Good Game Design - Music & Sound
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
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DKC2 has the best OST of all time, don't @ me.
Check out Game Score Fanfare's vid on Uncharted 4: • Uncharted 4's Unexpect...
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"Just imagine if these two games had swapped soundtracks." I never knew I wanted this until now.
Replace Kirby and Doom
@@Dabestbro.
That would be unironically amazing
I'm a music composer, that heavy metal kirby was amazing
You left out the part where Yoshi's Woolly World has a rock song in one of its levels.
@@Dabestbro. > Open this speedrun: ua-cam.com/video/tumzU8Kmyzk/v-deo.html
> Mute Speedrun Video
> Play this as timer starts: ua-cam.com/video/u6i9QkKk0Ik/v-deo.html
> Enjoy
Undertale honestly used leitmotif perfectly.
There were numerous times where I noticed a familiar melody, but often times I wouldn't until re-listening to the soundtrack and catching it later.
Jacob the Quiz Guy has shown that in a really clear way.
ua-cam.com/users/JakobRWvideos
jasonyu.me/undertale-part-1/
This article also goes really in-depth to all the leitmotifs in the Undertale soundtrack and is a lot of fun to read (even for people like me who don't know anything about reading and/or writing music).
I'm a huge sucker for a good leitmotif.
I keep expecting Sideways to bust into the comments like "DID SOMEBODY SAY LEITMOTIF"
I've still been finding new leitmotifs in DKC2 like 20 years later.
The music of Minecraft is so not praised enough, Volume Alpha and Beta by C418 just define the feeling of Minecraft perfectly(and go beyond the game as many of those album tracks are not even in the game) , without this music, Minecraft would have less of an identity, less atmosphere and we would probably remember it differently.
Yeah, the Minecraft soundtrack, especially Volume Alpha, is a brilliant example of the music perfectly fitting the game.
Tbh i turned off the music years ago because it kept startling me and so i forgot that minecraft has music!
Julian Göppert
Minecraft's song is the gamer national anthem
Mallk238 how did calm music startle you
@@kendsplaining cave noises
Yeah, music's alright I suppose.
I mean, yeah, it's whatever I guess.
I guess its pretty cool....
Yeah, it’s ok. Not really THAT important or anything...
Eh, its fine i guess...
claaaap - clap clap, hey
THANK YOU FOR COVERING WANDERSONG. That game deserves to be way more popular than it is. It's genius.
Digital style!
Ikr i have played the game through a few times i love it.But not many pepole even know it
Jod the wbee I clicked the video specifically because of the thumbnail--that game looks right up my alley!
@@Flowtail same i saw wandersong and clicked it
@Wicked Witch me too
I really love your vids man, but I wish that in a video about music you'd leave at least 5 sec of the song without talking for us to appreciate the mentioned thing, it was low volume all the way through.
Marcos Honda I did struggle with that while editing as well. Duly noted for if I do something like that in the future. Music is such a different topic than anything else, you gotta hear it to understand 👌
Well, we had to listen to guy talking, so...
I spent the whole video rearing to LISTEN to the amazing examples you gave.
@@snomangaming maybe check out the channel 8-bit Music Theory which only talks about this topic and has a very good pacing between playing the sounds and explaining them.
COPYRIGHT CLAIM
The Kirby series has nailed music
wANDERSONG TOO. Also why are you everywhere.
@Monsterland Buddies Nah the chara guy. he's on every video's comments i swear it.
*I S E E Y O U E V E R Y W H E R E ! ! !*
@@jodthewbee7615 that make's two of us
Uh oh
He's turning into Stickmaster500
The opening sequence of Breath of the Wild gets me every time. Hearing that music as you look out on Hyrule for the first time is breath taking.
Yes dude. It feels like you are riding a huge bird while looking down at hyrule from bird's eye
X3
Honestly i did feel like it was a lackluster entry when it came to music
@@AMC5274 I agree! The Zelda series is so full of memorable music that they just had to try something different and... while it fits the game, it's not memorable. The one exception I cam think of is Hyrule Castle, where there's a melody throughout your exploration, and it changes instrumentation whether you're in the inside or outside portions of the castle.
It's a crime against music that he didn't mention the greatest videogame soundtrack:
*CrazyBus*
It's excellent at drawing a large reaction from its audience. And isn't that all art needs to do?
I mean, ear hemorrhaging does count as a pretty substantial reaction, no?
11:16
“Many many games have passable soundtracks that get the job done, but don’t have meaningful impact on the experience.”
*Shows Breath of the Wild*
That is one of the oddest choices to use as your example when there’s a quite number of videos and articles analyzing the soundtrack’s importance to the game, but okay.
I came to the comments to say this
@@Sergioluis93 Thanks for letting us know
@@MexicanHippo99 What can I say, except "you're welcome"?
Regular Random Person it was more a meme for all those people saying BotW had no soundtrack, just a couple chimes here and there, etc. I didn't want to ACTUALLY show a game that I thought had a bad soundtrack that'd be rude lol :P
Snoman Gaming Good to know because i was really surprised that you didn’t get the point of BotW soundtrack at first !
An Indie Game that I feel uses leitmotif and theming really well is "To the Moon".
It's a narrative game mainly composed of reading and using it's story to drive you forward, so the creator took some extra care to make sure the music kept the flow going.
One important plot point involves a song that one of the main characters wrote and how simplistic it is, yet how it drastically changes in tone depending on whose playing it.
Also the scene where the one vocalized song in the game plays adding more weight based upon the things you're seeing during it.
Dirtmouth ost from hollow knight, I feel it's unique from all other areas in hollow knight, it even made me feel nostalgic to the surface (dirtmouth) after I'm long gone on my adventure underground and when I got to go back home, I stop for a moment just to listen to that music echoing in that hollow place.
The fact that the game foreshadows that the Broken Vessel and the main character are related somehow by having the Broken Vessel's theme be a darker version of the main theme.
Or that the Path of Pain encourages you onward by having the theme slowly build in intensity the further you get.
Or that the vocals in the City of Tears theme have an actual in-universe source, and if you kill the character behind it the vocals stop for the rest of the game.
Yeah, Hollow Knight has pretty great music. Greenpath, Soul Sanctum (especially the segue into Soul Master's theme), White Palace and City of Tears are my personal favorites.
@@SuperLlama42 THEY STOP!? I know who you're talking about, I just never noticed she was the one... And I never killed her so I never knew... Whoa! Another fine detail.
Finally another Hollow Knight fan!
until you bring the grimm troupe in, zote, and big fluffy casper and it ruins the music
Two games:
- Celeste. The music shift when Badeline escaped the mirror in Ch2 was the reason I bought the game on impulse. And I love every. Single. Second of it. ESPECIALLY the amazing Soundtrack.
Oh, Celeste's soundtrack is a thing of wonder.
Hey I just finished farwell tonight and I have to say I couldn't have finished the game without Lenna Raine's soundtrack.
@@solsystem1342 Well done! It took me like 7 hours in total myself.
@@Adowrath I had 10.9 thousand deaths on farewell, let's not talk about my time
@@solsystem1342 2577 on Farewell and 13'275 in total. :3 My actual clear time was 8h23 but I was on toilet breaks for at least an hour of that lol.
People often call BotW's soundtrack bland or, as you had it during the video when you said it, 'passable', but it's truly masterful just how it works. You're alone, not in a world that's living in the now all happy unaware of the threat. You're living in a harsh post-apocalyptic world that has largely been retaken by nature and monsters, you won't find peace or happiness in the wilds other than your own thoughts and the melancholy soundtrack really sells that. It's gentle and calm, barely audible as the loneliness of the wilds takes over any warmth music could give you, but when you ride your horse that feeling of companionship and comfort slowly comes back to you in a slow and calming song that takes its time to build up, just like any feeling of comfort you gain from realising you're not truly alone. You've got your horse, you're no longer alone. This is further emphasised when you're in an area where people are present as the music plays if only a fraction of its former glory to what the tracks used to be in past games, then you get Kass who is always there hoping others will hear his music as he is now left alone without a master to teach him.
I feel BotW's style of music is often underestimated in how effective it is. Link is alone without his complete memory, his purpose long overdue completion and the majority of his companions dead. Would Link really hear bouncy determined adventurous music as he goes? Hell no. They're sombre, fractured and quiet. The music reappearing after the rain has ended only being a tiny candle of happiness as the harsh weather has retreated as Link knows he'll no longer have to suffer through it.
The first game that comes to mind is Kid Icarus: Uprising.
The music ranges from jaunty and heroic to serious and dire. Throughout the game there are tons of motifs that call back to the game's main theme, character themes like Dark Pit, classic themes from the original game, and more. The cinematic music in the air battles is often my favorite. Since it's on-rails, they can line up events with the song and it's just fantastic. Themes in the air battles always line up with the background music for the land battles, and especially emotional situations in the game are made even moreso by vocals. The Boss Battle theme plays almost every chapter, and it's probably my favorite recurring boss theme in all of gaming.
I did a playthrough with the music turned off, and it just wasn't the same game.
imagine dark souls or kingdom hearts without music
Just look at Chapter 13: The Lunar Sanctum. The flight section starts out with pit singing a happy little song, complete with xylophone. Then once the sanctum shoots its first laser at you it's suddenly Star Wars.
And then there's Chapter 18: The ring of Chaos. The two pieces of music used in the beginning for both the girl and the dog are great. With the girl, the tune is slow and somber, conveying a tone of unease as you move forward, but once it switches to the dog, the same melody is playing, but its faster and more bouncy to match the quicker-moving and more simple nature of the dog.
Also, Magnus' theme is pure gold.
Breath of the Wild is actually one of my favourite examples of setting with music. The whole way through the game you are more or less aimlessly wandering through Hyrule with ambient tunes tied with sounds of grass, trees and wind. But when you enter Hyrule Castle the focus is set, you have to defeat Gannon. The music picks up to a triumphant theme as you climb your way to the sanctuary. It felt so good to wander the castle, you felt the danger of the situation.
I also liked the way they handeled the ambient tunes and sounds. But i didnt feel like there was any memorable songs.
m3lonh0de well that’s kind of what I was getting at. Once you’re used to the lack of music it makes Hyrule Castle feel like more of a challenge because that calming ambient piano is replaced with a powerful score. I was saying that using the music in a sort of subversion of expectations was a good and memorable thing for me.
@@EdenHamadil ohh now i understand.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon actually nails it's soundtrack. It uses motifs extremely well in my opinion.
I love pmd's music. The theme for friend area Darkness Ridge in rescue team is still one of my favorite things to listen to.
Temporal Tower, Temporal Spire and Dialga's Fight to the Finish! will always hit me right in the feels.
No one talks about PMD and it makes me sad
The Second Dark Matter Battle is still my favorite song in the entire series.
The best use of the "current situation" idea I can think of, is the clock town theme in Majoras Mask, the way it has darker and darker undertones as the days progress and the moon gets closer to so haunting, and was the first time I realized just how much music could affect the emotion and tension of what's happening in games.
Yeah, the fact that as the 3rd day gets closer and the moon gets closer and the music gets faster is like "OH HEY, THERES A MOON COMING DOWN YOUR GUNNA DIE"
When I saw Wandersong, I screamed. Most underrated game EVER. Everyone needs to play it.
Also, finally, he noticed Stardew Valley.
YES. People need to spread Wandersong wherever they can... it deserves to sell Millions.
Definitely.
I played a bit of Wandersong, but it just wasn't my kind of game. It definitely has a niche and I can appreciate why people like it, though, and I wouldn't call it a "bad" game even though I didn't get much of any enjoyment out of it
yeah, i love wandersong to death
the furi music on yoshi was actually really good sorry
I'm soooooo proud of you! The first time I ever watched you was a live stream of you playing super Mario in your kitchen with less than 50 subs in 2013 on twitch. Now you are so close to 200,000 subs and you have a sponsor!!
Celeste has an amazing score. The way the music builds throughout ‘Summit’ as you progress towards the end of your goal is absolutely heart pounding.
The guy who made wandersong went to my school! Thats awesome!
THATS SO AWESOME!!!
Ok that’s actually very cool
FTL's soundtrack is phenomenal. The different versions of a song playing when in and out of combat brings it to a level unseen by most other roguelikes. The percussion in the battle songs makes it feel more intense, while the melodic or ambient sounds of the explore songs make it feel like you're exploring out in space. The race themes also fit them individually as well. The zoltan and engi are more electronic sounding, while the slug are more mysterious. All of this makes it probably my favorite video game ost.
I think games that absolutely nailed sound are the undertale "series"?
What I mean is if you tell someone the context of the world and a character theme, he would be able to roughly estimate that characters personality.
Examples are the world revolving: you know jevil is really powerful but also kind off playful; or vs susie, you just hear that its a badass character.
Also recurring motifs assuring memorability.
Much better example is Chaos King.
It has motifs from Lancer’s theme (because he’s Lancer’s dad,) the Card Castle theme (because he’s the king,) and near the end of “Legend” signifying how he wants to see the prophecy to it’s end.
It tells you so much about the character just through the music, even if nobody’s actually going to think about that while listening to it.
Being able to tell a character's personality from their theme is a bare minimum when it comes to soundtracks. Undertale doesn't do anything special with it's soundtrack, it just does everything everybody else does really, really well.
IMO Deltarune's OST isn't that great, mostly because all the characters are so one-note and underdeveloped that the music has nothing to reflect. Hopefully they'll be more fleshed out in the full version.
not to mention lancers theme
I will add that Susie's battle theme also showed her emotions that she was feeling in that particular battle. Some of the held notes of the guitar sounded a little bit sad.
The World Revolving is great because of how whimsical it sounds, and playful. It also sounds like a crazy carnival, which is perfect for Jevil's character.
Plus, Rude Buster is very catchy! It makes you want to run into a battle on purpose just to hear the music again.
It's always really cool when something you do in a game lines up with the music, whether is was intentional or purely coincidence, it can make the action feel that much more satisfying, sad, or even funny.
I like the video but you should have made it twice as long, you keep talking over every music / sound effect so it's hard to hear the source material
DANK craven 5:37
I really like "Echos" from Stardew Valley. It usually plays when something sad and heartbreaking is happening. My main example would be the character Shanes heart event. Like when he talks about committing suicide and about his drinking problem. Something like that would already break your heart but the music added so much that I felt like crying.
When I heared motifs I knew undertale was going to be mentioned
Pikmin 2’s music makes great use of current situation music. The music of a given place slightly changes when you switch to Louie or Olimar (spoilers: or the president). It also changes when you’re near a treasure, when you’re fighting an ennemy, etc. This game has some great music.
***MAJOR SPOILER**** but look at this, it’s the final boss of the game. Each attack has its own music and they all fit together well. It really helps getting a feeling of danger and unpredictability.
ua-cam.com/video/zd67CTqd_lU/v-deo.html
Mannn I miss the level of depth and difficulty Pikmin 2 brought to the series. Feels like it's going more towards the kid friendly cuddly style like Yoshi.
Multi managing a crew of 3 just doesn't get me hooked like the dungeons and sub levels, hunting for phat loot and killing tons of enemies.
@@Daan_Knobbout Pikmin 2 was such a great game. I can't talk for Pikmin 3 since I don't own a Wii U and have never played it, but I continue to wish for a port to the Switch of even Pikmin 4 :D
But I don't think that Pikmin 2 was that hard, especially when you know what you're doing (except for that freaking Man-at-Legs).
Ever played monster hunter world?
Im so sad ge didnt mention it one bit
Silver nah, I haven’t. It has good music?
One thing to note: the music in Spider-Man PS4 when you're web-swinging is NOT the Avengers theme from the MCU movies, it's a wholly original score exclusive to the game, though I'm sure it's intended to evoke Alan Silvestri's particular sound. Other than that, this was an amazing watch and would love to see a follow-up video sometime.
Yeah I guess I meant it sounds similar, this is true
De Blob does an amazing job with the music. Every action you do has some sort of effect on the soundtrack, and as you paint more and more of the levels, more instruments are added, the temp goes up, etc. it just feels good to play.
Idk if you put Breath Of The Wild when talking about passable ost because you think Botw's ost is passable, but I personally love the minimalistic songs in this Zelda
The reason why I think is so good it's because it has a nice theme coherent to the rest of the game. The graphics are minimalistic, the open fields with many shades of green and an overall chill experience, despite fighting monsters and saving kingdoms, go hand in hand with the music, minimal and calming, kinda what the game is (again, despite killing monsters and saving kingdoms).
Zelda Botw is a game where you will spend a lot of time with fairly lengthy game sessions, that is if you want get anything done, so the game can't be very exhausting to play. Look at Mario Odyssey, bright, colorful, full of action, fast pace, all of that demands an energetic soundtrack.
But Zelda is slow, really slow, you play the game to let yourself sink in on the atmosphere, so to not be visually demanding, the game uses everything to not burn you out early on. Notice how much green the game has, green is the one color that doesn't tire out to the human eyes.
So the music is equally calming and minimal, not to tire you out and create a nice atmosphere.
Another absolutely fantastic example for great Leitmotif usage is The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky for me. You see, the Game's Opening is actually the only opening in the series without a vocal song and I didn't think much of it at first. After Hearing the main melody during so many different tracks and so many different moments in the game, I adore it. The Melody appears during the first Game's final Dungeon and final Boss, in all 3 Sections of the Sequel's final dungeon which are all vastly different sounding tracks aside from the appearance of the main melody at parts, then the melody gets chanted by a freaking choir during the second Game's final Boss theme at Points, a theme which is 7 minutes long (the track is called The Merciless Savior btw.) and I just formed a connection of sorts with that melody itself after hearing it during all these climactic moments during this long journey. There is even a whimsical happy sounding Version of the theme that Plays during a Theater Piece the characters perform in the middle of the first Trails in the Sky! Man, Falcom makes amazing videogame music in General honestly...
Fire Emblem Fates’ transition between field music and battle music is incredible. It keeps variety while also hyping the fight.
4:40 I want a mod that does that for both games
Oof. For a second I though this was a Wandersong review. Good enough.
I loved that game. It deserves all the little mentions hahah
Skyrim does something I like. The music is very drum and choir heavy to reflect the ancient Nordic culture when on the province of Skyrim, but when you're on the island of solstiem the music is more string instrument based. We're it gets very interesting is when you enter the Skal village of Nords on solstiem it plays the drum and choir heavy music
Nier: Automata has a fantastic soundtrack!
EVERY area had a calm, middle, and action version, which each have instrumental and vocal versions too!
Not only that, but all the boss' attacks sync up with their battle theme.
Even better than all of that, it just plain sounds nice
Final Fantasy X stunned me, when you are in the Zanarkand Ruins and the background music doesn't stop when a battle begins, and this music absolutely nails the ambience and emotion of this whole section. Haaa, feels.
Another fantastic video Brad :) ! Super editing and really interesting info, 13 quality minutes :) !
Hi
I really love the Soundtrack of the Ace Attorney series. I think that it does a great job at showing the player the mood of the moment.
For those of you who don’t know, Ace Attorney is a video game series about a lawyer that has to prove that his client is innocent. That’s the entire basis of the game, but its characters, its story, its humor, it all makes for a great experience.
There are a lot of moments in the entire series that are humorous and the music really helps by suddenly stopping the “serious” melody that was currently playing and/or bringing up a cheerful or funny. The music helps in many other things, but here’s one of my favorites:
In the third game, Trials & Tribulations, there’s a mysterious prosecutor called Godot who is obssesed with coffee. He has a calm and smooth jazz melody called “The fragrance of dark coffee”, which plays whenever he does something of importance.
This character has a clear hatred towards our protagonist, Phoenix Wright, and Godot tries to prove himself superior in court, but it is in the last case, when you find him at the other side of a bridge that was burned down, that his other theme, “The bitter taste of truth”, plays for the first time.
It is a sad and sonewhat nostalgic theme with some kind of mystery, and it makes that scene in the game really emotional.
I think that the Ace Attorney series is a great example of a great use of the Soundtrack, but that’s just my opinion
The principle "show dont tell" would have helped this video a lot. Why dont you "show" us the soundeffects you are talking about all the time?
Besides that, great video.
Love how he sometimes uses bad or misdirecting examples in the background too
He showed a lot of examples he talks about: Stardew Valley, Fury, Yoshi, etc. I would guess it has to do with youtube copyright laws, that makes it much safer to just tell and not show/let listen to. Otherwise the strike police will get him.
@@15Seili Yep. Almost for sure it was so that copyright wouldn't kick in. Especially since some of this was from Nintendo which is notoriously strict about it.
princible
DEMONETIZATION SON! :P
NieR: Automata's soundtrack for sure elevates the gaming experience. They really turn up the volume of the soundtrack, and it's all the better for it.
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is my favorite game soundtrack, and the Galaxys are great
The end credits theme in Mario and Luigi: Bowser's inside story was really magic, it was a slower version of all the area themes in the game, so it is perfect at realizing how great of an adventure you completed
This is why i love nihon falcom music, Atlus, Nintendo and composers like yasunori mitsuda,toby fox,yuzo koshiro and masashi hamauzu.
Nihon falcom sound team aka falcom sound team J.D.K. use leitmotifs in their environments to battle themes examples like mercliess savior is one of the best final boss music in japanese rpg solely for the fact it combines country and ambient electro while still using the battle theme in between the bombastic feel also with azure arbitrator. It's amazing stuff and one of the hypest final boss in gaming. Also their Ys series is one of the best. Listen to sunshine coastline, it captures the feel of "adventure" masterfully.
Also if you want vocal at its finest, check out nier/drakengard like "grandmother" and the ar tonelico/ar nosurge games,which uses a ficitonal conlang called hymmnos and the track I would recommend listening is "EXEC_PAJA/.#Misya", "EXEC_SPHILIA/."
I love how you explain musical aspects of games such as a crescendo and it’s understandable for those that aren’t in say choir or a band
Most favourite ones are from DarkSouls and Nier:Automata. DS scores are so impactful when most of the game there is no music. Especially Lord Gwin and ashen lake scores. Nier did really well with rhythmatics ("This cannot continue") and overall feel of the area (parade level)
Gris was amazing at this. Having a button for almost the entire game and gradually getting your voice back through progression, folly done to perfection, every step through grass a soft rustle, every crunch of sand or the latter of footsteps on stone, then finally as you get your ability to sing the changes it brings to the world and the joy you feel at finally having it work instead of a strained and melancholy gasp.
Metroid Prime back on the GameCube.
Modern Fire Emblem (3DS) might be my favorite series of music, particularly how they string a common motif throughout most of the themes from the intro to the climax and battle themes in between. It all makes the pieces fit a particular game, and instills in my mind the journey I went through in that specific game.
to me, celeste has the best last stage song, as it tells you its your biggest challenge but still encourages you with that "you can do it" feeling
I just wanted to let you know that while I don't do video game design, I do run a lot of tabletop rpg games. And your vids, while they need some adapting for me, are almost always super helpful all the same. So I just want to thank you for the work you're doing!
I loved this video. I feel that a lot of people consider sound effects underrated, but it sets a metalinguistic pattern that defines the entire game, and some sounds can be so important that they become the core of the franchise.
The most notable example is Super Mario, with the power-up sounds and other types of sounds being as iconic as the game's music. Super Mario World also makes the best use of leimotivs I've ever seen.
Another example that really comes to my mind whenever I think of sound effects is the Diablo franchise, particularly Diablo I and Diablo II; the item drop sound and potion sound are EXTREMELY ICONIC.
Okami, on the other hand, is a game that sets a lot of ambient cues with tunes and small fanfares that are part of the soul of the game.
11:16 The cool thing about Zelda is that it was designed to have a very light and minimal soundtrack to not distract from the beauty of the world. The developers really wanted a fresh game where players would feel like they had a 'breath of the wild.' Wilderness has no big sound buster.
Sno, you've been knocking out of the park recently! This was a delightful video, keep up the great work!
Many games that emphasize stealth will change the background music based on the alarm level. It's simple, but effective.
Hotline Miami and Hollow Knight have two of the best sound tracks despite being so different.
Both are extremely energetic :)
Honestly whenever I think of The Legend of Zelda, I just think of the music. The music in those games are so mesmerizing, or at least most of them, Lost Woods, Zelda's Lullaby, and other songs pretty much complete the games.
Yessss wondersong! This little game is amazing.
I can't leave this video without bringing up Bastion, one of my all time favorite games and soundtracks. Throughout the game, you only ever hear two songs with lyrics: "Zia's Theme", a woman's tale about exerting incredible effort even when tragedy will always wash it all away, and "Zulf's Theme", a man's weeping tune to the goddess of Loss and Longing, being a man who saw his kin decimated in an apocalypse over racial differences . The songs themselves aren't only haunting and beautiful simply because they come in times of silent exploration with no combat, but it fully represents the suffering and resentment that not even calamities can kill. The beautiful musical composition comes as the credits roll in the song "Setting Sail, Coming Home", as the two suffering singers mix their two songs in an earth shaking duet. Song still gets me deeper than it should, and I've never forgotten it.
Mick Gordon has a really cool GDC talk about the way the music changes in DOOM 2016.
As for my favourite OST, it's gotta be Killer Instinct's. I listen to it all the time and I haven't even played the game yet. A great thing about it is that pretty much each song has a rendition of the main theme in the style of that particular song, really helps tie thing up together.
And don't forget their special attacks where they attack to the beat of the music!
While we're talking about sound, despite the fact I love these documentaries, it's very hard to watch when you're talking with your voice in a most heartfelt tone like you're delivering a silver lining against some bad news to a child in every video
Spoilers for Breath of the Wild:
Breath of the Wild is mostly comprised of ambiance music that is very subtle or great music for battles or set pieces. The part of it I'd like to point out is the music within the divine beasts. When looking at the soundtrack of the game, each divine beast gets 5 distinct tracks. The game switches between them as you unlock more and more terminals in the beasts. Typically the music transitions from ominous or hopeless to somewhat hopeful and determined. Additionally, hyrule castle's music changes between the interior and exterior slightly. Outside it's bombastic and determined while outside it becomes muffled and ominous.
Breath of the Wild's music seems to be be very underrated. Yeah, it doesn't have an awesome overworld theme that makes you excited for adventure, but that's because it would get annoying with how much time you would spend listening to it. There are amazing tracks like Attacking Divine Beast Vah Ruta, any Blight Ganon battle, the final boss music, most of the mini boss music, the battle music for master Koga, and many more.
Metal Gear Solid 3 has some of the best use of music i've ever seen, like the stairs after The End and the final boss fight where music is used as a timer.
besides all other interesting examples of OST, there's a case of it in the From Software games. These games are normally devoid of background music, limiting itself to boss battles and hud areas. But there are exceptions, and these stick around pretty well.
Coming into Ash Lake in Dark Souls 1 is so unique, with this area that looks so different from the rest of the game and the chanting...
My favorite one is coming to Yahar'gul for the first time in Bloodborne. It happens pretty soon, and being taken there, exploring and discovering cryptic messages all over it, with one of the most atmospherically dense songs I have ever heard, is my favorite moment in the game (side by side with the second phase of Ludwig, which has an amazing soundtrack as well)
My favorite soundtack from the soulsborne series is gwyn's theme from Dark Souls 1. It's the first time I noticed soundtrack being used for storytelling. The sad piano music tells you that Gwyn is just a shell of his former self.
Just talked about this in my comment while saying I don't see many people talk about it and then I read this, lol.
Yes!! Hearing that bone chilling music in Yahar'gul for the first time is a classic gaming moment.
@@Anaicyl Speaking of Gwen, when you fight Soul of Cinder in DS3, the 3 notes at the beginning instantly tell you what's up, and it's amazing.
the Persona series has some really catchy music that really connected to when i played them
My favorite ost is NieR and it used its final boss track masterfully. During the Shadowlord's last phase, you have to hit him 3 times. Before you hit him, the theme that played during the rest of the final boss plays. Then, after the first blows, a calmer version of the song plays, though it's nothing new, since it played in cutscenes involving the Shadowlord. After the second hit, however it plays a music box rendition of the same song that's never seen anywhere else in the game.
If you don't know, NieR plays a lot with the idea of good and bad, so the music box piece is meant to be seen as the main character finally doubting if what he did was right or wrong
Final Fantasy VI. That transition as we go from The Dark World to Searching For Friends is so impactful on the player's interactions with exploring the overworld's purpose to the plot to complete your party and rekindle the hope lost after the catastrophe. That entire soundtrack works so well with the game and enhances its already multilayered story with multilayered meanings in the music.
(tl;dr For situation-matching music, Hyrule Field from OOT and basically anything from Phantasy Star Online are experimental and amazing.)
This is a long, in-depth comment: read more at your own risk. :P
Regarding situational music, I'm a little surprised you didn't bring up Hyrule Field from Ocarina of Time. That one's not actually a single track, but instead consists of three groups of eight-measure tracks: normal, battle, and quiet. It randomly plays eight measures depending on what's happening right now - if Link is standing still, it plays a quiet eight measures, for example. Then, when those eight measures are done, it checks what's happening, and randomly picks the next eight measures to play from the respective group.
This makes the music in Hyrule Field different each time you hear it, and each eight measure chunk was composed in such a way that the transitions were never jarring - each one ends in a chord that leads nicely to any other chunk. (Koji Kondo explained this in the Iwata Asks regarding Ocarina of Time 3D - look it up if you're interested.)
Phantasy Star Online takes it a step further (and is a bit tougher to explain). Each area has a normal track, and a battle track. They're complete compositions, rather than just being comprised of randomly picked chunks - think Kingdom Hearts battle music. However, to smoothly transition between them, they composed even more for each area: a group of normal-to-battle transitions, and a group of battle-to-normal transitions. Here's an example of how it would work:
If you're on measure 11 in the normal track, and run into a battle, the game will wait for the right time to play the nearest transition - let's say at measure 12. Then it plays the measure 12 normal-to-battle transition, and the battle music picks up at its own measure 13. Once the battle ends, if the battle music happens to be at measure 32, it plays that battle-to-normal transition, and the normal track picks up again at measure 33. It's as if all four tracks are playing simultaneously, but you only hear the one that pertains to the current situation.
The tempo is never lost, there's no fading, and the mood is portrayed excellently. Though it can occasionally be a bit slow to change, it's much more responsive than Ocarina of Time's transitions.
From what I've heard, they tried to take the situational music thing even further in Phantasy Star Online 2... and I've heard mixed opinions about it. I'll always be impressed by soundtracks that experiment with different ways to match the situation.
(Also, my favorite game soundtrack of all time would be that of Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon. It doesn't do anything experimental like that - it's just full of an incredibly diverse, beautiful, memorable soundtrack. Motifs are big in it, too! A lot of that could be applied to the whole PMD series, but Super definitely has my favorite.)
Thanks a lot for explaining PSO's soundtrack's transitionning
Celeste has my favorite soundtrack of any game (sorry Undertale, Deltarune, and Hollow Knight) and Confronting Myself is my favorite song in that soundtrack.
The way that it has two voices yelling at each other in tune with the song to show Madeline and Badeline’s conflict, the way it glitches after halfway through to match both the current gameplay (with blocks suddenly flying around) and Madeline’s mental state at this point, the way it has leitmotifs from Ressurections, but more triumphant (because now YOU are now the one chasing BADELINE), the way it’s intense and perfect for a decisive battle, and the way that the song is so freaking AMAZING!
The extra percussion when hopping on yoshi blew my mind and I've played that game more times than I've eaten food.
Damn this video is really underrated. You really put a ton of clear insight and straight forward points to how good game design effects the player. Thank you for this great content!
Climbing the abyss in Hollow Knight & slowly hearing additional instrumentation build a sombre, quiet melody into something closer to a profound fanfare as you grow closer to the truth of your existence. Tears were shed.
The music is amazing all told & there are other similar experiences to be had; I'd recommend checking it out if you haven't :D
There's a hidden gem in the 3DS eShop called "Harmoknight." This game is what got me into the rhythm based genre of gaming. It has you auto-running from left to right while platforming and fighting Enemies all in tune to the music. Each tune, being based on the world your in. There's march, rock, calypso, a short jazz world, even a few clock levels where the tempo is constantly shifting. The world map theme also changes depending on where you are. It's nothing mind blowing, but I wish there was more love for it.
One soundtrack I really love is the Ocarina of Time soundtrack. I don't know if it's just nostalgia but those songs are some of my favorite video game songs. That is something that I think Zelda games do well. Their soundtracks are often memorable and since they are reused in later games they become familiar pieces that let you know where you are. It's kind of a shame that the familiar songs from old Zelda games wasn't in Botw but I understand why they did it and I think the game has a great atmosphere because of it.
In hyerlight drifter when you go all the way north and discover the titan corpse in the distance the music becomes HUGE. That point gave me goosebumps.
Celeste's soundtrack is really nice and does a good job of setting the mood for each level. The first steps into the unknown full of tentative determination, a spooky haunted hotel, a mysterious (and then manic) temple, the frantic yet hopeful chase through the depths of the mountain and the triumphant return of the levels leitmotif's as you reach for the summit. Love that soundtrack.
And then they put interesting twists on the themes for the B and C-side versions of each location. Truly a treat.
One cool dynamic soundtrack music was in the game Aer: Memories of Old. The themes of each area always have a chilled-out "ground" portion for when you are exploring the floating islands, and an upbeat and fuller "air" portion for when you take flight. These two parts fade seamlessly into one another, as well as into other area-specific themes.
I really enjoy the soundtrack to Bloodborne. It lets you know how to feel during the boss battles. The First Hunter track is my favorite. So hauntingly beautiful.
You basically nailed every single aspect of video game music and why I love it so much more than every other type of music.
One recent game OST that has stuck with me is Night in the Woods. Pieces set the atmosphere wonderfully - the welcome home warmth of Back to the Holler, the somber chill of Shapes, and so on. Leitmotifs are all over the place - main character Mae's theme pops up in songs like Durkillesburg, Clanky Must Die and Shapes, but so too do her three friends have motifs that appear frequently - there's even a recurring two-note chime that signifies something *off* is happening, which kicks off the second trailer's tune. It's well worth checking out the game and its music.
The use of Adagio for Strings in Homeworld is just perfect. It adds a lot of emotion to the launch of the mothership - makes the whole thing feel grand and hopeful. But then when you come back and find your planet destroyed the track is playing in the background again. And this time around the same track feels very different.
Man I thought at least a mention of Devil May Cry was due. It's one of those things that you never get tired of and all games have managed to pull it off.
In persona 5 an instrumental version of Rivers in the Desert plays in the first phase
of a highly anticipated intense fight then the second phase ramps the fight up and the lyrics kick in
It’s just 👌
Crystal Chronicles use of ancient instruments gives the game’s world a very mysterious, almost magical feeling. It also makes each area feel old, especially levels with ruins or signs of civilization. It never really feels like your the first to discover any of these places either, until the last few at least.
One of my favorite soundtracks is Tearaway Unfolded. Everything in the game is made out of paper and the narrative has a storybook/campfire story kind of feel to it so there’s a lot of instrumentation from folk music. The music sets the atmosphere for each level and makes it feel like the music is being played while the story is being told.When you’re making things in the cutting mat the music includes the sounds of torn paper and scissors. You can sometimes see instruments from the songs in the game and characters sing/whistle along with the music.
I recall playing Blue Reflection a few months back. The music there was always so nice and somber, almost relaxing in the low moments, and then tense and energetic during fights and boss battles. And a lot of Falcom games have music that change and fit the mood. I think what I really like best is when music can actually END as the fight does instead of just endless looping, and in a way that would still feel natural like in Metal Gear Rising Revengeance or Gravity Rush 2.
Oh, and CrossCode! Love how that soundtrack plays as if fitting a typical MMO or old-school game but having a bit of an updated feel to it. I could go on but yeah, music can really set the tone of a game if done well.
As a musician, I'm always amazed how mortal kombat scenario's themes are always amazing. My favorite is from mortal kombat deception's puzzle mode theme, where de music starts without a theme and it's being revealed note by note in each chorus. As if you were constructing the theme while playing. It's genious and sounds really good
I loved this video a ton. Its pretty crazy to me how you don't have more subscribers. I'm happy I found you the way I did!
As for more of the video, I really appreciate you taking the time to make a video like this, because music, in my own personal opinion, can make or break a game. I was a music composer for 2 different video game companies for 2 years (small companies btw.) but never the less, it really helps add to the environment of games like you said. And my favorite part is after beating the game, going back and listening to the music and really focusing on it more, while reminiscing in the gameplay experiences you had while playing the game.
As for my favorite OST's in games, I have a ton but these are a few tracks that go over certain levels or scenes that completely made the scene, level or even game for me:
Mario Sunshine - Delfino Plaza - Easily makes you feel like you're on vacation in a tropical paradise.
Banjo-Kazooie's Freezeezy Peak - Gives you a feeling of joy, Christmas, and the holiday season.
Donkey Kong Country - Aquatic Ambiance ----------------------v
Banjo-Tooie - Atlantis---------------------------------------------------------> Incredible tracks to depict an underwater adventure.
Super Mario 64 - Dire Dire Docks/Jolly Rodger Bay-----------^
Earthbound - Buzz Buzz's Prophecy - making you really feel like you are Earth's last hope. "I am from 10 years in the future. and in the future, all is devastation.....Gigyas, the universal cosmic destroyer, sent all to the horror of eternal darkness....However, you must listen! Where I am from, there is a well known legend that has been handed down from ancient times. It says, "When the chosen boy reaches the point, he will find the light. The passing of time will shatter the nightmare rock and will reveal the path of light." You see, it is my opinion that you are that boy, Ness."
Dynasty Warriors series - basically every soundtrack from the death scenes, to the battle themes. To combine authentic Chinese music and contemporary rock music and make it work while slashing around the battlefield is pretty incredible.
Pokemon Black and White - N's Room/Route 2 theme. N's Room definitely portrays a creepy theme, and route 2 portarys a sense of new beginnings in an all new adventure.
Super Mario Galaxy - Gusty Gardens - reminding us how awesome Nintendo is.
Super Mario 64 - Final Bowser Theme - The organ is perfect.
Sonic series - every final boss theme. I swear, I know that Sonic 06 is regarded as the worst Sonic game, but I'm pretty convinced their whole budget went into Sonic 06's "Solaris" theme because its fantastic.
Undertale - Megalovania - I can listen to this song while doing laundry and feel like the best clothes folder in history.
Another long comment and even a quote in there lol. Congrats to anyone who read the whole thing! But man I love these videos. Gonna get a Snoman sweatshirt and definitely become a patreon sometime soon for the holiday season. Thanks again for another great video!
David Wise is my favorite composer, almost all of his work in the DK series is stellar, but by far my favorite moment was in Diddy's Kong Quest, when listening for the first time Stickerbrush Symphony, the ambience, the visuals, everything was so good, it would always be one of my favorite gaming moments in my life
"Let's talk about it"
Such soothing words from you, Snoman. Keep up the good work, I love your stuff.
My favorite videogame soundtrack is that of Ikaruga. Just listen to it. Also, the first level is designed with the music in mind, so it's always the same length as the music, even if you destroy all the enemies as quickly as possible (it throws in more enemies so you score more points and don't get bored). The music is always in sync with the level, provided the game doesn't lag (and it only really should in the boss fights, which have an epic theme that can loop, so the battle isn't meant to be in sync with the music, but the music just makes the encounter all the more intense. Just listen to it!)
Although Super Meat Boy comes pretty close.
Pokemon Platinum was one of my very first games I really played, and boy did I play it. I always had the music on when I did and it was great. Now whenever I hear it, I get this amazing nostalgic feel... The music was the biggest thing that stuck with me.
I came to say thanks for the shoutout for my game kuso (11:43), but the fact that you mentioned THOTH is much more important to me (3:53). What a phenomenal game where the sound really dominates the feeling. It's borderline oppressive, which is why it's one of my favorite non-traditional horror games ever.
YO I love kuso and LOVE! Amazing! Thanks for making sweet games :)
@@snomangaming Thanks! We've actually got a huge update coming out on Tuesday that we're releasing for free. Hope you'll check it out!
Wow, the character--theme-to-battle-theme transition in Octopath Traveler is buttery smoooooth.
The World Ends with You. Even the menu sound effects were rad. Oozing with attitude.
Lethal League and Jet Set Radio come to mind too.
Celeste is one of my favorite OST's in years. Both the A-side and B-side remixes are so good. It uses the game's theme of overcoming obstacles and injects a very inspirational aspect into the music. In particular, chapter 7's main music motif drives you to keep trying and I gradually found myself humming it while playing the stage.
Ace Combat's, especially the most recent one, music is fantastic for setting the tone for each mission and encounter; as well as the added muffled layer over the music when going through clouds is a nice touch.