There are a fair amount of people out there that disable game music and blast their mainstream albums. I just don’t know how they can get into a game that way, but there are not just a few who do that.
Do you enjoy music in a general sense? There’s a lot of game music that I think is entirely enjoyable as music-music, divorced completely from the game it stemmed from. In fact, most of what I nominated for the Dome was stuff I jam to of my own accord, rather than just stuff that made a particular moment in a game cool or whatever.
Yeah, I usually have to play a game a lot before I start adding my own soundtrack. Game music, if it’s well done, really pulls me in and contributes to the whole … er… gestalt? … of playing it. I think the huge impact of Ultimas III and IV when I was a kid would have been substantially lessened had I played the versions without music.
As early as the late '80s/early '90s I was looking for ways to listen to game music independent of the game itself. My brothers and I were making mix-tapes of C64 tunes before 1990, and around '90 I found an Amiga program by Per Hakan Sundell (who later made the CCS64 emulator) that aggregated and played the bulk of the great C64 chiptune library.
From the very beginning, some of us actually sought this music out rather than just tolerating it as the best a game could provide.
Monster.
There, I said it.
Like, how could the confrontation with the Ladies of the Wood in Witcher 3 be half as memorable without the strings waling on that soundtrack.
Or well, anything in Nier: Automata. Fuck, i still well up when I hear the choral version of Weight of the World because that moment is such a perfect marriage of gameplay, themes and music, and hearing brings me back to that moment.
Thanks to all for not bashing me on this. I know I’ve discussed this here before, but I do actually enjoy music very much, and am a professional musician (bass guitar) for over 30 years, ten of those wherein music was my sole source of income. My problem is that I enjoy music too much, and I find the music in games a distraction to my concentration on the gameplay. Basically, when I want to listen to music, I listen to music and give it my full attention; analyzing chord progressions, interesting melodies, lyrics, etc. And when I want to play a game, I’d like to concentrate on the game with no distractions, like the music (which may or may not be great) going on in the background. No disrespect intended to those who love game music. It’s just not my thing.
That makes sense to me. Like people who listen to podcasts at work. If I hear spoken English (sung doesn’t affect me at all), I lose the capacity to concentrate on anything but the words being said.
Then what’s your issue with this thread then? You’re not playing a game in here! The whole point of the game music thunderdome is to give each track your full attention, decide which one you prefer and optionally explain why. You don’t even need to have played the game or heard the piece of music before to get involved and cast your vote.
And yeah, this is totally me too!
In the light of this, I’d like to revise my statement of Monster to Doofus.
While I can certainly understand why it can be hard for you to not analyze, pull apart and get distracted by game music, basically, you kvetching about this thread amounts to you kvetching about people enjoying your chosen craft, no?
Yikes! I knew this was a bad idea. Apologies to any and all I offended.
And, y’know, I love the idea of you, having disabled game music or paid it very little attention over the years, joining in here and being surprised by what you’re hearing. That would be awesome.
If I am writing or reading or do something that requires focus, I can’t really listen to lyrics either. The weird thing is I can half pay attention to TV and movies. TV if it’s something I am sort of interested in, like sticoms not drama, and only movies I’ve seen a dozen times. Kung Fu Panda gets a lot of play around here because I love the movie and the music. Moana… same thing.
So I don’t know the Kung Fu Panda soundtracks well but on my Google Music rounds at work I heard this and adored it:
OMG. I love that. That is one of the best pieces in the series.
See now this isn’t gaming music, so clearly it wouldn’t be here but… this isn’t official either right? I am not sure I could pick this version over the original but I do like it a lot.
Oh no, they do LoTR too. I’m in trouble.
Exactly!
Sorry! :-D
Just to be clear, since tone is hard to convey in text, not being able to enjoy game music is not a thing I’d genuinely call someone a monster over. I was not offended in the slightest.
And your problem of a craftsman not being able to stop analyzing the works of others is basically the most sympathetic reason imaginable to turn game music off.
(But kvetching about people enjoying your craft still makes you a doofus though.)
Thanks for the explanation. I was wrong, and am properly reprimanded. Good day to you, sir.
EDIT: To be clear, I admittedly misunderstood the intent of the thread. I understand now that game music being in games was not the subject, but the rating of game music was the point. Definite Doofus, me. I’ll try to do better. Sorry, Soren. My Bad.
I’m with you, @Soren_Hoglund . In many games, the music is part of the experience (sometimes, a huge part, like in To The Moon), and it’s a lesser experience without it (or with something else).
I understand what @nogwart said, being a musician myself, but games enhance the experience for me in games. I don’t usually find myself getting distracted by the music, but then again, I’m the kind of guy that tends to “dive” into the game as a wholesome experience, so maybe that’s why.
I can understand @nogwart’s position. I grew up playing, and even now listen to styles of music semi seriously referee to in group as ‘musicians music’, due to the musical technical qualities and individual proficiency required.
So for me most game music is innocuous at best. People talk about listening to game music, or even movie music, and for me most of it lacks the qualities needed to justify individual listening, it isn’t intended to be a main course. It’s like the chocolate drizzle on a plate of desert. If they brought you just that, it would be unsatisfying and uninteresting. That’s most game music to me.
However there are exceptions, though few. Songs that stand on their own. For me those lists basically begin and end with Nobuo Uematsu and Daren Korb. There are a few songs that, while not on their own, are good enough to merit mind space. I wouldn’t put them on in the car, but they evoke something more. This is where Metroid falls for me. The Stemage cover versions do cross over into standalone territory.
But that’s part of the nature of the music. Many of those soundtracks are intentionally not attention grabbing. They intend to set a tone and be forgotten. This is deliberate often. They are going to be repeated often over the course of play. Especially games you play for hours at a time. So they have to be mood setting, but not attention demanding. Because the more it grabs your attention, the more likely it will begin to annoy you when you hear it for the tenth time that session.
Elder Scrolls and Baldurs Gate songs are about the epitome of this phenomenon. They mostly are so bland and generic on their own. He idea of listening to those soundtracks like I’d listen to the latest from Arjen Anthony Lucassen? It boggles the mind.
But a well crafted soundscape can certainly add a lot to the game, which is why I rarely turn off the music, it is part of the experience. And when someone does manage to elevate and do something different? I absolutely applaud that.
But then again this is the random musings of a self admitted music snob.
And I’m someone who enjoys listening to Ayreon and the Baldur’s Gate soundtrack alike…
I’m not a professional, but I am an amateur classical pianist, and I have a different experience. Some game music is innocuous, some is incompetent, some is merely atmospheric (which IMO is fine in the context), and some stands up very well in its own right. I supposed I’ve harped on the virtues of chiptunes enough already, but I don’t think the best SID music is just ‘good game music’ – I think it’s great electronic music that can stand next to Jarre, Vangelis, Kraftwerk, et al.
As for orchestral game music, the best is comparable to good movie scores, IMO, and I do listen to some of those for the pleasure of it. None of it is going to make Beethoven or Mahler break into a cold sweat, but that’s OK.