Your Game Music is Bland and You Should Feel Bad

[Robyrt]

Soundtracks don't need to be catchy to be effective, as long as you have one memorable title track. They don't even need to be very good - the Dark Souls OST is painful to listen to alone, but it works very well in-game because it's properly paced.

 

[bafrali]

Then why did you ***** about MGR's battle music in your review Yathzee. And Bayonetta's. One would think you are racist against the Japanese but we all know that is not true because Silent Hill.

 

[k-ossuburb]

I don't know if it's been mentioned, yet, but I've been playing Dark Souls for the very first time (loving it, by the way) and most of the boss themes tend to sound very similar, but then I came across the Moonlight Butterfly boss and I was instantly hit with a huge amount of meaning to what would otherwise have been a very unmemorable boss fight because of the choice of music involved.


It's actually very weak on its own, but in that moment it was amazing. The song just shoved a load of things into my brain at once as I watched this strange, yet, graceful beast glide through the air. I felt like I didn't want to kill something so beautiful, even though I must. I felt like I was destroying something precious and my "victory" felt hollow and rather melancholy when it breathed its last.

It caught me by surprise and it's one that has stood out to me and stuck in my mind simply because of that music.

 

[Rblade]

WoW music is pretty damn epic

 

[Phuctifyno]

Arguably, I'd take that one step further: in many games (and quite certainly AAA titles), if it was the music that stuck in your head for days afterwards, then the rest of the game sucked. Hard. Any competent game should be compelling enough to not have its limelight stolen by its soundtrack.

False.

Gameplay and music aren't sharing a see-saw. They can both excell inclusively.

For example, Megaman (and shame on you, Yahtzee, for not mentioning). Both gameplay and music here are capable of standing individually, each memorable and celebrated in its own right and undiminished by the absence of the other. When combined, however, it produces a visceral effect that's greater than the sum of its parts.

(skip to 0:27 to cut to the chase)
(skip to 0:27 to cut to the chase, again)

 

[Mike Richards]

The problem with his whole argument is when he said "Hum your favorite music from Halo 4", I immediately could ("117" for anyone interested).

Maybe it's just that I pay particular attention to soundtracks but I can think of a hell of a lot of recent stuff that was both memorable and kicked all kinds of ass. Deus Ex HR, AC2/3, Metro 2033, ME, Halo (Not just the original, all of them), Journey, Dear Esther, Braid (although that was technically all licensed), Heavy Rain, Alan Wake, Half Life 2, Arkham City, Bioshock, Uncharted...

Maybe it's not that they aren't memorable, maybe you just aren't paying close enough attention.

 

[Falseprophet]

But surely using licensed music is going to end up equally if not more expensive than comissioning a score?

Not necessarily. With the perceived decline in music sales and broadcast outlets, most music publishers are eager to find new sources of royalty revenue. This is especially true of up-and-coming artists, who need as much exposure as they can get.

 

[Covarr]

The New Super Mario Bros series has hummable tunes, but they're mostly crap. I don't think music necessarily has to be hummable to be memorable, though. The main theme throughout the Halo franchise is quite difficult to hum because it's got so many parts, but it's one of the best songs in gaming that I can think of. The original Metroid was intentionally designed not to be hummable (at least by 1986 standards) and it still manages to be amazing.

I'll agree that game music is getting awfully bland as a whole, but that doesn't mean it needs to be hummable. Having a distinct melody with a few distinct counter-melodies would be a great middle ground, IMO.

P.S. Thanks

 

[Formica Archonis]

I think the only reason people bought Knucklebusters was for Rob Hubbard's music.

'Cause it sure as hell wasn't for the game.

 

[Jhereg42]

Airport fight at the end of Max Payne 3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCQoTRSjbAc

 

[Kargathia]

Arguably, I'd take that one step further: in many games (and quite certainly AAA titles), if it was the music that stuck in your head for days afterwards, then the rest of the game sucked. Hard. Any competent game should be compelling enough to not have its limelight stolen by its soundtrack.

False.

Gameplay and music aren't sharing a see-saw. They can both excell inclusively.

For example, Megaman (and shame on you, Yahtzee, for not mentioning). Both gameplay and music here are capable of standing individually, each memorable and celebrated in its own right and undiminished by the absence of the other. When combined, however, it produces a visceral effect that's greater than the sum of its parts.

(skip to 0:27 to cut to the chase)
(skip to 0:27 to cut to the chase, again)

I might need to clarify this to "current" games, as all but the most basic indie games currently feature such a vast range of stimuli that for the soundtrack to stand out so much it gets stuck in your head, it would've had to muscle its way into the limelight. This is even more so for AAA titles, as they do not have indie gaming's luxury of being able to concentrate on one particular mechanic or aspect, and still deliver a good game.

 

[BeepBoop]

I have to say, the music to Deadly Premonitions is really memorable. The whole sequence set to the song Amazing Grace is unforgettable. The various character's songs are all good and catchy, particularly the 'around-town-whistling-song'. I honestly can't say enough good things about this game. It'd be pretty cool if Yahtzee reviewed the new Director's Cut of the game.

 

[Crazie_Guy]

I will always be a true fan of Anodyne for the meditative melancholy its music grants me.

 

[Spacehouse]

good to know yahtzee and I have the same tastes in music.

I have to say, the music to Deadly Premonitions is really memorable. The whole sequence set to the song Amazing Grace is unforgettable. The various character's songs are all good and catchy, particularly the 'around-town-whistling-song'. I honestly can't say enough good things about this game. It'd be pretty cool if Yahtzee reviewed the new Director's Cut of the game.

Indeed, Deadly Premonition is an excellent example of great music in video games, Let someone listen to 'Life is Beautiful' then listen to 'Underground' (Red Room Theme) and tell them they're both in the same game...

 

[mjc0961]

My favorite from Saints Row 2 is when he sings Sister Christian:


"You know them boys don't wanna play no more with you CUZ U SUCK ***** it's truuuueee..." always makes me laugh my ass off.

Although disappointment immediately followed upon the mention of Saints Row The Third, which had a decent moment when your character and Pierce sing What I Got by Sublime. Good at first, but like the rest of the game, they half-assed it. They expected you've already gotten to your next destination and gotten out of the car in good time, so if you just sit in the car outside of the destination marker to listen more, it just descends into pointless mumbling.

 

[elvor0]

Really? I can't remember one song in any of the Arkham games, and i'm a huge Batnut, Mass effect? Only the main theme

Yeah, the Arkham games were hugely let down by not having the theme from Batman 89/Animated Series, I always used to hum it when I was flying around Arkham City. Doo doo de dooo! doo do de do doo.

Also I love that loads of people are putting the humming in their posts. As we all know, every piece of music can be summed up by various doo's and de's

Then why did you ***** about MGR's battle music in your review Yathzee. And Bayonetta's. One would think you are racist against the Japanese but we all know that is not true because Silent Hill.

For MGR, I think it's because on the surface they're pretty cheesy, especially if you're not into J Rock, I quite liked them because they sort of reminded me of Guilty Gears soundtrack. But their main purpose is to exist as the death soliloquy usually present for bosses in the rest of Metal Gear, the problem is that you can't really listen to the lyrics while you're fighting for your life and really trying not to die, and if you get stuck, listening to the opening verse time and time again gets pretty tedious.

Of course that's quite nicely flipped when you fight the final boss, because the song appears to be from Raidens point of view.

 

[skylog]

The main theme to No More Heroes is memorable, I think, because it tries to evoke the simpler melodies of retro titles. It's remixed throughout the entire game but stays immediately recognizable.
Mighty Switch Force also has a pretty bangin' soundtrack. It's techno-y, sure, but that helps boost the futuristic setting of the game.

One of my favourite background soundtracks I stick on regularly is from Bastion. It's so good (especially Setting Sail, Coming Home).

Damn straight.

 

[octafish]

I still find myself humming the bombastic Nuclear Winter theme from Freedom Force. What amazes me about these music conversations is that no-one ever mentions the da Blob games. They have the best soundtracks ever recorded and the music changes according to the gameplay.