Your Game Music is Bland and You Should Feel Bad

[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.

 

[ImSkeletor]

Problem is most good game music seems to come from Japan. You mentioned Dragon's Dogma's opening, but also the BlazBlue and Guilty Gear fighting games and the Disgaea series has amazing music as well.

Must be an American thing to put one song in by Hans Zimmer and maybe Two Steps From Hell if you want to secure that 10 score in sound on metacritic and call it a day.

I think you missed the fact that he was calling the Dragons Dogma song memorably aweful

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

I really liked the moment in SR3 when that song starts playing, and the first scene in Blood Dragon. There's too few games that uses good music. San Andreas is probably the game I think does it best, and it has several radio channels with great songs. Beyond Good and Evil has some catchy tunes, like propaganda and the space battle. VtM: Bloodlines had some good goth music, especially the last song.

 

[Breywood]

"...the loss of limitation has led to in-game music becoming generic, unmemorable, and unwilling to stand out."

Couldn't be said better, Yahtzee. I can remember old games like The Last Ninja [www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExftoivJ_EU] and in spite of them running on an 8-bit system with 64k RAM everything about it was memorable, especially the music. Now that damn near every title has a full orchestra, it doesn't do much more than just provide some distraction to gunfire, and ironically, these publishers paid a lot of money to provide an experience that's just plain mediocre. I can pick out a more recent title or two like Black and White [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2T0pAEF4aA]* and Emperor: Battle for Dune [www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPGav8_HQbA] whose music had every bit as much to add to the game as the visuals and gameplay, but I could pick out twenty titles published before the year 2000. Damn, those two titles I mentioned are over 10 years old. And for some odd reason, I think it's saying exactly what I want it to.


*Warning: You may be singing the "sailor song" for days after you've heard it, so click at your own risk.

 

[Harlemura]

I noticed this earlier actually, when I was thinking about getting Injustice: Gods Among Us.
While I was watching some gameplay, I happened to catch a little bit of the music;

Spoiler: The Gotham City stage

The fact that today was the first time I'd even acknowledged the music throughout the various videos I've been watching since the game came out was the first sign that this music might be a little dull. But actually listening to it now, it just confirms that this kind of music really doesn't seem that great.
But then if the music weren't like this, it'd run the risk of being unfitting. You got Green Lantern and Sinestro fighting for their lives, the mood's going to be ruined if you have music like the Sonic 2 theme going on in the background.

Also I still haven't decided if I want the game.

 

[Aurora Firestorm]

I have the soundtracks to almost all of these:

Halo
Every Metal Gear Solid game to ever have an orchestra
Valkyria Chronicles
Mass Effect
Sonic Adventure and Adventure 2
Shadow of the Colossus
Persona 3-4
Ar Tonelico, all of them
Lots of recent Final Fantasy games*
Xenosaga 1-3
Star Ocean 3
Bastion

And probably more.


Also, I will point out that turning chiptunes into full orchestral remixes can be utterly glorious. For any Touhou fans out there, go listen to Morrigan's and Tutti Sound's full film-score-style remasterings of most of the boss themes. It turns the music from catchy into freaking *legendary.*

I think I know why Yahtzee doesn't think game music is amazing: he doesn't watch enough cinematic games. He hates JRPGs, and he doesn't seem to go for anything Western where your gameplay is interrupted by cutscenes, ever. These often have really stellar music because cool movie-like scenes tend to do that.

Also, as someone posted earlier, Yahtzee has clearly never played Metal Gear Solid 3. Oh gosh that ending sequence with the song.

 

[tangoprime]

I think this is one of the reasons I got so attached to the PS2 era Dynasty Warriors games- having stuff like this blasting in the background was phenomenal.
...plus now I know what kind of music Yahtzee likes, and it makes me happy because we have yet another shared taste, lol.