details when writing the script. I didn't cover altars of apostasy because even though I love that song and heresy is my favourite layer, it doesn't directly relate to Minos like Lust or Gluttony, but if I make another video covering Gabriel then altars of apostasy is for sure getting a section. I'd only do that after the game is fully out though so it won't be for a while because act 3 will be at least 2 years I'd say
i'd say 2-3's music shows the panic king minos felt while trying to convince Gabriel to rethink, and king minos was thinking about how everything he worked for to build the city up would disappear.
Honestly for me this game is something god of war nor any triple a title will be because very big companies stopped putting passion into their work just for a quick buck this game is my childhood and forever will be
Order is a beautiful soundtrack. When you listen to it, at first all you hear is powerful boss music representative of the might of Minos. As the song reaches its climax, and the requiem motif plays, you feel the very tragedy of Minos's story. The climax of act one is a Requiem to King Minos
Minos Prime is one, if not the best boss fight I ever seen, and as a character in general. This guy built an entire city once God vanished, made The Council send his best Angel to take him down and instead of fighting back he tried to talk to him, his soul beggining to gain power to a point Heaven had to put it in a prison because of fear. I alredy P ranked Minos Prime but everytime I decide to come back I still get scared, the confidence in his speech once hes free from the Flesh Prison, the power he holds to a point he doesnt teleport but instead he just RUNS at high speed towards us that we cant notice, and even after losing to the player he apologizes to his people for failing and not saving them. Damn what a guy
something that I think is great about CHAOS is that during the song there is an instrumental reminiscent of other lust songs and other small details of a complex shape, such as the reversed violin or the hyper-distorted guitar reminiscent of panic betrayer or the sound of the pulse machine and "breath" that sounds (remarking the fact that Flesh Prison contains life)
For your first video essay I’d say you did a pretty good job! Glad someone else is acknowledging how great Ultrakill’s OST is from a narrative perspective!
I understand why, I'm a cringe standard player who can't even splitshot and a cybergrind highscore of wave 22, still haven't tried violent so that might force me to actually play better
@@gabrielpozlotka7580 Take your time, otherwise you'll be like us and suffer from the, as some guy put it, "skill-based power creep" and proceed to steamroll through everything lol. I'm hoping for P-2 and the higher difficulties to bring our humility back.
@@gabrielpozlotka7580 I play Violent, struggling to even get past Flesh Prison and at a wave of 19 on Cybergrind. I have P-Ranked Prelude, Act 1, 4-1 and 4-2, and 5-1.
Found this while doing research for my own Ultrakill video essay lmao, really well done and great to finally see someone deconstruct the music like this!
i now know what i need to do for a video essay if i ever get one relating to music in college *edit: no im not going to copy, i just love ultrakill, meaning i want to do a video like this if i ever get the chance
Music Major here. Since I have to listen to classical music like Bach and that kind of stuff, you have no idea the self control it takes to not say “Machine…” when any Bach piece plays.
The Prelude's soundtrack definitely gives off a "Nope, gotta get out of here!" vibe that most players who pick up the game for the first time will do that exact thing.
It is pretty good for your first video essay. The only flaw I have really spotted so far is the stalling that takes up a good few minutes. You could've cut out most of the gameplay footage to focus more on the topic of the video, cutting down on size and keeping things straight to the point.
Panic Betrayer is actually remarkably similar to the theme of Flesh Prison, which is probably the intended connection between that level and King Minos.
I know this video is a few months old, I like how each act has their own unique theme for the music Act I is full of amen break style heavy genres, like jungle and breakcore, usually mixed in with guitar or distorted instruments. Act II is full of the string instruments of the last act but now has a heavier focus on the melodies, and far more string instruments, like violin, non distorted piano, still with that electric guitar, but now having a more angelic metal sound. My best guess for act 3 is that we’ll still hear the metal, but now the heavy industrial and chaotic sound of high bpm amen breaks are gone, and in turn, we get choirs singing the praises and fears of someone that can hopefully put down v1s blood crusade through hell. Alternatively, the amen breaks might come back in full force, going full break core with uncertain BPMs and dangerously high tempos. But hey that’s just my guess
2-3 is the resentment and agony of Minos, His hatred for his god and the love for his now destroyed empire wrenching away at him. His love is corroded. He is lonely.
A few little lore corrections: It is not actually stated that the machines caused the extinction, in fact we know machines were still being used after the war such as the streetcleaners, and the drones, and the game hints more at an ecological catastrophe so severe it apparently wiped out every lifeform that can bleed in the least. Minos did not rule over lust until God disappeared, only after thanks to the sudden power vacuum. While the entrance to Gluttony appears symbolically inside of Minos' corpse, the entire layer is not located within him. This was outright stated by Hakita.
I like to see the names of the song Chaos and Orden as part of telling this story Instance 1: Chaos: The chaos the lust layer was before Minos (act made by heaven) Order: The order and freedom Minos gave to the lust layer (act made by Minos) Instance 2: Chaos: The corpse of Minos destroying lust (act made by heaven) Order: The orden that Minos wouldve given lust and probably both hell and heaven (act by Minos)
I really hope that once the game finally comes out it gets some proper recognition from the gaming community and gets some nominations and awards in things like the Game Awards like best soundtrack
Hey so for context on Panic Betrayer, I confirmed with Hakita that it was very inspired by Haken. It takes some of its motifs from Cockroach King, specifically the solo.
As a personal suggestion, you could look into the music of Death's Door. It is amazingly made and plays around with many Leitmotifs that can even be connected to Titan Souls, a game from the same studio with the same composer.
Your analysis is very informative and interesting. Thank you for making this video! Video is high quality too, supporting you in your future endeavours 🙌🏾🙌🏾
You forgot to say that guts and glory are the same soundtrack, just at different speeds. You also forgot to say that minos is a prime soul due to his willpower and popularity
Tbh this is just my opinion panic betrayer does have a meaning deeper then what I heard, it feels very engaged like it's not calm and only the corpse of Minos is staring down at you maybe it's the start of everything,your being noticed that your there,he knows that v1 is there ruining more and killing his people
during panic betrayer, theres a bit after the first synth with the underwater sounding thing that has low stuff that sounds similar to the drums during in the presence of a king.
Good video but in a developer commentary hakita had he said that gluttony does not take place in minos and the elevator in minos is just to make it look cool
fantastic video, i kinda wished you would've covered death odyssey in the ship of fools level, and how the song completely changes in tone while keeping the same structure when the ship capsizes.
Ok Wow, this video is getting a lot more traction than I expected so thank you guys for the positive feedback. But tbh you guys won't see much of this type of high effort content on here since this is just the channel where I upload school projects. I only spent so much time on this because it was a topic I enjoyed for once. If you want a higher chance of seeing videos with actual effort put in like this one, you're much more likely to see it on my main channel that's linked in the about section of this one
Nah the music in ultrakill gives me adrenaline and bloodlust
Y'know, this channel is actually doing really good now for a school project dump channel, I might just unlink it from my college email and link to a new one so I can make it just my actual second channel because I don't wanna lose access to this when I graduate in a couple years
@@gabrielpozlotka7580 If it's something you enjoy doing, keep doing it.
@@gabrielpozlotka7580 The world could use more music analysis videos. Especially for video game!
you honestly deserve a P rank for this project lol
Im sure being named Gabriel and having Minos suddenly appear to announce that he's going to splay "gabriel"'s gore across hell was menacing the first time around 😂
I remember someone in the comments on Hakita's original upload of order mentioned that it scared the shit out of him, as his name was Gabriel
So there's at least two people that Stephan Weyte scared the shit out of named Gabriel
Splay the gore of your profaned form across the stars! I will cut you down until the very sparks cry for mercy
@@ImDaRealBoi make that three lmao
well you are meant to fight Gabriel for the first time before you fight Minos Prime
grammaticly incorrect, “gabriel”’s should be “gabriel’s” good comment otherwise
correction: gluttony does not actually take place inside the corpse of king minos! i used to think this as well, but it is supposedly an illusion that only v1 sees. gluttony is its own separate layer (which also aligns with dante's inferno, in which gluttony is a layer where sinners are punished by having to swim in stomach acid)
it's not even an illusion lol
it's just a big coincidence
@@ConsarnitTokkori i remember reading on the wiki that it was an illusion of some sort but maybe I'm wrong
@@eater9494 h*ck isn't the most physical space out there
so just about everyone who goes there sees a different layout
kinda like some fucked up pmd fanfic
@@ConsarnitTokkori *hell
@@aarepelaa1142 omg don't just say the h word like that
Honestly, I wouldn’t have been so quick to pass over 2-3. Level-Wise, it shows just how developed Lust was before it’s fall, with actual factories and water treatment, with the latter being something I can only assume to more of a luxury than a requirement for the cursed souls of hell.
As for the music itself, you end up cutting it right as it goes from its energetic opening to, while still energetic, something with somber undertones to it. It almost feels like it’s the the theme less for Minos himself and more for the denizens of lust, trying their best to keep the gears turning and the water running to return to that by-gone era when they didn’t have to worry about their once-king crushing everything they’ve built up again.
That's a very good point, me just glossing over was mostly due to time constraints with needing to get this project submitted on time. If I had procrastinated less and didn't leave this until 3 days before submission I could've thought of a way to fit it in but I'm bad at time management. Great analysis you did there though, maybe you should try your hand at this type of thing you'd probably be good at it
@@gabrielpozlotka7580 you made this in 3 days? Nicely done dude, i hope it didnt burn you out!
One could also consider it a representation of Gabriel showing his face and causing issues. It's horribly different from the rest, and "Panic Betrayer" could possibly point towards Gabriel, another/next in line for the Judge of Hell, betraying Minos, the current Judge of Hell. The title of the level itself could also possibly imply the terror of Minos watching by, the glass window he looks down on in turn being similar to the divorce between his body and his soul, with his "Heart" being with the city and his body trampling upon it.
I might just be looking too far into it though.
Exactly my thoughts, 2-1 is high above the city, and even 2-2 is on the rooftops where you can see a great overview of everything. 2-3 is in the gritty and broken world of lust's denizens, not disconnected and aloof, instead very present and aggressive to the player, you're no longer looking at the city from the top, you're now on the ground level where most of the people lived, and even though you're closer to Minos than before, even his massive corpse seems less present through the tight ceiling windows. And then 2-4 is of course in an underground metro system, again gone from the masses, because what would the ever suffering victims of hell need a metro for. It's empty, lonesome, and you can come back to wondering about the bigger picture.
Whenever Minos Prime says "WEAK" halfway through the fight, he isn't saying that to you. He's calling himself weak. He feels as if he can accomplish nothing, as it will always be destroyed in the end. Him calling himself weak just fuels him to see his goals through more.
I really like that in 3-1, Glory begins playing in the very room where you can find the Prime Sanctum as if it was an indication that you were getting even closer to King Minos.
Hello, Bert.
The fact that you can hear the spinal staircase theme in 2-1 and 2-4 itself feels like you ARE getting closer to Minos.. it's like fresh prison is singing it
I actually think Panic Betrayer could be representative of V1 and the machines in a way, with how detached it is from the rest of the layer it could possibly represent how V1 and the other machines just... doesn't care. all this tragedy and its just worthless noise to them, they just want more blood.
I think Panic Betrayer represents Minos's rage towards the angels and how he might have tried fighting back or in another case was just enraged by his unability to set his people free (from sorrow to anger and rage)
Well in Act 2, it did say Minos attempted a peaceful revolution, while Sisyphus was the one who attempted to fight back, so I guess he did try to save his city, albeit not with violence. So I can understand his pent up anger in the song
Made worse by the fact Gabriel struck him down by tricking him into going peacefully into talks.
Minos' rage towards Heaven is amplified by their trickery and betrayal.
Can't believe that Minos Prime was so cool that Gabriel made a video praising him.
Gianni should meet this guy, the true voice actor of Gabriel.
i loved the part when he said he said minos was a great ruler and proceeded to beat him with a ruler instead of a weapon
I think the greatest thing about Minos' reform of Lust, is that most of the sinners in the layer weren't actually Sinners, or deserving of hell. They had just been thrown down into hell by the mass-extinction event that was brought about by the rampant machines
Minos was essentially trying to make a place where those people who did not deserve hell, but were closed out of heaven, could live
And where those he himself judged to the layer were simply able to exist in a city on high, loving, and living, and praying. Because where the council judged in the name of an absent God, the denizens of Lust prayed for their king's return
The mass extinction isn’t necessarily because of the machines. It’s not confirmed but I don’t think it was the machines, maybe it was hell itself?
The elevator to 3 - 1 goes straight down, and the corpse’s head is lying sideways on the ground. If gluttony was actually inside of Minos’ corpse the elevator would be a tunnel instead.
how do you think necks work? Minos’ entire body wasn’t lying sideways, so it was literally just his head that was connected to his neck, which, believe it or not, is vertical since Minos is and has been standing upright
this game absolutely nails the use of leitmotif in the game, especially the Glory motif. They all lore-wise and thematically connects to each other seamlessly.
After i first beated pinos, i easily can say that i heard for about an entire week to "order"
This game OST is a masterpiece
Pinos Mrime
@@DeadMemeMan hakita style breakcore is the best!
Ah yes *P I N O S* the best character of Ultrakill
@@DeadMemeMan penis mime
if the corpse just used his colossal pinos to attack we wouldnt have beaten him
looking at the lore of Minos and then trying to beat him just making me thinking "is there a another way to beat the level without killing him?"
a story of a person who made a paraside for residents of the Lust layer to not feel tormented and being struck down just for trying to make people of the layer he judged happy is just full of sorrow and empathy and music gives out what feelings were trough that character,especially the requiem leitmotif,it just gives the vibe that you are so much sorry for him,looking what he created and how he was punished for it
and being honest,i didn't knew that Gluttony was going inside of the corpse of king Minos
If we weren't a vampiric gopro Minos probably could have helped us ban Gabriel for posting cringe
Gluttony isn't literally in Minos' corpse, Hakita clarified that in a stream. The elevators are more like portals (symbolic).
@@theweakestbrazilianmale3398 “I’m actually a Nikon”
Well, he was already dead......
You just fight his corpse, killing the parasites inside (his eyes)
One particular tidbit I like about Ultrakill's OST is that 5-3's soundtrack has the same leitmotif as 2-3 - just as Lust has fallen, it's a good metaphor, as that level includes the fall of the Ferryman's ship, the last safe beacon of Wrath, and to a larger extent is the metaphor for the fall of Wrath itself
Huh? Which part of 2-3 overlaps with 5-3??
@@jamesrego2724 so Panic Betrayer at 0:44 matches up with the intro of Death Odyssey, even though they're different time signatures it still parallels like how ORDER vs Requiem have different signatures
oh my god you're right@@bramd4423 @bramd4423
I like the idea that V1 is just following his programming, and that’s pretty much the only reason he travels deep into hell in order to kill everything
This is why ultrakill might be my favorite game I've ever played. I mean whenever I listen to the songs, it ALWAYS gives me chills and that isnt even the only reason why it is my favorite. great video and i hope you get an A!
It amazes me how musician could create such an interesting experience. Music is truly in different realm of art, watching over others. Thank you for this video!
Our eyes always watch, but your ears do not always listen, so when we do, it is more effectual
I love it when after finding something cool someone comes along and explains why it is even cooler.
video essays gotta be my favorite gender ™
Great video! Though there are some inaccuracies. Like Gluttony not taking place inside the corpse of king Minos, Hakita said during the dev stream that the level transitions aren't meant to be taken literally. As well as Guts being literally just a slowed down version of Glory. You also didn't mention how the track gets more distorted (or maybe overpowered by wind) the further down you go the spinal staircase in P-1. Also fun unrelated fact: you can see bodies in some of the gluttony's flesh textures.
How is gluttony not inside king minos?
@@DanzTheGB Hakita said it isn't. The exact mechanism isn't known. Exit pit of his bossfight doesn't lead down his through anyway, the exit door just appears in his mouth sideways(relative to the head)
@@DanzTheGB the layers of hell work in mysterious ways
Honestly gluttony not actually being inside minos's husk makes sense, cuz I was thinking, "how could an entire layer of hell be in a rotting corpse? "
All the walls in gluttony are filled with organ's and bodies
Maybe gluttony just eats the sinner's inside it
I remember Maxor said Chaos' "time signature is fucked" in his Ultrakill Summary Part 2
love how you actually looked deeper into the game and its songs, its something I personally do too and I love that its not just me feeling that the songs have deeper meaning!
I like to think that the title of the songs are very important.
Cold Winds as a reference to Lust as a whole, with the strong winds of it.
Requiem, as to remember the people who lived in it after passing, and Minos' death.
Panic Betrayer being Minos' "betrayal" to Heaven and the angels, as well as Gabriel, who killed Minos as the old Judge of Hell, now becoming the current one.
And lastly, In the Presence of a King, where you have come face to face with what Minos had become by the hands of Gabriel. He's bound by wire and forced to destroy what he, as the king himself, built with his own hands.
Also, as a small side tangent.
The songs Guts and Glory both have incredible meanings to me.
Guts feels like the desecration of Minos' body, while Glory is the fame and praise Gabriel obtained after defeating him.
the reason minos' stage is named P-1 is because he's a prime soul in the Prime Sanctums. by the looks of it, there will be more prime sanctum levels after P-1 further along the road of development. when reading minos prime's entry in the enemy catalogue, he's classified as a "prime soul" type enemy, so that almost guarantees there will be more prime souls to occupy those "P-" levels later on.
A prison? To hold- ME?
How d'you like sissy?
Panic betrayer shows how the city of lust is out of Minos's control and how he is now forced to watch it burn
Jumping and releasing the movement keys before throwing a coin makes it a lot more consistent to hit. Helped me a ton. Hope this helps.
I've been waiting for a video essay on this whole leitmotiff, it's genuinely such an evocative theme, listening how it changes fr level to level, track to track, and it's so goddang good. I love order do much.
choosing to end the video with versus playing is honestly a genius choice; its easily a theme that really encompasses what ultrakill is all about
i'm glad someone's made a video on how the music compliments not just gameplay, but the story itself; the story of the lust layer and the fall of king minos
This rlly does put this game in my top 1 gamplay wise and lore wise rlly beautiful music as well
One of the greatest video essays about Ultrakill I have ever seen.
2-3 feels like the moment minos is destroying his own city as he lost the battle to gabriel. The statue could be like him looking upon what's left from that city and you destroying things in there. He's probably getting pissed that someone's destroying his city even though he's cursed to do this himself. Very strong feelings indeed.
i liked this video quite a lot, the whole video felt like it was 5 minutes long, just perfect
always love these college video essays. they're always such high quality.
You're telling me people actually believe that game music shows less strength than other music? Personally, Ive never found a song outside of a game song that actually portrayed emotion for me. Also, I think sheer heart attack represents the panic of king minos being killed by Gabriel as everyone runs in terror.
Another interesting thing is that the beginning of glory before the leitmotif has ANOTHER LEITMOTIF, one that is shared with altars of apostasy from wrath's 1st level. Interesting that it is also the 2nd track of the level before a bossfight against Gabriel.
As much as i am excited for p-2 and sisyphus prime (soz if i misspelled it) i cant help but wonder if he'll rise up to the expectations minos has set for prime souls
First off, your spelling of Sisyphus was perfect. Second off, at least the music for panopticon sounds pretty dang awesome.
ua-cam.com/video/MG5L-1pI8bI/v-deo.html
apparently he's going to be much, much harder than minos
I'm super happy it CRUSHED those expectations
Fun fact: The title "Cold Winds" might be a reference to the fact that the lust layer in dantes inferno uses strong winds to wisp around sinners.
Even if this was just a project essay, it's god damn amazing. I'm honestly impressed.
I just noticed something, guts and glory are songs representing opposite things just like the chaos and order songs. Maybe it represents Flesh and Soul and the separation of the two for Minos
there is literally text in-game (during normal gameplay) that says "go nuts, have fun"
This is a great video, but there’s an issue with your observations of gluttony in that it doesn’t actually take place in minos’s corpse!! its revealed in a dev qna stream that the entrance is just a representation visible to V1 because hell is sentient or something something vague magic, but gluttony is its own full layer like all the others. its just a cool way to take the player to the next layer im pretty sure
edit: its also worth mentioning that guts is also just glory but slowed down 300%, and in the actual level, in and out of combat the drums will dynamically come into the song, and the combat mix and calm mixes should be identical if the speeds are changed, every other part of the video is really good and well done!!!!
final edit: how dare you not mention altars of apostasy’s requiem motif, it brings tears to my eyes!!! im gonna sue
Yep
Good points. I did watch the Dev commentary but it was a while ago so I definitely forgot some of those details when writing the script. I didn't cover altars of apostasy because even though I love that song and heresy is my favourite layer, it doesn't directly relate to Minos like Lust or Gluttony, but if I make another video covering Gabriel then altars of apostasy is for sure getting a section. I'd only do that after the game is fully out though so it won't be for a while because act 3 will be at least 2 years I'd say
@@gabrielpozlotka7580 yeah absolutely only fix it if you want to, this video is great and deserves more views anyway
i'd say 2-3's music shows the panic king minos felt while trying to convince Gabriel to rethink, and king minos was thinking about how everything he worked for to build the city up would disappear.
Honestly for me this game is something god of war nor any triple a title will be because very big companies stopped putting passion into their work just for a quick buck this game is my childhood and forever will be
Eh id say god of war still has passion, some triple As have passion but by god's ass it's rare as shit
Order is a beautiful soundtrack. When you listen to it, at first all you hear is powerful boss music representative of the might of Minos. As the song reaches its climax, and the requiem motif plays, you feel the very tragedy of Minos's story.
The climax of act one is a Requiem to King Minos
motorstorm apocalypse is one of the best examples of music doing that
This video gives vibes of that UA-camr that doesn't upload for a year and when he does is one of the best videos known to man
Finally I hear someone else showing praise for the storytelling in this games music
Amazing video
you really have got this figured out, this video was incredibly interesting and well made. very well done.
Minos Prime is one, if not the best boss fight I ever seen, and as a character in general. This guy built an entire city once God vanished, made The Council send his best Angel to take him down and instead of fighting back he tried to talk to him, his soul beggining to gain power to a point Heaven had to put it in a prison because of fear. I alredy P ranked Minos Prime but everytime I decide to come back I still get scared, the confidence in his speech once hes free from the Flesh Prison, the power he holds to a point he doesnt teleport but instead he just RUNS at high speed towards us that we cant notice, and even after losing to the player he apologizes to his people for failing and not saving them. Damn what a guy
something that I think is great about CHAOS is that during the song there is an instrumental reminiscent of other lust songs and other small details of a complex shape, such as the reversed violin or the hyper-distorted guitar reminiscent of panic betrayer or the sound of the pulse machine and "breath" that sounds (remarking the fact that Flesh Prison contains life)
If you listen closely, the requiem leitmotif was used in the last 2 minutes of war without reason, from 7-4 of ultrakill
Thanks for giving me an idea for my music analysis class for next semester
For your first video essay I’d say you did a pretty good job! Glad someone else is acknowledging how great Ultrakill’s OST is from a narrative perspective!
5:26 This is because in the Divine Comedy "Inferno" by Dante, Dante and Virgil meets Minos in the Lust layer, where he is the Judge there.
I think hakita stated in his twitter that gluttony doesn't take place in minos corpse
As an experienced Ultrakill player, I gladly state: This gameplay makes me wanna cry
I understand why, I'm a cringe standard player who can't even splitshot and a cybergrind highscore of wave 22, still haven't tried violent so that might force me to actually play better
Well it's not that awful, atleast he made it to minos prime.
@@gabrielpozlotka7580 Take your time, otherwise you'll be like us and suffer from the, as some guy put it, "skill-based power creep" and proceed to steamroll through everything lol. I'm hoping for P-2 and the higher difficulties to bring our humility back.
@@gabrielpozlotka7580 I play Violent, struggling to even get past Flesh Prison and at a wave of 19 on Cybergrind.
I have P-Ranked Prelude, Act 1, 4-1 and 4-2, and 5-1.
Found this while doing research for my own Ultrakill video essay lmao, really well done and great to finally see someone deconstruct the music like this!
This is an extremely well put together college project
guts is just glory slowed down is a crazy realization
i now know what i need to do for a video essay if i ever get one relating to music in college
*edit: no im not going to copy, i just love ultrakill, meaning i want to do a video like this if i ever get the chance
one word: Gabriel.
@@theoneandonlydoorjam machine, turn back now.
Music Major here. Since I have to listen to classical music like Bach and that kind of stuff, you have no idea the self control it takes to not say “Machine…” when any Bach piece plays.
@@shrummajor114 damn, that must be so hard to control lol
flesh prison has no idea what a time signature is
The Prelude's soundtrack definitely gives off a "Nope, gotta get out of here!" vibe that most players who pick up the game for the first time will do that exact thing.
this is your brain on college
It is pretty good for your first video essay. The only flaw I have really spotted so far is the stalling that takes up a good few minutes. You could've cut out most of the gameplay footage to focus more on the topic of the video, cutting down on size and keeping things straight to the point.
Panic Betrayer is actually remarkably similar to the theme of Flesh Prison, which is probably the intended connection between that level and King Minos.
I feel like 2-3 music goes along with the flesh prisons theme
I know this video is a few months old, I like how each act has their own unique theme for the music
Act I is full of amen break style heavy genres, like jungle and breakcore, usually mixed in with guitar or distorted instruments.
Act II is full of the string instruments of the last act but now has a heavier focus on the melodies, and far more string instruments, like violin, non distorted piano, still with that electric guitar, but now having a more angelic metal sound.
My best guess for act 3 is that we’ll still hear the metal, but now the heavy industrial and chaotic sound of high bpm amen breaks are gone, and in turn, we get choirs singing the praises and fears of someone that can hopefully put down v1s blood crusade through hell. Alternatively, the amen breaks might come back in full force, going full break core with uncertain BPMs and dangerously high tempos.
But hey that’s just my guess
2-3 is the resentment and agony of Minos, His hatred for his god and the love for his now destroyed empire wrenching away at him. His love is corroded. He is lonely.
glad someone else is seeing requiem in guts and glory!
Hakita: yo this shit sounds fire, ima make this a soundtrack
Music analysts:
A few little lore corrections:
It is not actually stated that the machines caused the extinction, in fact we know machines were still being used after the war such as the streetcleaners, and the drones, and the game hints more at an ecological catastrophe so severe it apparently wiped out every lifeform that can bleed in the least.
Minos did not rule over lust until God disappeared, only after thanks to the sudden power vacuum.
While the entrance to Gluttony appears symbolically inside of Minos' corpse, the entire layer is not located within him. This was outright stated by Hakita.
Does p-1 take place in gluttony or in tall black man
@@SRobot08 Good question. The most direct answer would be gluttony, but it would make sense that his soul would still be in his body.
@@megan00b8 ok
Not now babe, some dude I haven’t heard of just uploaded a 40 video about music in a game I haven’t heard of
2-3's music could've been his insanity and anger over his Utopia being destroyed by himself.
I like to see the names of the song Chaos and Orden as part of telling this story
Instance 1:
Chaos: The chaos the lust layer was before Minos (act made by heaven)
Order: The order and freedom Minos gave to the lust layer (act made by Minos)
Instance 2:
Chaos: The corpse of Minos destroying lust (act made by heaven)
Order: The orden that Minos wouldve given lust and probably both hell and heaven (act by Minos)
It really makes one ultrakill all over the place
I really hope that once the game finally comes out it gets some proper recognition from the gaming community and gets some nominations and awards in things like the Game Awards like best soundtrack
Hey so for context on Panic Betrayer, I confirmed with Hakita that it was very inspired by Haken. It takes some of its motifs from Cockroach King, specifically the solo.
you made really good points here. i hope your essay does well. this is good analysis
The algorithm has spoken.
Hope you did great on the project, dude. I did one a while back with this game and it didn't go so great for me, so hopefully it went great for you.
As a personal suggestion, you could look into the music of Death's Door. It is amazingly made and plays around with many Leitmotifs that can even be connected to Titan Souls, a game from the same studio with the same composer.
Your analysis is very informative and interesting. Thank you for making this video! Video is high quality too, supporting you in your future endeavours 🙌🏾🙌🏾
You forgot to say that guts and glory are the same soundtrack, just at different speeds. You also forgot to say that minos is a prime soul due to his willpower and popularity
This vid is GREAT i loved it a lot and i think you deserve more views and likes and comments
Tbh this is just my opinion panic betrayer does have a meaning deeper then what I heard, it feels very engaged like it's not calm and only the corpse of Minos is staring down at you maybe it's the start of everything,your being noticed that your there,he knows that v1 is there ruining more and killing his people
13:00, Panic Betrayer, in the context of the game, sounds like a mockery of Minos.
Small correction V1 was the only machine powered by blood that was built
"They don't really think of game music, now do they?"
Emi Evans, Yoko Shimomura, and Toby Fox: "I'm gonna end this man's whole career 😏"
during panic betrayer, theres a bit after the first synth with the underwater sounding thing that has low stuff that sounds similar to the drums during in the presence of a king.
I thought this was a video made by some experienced UA-camr, never thought that this was just a college project
i love your style of this video is really easy to pay attention to
Good video but in a developer commentary hakita had he said that gluttony does not take place in minos and the elevator in minos is just to make it look cool
fantastic video, i kinda wished you would've covered death odyssey in the ship of fools level, and how the song completely changes in tone while keeping the same structure when the ship capsizes.
ngl, this is a 100,000 views worthy video
broo u this guy needs to make one for Sisyphus... i fuken love this guys content
I’m currently viewing this video at 174 views, and oh my god, does it need more! Great essay analysis, you need more views on this!
1k
There's a second leitmotif in requiem, which shows up in 4-2's theme, sands of tide.
this is gonna blow up in a few days watch this
the montage part is a bit too drawn out though
"The last thing I ask you is to play ultrakill"
*Proceeds to pour a shit ton of spoilers into video*