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Video Game Music


Quintus

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The original Gears was a fantastic brass heavy score packed with character. A really brawny work! Then for the sequels they replaced Riepl with Jablonsky and the music turned into some of the blandest generic shite I've ever heard in a game.

The third Gears is generic and way too long on album, totally agree with that, but I like the second Gears a lot. It served as a continuation of the first Transformers, which was all about themes and power anthems.

Agreed. Gears Of War 2 has some good material.

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It's funny... I had to listen a second time to that Donkey Kong clip to spot the Hook connection. :yes:

But something tells me that the young Giacchino sure played a lot of Donkey Kong on the small screen... and was mesmerized by the music and maybe wanted to say later when he did The Lost World: "Okay kids, here's Michael, the new kid on the block and I compose music for video games. I dare you to spot the reference from some game I played a lot when I was a kid."

That track from TLW also has a very synthesized sound. Is that just a demo or from the official soundtrack, because I remember it being completely orchestral. Which means I should probably listen to it again soon.

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My video game music familiarity doesn't extend much beyond the borders of The Elder Scrolls, Halo, and old Super Mario franchise stuff. I haven't even heard Giacchino's MOH.

I love this. Think I've posted it before.

Try these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC7G7l5lKD8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXVQevK7EH0

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  • 2 weeks later...

Anybody acquainted with the absolutely incredible Civilization V soundtracks? :)

Composed by Michael Curran and Geoff Knorr, you could very well overlook these as just another bunch of bland, trite, videogamey background music that has nothing to offer when taken out of the context of the game.

Hey you could even say, who are these guys. I've never heard of them, so I'll just forget their names and move on.

Big mistake and you couldn't be more wrong... There is some AMAZING talent at work here, folks.

There is Civilization V, which uses motifs from classical music and world music, as well as totally original compositions for each of the factions, sometimes mixed to great effect. Each one uses a theme or sound that is directly related to its country / faction. The tracks are superbly orchestrated and have a real concert piece vibe to it, because they're standalone pieces that build to something interesting or a great climax.

Check out

Then there are the expansions 'Gods & Kings' and 'Brave New World' which are even better IMO. Some really classy pieces here. The quality is more consistent in these soundtracks. Just more proof how video games continue to inspire artists I had never heard of.

Check out

<---------- THIS ONE IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING !!!!!!!! :drool:
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The only strategy game I'm still playing often today is LOTR: The Battle for Middle-Earth. Built on the Command & Conquer: Generals engine (which I also played a lot), it's still one of the most enjoyable strategy games I've played. I haven't tried all those RPG games set in Middle-Earth that came later.

Shore's tunes feature in the game, and make it possibly even more epic. Thank the lucky stars EA was able to use the LOTR license.

But soon I'm going to start Starcraft II again, the campaigns are just excellent and a lot of fun.

Love this epic track called 'The Hyperion Overture'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYTiNjJUrnk

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Yep, played them too 10 years ago, but have never returned to them. I'm expecting these to be quite clunky and dated visually now.

A bit too much trial and error difficulty as well... I gave up once or twice, getting more than a little pissed off at the game's mechanics. That's probably why I don't want to return to them.

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I'm now listening to a spectacular album called 'Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo'. There are only 6 tracks on 2 discs but 4 of the tracks are longer than 15 minutes. This album is superb! I would recommend everyone to just blind buy this, if you love big, epic, thematically rich and fantastically orchestrated music with some standout performances by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus, you will be in heaven.

Originally premiered in Germany during 2009, Symphonic Fantasies brings the music of popular videogames of the developer Square Enix into the big concert hall. Soundtracks from Final Fantasy,Kingdom Hearts, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross were rearranged for orchestra, choir and soloists.

It's japanese video game music, but it's wonderfully compiled into lenghty suites for the concert hall.

Just follow this link (where I bought it) and listen to the samples. Sheer brilliance ! It's pricey but it's worth it, trust me !! :yes:

cover_0500.jpg

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I have those too Bloodboal, amazing collection of Uematsu-san's FF scores (what an insanely talented man that is). Vamo alla flamenco is one of my favourites, and I have many.

As for Symphonic Fantasies, I think the Tokyo performance is even better than the Cologne album from 2010. Such a grand feel to the orchestrations. And that Encore: Final Boss Suite is a stunner.

For me, it's music such as this that effortlessly fills the void left behind by modern film scores.

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The Tokyo version is a studio recording, not a live recording, right?

Indeed it is. The earlier one in Cologne had people cheering when Sephiroth's theme appeared. No such thing on the Tokyo version.

BTW have you ever heard the complete 23 minute mini-opera from FF VI, Maria and Draco? That was from way back in the 90s, the very first orchestral video game concerts in Japan. The sound quality is passable but I'd love a modern recording and not from the 12-13 minute edit we usually get.

Brilliant ! Nobuo's called the John Williams of japanese video game music after all.... :yes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-uK-QRP73w

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OK, good!

Frankly, I never understood people being overexcited when One-Winged Angel starts playing. I mean, that theme has been played so many times at these kind of orchestral concerts, if I were to attend one, I'd be like: "Not that cue again! Give us something new, something fresh!" There are so many FF cues that have yet to be given a proper orchestral arrangement! Cosmo Canyon, Cid's Theme, Rose Of May, etc.

You have to take into account these game concerts are attended by much younger people than a usual concert from say Mozart. And the vibe is understandably very different as well, because video games and their music are considered hip and cool, not old and stuffy like Mozart.

Not sure if I would be able to contain myself, especially after about an hour of having to contain myself. :D

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Brilliant ! Nobuo's called the John Williams of japanese video game music after all.... :yes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-uK-QRP73w

I dunno, he has a few brilliant themes and tracks per score, but overall he's not even close to JW. I guess that's why they play the same stuff over and over again at the concerts

And believe me, I listened, I even seeked out the Fantasy Life and The Last Story scores. Right now I'm playing Ragnarok Odyssey ACE and I believe some of the music is by him so I'll pay attention for anything worthy

I also prefer the Final Fantasy XIII scores to all of the Uematsu ones, and also my favorite cues from FF X (Yuna's wedding scenes) weren't by him

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Give Final Fantasy VIII: Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec a listen, he's as much a master of themes and emotions as JW is. Love that album as much as Star Wars, Superman, you name it.

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i know that album

His best compositions, like Aerith'sTheme, is about equal to some themes by decent film composers but definitely not Williams level

And those are the rare orchestral albums, the actual game cues are all synth. Most of the music is underscore for the various areas in the games and not too exciting. My personal favorite is the FF7 Advent Children End Credits but I doubt Uematsu arranged it himself

It's like if Williams wrote synth scores and others re-recorded orchestral versions of them

anyways if Uematsu is that great why isn't he scoring big movies or even Final Fantasy anymore. He's scoring Nintendo 3DS crap games now

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anyways if Uematsu is that great why isn't he scoring big movies or even Final Fantasy anymore. He's scoring Nintendo 3DS crap games now

The same reason Williams works almost exclusively with Spielberg now, because he's older and that's what he wants to do. It's not a matter of poor reputation or forgotten legacy; you might not be into him but Uematsu is still widely considered to be one of the best in game music, if not the best ever. Maybe he got burned out on the Final Fantasy series or the other big franchises he's done.

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He's considered the best ever by nostalgic Final Fantasy players of the PS1 and PS2 era . He's of the most overrated composers ever IMO because there's nothing in the majority of his compositions that points to "greatness". His reputation is based on highlights and there's only so much mileage you can get out of One Wing Angel or and the handful of themes re-orchestrated for "fan concerts"

I'd say he's a bit comparable to Howard shore and the cult of the LotR films

I've heard plenty of JRPG soundtracks by other composers just as good as Uematsu

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Here's another good JRPG composer, motoi Sakuraba. He composed the Tales series, Star Ocean, Dark Souls 1 and 2...

Tales of Xillia Ending, pretty typical of his music

And about Final Fantasy themes...still no orchestral version of this yet...

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  • 3 weeks later...

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