[ SECRET POST #3690 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3690 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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05.
[Killing Stalking]


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07.
[Powerless NBC sitcom]











Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 07 secrets from Secret Submission Post #527.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

06. http://i.imgur.com/3t50zPf.png

[(Anonymous)]

I think there's something to be said about old game music because it's simpler and more melodic. They are tunes that are generally catchy and stay in your head. Once you get into epic orchestrated music, it often shifts into less melodic and more musical movement. I like a good epic soundtrack, but I agree, a lot of the most heralded soundtracks these days aren't that memorable to me. My favorites are orchestrated versions of old game music.

[feotakahari]

Yeah, "catchy" is exactly the term here. I wouldn't say I like the Mario theme, but it's simple, recognizable, and sticks in your brain.

[otakugal15]

Yeah, I think it may be you. Not that's a bad thing.

[dethtoll]

Generally, I agree with you. It's a big problem in most of the big AAA games. Smaller indie games are much more distinctive with their soundtracks, though.

[(Anonymous)]

I agree with this.

[(Anonymous)]

OP

The notable exceptions I mentioned are mostly indie games fwiw. Undertale's soundtrack for example is original and memorable and added a lot to the game.

The latest AAA titles? Eeeehh. I barely notice it's there. Which is different from 10-20 years ago when RPG music could make people cry and was intentionally crafted to have that kind of impact. The industry as a whole seems to just plain care less.

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed! I'm not a hugely avid gamer, but I've played my share of RPGs over the years. I discovered Bastion and Transistor recently (yes, yes, late to the party), and both of their soundtracks are incredible.

[cbrachyrhynchos]

Supergiant has the trifecta of Darren Korb (music), Jen Zee (concept design), and reasonably good people on the mechanics.

[philstar22]

I guess maybe there is something generic about orchestral game soundtracks. But I just really love them. Give me big, grand, orchestral soundtracks. I don't care how generic they are.

[kallanda_lee]

I think, tbh, because you do actually have a lot of indie games with lower budgets. and sometimes they have great original scores, but sometimes...not.

[(Anonymous)]

OP

I was talking about the bland generic music in big budget titles. Indie games can be excused most of the time due to lack of budget but the big titles that obviously put lots of money into original elevator music that make zero impact make me sad.

I think it's because usually, indie games have to try harder because they have less shiny graphics and animation to distract from the sound and need the sound to work harder to support the feel of the game. When your main art is pixels and blocks, sound makes a much bigger impact in terms of overall player perception than when you're GTA V. On the other hand, I miss the days when video game music used to make me feel things.

[diet_poison]

eh I still love newer video game music. But I love all of it tbqh.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't feel that way, but I also play mostly RPGs.

[(Anonymous)]

The biggest factor causing this is the complexity of games nowadays.

Older games didn't have the resources for big or epic soundtracks, and because they couldn't have fancy orchestration, they had to rely on simpler songs. This meant that effective melodies because so much more vital. Part of the reason One Winged Angel stood out as a video game OST piece is that it was really one of the first instances of dramatic chorus on systems that were pretty much completely reliant on simple sounds. It stood out.

We also have more complicated games now. When games are simple, every single element in it has to be very well crafted for it to be effective. Music was absolutely integral to the experience. And you're right, now it's more of a side note.

Indie games recreate these simplistic conditions a lot of the time. it's simplicity to reduce workload rather than technological limitations, but it has the same effect.

There's lots of other stuff at play, such as trends within games and orchestral music lately (like the inception BWOOOMMMMM suddenly being in music everywhere now), but that's the biggest thing.

However, there is one thing to keep in mind. Usually when you remember things, you're remembering either the best or the worst. There is a lot of mediocre stuff from old school games that has just been forgotten. It's easy to do that with nostalgia. You're comparing the mediocre modern stuff to the most memorable of the old stuff. There was a lot of shitty music back then, too.

But if you like powerful melodies, modern gaming OSTs are definitely lacking.

[numb3r_5ev3n]

This. There has actually been a great deal of discussion about this on Reddit and game forums, but this is a generally accepted explanation for why modern game soundtracks aren't as catchy.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm curious as to what you consider to be some "great" video game scores, because I can think of a whole bunch from the last several years that had scores that I really loved.

[(Anonymous)]

Ehhh maybe for big AAA games, but a lot of recent indie games have some really powerful and memorable soundtracks - Hyper Light Drifter and Abzu are probably my two favorite recent examples. And off the top of my head - Undertale, Starbound, Ori and the Blind Forest, FTL, VVVVVV all had really memorable, good soundtracks imo. I can't think of as many AAA games, but that might just be because I play less AAA games.

I agree with what some others have said about there being fewer iconic melodies, though. The same seems to be true about recent movies, even though there are some soundtracks I've enjoyed.

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed for AAA titles, yeah. Final Fantasy always comes to mind when I think of that. It used to have some of the greatest, most memorable scores in gaming. But the last one I played, 12, was completely forgettable. Bland orchestral mush.

But with so many great indie games with AMAZING scores coming out these days, I don't know if there's much to worry or complain about. The art certainly isn't dying. There are lots of people who remember the value of good music in a game.

On another note, I think this issue shows the danger in all the big money getting pumped into AAA titles these days. It's not just the scores that suffer. With so many millions at stake with these massive productions, people are more afraid to take risks with the craft, whether it's with music or gameplay mechanics or whatever. That's why I rarely buy anything but indie games anymore.

[(Anonymous)]

Nah, FF12 is just the worst Final Fantasy score by a large margin. For more recent FF music: the 13 trilogy had fantastic music, 14 is great and does callbacks the right way, and 15 I've liked what little I've heard. 12 is complete dross.

[(Anonymous)]

What soundtracks do you like, OP? Noticed you mentioned Undertale above.

[mudousetsuna]

I like the orchestral soundtracks. Lately my roommate has been playing through Tales of Berseria, and I absolutely am in love with the variety in it. It depends on the game of course, but a lot of them go a certain way due to the tone of the game. Berseria has this one piano track that's really melancholy and while it's not quite in the usual theme of Tales soundtracks, it fits so well and it's my favorite in the entire game.

Then there's this catchy pan music when you're on some islands and I just love that shit because I played steel pan in college.

Outside of RPGs I'm not familiar with many soundtracks. I do feel like cellphone games have SHIT music, though. I have to mute them most of the time. My friend was playing that Fire Emblem game and I'd been thinking of downloading it, but 10 minutes of listening to the repetitive dialogue and same music track on repeat, and that decided it for me.