Other Game Music

There's a lot of composers in the VGM industry. When I find a soundtrack I like, it's often from a name I've never seen before, and I've perceived that those names tend to stick with a certain company or franchise. Occasionally I'll think to look more closely into an artist's repertoire on the chance they have other work I haven't heard of, but this rarely turns up anything.

Back when F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch released, I declared its soundtrack among the best of its year, with strong melodies and a uniquely pleasing utilization of flamenco. I was reminded again of this soundtrack when I saw the announcement for the game's upcoming prequel Zoopunk, and thought to check on what Caisheng Bo had been up to in the meantime. This lead me to the OST of Phantom Blade: Executioners, which has a surprisingly different sound, favoring Chinese folk elements blended with atmospheric synths and heavy metal. The tracks vary wildly in tone and progression style, some being serene soundscapes and others bombastically discordant performances of rock or jazz. To say the least, I was further impressed at Bo's apparent range, especially considering his evident control over its utilization.

There's something special about Phoenotopia: Awakening. Respective inspirations for its various elements are easy enough to discern, yet I can't think of any other game that brings them together with quite the same effect. The soundtrack is similar, in that the genre influences are nothing new, yet their utilization in this instance strikes me as uniquely competent and charming. Most tracks are relatively simple in instrumentation, cultivating an "indie" sound, but exhibit unusually deft handling of mood and energy within those parameters. I'm inclined to credit these achievements to the creative passion of the designers; Awakening was actually the second iteration of the project, and composer "sillythewilly" essentially composed the entire soundtrack twice over.

Unexpectedly, the team behind the Moss games released a new entry, The Forgotten Relic, combining both Books and presumably adding some new content. To be honest, I don't actually know how much was added or changed, but Jason Graves's OST for the game featured new tracks alongside remasterings of all his previous compositions for the franchise. Obscure as it is, I consider Moss to be among my favorite soundtracks of all time; the style of its arrangements are unlike anything else I've heard, reminiscent of the cinematic format of progression but still clearly VGM. The remastered tracks have only served to emphasize the depth of sound in Graves's instrumentation; the difference may not be immediately apparent, but side-by-side comparisons make the subtle adjustments more obvious.

Do take note of the showcased leitmotifs, of which Moss makes exceptionally skillful use.

Occasionally I wonder about cultural association in music. Some genres and instruments, having been uniquely developed in a specific area and time, become commonly utilized to invoke thoughts thereof. Other times the association is built up by consistent usage or natural audible affinity (such as the tinkling of chimes for soft rain or snowfall). In some cases I'm unsure of where the influence originates, even as I'm familiar with the relationship (still unsure of desert-theme instrumentation tropes).

I happened to see Markus Zierhofer's OST for Puzzles of the World on my recommended; the soundtrack consists of various ambient-adjacent arrangements meant to reflect the respective ethnic themes of their levels. I was intrigued by the way the tracks were named; my geography skills aren't so impressive as to be able to recognize the references in the titles, leaving me to infer the intended associations by sound alone. I wonder what sort of effort went into the arrangements to accomplish that goal?

I figure when most think of Halo: Combat Evolved's music, they recall the intensely dramatic main theme with it's iconic chant buildup. Reasonably so; the arrangement is an unmatched encompassing of everything the game holds tonally, and a truly legendary performance in its own right. Ironically though, the majority of compositions from the OST are more commonly atmospheric, often adapting the main motifs into unobtrusive backdrops. I perceive an intent of cultivated realism mixed with cinematic emphasis; the flow of gameplay is tied to the player's agency, and the progression of accompanying music is tailored accordingly to maintain the desired mood instead of defining it. While still very much a cinematic-style soundtrack, it feels less tethered than similar sorts usually do (Uncharted, Elder Scrolls), which is especially intriguing in the long-form "suite" tracks.

Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori share credit for the production; whether they traded off composition and arrangement work, or collaborated at all steps of the process, it seems they were equally responsible for what the soundtrack became.

Feel like a Fracture Feature right now.



Nothing too intense this time. : )

I found Halo 2 a much more difficult soundtrack to investigate. The OST, again jointly credited to O'Donnell and Salvatori, is split into two volumes; the first is an imposing blend of early 2000's rock and experimental performances mixed in with tracks more reminiscent of the first game, while the second is primarily comprised of compiled "suites," single tracks featuring several distinct sections. Some tracks are primarily ambient with little to no motifs, while other tracks reutilize entire arrangements from previous pieces with altered elements in a sort of long-form leitmotif technique. Pinning down a properly representative selection seems to inevitably require a formulaic approach; I typically try to avoid this, but I simply can't afford the time to do it organically.

For Halo 3's OST, O'Donnell and Salvatori traded the "suite" classification out for unmarked amalgam tracks containing two or three separate arrangements with loose transitions; the uploads I found appended additional titles for each movements, but I couldn't verify the authenticity thereof. As such, many individual tracks respectively cover a range of the present styles on their own. Aside from this distinction, I don't feel I have much to say; the style and genre is essentially identical to that of Halo 2, though in focus perhaps more resembling the arrangements of Combat Evolved. However, I wouldn't consider this a negative; as the culmination of an expertly executed trilogy, this is technically what ought to be expected, in contrast to the usual flux of a project more loosely developed entry-by-entry.

Halo 3's OST is not to be confused with Halo 3: ODST (this has annoyed me for some time, but I recognize it was likely unintentional), but it is worth comparing thereto. Both share the same track formatting, whereby multiple distinct compositions are compiled into individual tracks; while the idea was novel in its first instance, I find myself quickly losing patience with the continued trend, as it makes for difficulty in differentiating tracks according to respective tone (shoutout to Sam Lund for marking the divisions in the comments). On the other hand, Halo 3's soundtrack bore the marks of its trilogy's peak, the culmination of what came before; ODST, in contrast, has just enough stylistic divergence to appropriately characterize itself as distinct therefrom, while still retaining O'Donnell and Salvatori's series signature. I wonder (not for the first time) if this was strategic, or merely the result of the natural evolution of their skills? Additionally, a lot of the usually prevalent motifs are missing, further establishing the distinction; surely that at least was intentional?

Y'all remember Bomb Rush Cyberfunk? Via its feature here, I experienced funk more directly than I had previously, and it became my primary reference for what the genre had to offer. Even so, I don't listen to many of its tracks often; as more of a radio compilation than a properly coordinated soundtrack, most of them are non-diegetic vocal, and my aversion thereto made the OST as a whole largely unappealing (nonetheless, GET ENUF became a staple of my library). I briefly sought for a more unified, instrumental-friendly score in similar style, but failed to dig up anything satisfactory. That is, until this year's Denshattack!.

Tee Lopes and Sean Bialo reconvened their team-up from Penny's Big Breakaway, and along with Andrew One proceeded to organize a funk-centric soundtrack of unmatched finesse. Each have demonstrated their incredible arrangement skills across a multitude of compositions, and if that weren't enough, have brought together a roster of guest artists to further elevate the project to truly legendary levels [you can really tell when I'm freshly excited over a discovery, eh? ;P].

Gonna get this out ahead of today's probable focus (happy Cirno day btw).

In yet another case of a long awaited passion project I hadn't heard anything about until it finally came out and hit it big, I was made aware of Endacopia via its widespread coverage on Youtube. Initially, it was the unorthodox vocal performances the game features that caught my attention, and they are undoubtedly the most noteworthy aspect of the soundtrack. I figured to include one in a Fracture Feature, but upon further perusal of Packtion's OST, I determined it worth more thorough coverage.

The game in part a homage to old point-and-clicks, but ultimately takes the tone of a horror game, thus facilitating music of minimalist construction, and varying between somber and 'perky' (there's got to be a better word for what I'm trying to describe, but I'm coming up blank). Standout tracks demonstrate more intricate layering, whether in enhancement of atmosphere or to service more intense gameplay sequences. I perceive Packtion often went beyond what was technically necessary for the game's needs, much to his credit and ultimately a significant boon to the project at large.

Exceptionally late this week, so I'll try to be quick.

I was quite excited to see Look Outside's soundtrack finally come to streaming services over a year after the game's release. A common factor in whether or not I cover a particular soundtrack concerns the convenience with which I can listen through it based on where it can be attained; OSTs only available through Steam require a lot more effort and time commitment than those accessible through Bandcamp. This one had been on the to-do list for some time, and my high hopes for it have seen fulfillment at last. Headed by Eric Shumaker with significant contribution from Francis Coulombe and Noncollision Obj, the soundtrack is primary comprised of heavy '80s style synthwave with elements of 16-bit chiptune. While ostensibly in the horror genre, the game has a surprisingly optimistic tone overall, and the music often reflects that juxtaposition. I'm particularly impressed by the skillful application of discordance as a harmonic tool, given its common abuse as a gimmick in similar projects.

Hello everyone, I'm back, with OSTs from one of my favorite fighting games, and that is... Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. I'm quite surprised that there haven't been any post for street fighter in this thread yet, so... I guess it's cool that I'm writing about it now.

Originally, I wanted to make my posts follow pattern of one theme leading to another. Like espionage leading to police leading to the streets... But I don't really have a lot of any soundtracks that I like in the espionage games (mainly Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, Ground Zeroes, Phantom Pain), they do have really cool songs but I guess I have to post about them later. I can still do it but I just can't wait to talk about this game, plus I tend to play the entire game first before posting about the music. Sooooo here we are.

I couldn't decide whether to choose the original songs or the arranged ones because they're all different from each other. So I decided to choose the arranged version because it keeps them new and interesting. The original version has it's charm with sounds being "gamey" too, but you can hear each instruments clearer in the arranged version. But regardless, any version is good.

Oh, I ordered the list based on how much I like the song.
All music is made by Hideki Okugawa

Let's Get It On ft. Infinite

One of the best character select themes of all time.

Jazzy NYC '99

Definitely one of the highlights from the list of OSTs, the sampled instrumental drums are just so snappy and in your face, along with the melody and background melody(?) which works great together, I think the genre for this type of music is fusion jazz if I'm not wong. In short, cool song.


Psyche Out


Crowded Street


Spunky


Crazy Chili Dog


Moving On ft. Infinite



Play third strike yall.