TP is my personal favorite because I'm obsessed with its use of motifs. It's just so beautiful and haunting. I love the fanfare theme during boss fights. I love the prominence of Link’s own dedicated motif, which we can hear in Midnas Lament and Courage. It's just so good.
Amazing video! I'm glad to see Skyward Sword getting some recognition, I'm playing through it for the second time now and the music is truly amazing, with Lanayru Sand Sea and Romance in the air being my favourite tracks.
An excellent analysis putting many of my feelings into words. Skyward Sword absolutely deserves that first place, its musical ambition is still unmatched.
Great video! I hope that if Twilight Princess ever gets a port on Switch or the next Nintendo system, they re-orchestrate the OST. I believe that that would help it a lot. As much as a banger songs like "Colgera" and "Catching Zelda" are, I completely agree that TOTK faltered in it's Overworld themes. I wish more people would make videos like this on Zelda music analysis. Keep it up!
I think that Yunobo's theme in TOTK is amazing as well. I can listen to it on repeat - it's so sad you can only hear it once in the game - just like almost every new and great pieces of music in this game...
absolutely loving these long-form videos Tim! the analysis is extremely engaging and i really enjoy hearing your opinions! hope you continue to be as passionate about making these as you are wonderful with your compositions!
I definitely have some beef with this list, however, I do appreciate that this list was actually made by what seems to be an actual music professional and not just someone trying to act like someone who took a Music 101 course and act like they know everything. Ocarina of Time: I have no issue with this placement. OoT has some great tracks. However, I think the Dungeon music should be docked half a point. The main reason being that the first two dungeons aren't unique musically as they're both used in different grottos respectively depending on the environment. So I think 9 points would be justifiable. Majora's Mask: Personally, I think Termina Field is better than Hyrule Field from OoT, but that's probably just me. Each of the overworld themes, while they don't necessarily have anything too different when it comes to the song itself, their sounds do a good job of making sure each realm feels the way it's supposed to feel. Wind Waker: I feel like Wind Waker was thrown under the bus here. Especially when compared to a later game in the series. The overworld I think deserves full points, especially since there are enemy themes that differentiate fighting on land and fighting at sea. Not to mention that for a certain section of the game, we get hands down one of the most jarring overworld themes in all Zelda (The Cursed Sea, which combines Ganon's theme and The Great Sea). The temples I think do need a bit more to them, so I can understand that scoring, though. But I think the Overworld definitely deserves full points. Twilight Princess: I disagree with the live 2018 performance contrasted against the game's music. I thought the in-game music did a fine job on its own. Where I do agree is the temple music. Similar to Wind Waker, certain Temples are good, but some just don't have much to them, Arbiter's Grounds and Forest Temple being two. I'd keep Twilight Princess where it's at though. Skyward Sword: This game wouldn't come close to being my favorite, but its soundtrack is definitely what makes it stand out over everything else. Have no issues with it being at the top. Moving on. BotW: The overworld doesn't deserve that many points. The overworld is so bland that I have to put my own music on to make the experience of BotW not burn me out. The environmental sounds are nice, but unnecessary. I get what the sound designers were going for, I really do. But putting very little overworld sound in a game from a series known for its banger overworld themes was poor execution. The dungeons, as much as this pains me to say it, do deserve points for the innovation of making the music more explosive as you unlock more terminals (even though I can't tell half of these divine beasts apart when it comes to their music). Everything else is fine. But overworld doesn't get any sympathy from me. It's lucky if it gets half a point, let alone one. To see Wind Waker reduced to jarring sounds while this one is praised for its "occasional set pieces amidst a sea of monotony," I don't really know what to say. I haven't played through ToTK, so I just jumped to the ending to see the score. It is pitiful, but I haven't played through all of TotK yet, so I can't make a judgment yet. At least Wind Waker didn't get last.
Appreciate the honest feedback! Regarding WW vs BotW, your points are absolutely valid. I think BotW's music implementation leaves something to be desired, but as a whole I think it's a more polished OST. Tastes differ though so it's all good!
@@traviscunningham7062Yeah, developing Zelda has been described as "a machine to make you feel miserable" :P . Stuff always seems to keep going wrong. Hope they figure out a way to turn that around for the devs' sake!
Personally, I think the differences in ToTK’s music from BoTW are slight and require some analyzing, but I think the differences that are there perfectly capture the differences between the two games. I don’t disagree with its’ placement, but especially the main theme and theme all the way from Gloom’s Descent all the way to the end of the game are so beautifully complex and feature themes and leitmotifs from across the entire series, so I do think the new tracks that are there do a lot of work to make up for the reused ones. I know you mentioned these things, but I would’ve placed it a little higher personally. However, I am also a big fan of more textured and complex music. Probably my favourite difference is that while the Hyrule Field theme in BoTW sounds ambiguous and somewhat lonely, fitting the tone of the game’s plot and Link as a character, Tears’ Hyrule Field theme has woodwinds joining the piano, symbolizing that although it might still be ambiguous, the loneliness and emptiness left by the simple piano melody are replaced by the warmer sounding woodwinds, as Link now is known by other people, he knows his purpose, and has had time for more character development than in BoTW.
I completely agree with you! I think it has been judged too harshly, especially when it suits perfectly the new atmosphere and areas. I do agree on the majority of things, but I don't think that reusing the different towns' themes is bad at all; I find it, in fact, very fitting since the events of BOTW and TOTK don't seem to have happened very far from each other. I have to agree on the overworld theme that could have had a slightly (at least) different approach to the one in BOTW, but the sky has gotten a very poor recognition and the depths serve its purpose pretty well, IMO. I, too, am a huge fan of more textured and lush orchestral writing (just like in Colgera) and that, for me, did a great job in getting me to love TOTK's music. Also, the dungeon themes are 3/3, is that even a question? For me, even though they have the same bases as BOTW, there's a completely different approach with new textures and complex musical ideas. There are SO many memorable themes (even the sages' ones) that they make up for their own lack of ideas in some of the places in the game: the descent to Gloom's Lair is absolutely incredible, the last fight with Ganondorf (Gerudo and dragon form) is incredibly epic, the introverted nature of the cello line in Construct Factory is completely memorable... There are definitely substantial changes in the themes shared (as you mentioned in the overworld theme) and, I don't know, maybe not as amazing as SS, but TOTK definitely deserved more points!
Great to see that I'm not the only cultured individual basking in the Lanayru Sand Sea! It and Lanayru Desert are possibly my favorite Zelda tunes, just sublime! What a great video Tim, couldn't agree more with the rankings. Excited for the future of the channel!
I’m so glad Skyward Sword’s soundtrack is getting some love!! I definitely agree it’s the best soundtrack in the Zelda series. Some of these tracks make me feel nostalgic even though it hasn’t been long since I played it, or even if I only heard it once. It hit me while watching this that I only heard the ancient cistern boss music once before, but I still remembered the whole thing while watching this vid. Whereas I’ve already forgotten most totk music even though I have over 200 hours in it :C
I love a good long-format video, feels like a healthy refresher from addictive shorts/tiktoks. And what better topic than a combination of Zelda and music ❤
Great video! I also think Skyward Sword is the best Zelda soundtrack, it is also my absolute favourite! The beautiful orchestrations always make me feel so many emotions, specifically Zelda's Lullaby and the more romantic themes like Romance in the Air and Crimson Loftwing! And Ballad of the Goddess being Zelda's Lullaby backwards is still so crazy to me, and it sounds so amazing! I just love everything about Skyward Sword, nice to see someone agreeing that the soundtrack is top-tier!
The music in the whole Mineru guestline in totk is so lovely! I can only imagine what the overall vibe for the game would've been if they had added that kinda sounds to the other themes--> making the zonai elements more present. I somehow also expected weird incoherent lyrics in more tracks other than the opening cutscene and descenting into Ganon's lair...missed opportunity! (I love nonsensical made-up language lyrics..) This video reminded me how much i love the ost in all these games, especially tp, BUT the truth is, tp ost is way better orchestrated, that's why Skyward sword definitely deserves the 1st place for being so coherent and lush🎉 i think the reasons for all the points were explained well!
Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, the Mineru music is kind of amazing honestly... I felt like the game was finally getting started in that segment, but afterwards the game was kind of done xD.
Great ranking, glad you didn’t cave into tears of the kingdom pressure and put it higher than it deserves. Pretty insane how this is the music we get after 6 years of development.
Absolutely, development on the game must have been extremely rocky. I'm not saying the developers didn't put their all into it, but it just doesn't congeal in the end. Fortunately it's becoming increasingly OK to be critical on Tears.
They didn’t need to completely change the dungeon music after every step in my opinion. They could’ve spent that time on parts that we would hear more often. I love the reversed voices, wish they included that more in the over world.
When I read that the winner would surprise me I was like, oh it's Skyward Sword. I don't enjoy playing it that much, but yeah the music is astounding if you look at it objectively. Full agreement on Tears...I appreciate the distortions of BotW themes to add an unsettling feeling. Could have used more of that.
Haha, just removed that from the title because it's a little clickbaity, but after reading your comment I added it back in :P . I don't mind them reusing BotW's stuff per se - Wind Waker does that with OoT - but yeah, they don't take it far enough. They just quote it in short bursts like a "remember this?", and then it's nondescript again.
Oops, yeah I did forget! So just for y'all: I love the complete version that he plays when you do all his quests, but the super sort version that's heard in the overworld gets grating super quick and makes me want to turn off my sound :P . Would've been great if you hear the track become more complete the more of his quests you solve.
What a great video! I love the breakdown, discussion, and scoring format of each game. And I agree with all the rankings! OOT is obviously a classic, and BOTW does not get enough credit for its music. But SS has no real weakpoints when it comes to the music, and is subtly so pervasive in the Zelda community; someone who didn't play it might think it only has Ballad of the Goddess and Fi's Theme, but so many of its other themes are used in the backgrounds of Zelda theorist videos. As for TOTK, I'll repeat what I put on another video - I think its shortcomings just present an opportunity for you to craft your own 'What If' renditions for each of the repeated Village themes to capture the changes - e.g. sudden changes at Kakariko, a sweeping mushroomy vibe at Hateno, etc. And I'll agree with another commenter that Age of Calamity also deserves recognition as well for in a way filling in the gaps that BOTW naturally left behind. Lastly - I'll understand why you left it out, but in my opinion just as it set up the Zelda formula, ALTP may be the most musically impactful game on the series with it introducing themes like Kakariko, Zelda's Lullaby, Hyrule Castle, Great Fairy, the unlocking the Master Sword theme, etc. And I can still listen and enjoy to the whole thing despite it being made in 1991!
Yeah, I strongly disagree. As someone with a degree in music, I would say: 1. Skyward Sword 2. Wind Waker 3. Majora's Mask 4. Twilight Princess 5. Ocarina of Time 7. Tears of the Kingdom 8. Breath of the Wild
Great video Tim. It's really cool seeing you go in depth with these soundtracks and I'd love for you to do a ranking of the 2D games. A Link To The Past, Link's Awakening and Minish Cap are personal favourites of mine and I'd love to hear your thoughts on their soundtracks. Just a few of points: - It's so cool seeing two Mario composers, my boy Mahito Yokota and Shiho Fujii, score a Zelda game, especially with the great work Yokota did for Galaxy 1, 2 and 3D World and what Fujii did for New Super Mario Bros Wii, Mario Kart 8, Super Mario Odyssey and Super Mario Bros Wonder. And it makes sense considering Kondo went from Mario to Zelda originally. They should do that more often. - I personally disagree with your point on TotK's Sage Music. Obviously Tulin's Theme is perfect, but so is Riju's Theme imo. It might be my love of Phrygian Dominants and Desert Music speaking, but her melody is really beautiful and the orchestration on her theme is just bliss. Yunobo's Theme is also great. And I love that they rearranged Sidon's Theme from BotW since he was the only Sage from BotW that had a clear and defined musical theme, so it makes sense thematically. I haven't gotten to the 5th dungeon yet (I know 🙄...) so I can't say anything on the 5th Sage's theme. - What's the name of that Panzer Dragoon track you showed? It sounds SOO GOOOD
Thanks for the kind words Christon! Yeah, it's all a matter of taste of course, I'm just a lover of super clear, hummable and memorable melodies and TotK is just too fragmented and texture-focused for me. BotW already has that as well to some extent, but I think Revali and Mipha's themes are still great examples of old-schoolish Zelda tunes. Oh, and here's the Panzer Dragoon track: ua-cam.com/video/GQ1g5dIZGmU/v-deo.html
I can definitely see folks' point about the pacing of the game - it was a little rough on Switch even, which apparently smoothed out quite a bit. But the soundtrack is an all-timer.
FINALLY someone willing to actually hold developers accountable for technological utilization. It irks me to no end that people think FFXVI deserves Best Score at the Game Awards this year when it sounds like it was made with a PS2 soundchip. There is like ONE high quality violin synth used in ONE song, and there are some great classical guitars and of course the powerful choir, but other than that, its quality is abysmal. Genuinely unreal that anyone thinks that sort of work on a $70 PS5 exclusive is acceptable. That said, I do *love* the Twilight Princess soundtrack and in my head, 2006 was a time that I still associate with low quality MIDI soundtracks, but then again I wasn't playing as many games then as I am now, so I didn't have much to compare to. It's much easier for me to compare FFXVI to games like Octopath Traveler 2, a game that came out in the same year by the same company with a much smaller scale and budget, yet Octopath 2 uses a full orchestra. At least that sticks out in my mind.
i don’t think the quality of the sound should be what makes it bad, it can have fake synth violins but be amazingly composed, although i do understand when it’s a big game backed by a big company
@@aylinilya. nah, if you're making a GoT-esque dark fantasy epic with a multi hundred million dollar budget, there is zero excuse to have your music sound like a PS2 game. I will in fact die on this hill.
Honestly, I've never been particularly impressed by the FF14 and FF16 composer's work. I know people adore him, and he seems like a very cool guy, but his work sounds too plasticky to me. Folks often recommend his remixes of older FF tracks to me and I always come away feeling like I could do a better job, which is not the feeling I want to have listening to the creme de la creme of music-focused game series :P . Octopath's music is ridiculously great yeah, perhaps they have more room for that budget-wise because the game itself isn't as expensive to make.
@@demantim the thought I had throughout my time with FFXVI was that the original music sounded like they were "epic orchestral version" UA-cam covers lol, so yeah, you probably could indeed do a better job.
Aw, I'm sorry to hear that Tim, since your music is awesome! I can understand it being harder to get views, especially with Tears of the Kingdom's hype having died down and its overall underwhelming soundtrack and themes. @@demantim
Just gotta keep going until something new and better shows up, or keep trying until a different thing sticks. It'll get better with time, just gotta stay hopeful.
Wind Waker Ganondorf battle Theme is my all time fav final boss music. (I love Panzer dragoon too, I didn't expect someone to talk about it these days.)
I was surprised that you didn’t talk about Kass’s theme or the Dragons’ theme in the section about BOTW’s incidental music, but I guess that goes to show how incredible it is that you could show enough masterpieces to justify its full points without even mentioning two of my personal favorites (the songs you did pick for that segment all being incredible of course).
I 100% agree with you on the stable trotters! I think the serenade for the great fairies sounds so beautiful, I was really disappointed that it ended so soon. Part of me was hoping to find an extended version of it tucked away in some sort of reward dialog after completing the stable trotter quests. Like perhaps a special concert just for us, but of course that didn't happen :']] I still think an extended version would've been amazing
I absolutely LOVED Skyward Sword's music. SS was superior in its orchestration compared to the other games in my opinion, each of which have awesome tracks themselves. It really did do a good job of establishing its own musical identity. Also I think it goes without saying that Groose's theme in itself is enough to warrant ten points.
These are my top 30 all time greatest: ⚔️ 🛡️ #30 Ilia’s Theme #29 Mipha’s Theme #28 Calling the Four Giants #27 Grandma’s Theme #26 Courage #25 Ballad of the Windfish #24 Temple of Droplets #23 Kass’ Theme #22 Deku Palace #21 Minish Village #20 BOTW Main Theme #19 Dark World #18 Bamboo Island #17 Sheik’s Theme #16 Farewell Hyrule King #15 Stone Tower Temple #14 Realm Overworld #13 Kakiriko Village #12 Hyrule Theme(TP/Daytime) #11 Sage Laruto #10 Ballad of the Goddess #9 Song of Storms #8 Song of Healing #7 Lon Lon Ranch #6 Dragon Roost Island #5 Gerudo Valley #4 Zeldas Lullaby #3 Midna’s Lament #2 Fi’s Farewell #1 Temple of Time
This was a very fun watch/listen (accompanied a run too!). Especially a fan of your own Skyward Sword fandom, the music of which I think is outrageously gorgeous and full-hearted (I think Romance in the Air and the Sky Island are so good and severely underrated in the Zelda canon - at least Fi's theme gets its due praise!) I can't agree overall with the TOTK verdict (simply because of how much fuller and warmer it felt to have the warm synth added to the overworld theme, and the Stable Trotters finale hits a musical high for both games I think! Don't get me started on the weirdo sci-fi-y Metroid-y themes of Zora Waterworks and Thunderhead...) but videos aren't made to be just agreed with but entertained by, and this was brill (and funny!)
I was taking notes of songs I want to play in the background while I run DnD. I paused the video and listened to Open Air when you mentioned it and it’s fantastic! Thank you!
Even if I love WW and its music, I agree that it could have scored more! Skyward Sword was amazing, musically speaking! My drum teacher said that we remember the first 5% and last 5% of something to judge if it's good. So of course, title screen and credits. Skyward Sword was perfect, but BotW's credit... Earlier, in 2013, I said that I was disappointed in ALBW's credit theme for having the start of ALTTP's credit theme + music you've already heard in game, that weren't mixing well. I think Phantom Hourglass took the ALTTP's credit theme perfectly in its own way, tho. So yeah, I judge a lot of a game by its credit, because it's my last impression.
Yeah, I've heard that as well. For me, it doesn't really hold up though - TotK ends on an amazingly high note musically for instance, but I mostly remember all the nothingburgers before that happens. BotW doesn't begin very impressive musically but accrues a lot of credit while it goes on. SS, of course, does it all ;).
I honestly felt like with most of the games here you left out all the best music. Best from BOTW- Talking to Impa, approaching vah Medoh, Vah Naboris appears, Inside Castle, All ganon related themes were absolute bangers. Waterside shrine was complex and amazing. (Ganon theme actually sounded alot like Pokemon gym leader music) With tears the music of the dungeons and entering depths was phenomenal.
I did mention the TotK dungeons though, I even gave them FULL POINTS ;) . Honestly, I wouldn't mind doing a video about every game *separately* so I can go more in-depth about each OST, but in the format of a ranking I didn't want to slow down the pace too much.
This is such a refreshing video. Skyward Sword, which I’m admittedly biased towards, gets far more hate than I believe it deserves. It’s issues (which all games have,) lead many to focus solely on the detriments and keeps them from noticing how stellar it’s strengths are; the music being a fantastic example. I was grinning from ear to ear watching this, thank you!!
This was a hugely entertaining, interesting and sometimes puzzling video! I personally adore the more textural ambience of Tears of the Kingdom over the melodic statements of previous entries, but listening to your takes and questioning my own was quite the ride. Something in particular that had a big impression on me during my watch was the soundtrack of Skyward Sword. I am admittedly pretty prone to taking music at face value, so this deeper dive into that game's soundtrack was a real eye-opener. Or ear-opener, perhaps. Fantastic work again, Timmermans!
Glad you liked it! I also love what they did with the texture of TotK - recently did a replay and the atmosphere is *thick*. I'm just missing the catchy jams ;) . Skyward Sword has those in spades!
I totally agree with this. Majora is my favorite Zelda hands down but I agree with the soundtrack placement. In spite of not really enjoying Skyward Sword much (sorry) I do think the game's soundtrack is pretty great. I also agree that Ocarina and Breath are pretty GOAT soundtrack wise. I super appreciate you dunking on Tears' soundtrack because it definitely deserved it. This felt very fair and honestly I just think it was correct for me as well.
can't really disagree with skyward sword getting a 10 -- despite all the problems with the game itself, there's no denying nintendo went all out with the soundtrack. one of their absolute best
A titling style I've seen that may help boost this video to the views it deserves is like 'I tried ranking the music in EVERY Zelda game... Here's what I found" or similar. UA-camrs like Ludwig and Smallant use this titling style to great success. Just something to try, you deserve to be bigger dude
this was a brilliant and very well edited video! you should definitely do another one with 2D zeldas, id love to see your thoughts on ALBW (particularly lorule castle)!
This video deserves a like just for playing a clip of Astral Observatory theme. As you might guess, I watched two Zelda ranking videos before this one and wasn't pleased 😔
Great video Tim! I really enjoyed it! I'm so glad Skyward Sword won, it's definitely one of my favourites! Do you think you'd do a sequel with the 2d Zelda soundtracks? There's so many bangers on there!!
I love all of this!! The analysis is fantastic and I appreciate all the insight and thought put into all of it. (On the side i am extremely biased and I hugely enjoy the TP soundtrack, particularly the dungeons and the overworld themes. That might just be nostalgia and the fact it was my first game though, so. Favouritism.) Either way fantastic video :D
Glad you liked it! I only played TP two years ago and was consistently impressed by the quality of the compositions after my initial thoughts being less positive because of the sample quality. An official remaster with rerecorded music would be the dream.
Definitely agree with this ranking! Skyward sword is super underrated and definitely one of my favorite zelda games! As far as totk, i really like a lot of the new tracks, but it really is dissapointing how much is reused from botw. I was really hoping for an entirely original soundtrack, and while the new themes for the story-centered villages are great, you dont ever hear them again after progressing through the story :(
Excellent, EXCELLENT video, Tim! Pretty much agree with you in everything! This is a bit of a tangent, and doesn't detract from the game's OST in general, but I've always been slightly, SLIGHTLY bothered that a game as pivotal as Ocarina of Time doesn't prominently feature the main Zelda theme. I think that might be why Majora's Mask made it the overworld theme, lol.
Thanks so much Ben! Honestly, I was never too fond of the traditional Zelda main theme. I think it's a bit cheesy :P . Ocarina's Hyrule Field would easily beat it as a main theme! Majora's rendition is killer though, but I don't really miss it in Ocarina because Hyrule Field is *so good*.
Not at all surprised by Skyward Sword being on top, as someone whos played it more times than i could even remember. A truly underrated game, with too much semi warranted hate. Id expected it to be that or Twilight Princess I still listen to the ballad of the goddess. Also yk what how could it not win with its emphasis on the music with an orchestra? I still have the music cd somewhere... Btw, ive noticed skyward sword music in quite a few video essays, notable more than id expected. The ost is just that good.
This is such a fun concept for ranking. I love them all, but I can't really say I disagree with you anywhere either. Edit: also, I could totally listen to you talk about music nonstop.
Nice job, I like the ranking system. There should one for the same thing for the 2d games. I know A link to the past, links awakening, Minish Cap, Spirit Tracks and A Link Between Worlds.
I definitely get giving Tears less points than Breath. Were I ranking OSTs, though, I don't think I would have docked so many points for TotK borrowing tracks from BotW because to me, having those bits of familiarity makes sense. These are the same places we knew before only a few years later. It might have been interesting if villages got some changes due to things like the ring ruins and mushroom aesthetics in Kakariko and Hateno, but it never even registered to me that they *should* potentially have any change. To me, those tracks are the sounds of those places, and that's fine. I definitely understand and appreciate the approach you took. I think there's just different expectations for what the soundtrack should do. For me, I'm fine with the soundtrack doing new things in the new places, and staying the same in the places we know. I'm a sucker for familiarity and pattern in character/location music. Thanks for the interesting video! I enjoyed getting to see a knowledgable perspective on the series' music.
I can see your perspective. From my point, as a musician who's loved these tracks intensively since 2017, I was really hoping to hear these amazing composers do something new - at least an extensive reworking of the themes to make them recognisable yet distinct. But I might be an outlier in that regard ;) .
@@demantim That's completely fair. As I said before, it wasn't something that registered to me as a possibility while I was playing through the game, but they did a good job with making the additional tracks for the areas affected by the regional phenomena. It could have been great to see some changes to old themes, like a bit more Zonai instrumental influence close to the ring ruins in Kakariko. I just didn't see it as a must-have addition throughout Hyrule. After all, most of the village themes are quite beautiful as-is, so I'm definitely not complaining about listening to them more. :p
The winner did not surprise me at all, I saw Tim de Man uploaded it and knew that man loves his Skyward Sword lol jokes aside I agree with and felt a lot of the same feelings towards TotK's soundtrack as you did. I will say though that Colgera deserves a little more credit than just being Rito Village/Dragon Roost. The melodies surrounding that one section are surprisingly intricate and call back very cleverly to the feel of Wind Waker without directly quoting it (outside of the obvious Dragon Roost cameo) Overall while I don't agree with some of the list, this was a very fun video!
Haha yeah, at least I'm consistent in my Skyward Sword shilling! :P I can see where you're coming from - I do like Colgera, and think there's some strong melodic material in there aside from the literal quotes, but think the piece doesn't *commit* to that material. The strength of melody, often, is repetition - getting to know a melody, being glad when it returns, being able to hum it along. At least, to my tastes ;).
I don't know if it's fair to criticize town themes in TOTK for not changing in BOTW, since that explicitly ignores the fact that this is the same world.
I felt ToTK as a "transition" point in many aspects for what Nintendo wants to achieve with Open World Zelda. It falls shorts on some aspects, but comparing it with BoTW is a step up and I see it as an improvement in the musical department. It seems to me that Nintendo sacrificed some aspects (music and history) for giving us the players the most freedom we can get from the game.
I'm not by any means a professional in this field, but The Dungeon and Shrine music were much better than BoTW's ones (I'm not saying Divine Beasts are bad). And some ambiental motifs too. But that's maybe I've been listening to some ambient music the last months. 😅
A fair and accurate ranking, I wholeheartedly agree that Skyward Sword should be clear winner. You could take just the credits and their cinematic for that game and give them 100 SECRET SAUCE points. I haven't found the reuse of town themes between different entries to be too egregious, up to TOTK where it's disappointing. The subtle instrumental and musical differences between the numerous Zora's Domains, for instance, nods to nostalgia while also affirming that it is a new iteration. Hearing the unsolved regional phenomena versions of the 4 major towns was delightful, and I was excited to hear how the towns would change in their resolved states. I hoped the new, resolved versions would have similarities to their BOTW predecessors, but differ like the unsolved versions did. I shared your disappointment that we just got the same tracks again. I am very keen to hear your thoughts and rankings for the handheld/2D games. There are some incredible soundtracks, and outstanding tracks, that need to be more widely shared & require your analysis!
Glad you likes it Aspiring Hero! I don't know *as* much about the 2D games so will have to research first - I've only played ALBW, LA and PH. Looking forward to finding some bangers!
I think you're completely correct, and I fully agree that TotK seems to be having a lot going on regarding a potential hellish development, because the cut corners are everywhere and I'm glad people are starting to talk about them. Thanks for the vid!
I agree with almost everything. I'd just remome half a point from BOTW because I don't really think its dungeon songs are that good. Only Hyrule Castle and monk maz koshia boss theme stood out to me, with all divine beasts (inside and bosses, to be more specific) were way too similar to one another. With that aside, that's a really good take on Zelda Music and I wish to see more of your work in the future
Hmm... I wonder how Tim feels about TotK's soundtrack... 🤔🤔🤔👻 Also, the editing here is fantastic! I had to stop and rewind a couple times to catch everything. FULL POINTS!! 😂
It is an amazing soundtrack, but it's ambition kinda leads to it's downfall with that soundfont... Hope they do a rearranged version if they ever remaster it again!
I miss the new games not having the impact musically that Skyward Sword had on me. I still listen to its soundtrack with eyes closed dreaming away. Breath of the Wild was quality but very sparse and reused a bit too much for my taste. It also didnt help that the game was not a personal favourite. I just hope that wherever the series goes next it will look back a bit at what made Skyward Sword and Ocarina of times scores so epic (story connection was a big thing in skyward sword as well which I felt was missing in the 2 new entries).
Good point, in a way I think SS not having voice acting gave more room to the music - it had to do the heavy lifting in cutscenes and did so amazingly well.
It is a spinoff but I think Breath of the Wild: Age of Calamity has the best soundtrack in the whole franchise. It has all of the amazing tracks from BotW but also remixes them into being often times better, it's own score is great as well, and unlike BotW and TotK the music shows up significantly more often.
I will say though that the menu music is pretty trash. Especially after finishing the game, it's the same dreary music perminently for that save file with no way of changing it. Especially since you did save the day, it is so weird how going back in it feels like you've lost
@@kingdanett4043 Being a "spinoff" game as you say it is no surprise that Nintendo would take the lazy approach and not change any of the tracks after you finish the story since it isn't part of the official canon timeline as established by Nintendo. Had the game actually been canon it would certainly have made sense for the sake of narrative depth but alas it's the game we have and so we should be happy that we had it for all it's lackluster elements as the aforementioned lack of a switched track after finishing the main storyline.
@javiervasquez625 I like the game. Maybe more then the original BotW because I prefer this combat, music, and we get to spend significantly more time with the best characters in BotW, but it being a spin off isnt the reason the menu track sounds bad? I think that's what you're going for? It is very much a spin-off, mostly due to game mechanics, but I dont get how them using the one crappy song in the game for one of the last menu themes has anything to do with Nintendo not caring?
@@kingdanett4043 They don't care because they didn't add _variety_ and depth to an otherwise generic Musou Dynasty Warriors game with Zelda skins hence Nintendo taking the "lazy approach" as i said by not adding more content and substance to the game. You're free to like it more than Breath of the Wild but i don't see why having a game which is entirely about button mashing combat instead of inmersive exploration and story be considered _better_ to a game which is larger in size in every sense of the way.
Iits a little dissapounting but Ive said before, Tears of the kingdom is an amazing game, its just not a good sequel. Its awesome on its own but barely ties back to the plot in breath of the wild, but it still reuses so many tracks. The fits in the hyrule chasm leading to the final dive to ganondorf's army tbh remiinds me so much of skyrim and really doesnt fit the zelda feel The final fall theme will never not me the best though On the other hand, i am SO glad Skyward sword won! Its my favorite zelda game slightly about botw abd really does not get the recognition it deserves. I love the game and music so much
Cool video, this must have taken quite some time! I agree with Skyward Sword, I really liked the melodic and orchestral music (bit like mario galaxy). Twilight Princess is much darker but also has some amazing songs, I would say it is underrated by most people. I didn't like BoTW music that much, it felt like the music was mostly just an add-on and not really adding much to the experience. Also 100+ shrines with the same ambient music ugh
Ohh yeah, the Shrine music was... not very good. But it's definitely a soundtrack that reveals itself after multiple playthroughs. And this video took a week! Script writing in the weekend - I already knew what I wanted to say to it went quickly - and then editing in sessions the following 4 days.
I’m actually offended that the town themes were not updated with gorgeous writing like the dungeons. They had seven years and I’m sure the upper management tied the music department’s hands. Another Nintendo blunder. The depths was half my playtime. Not even a variation in the music. :/
YES! It's crazy. They fell into the same trap BotW did in it's music budgeting, but *even more*: spend all your budget on one-off tracks, and leave the meat of the game either mostly silent or with intense repetition. Something must've really gone wrong during development... Also: hi Dallas!
Counterpoint: those songs were *new* in Breath of the Wild. I don't think a game having the same exact files in there gives it the same credit as the game those tracks were created for.
@@demantim that's just the perfect point for your special sauce category, no? That's where I would deduct points. If you judge the overall quality of the soundtrack on its own it can't be worse if the songs were already great. I mean people who have played totk first would in that case judge botws soundtrack worse if we use that logic. But thats just how I view it. The comment was just meant to be silly nothing serious.
@@SuperSavajin no worries, it's all personal taste of course. I've been replaying TotK recently and still ADORE what they did with dungeon and boss tracks.
(Pre-premiere) At first I thought this was rating all Zelda games (including 2D). So now it would be even harder to give any game worst. Like even on the notion of having “bad music”, IDK the Majora’s Mask dungeon BGM besides Stone Tower are kinda mid, but Stone Tower is still one of the series best dungeon BGM, and the rest of the game still has great original music (assuming both MM and TOTK must be judged on original pieces).
@@aylinilya. Absolutely, I'd prefer not to use a format like this at all, but it's my final go at trying to revive the channel so I though "might as well try it" xD
Excellent ! And you could even make a conclusion or a third video to show the ultimate final result (I assume that some 2D games could be higher than TotK then) PS: I finally watched the entire video and also always believed that Skyward Sword has the best soundtrack in any Zelda games
TP is my personal favorite because I'm obsessed with its use of motifs. It's just so beautiful and haunting. I love the fanfare theme during boss fights. I love the prominence of Link’s own dedicated motif, which we can hear in Midnas Lament and Courage. It's just so good.
Amazing video! I'm glad to see Skyward Sword getting some recognition, I'm playing through it for the second time now and the music is truly amazing, with Lanayru Sand Sea and Romance in the air being my favourite tracks.
Yup, Skyward Sword had excellent music background
An excellent analysis putting many of my feelings into words. Skyward Sword absolutely deserves that first place, its musical ambition is still unmatched.
Yeah, it's a perfect example of why game music can be so great.
This is so good!!! Love having such in depth analysis from someone who has such good musical knowledge!
Glad you like it LemonGames! :D
Great video! I hope that if Twilight Princess ever gets a port on Switch or the next Nintendo system, they re-orchestrate the OST. I believe that that would help it a lot.
As much as a banger songs like "Colgera" and "Catching Zelda" are, I completely agree that TOTK faltered in it's Overworld themes.
I wish more people would make videos like this on Zelda music analysis. Keep it up!
Thanks a lot viravian! TP wouldn't definitely benefit from a technical music glowup the most - I even think the N64 games sound better. Here's hoping!
It did on Wii U.
I think that Yunobo's theme in TOTK is amazing as well. I can listen to it on repeat - it's so sad you can only hear it once in the game - just like almost every new and great pieces of music in this game...
Yeah, that's a standout in the OST for sure!
absolutely loving these long-form videos Tim! the analysis is extremely engaging and i really enjoy hearing your opinions! hope you continue to be as passionate about making these as you are wonderful with your compositions!
Thanks so much Not Barrett! :D Hoping it keeps doing well so I can do a sequel.
I definitely have some beef with this list, however, I do appreciate that this list was actually made by what seems to be an actual music professional and not just someone trying to act like someone who took a Music 101 course and act like they know everything.
Ocarina of Time: I have no issue with this placement. OoT has some great tracks. However, I think the Dungeon music should be docked half a point. The main reason being that the first two dungeons aren't unique musically as they're both used in different grottos respectively depending on the environment. So I think 9 points would be justifiable.
Majora's Mask: Personally, I think Termina Field is better than Hyrule Field from OoT, but that's probably just me. Each of the overworld themes, while they don't necessarily have anything too different when it comes to the song itself, their sounds do a good job of making sure each realm feels the way it's supposed to feel.
Wind Waker: I feel like Wind Waker was thrown under the bus here. Especially when compared to a later game in the series. The overworld I think deserves full points, especially since there are enemy themes that differentiate fighting on land and fighting at sea. Not to mention that for a certain section of the game, we get hands down one of the most jarring overworld themes in all Zelda (The Cursed Sea, which combines Ganon's theme and The Great Sea). The temples I think do need a bit more to them, so I can understand that scoring, though. But I think the Overworld definitely deserves full points.
Twilight Princess: I disagree with the live 2018 performance contrasted against the game's music. I thought the in-game music did a fine job on its own. Where I do agree is the temple music. Similar to Wind Waker, certain Temples are good, but some just don't have much to them, Arbiter's Grounds and Forest Temple being two. I'd keep Twilight Princess where it's at though.
Skyward Sword: This game wouldn't come close to being my favorite, but its soundtrack is definitely what makes it stand out over everything else. Have no issues with it being at the top. Moving on.
BotW: The overworld doesn't deserve that many points. The overworld is so bland that I have to put my own music on to make the experience of BotW not burn me out. The environmental sounds are nice, but unnecessary. I get what the sound designers were going for, I really do. But putting very little overworld sound in a game from a series known for its banger overworld themes was poor execution. The dungeons, as much as this pains me to say it, do deserve points for the innovation of making the music more explosive as you unlock more terminals (even though I can't tell half of these divine beasts apart when it comes to their music). Everything else is fine. But overworld doesn't get any sympathy from me. It's lucky if it gets half a point, let alone one. To see Wind Waker reduced to jarring sounds while this one is praised for its "occasional set pieces amidst a sea of monotony," I don't really know what to say.
I haven't played through ToTK, so I just jumped to the ending to see the score. It is pitiful, but I haven't played through all of TotK yet, so I can't make a judgment yet. At least Wind Waker didn't get last.
Appreciate the honest feedback! Regarding WW vs BotW, your points are absolutely valid. I think BotW's music implementation leaves something to be desired, but as a whole I think it's a more polished OST. Tastes differ though so it's all good!
I agree with the rankings. It was such a shame that TotK never got the chance to truly have it's own musical identity.
Yeah, it's a big reason why I feel like the game had a super troubled development...
This applies to pretty much every layer, so much added but often shallow and over-reliant on a structure that doesn't always fit
Blame COVID 19 for the troubled development. Also Wind Waker was also in development hell because some content was cut from that game.
@@traviscunningham7062Yeah, developing Zelda has been described as "a machine to make you feel miserable" :P . Stuff always seems to keep going wrong. Hope they figure out a way to turn that around for the devs' sake!
Personally, I think the differences in ToTK’s music from BoTW are slight and require some analyzing, but I think the differences that are there perfectly capture the differences between the two games. I don’t disagree with its’ placement, but especially the main theme and theme all the way from Gloom’s Descent all the way to the end of the game are so beautifully complex and feature themes and leitmotifs from across the entire series, so I do think the new tracks that are there do a lot of work to make up for the reused ones. I know you mentioned these things, but I would’ve placed it a little higher personally. However, I am also a big fan of more textured and complex music. Probably my favourite difference is that while the Hyrule Field theme in BoTW sounds ambiguous and somewhat lonely, fitting the tone of the game’s plot and Link as a character, Tears’ Hyrule Field theme has woodwinds joining the piano, symbolizing that although it might still be ambiguous, the loneliness and emptiness left by the simple piano melody are replaced by the warmer sounding woodwinds, as Link now is known by other people, he knows his purpose, and has had time for more character development than in BoTW.
Yes ❤
I completely agree with you! I think it has been judged too harshly, especially when it suits perfectly the new atmosphere and areas. I do agree on the majority of things, but I don't think that reusing the different towns' themes is bad at all; I find it, in fact, very fitting since the events of BOTW and TOTK don't seem to have happened very far from each other. I have to agree on the overworld theme that could have had a slightly (at least) different approach to the one in BOTW, but the sky has gotten a very poor recognition and the depths serve its purpose pretty well, IMO. I, too, am a huge fan of more textured and lush orchestral writing (just like in Colgera) and that, for me, did a great job in getting me to love TOTK's music. Also, the dungeon themes are 3/3, is that even a question? For me, even though they have the same bases as BOTW, there's a completely different approach with new textures and complex musical ideas. There are SO many memorable themes (even the sages' ones) that they make up for their own lack of ideas in some of the places in the game: the descent to Gloom's Lair is absolutely incredible, the last fight with Ganondorf (Gerudo and dragon form) is incredibly epic, the introverted nature of the cello line in Construct Factory is completely memorable... There are definitely substantial changes in the themes shared (as you mentioned in the overworld theme) and, I don't know, maybe not as amazing as SS, but TOTK definitely deserved more points!
Great to see that I'm not the only cultured individual basking in the Lanayru Sand Sea! It and Lanayru Desert are possibly my favorite Zelda tunes, just sublime! What a great video Tim, couldn't agree more with the rankings. Excited for the future of the channel!
Glad you like it! Yeah, I think the Lanayru sections are some of the absolute best sections of Zelda, period.
Great video! Love hearing passionate and in-depth discussion about music, especially Zelda music!
Thanks! :D
I’m so glad Skyward Sword’s soundtrack is getting some love!! I definitely agree it’s the best soundtrack in the Zelda series. Some of these tracks make me feel nostalgic even though it hasn’t been long since I played it, or even if I only heard it once. It hit me while watching this that I only heard the ancient cistern boss music once before, but I still remembered the whole thing while watching this vid. Whereas I’ve already forgotten most totk music even though I have over 200 hours in it :C
Yeah, Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess have a lot of that emotive power!
I love a good long-format video, feels like a healthy refresher from addictive shorts/tiktoks. And what better topic than a combination of Zelda and music ❤
Great video! I also think Skyward Sword is the best Zelda soundtrack, it is also my absolute favourite! The beautiful orchestrations always make me feel so many emotions, specifically Zelda's Lullaby and the more romantic themes like Romance in the Air and Crimson Loftwing! And Ballad of the Goddess being Zelda's Lullaby backwards is still so crazy to me, and it sounds so amazing! I just love everything about Skyward Sword, nice to see someone agreeing that the soundtrack is top-tier!
It's really cool to see how many people sing the praises of SS' soundtrack!
The music in the whole Mineru guestline in totk is so lovely! I can only imagine what the overall vibe for the game would've been if they had added that kinda sounds to the other themes--> making the zonai elements more present. I somehow also expected weird incoherent lyrics in more tracks other than the opening cutscene and descenting into Ganon's lair...missed opportunity! (I love nonsensical made-up language lyrics..)
This video reminded me how much i love the ost in all these games, especially tp, BUT the truth is, tp ost is way better orchestrated, that's why Skyward sword definitely deserves the 1st place for being so coherent and lush🎉 i think the reasons for all the points were explained well!
Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, the Mineru music is kind of amazing honestly... I felt like the game was finally getting started in that segment, but afterwards the game was kind of done xD.
Great ranking, glad you didn’t cave into tears of the kingdom pressure and put it higher than it deserves. Pretty insane how this is the music we get after 6 years of development.
Absolutely, development on the game must have been extremely rocky. I'm not saying the developers didn't put their all into it, but it just doesn't congeal in the end. Fortunately it's becoming increasingly OK to be critical on Tears.
They didn’t need to completely change the dungeon music after every step in my opinion. They could’ve spent that time on parts that we would hear more often. I love the reversed voices, wish they included that more in the over world.
@@carolineanderson1873I agree! A certain amount of repetition can be very beneficial to the audience's connection with the music.
When I read that the winner would surprise me I was like, oh it's Skyward Sword. I don't enjoy playing it that much, but yeah the music is astounding if you look at it objectively.
Full agreement on Tears...I appreciate the distortions of BotW themes to add an unsettling feeling. Could have used more of that.
Haha, just removed that from the title because it's a little clickbaity, but after reading your comment I added it back in :P .
I don't mind them reusing BotW's stuff per se - Wind Waker does that with OoT - but yeah, they don't take it far enough. They just quote it in short bursts like a "remember this?", and then it's nondescript again.
Great video! Love seeing Zelda music getting recognition!
Secret Sauce in BotW --> Kass' Theme +10 points
Kind of surprised he forgot about it
Oops, yeah I did forget! So just for y'all: I love the complete version that he plays when you do all his quests, but the super sort version that's heard in the overworld gets grating super quick and makes me want to turn off my sound :P . Would've been great if you hear the track become more complete the more of his quests you solve.
So glad Skyward Sword got the placing it deserved ❤️ also generally awesome video, more like this!
What a great video! I love the breakdown, discussion, and scoring format of each game. And I agree with all the rankings! OOT is obviously a classic, and BOTW does not get enough credit for its music. But SS has no real weakpoints when it comes to the music, and is subtly so pervasive in the Zelda community; someone who didn't play it might think it only has Ballad of the Goddess and Fi's Theme, but so many of its other themes are used in the backgrounds of Zelda theorist videos. As for TOTK, I'll repeat what I put on another video - I think its shortcomings just present an opportunity for you to craft your own 'What If' renditions for each of the repeated Village themes to capture the changes - e.g. sudden changes at Kakariko, a sweeping mushroomy vibe at Hateno, etc. And I'll agree with another commenter that Age of Calamity also deserves recognition as well for in a way filling in the gaps that BOTW naturally left behind.
Lastly - I'll understand why you left it out, but in my opinion just as it set up the Zelda formula, ALTP may be the most musically impactful game on the series with it introducing themes like Kakariko, Zelda's Lullaby, Hyrule Castle, Great Fairy, the unlocking the Master Sword theme, etc. And I can still listen and enjoy to the whole thing despite it being made in 1991!
I'm thinking of making Open Air III more ambitious, and essentially rescoring the entirety of TotK... :O Perhaps with a Kickstarter!
Yeah, I strongly disagree. As someone with a degree in music, I would say:
1. Skyward Sword
2. Wind Waker
3. Majora's Mask
4. Twilight Princess
5. Ocarina of Time
7. Tears of the Kingdom
8. Breath of the Wild
Ah, interesting. Seems like two people with degrees in music can have differing opinions ;).
Great video Tim. It's really cool seeing you go in depth with these soundtracks and I'd love for you to do a ranking of the 2D games. A Link To The Past, Link's Awakening and Minish Cap are personal favourites of mine and I'd love to hear your thoughts on their soundtracks. Just a few of points:
- It's so cool seeing two Mario composers, my boy Mahito Yokota and Shiho Fujii, score a Zelda game, especially with the great work Yokota did for Galaxy 1, 2 and 3D World and what Fujii did for New Super Mario Bros Wii, Mario Kart 8, Super Mario Odyssey and Super Mario Bros Wonder. And it makes sense considering Kondo went from Mario to Zelda originally. They should do that more often.
- I personally disagree with your point on TotK's Sage Music. Obviously Tulin's Theme is perfect, but so is Riju's Theme imo. It might be my love of Phrygian Dominants and Desert Music speaking, but her melody is really beautiful and the orchestration on her theme is just bliss. Yunobo's Theme is also great. And I love that they rearranged Sidon's Theme from BotW since he was the only Sage from BotW that had a clear and defined musical theme, so it makes sense thematically. I haven't gotten to the 5th dungeon yet (I know 🙄...) so I can't say anything on the 5th Sage's theme.
- What's the name of that Panzer Dragoon track you showed? It sounds SOO GOOOD
Thanks for the kind words Christon! Yeah, it's all a matter of taste of course, I'm just a lover of super clear, hummable and memorable melodies and TotK is just too fragmented and texture-focused for me. BotW already has that as well to some extent, but I think Revali and Mipha's themes are still great examples of old-schoolish Zelda tunes.
Oh, and here's the Panzer Dragoon track: ua-cam.com/video/GQ1g5dIZGmU/v-deo.html
@@demantim Completely understandable from your side, I definitely see where you are coming from. And thanks for sharing the song
couldn't agree more. people can dunk on skyward sword however they want but you can't tell me it doesn't have the best soundtrack
I can definitely see folks' point about the pacing of the game - it was a little rough on Switch even, which apparently smoothed out quite a bit. But the soundtrack is an all-timer.
FINALLY someone willing to actually hold developers accountable for technological utilization. It irks me to no end that people think FFXVI deserves Best Score at the Game Awards this year when it sounds like it was made with a PS2 soundchip. There is like ONE high quality violin synth used in ONE song, and there are some great classical guitars and of course the powerful choir, but other than that, its quality is abysmal. Genuinely unreal that anyone thinks that sort of work on a $70 PS5 exclusive is acceptable.
That said, I do *love* the Twilight Princess soundtrack and in my head, 2006 was a time that I still associate with low quality MIDI soundtracks, but then again I wasn't playing as many games then as I am now, so I didn't have much to compare to. It's much easier for me to compare FFXVI to games like Octopath Traveler 2, a game that came out in the same year by the same company with a much smaller scale and budget, yet Octopath 2 uses a full orchestra. At least that sticks out in my mind.
i don’t think the quality of the sound should be what makes it bad, it can have fake synth violins but be amazingly composed, although i do understand when it’s a big game backed by a big company
@@aylinilya. nah, if you're making a GoT-esque dark fantasy epic with a multi hundred million dollar budget, there is zero excuse to have your music sound like a PS2 game. I will in fact die on this hill.
@@Tohlemiach ok lol, doesn’t mean the composition itself is bad
Honestly, I've never been particularly impressed by the FF14 and FF16 composer's work. I know people adore him, and he seems like a very cool guy, but his work sounds too plasticky to me. Folks often recommend his remixes of older FF tracks to me and I always come away feeling like I could do a better job, which is not the feeling I want to have listening to the creme de la creme of music-focused game series :P .
Octopath's music is ridiculously great yeah, perhaps they have more room for that budget-wise because the game itself isn't as expensive to make.
@@demantim the thought I had throughout my time with FFXVI was that the original music sounded like they were "epic orchestral version" UA-cam covers lol, so yeah, you probably could indeed do a better job.
Nice video Tim! It's fun seeing you make a video in this kind of style, and I think it's really good. Can't wait for more in the future
Glad you like it Jirtini! Would love to do more, but as the channel is doing kinda bad views wise I'm not even sure what to do anymore xD .
Aw, I'm sorry to hear that Tim, since your music is awesome! I can understand it being harder to get views, especially with Tears of the Kingdom's hype having died down and its overall underwhelming soundtrack and themes. @@demantim
Just gotta keep going until something new and better shows up, or keep trying until a different thing sticks. It'll get better with time, just gotta stay hopeful.
Not taking this Wind Waker disrespect
Alright!
Samee I think windwaker had the most hits
Wind Waker Ganondorf battle Theme is my all time fav final boss music. (I love Panzer dragoon too, I didn't expect someone to talk about it these days.)
Yeah, it's kind of a deep cut, and one of the earliest examples of full orchestration in game music I know of!
I was surprised that you didn’t talk about Kass’s theme or the Dragons’ theme in the section about BOTW’s incidental music, but I guess that goes to show how incredible it is that you could show enough masterpieces to justify its full points without even mentioning two of my personal favorites (the songs you did pick for that segment all being incredible of course).
Yeah, BotW's OST is stacked!
I 100% agree with you on the stable trotters! I think the serenade for the great fairies sounds so beautiful, I was really disappointed that it ended so soon. Part of me was hoping to find an extended version of it tucked away in some sort of reward dialog after completing the stable trotter quests. Like perhaps a special concert just for us, but of course that didn't happen :']]
I still think an extended version would've been amazing
Yeah, it stops just before it really starts going which goes for much of the soundtrack's melodies. It's puzzling!
I absolutely LOVED Skyward Sword's music. SS was superior in its orchestration compared to the other games in my opinion, each of which have awesome tracks themselves. It really did do a good job of establishing its own musical identity.
Also I think it goes without saying that Groose's theme in itself is enough to warrant ten points.
These are my top 30 all time greatest: ⚔️ 🛡️
#30 Ilia’s Theme
#29 Mipha’s Theme
#28 Calling the Four Giants
#27 Grandma’s Theme
#26 Courage
#25 Ballad of the Windfish
#24 Temple of Droplets
#23 Kass’ Theme
#22 Deku Palace
#21 Minish Village
#20 BOTW Main Theme
#19 Dark World
#18 Bamboo Island
#17 Sheik’s Theme
#16 Farewell Hyrule King
#15 Stone Tower Temple
#14 Realm Overworld
#13 Kakiriko Village
#12 Hyrule Theme(TP/Daytime)
#11 Sage Laruto
#10 Ballad of the Goddess
#9 Song of Storms
#8 Song of Healing
#7 Lon Lon Ranch
#6 Dragon Roost Island
#5 Gerudo Valley
#4 Zeldas Lullaby
#3 Midna’s Lament
#2 Fi’s Farewell
#1 Temple of Time
That's a sweet selection you've got there! Might also be a nice idea for a video, doing a top 25 Zelda tracks...
This was a very fun watch/listen (accompanied a run too!). Especially a fan of your own Skyward Sword fandom, the music of which I think is outrageously gorgeous and full-hearted (I think Romance in the Air and the Sky Island are so good and severely underrated in the Zelda canon - at least Fi's theme gets its due praise!)
I can't agree overall with the TOTK verdict (simply because of how much fuller and warmer it felt to have the warm synth added to the overworld theme, and the Stable Trotters finale hits a musical high for both games I think! Don't get me started on the weirdo sci-fi-y Metroid-y themes of Zora Waterworks and Thunderhead...) but videos aren't made to be just agreed with but entertained by, and this was brill (and funny!)
I was taking notes of songs I want to play in the background while I run DnD. I paused the video and listened to Open Air when you mentioned it and it’s fantastic! Thank you!
Glad you like it, it's always great to hear people enjoy my original work! :D
Great video!! Cant wait to see you blow up man
#makethistrend really enjoyed the video premier,the editing and music and a fair tier list was really good!you will definitely go viral ❤
Here's hoping, Sharkmon!
Even if I love WW and its music, I agree that it could have scored more! Skyward Sword was amazing, musically speaking!
My drum teacher said that we remember the first 5% and last 5% of something to judge if it's good. So of course, title screen and credits. Skyward Sword was perfect, but BotW's credit...
Earlier, in 2013, I said that I was disappointed in ALBW's credit theme for having the start of ALTTP's credit theme + music you've already heard in game, that weren't mixing well. I think Phantom Hourglass took the ALTTP's credit theme perfectly in its own way, tho. So yeah, I judge a lot of a game by its credit, because it's my last impression.
Yeah, I've heard that as well. For me, it doesn't really hold up though - TotK ends on an amazingly high note musically for instance, but I mostly remember all the nothingburgers before that happens. BotW doesn't begin very impressive musically but accrues a lot of credit while it goes on.
SS, of course, does it all ;).
Awesome video! It was so cool to see your thoughts on each game soundtrack. Id love to see your thoughts on the 2D Zelda game soundtracks! 🙂
Would love to do that!
I honestly felt like with most of the games here you left out all the best music. Best from BOTW- Talking to Impa, approaching vah Medoh, Vah Naboris appears, Inside Castle, All ganon related themes were absolute bangers. Waterside shrine was complex and amazing. (Ganon theme actually sounded alot like Pokemon gym leader music) With tears the music of the dungeons and entering depths was phenomenal.
I did mention the TotK dungeons though, I even gave them FULL POINTS ;) . Honestly, I wouldn't mind doing a video about every game *separately* so I can go more in-depth about each OST, but in the format of a ranking I didn't want to slow down the pace too much.
This is such a refreshing video. Skyward Sword, which I’m admittedly biased towards, gets far more hate than I believe it deserves. It’s issues (which all games have,) lead many to focus solely on the detriments and keeps them from noticing how stellar it’s strengths are; the music being a fantastic example.
I was grinning from ear to ear watching this, thank you!!
Glad you enjoyed it! And yes, SS' strengths - music, dungeons, art design, gamefeel - are mega inspiring.
Spirit tracks literally has the best ost though
Haha, well if this ever hits 100k views I'll do one for 2D Zelda!
Love these types of videos. Hope you can do more franchises in the future!
I hope that as well! 3D Mario, 2D Zelda, Mario Kart, Final Fantasy...
This was a hugely entertaining, interesting and sometimes puzzling video! I personally adore the more textural ambience of Tears of the Kingdom over the melodic statements of previous entries, but listening to your takes and questioning my own was quite the ride.
Something in particular that had a big impression on me during my watch was the soundtrack of Skyward Sword. I am admittedly pretty prone to taking music at face value, so this deeper dive into that game's soundtrack was a real eye-opener. Or ear-opener, perhaps.
Fantastic work again, Timmermans!
Glad you liked it! I also love what they did with the texture of TotK - recently did a replay and the atmosphere is *thick*. I'm just missing the catchy jams ;) . Skyward Sword has those in spades!
I totally agree with this. Majora is my favorite Zelda hands down but I agree with the soundtrack placement. In spite of not really enjoying Skyward Sword much (sorry) I do think the game's soundtrack is pretty great. I also agree that Ocarina and Breath are pretty GOAT soundtrack wise. I super appreciate you dunking on Tears' soundtrack because it definitely deserved it. This felt very fair and honestly I just think it was correct for me as well.
Glad to hear that, a surprising amount of folks seem to agree!
can't really disagree with skyward sword getting a 10 -- despite all the problems with the game itself, there's no denying nintendo went all out with the soundtrack. one of their absolute best
skyward sword is my favorite game ever, and its music is amazing
You are my third favorite musician on Spotify this year 😄
Great video!
33:56 Why was I not expecting this? I should know you better by now, Tim. 😆
Skyview Temple sounds like my basement
Well, that's fine. My favorite music still plays in MM and TP. Because they have, in my opinion, the most emotional moments.
That's an interesting argument!
Just played tears of the kingdom I would personally put that top 5. The music made me feel like I was in the game.
A titling style I've seen that may help boost this video to the views it deserves is like 'I tried ranking the music in EVERY Zelda game... Here's what I found" or similar.
UA-camrs like Ludwig and Smallant use this titling style to great success. Just something to try, you deserve to be bigger dude
Thanks a lot, will give it a go!
this was a brilliant and very well edited video! you should definitely do another one with 2D zeldas, id love to see your thoughts on ALBW (particularly lorule castle)!
Lorule Castle is the best Hyrule Castle track in the series! ;) Hope the vid does well, want to do 2D Zelda and 3D Mario ones too...
@@demantim OOOH YES. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Mario soundtracks
This video deserves a like just for playing a clip of Astral Observatory theme. As you might guess, I watched two Zelda ranking videos before this one and wasn't pleased 😔
Gotta do it right!
Great video Tim! I really enjoyed it! I'm so glad Skyward Sword won, it's definitely one of my favourites!
Do you think you'd do a sequel with the 2d Zelda soundtracks? There's so many bangers on there!!
Would love to do that! As well as 3D Mario and Mario Kart.
Great video !!
Thanks Walid! :D
as someone who fell in love with botw for its music and was disappointed by totk I very much approve. SS recognition to boot!!
Glad to know I'm not on my own! :D
Skyward Sword is such an underrated game. Great ranking.
Thanks! And yeah, Skyward Sword does things that Zelda games before or since haven't touched...
I love all of this!! The analysis is fantastic and I appreciate all the insight and thought put into all of it. (On the side i am extremely biased and I hugely enjoy the TP soundtrack, particularly the dungeons and the overworld themes. That might just be nostalgia and the fact it was my first game though, so. Favouritism.) Either way fantastic video :D
Glad you liked it! I only played TP two years ago and was consistently impressed by the quality of the compositions after my initial thoughts being less positive because of the sample quality. An official remaster with rerecorded music would be the dream.
Definitely agree with this ranking! Skyward sword is super underrated and definitely one of my favorite zelda games! As far as totk, i really like a lot of the new tracks, but it really is dissapointing how much is reused from botw. I was really hoping for an entirely original soundtrack, and while the new themes for the story-centered villages are great, you dont ever hear them again after progressing through the story :(
Thanks! It seems that Skyward Sword has more defenders than I anticipated, at least musically everybody seems to agree it's top of the pack.
BotW Rito theme sounds like it's played on a Balalaika
Excellent, EXCELLENT video, Tim! Pretty much agree with you in everything! This is a bit of a tangent, and doesn't detract from the game's OST in general, but I've always been slightly, SLIGHTLY bothered that a game as pivotal as Ocarina of Time doesn't prominently feature the main Zelda theme. I think that might be why Majora's Mask made it the overworld theme, lol.
Thanks so much Ben! Honestly, I was never too fond of the traditional Zelda main theme. I think it's a bit cheesy :P . Ocarina's Hyrule Field would easily beat it as a main theme! Majora's rendition is killer though, but I don't really miss it in Ocarina because Hyrule Field is *so good*.
Not at all surprised by Skyward Sword being on top, as someone whos played it more times than i could even remember. A truly underrated game, with too much semi warranted hate. Id expected it to be that or Twilight Princess
I still listen to the ballad of the goddess. Also yk what how could it not win with its emphasis on the music with an orchestra? I still have the music cd somewhere...
Btw, ive noticed skyward sword music in quite a few video essays, notable more than id expected. The ost is just that good.
the winner did not, in fact, surprise me
Time to change the clickbait title to "The LOSER will SURPRISE you!!1" :P .
Managed to predict the winner & loser so no surprise for me! But excellent video nonetheless, hope you’ll do one for the 2D games as well!
Haha, you know my tastes by now ;) .
This is such a fun concept for ranking. I love them all, but I can't really say I disagree with you anywhere either.
Edit: also, I could totally listen to you talk about music nonstop.
Nice job, I like the ranking system. There should one for the same thing for the 2d games. I know A link to the past, links awakening, Minish Cap, Spirit Tracks and A Link Between Worlds.
Would love to make one!
loved this video. was sad not to see spirit tracks discussed but i guess it isn’t a 3D zelda. it does have phenomenal music though
It'll get it's time in the sun for sure!
I'm surprised you gave breath of the wild 9.5 points when it's music soundtrack seems faded compared to past Zelda games.
I definitely get giving Tears less points than Breath. Were I ranking OSTs, though, I don't think I would have docked so many points for TotK borrowing tracks from BotW because to me, having those bits of familiarity makes sense. These are the same places we knew before only a few years later. It might have been interesting if villages got some changes due to things like the ring ruins and mushroom aesthetics in Kakariko and Hateno, but it never even registered to me that they *should* potentially have any change. To me, those tracks are the sounds of those places, and that's fine. I definitely understand and appreciate the approach you took. I think there's just different expectations for what the soundtrack should do. For me, I'm fine with the soundtrack doing new things in the new places, and staying the same in the places we know. I'm a sucker for familiarity and pattern in character/location music.
Thanks for the interesting video! I enjoyed getting to see a knowledgable perspective on the series' music.
I can see your perspective. From my point, as a musician who's loved these tracks intensively since 2017, I was really hoping to hear these amazing composers do something new - at least an extensive reworking of the themes to make them recognisable yet distinct. But I might be an outlier in that regard ;) .
@@demantim That's completely fair. As I said before, it wasn't something that registered to me as a possibility while I was playing through the game, but they did a good job with making the additional tracks for the areas affected by the regional phenomena. It could have been great to see some changes to old themes, like a bit more Zonai instrumental influence close to the ring ruins in Kakariko. I just didn't see it as a must-have addition throughout Hyrule. After all, most of the village themes are quite beautiful as-is, so I'm definitely not complaining about listening to them more. :p
This Video:
SECRET SAUCE: 10!
The winner did not surprise me at all, I saw Tim de Man uploaded it and knew that man loves his Skyward Sword lol
jokes aside I agree with and felt a lot of the same feelings towards TotK's soundtrack as you did. I will say though that Colgera deserves a little more credit than just being Rito Village/Dragon Roost. The melodies surrounding that one section are surprisingly intricate and call back very cleverly to the feel of Wind Waker without directly quoting it (outside of the obvious Dragon Roost cameo)
Overall while I don't agree with some of the list, this was a very fun video!
Haha yeah, at least I'm consistent in my Skyward Sword shilling! :P
I can see where you're coming from - I do like Colgera, and think there's some strong melodic material in there aside from the literal quotes, but think the piece doesn't *commit* to that material. The strength of melody, often, is repetition - getting to know a melody, being glad when it returns, being able to hum it along. At least, to my tastes ;).
@@demantim Understandable
I don't know if it's fair to criticize town themes in TOTK for not changing in BOTW, since that explicitly ignores the fact that this is the same world.
Opinions differ of course :) . In my opinion not touching the music that was probably heard *most* in BotW, outside of the Shrine music, is baffling.
This was hilarious and so entertaining to watch 😂 *absolute bangers*
great video
I felt ToTK as a "transition" point in many aspects for what Nintendo wants to achieve with Open World Zelda. It falls shorts on some aspects, but comparing it with BoTW is a step up and I see it as an improvement in the musical department.
It seems to me that Nintendo sacrificed some aspects (music and history) for giving us the players the most freedom we can get from the game.
Interesting, what musical elements would you say they improved on specifically?
I'm not by any means a professional in this field, but The Dungeon and Shrine music were much better than BoTW's ones (I'm not saying Divine Beasts are bad).
And some ambiental motifs too. But that's maybe I've been listening to some ambient music the last months. 😅
A fair and accurate ranking, I wholeheartedly agree that Skyward Sword should be clear winner. You could take just the credits and their cinematic for that game and give them 100 SECRET SAUCE points.
I haven't found the reuse of town themes between different entries to be too egregious, up to TOTK where it's disappointing. The subtle instrumental and musical differences between the numerous Zora's Domains, for instance, nods to nostalgia while also affirming that it is a new iteration. Hearing the unsolved regional phenomena versions of the 4 major towns was delightful, and I was excited to hear how the towns would change in their resolved states. I hoped the new, resolved versions would have similarities to their BOTW predecessors, but differ like the unsolved versions did. I shared your disappointment that we just got the same tracks again.
I am very keen to hear your thoughts and rankings for the handheld/2D games. There are some incredible soundtracks, and outstanding tracks, that need to be more widely shared & require your analysis!
Glad you likes it Aspiring Hero! I don't know *as* much about the 2D games so will have to research first - I've only played ALBW, LA and PH. Looking forward to finding some bangers!
I think you're completely correct, and I fully agree that TotK seems to be having a lot going on regarding a potential hellish development, because the cut corners are everywhere and I'm glad people are starting to talk about them. Thanks for the vid!
Agreed. I imagine that they spent years trying to make the physics work and neglected everything else.
This was fantastic
Thanks! :D
I agree with almost everything. I'd just remome half a point from BOTW because I don't really think its dungeon songs are that good. Only Hyrule Castle and monk maz koshia boss theme stood out to me, with all divine beasts (inside and bosses, to be more specific) were way too similar to one another. With that aside, that's a really good take on Zelda Music and I wish to see more of your work in the future
I was not surprised by the winner.
I demand my money back!
Haha, made you click!
Hmm... I wonder how Tim feels about TotK's soundtrack... 🤔🤔🤔👻
Also, the editing here is fantastic! I had to stop and rewind a couple times to catch everything. FULL POINTS!! 😂
Haha yeah, making stupid jokes in editing is a lot of fun xD .
The Windwaker Story...................
Wind Waker in my opinion had the best story and the best soundtrack.
@@ShadowWizard224 It's such a nice combo with the cutesy artstyle, cinematic soundtrack and super deep story
I felt like you were a little harsh on Twilight Princess because that’s my personal 10/10 but besides that I mostly agree with your rankings.
With a more refined sound it'd be up there with *at least* BotW and OoT, perhaps even SS...!
Twilight Princess best soundtrack *only thing that holds it back is that it used midi soundfont AKA not prerecorded orchestral*
It is an amazing soundtrack, but it's ambition kinda leads to it's downfall with that soundfont... Hope they do a rearranged version if they ever remaster it again!
Love this!
Thanks Romana! :D
I miss the new games not having the impact musically that Skyward Sword had on me. I still listen to its soundtrack with eyes closed dreaming away. Breath of the Wild was quality but very sparse and reused a bit too much for my taste. It also didnt help that the game was not a personal favourite. I just hope that wherever the series goes next it will look back a bit at what made Skyward Sword and Ocarina of times scores so epic (story connection was a big thing in skyward sword as well which I felt was missing in the 2 new entries).
Good point, in a way I think SS not having voice acting gave more room to the music - it had to do the heavy lifting in cutscenes and did so amazingly well.
@@demantim Youre right! Never thought about it that way.
Why all the hate on Totk tho?! I thought reusing the music made it feel nostalgic and recognisable in a good way.
That's of course also completely valid!
It is a spinoff but I think Breath of the Wild: Age of Calamity has the best soundtrack in the whole franchise. It has all of the amazing tracks from BotW but also remixes them into being often times better, it's own score is great as well, and unlike BotW and TotK the music shows up significantly more often.
I will say though that the menu music is pretty trash. Especially after finishing the game, it's the same dreary music perminently for that save file with no way of changing it. Especially since you did save the day, it is so weird how going back in it feels like you've lost
Ohh good point, I really liked AoC too! It's a popcorn take on the BotW soundtrack which is interesting for sure.
@@kingdanett4043 Being a "spinoff" game as you say it is no surprise that Nintendo would take the lazy approach and not change any of the tracks after you finish the story since it isn't part of the official canon timeline as established by Nintendo. Had the game actually been canon it would certainly have made sense for the sake of narrative depth but alas it's the game we have and so we should be happy that we had it for all it's lackluster elements as the aforementioned lack of a switched track after finishing the main storyline.
@javiervasquez625 I like the game. Maybe more then the original BotW because I prefer this combat, music, and we get to spend significantly more time with the best characters in BotW, but it being a spin off isnt the reason the menu track sounds bad? I think that's what you're going for? It is very much a spin-off, mostly due to game mechanics, but I dont get how them using the one crappy song in the game for one of the last menu themes has anything to do with Nintendo not caring?
@@kingdanett4043 They don't care because they didn't add _variety_ and depth to an otherwise generic Musou Dynasty Warriors game with Zelda skins hence Nintendo taking the "lazy approach" as i said by not adding more content and substance to the game. You're free to like it more than Breath of the Wild but i don't see why having a game which is entirely about button mashing combat instead of inmersive exploration and story be considered _better_ to a game which is larger in size in every sense of the way.
Recency bias.
That's it. I am replaying SS again.
Iits a little dissapounting but Ive said before, Tears of the kingdom is an amazing game, its just not a good sequel. Its awesome on its own but barely ties back to the plot in breath of the wild, but it still reuses so many tracks.
The fits in the hyrule chasm leading to the final dive to ganondorf's army tbh remiinds me so much of skyrim and really doesnt fit the zelda feel
The final fall theme will never not me the best though
On the other hand, i am SO glad Skyward sword won! Its my favorite zelda game slightly about botw abd really does not get the recognition it deserves. I love the game and music so much
Skyward Sword is the Zelda game for Zelda fans. It doesn't have a lot of broad appeal though, unfortunately.
Cool video, this must have taken quite some time! I agree with Skyward Sword, I really liked the melodic and orchestral music (bit like mario galaxy). Twilight Princess is much darker but also has some amazing songs, I would say it is underrated by most people. I didn't like BoTW music that much, it felt like the music was mostly just an add-on and not really adding much to the experience. Also 100+ shrines with the same ambient music ugh
Ohh yeah, the Shrine music was... not very good. But it's definitely a soundtrack that reveals itself after multiple playthroughs.
And this video took a week! Script writing in the weekend - I already knew what I wanted to say to it went quickly - and then editing in sessions the following 4 days.
I find OOT to overall have the best music.
I’m actually offended that the town themes were not updated with gorgeous writing like the dungeons. They had seven years and I’m sure the upper management tied the music department’s hands. Another Nintendo blunder.
The depths was half my playtime. Not even a variation in the music. :/
YES! It's crazy. They fell into the same trap BotW did in it's music budgeting, but *even more*: spend all your budget on one-off tracks, and leave the meat of the game either mostly silent or with intense repetition. Something must've really gone wrong during development...
Also: hi Dallas!
Love how unapologetically biased you are to botw lmao
Especially funny when TotK has the same songs plus more
Counterpoint: those songs were *new* in Breath of the Wild. I don't think a game having the same exact files in there gives it the same credit as the game those tracks were created for.
@@demantim that's just the perfect point for your special sauce category, no? That's where I would deduct points. If you judge the overall quality of the soundtrack on its own it can't be worse if the songs were already great. I mean people who have played totk first would in that case judge botws soundtrack worse if we use that logic. But thats just how I view it. The comment was just meant to be silly nothing serious.
@@SuperSavajin no worries, it's all personal taste of course. I've been replaying TotK recently and still ADORE what they did with dungeon and boss tracks.
(Pre-premiere)
At first I thought this was rating all Zelda games (including 2D). So now it would be even harder to give any game worst. Like even on the notion of having “bad music”, IDK the Majora’s Mask dungeon BGM besides Stone Tower are kinda mid, but Stone Tower is still one of the series best dungeon BGM, and the rest of the game still has great original music (assuming both MM and TOTK must be judged on original pieces).
For sure, "worst" music is mainly Thumbnail Talk :P .
@@demantimyea when it comes to ranking zelda games, the worst is still really good
@@aylinilya. Absolutely, I'd prefer not to use a format like this at all, but it's my final go at trying to revive the channel so I though "might as well try it" xD
Too bad for 2D Zeldas. Dont forget ALTTP which was incredible
That'll get it's own series of 2D Zelda OSts, going from ALttP to ALBW!
Excellent ! And you could even make a conclusion or a third video to show the ultimate final result (I assume that some 2D games could be higher than TotK then)
PS: I finally watched the entire video and also always believed that Skyward Sword has the best soundtrack in any Zelda games