Video game music is quite complex
Video game music is really my favorite. The music is a connection to the world you play in which often is symbolized through musical motifs when you're in different areas or interacting with different characters(Joff winks). My favorite video game has my favorite music, in fact the game’s world is built upon it, and it’s super important to the community. My favorite video game is Splatoon 3. There's so much music in places of the game that you might miss some really good beats if you don’t take time to observe the many details in the game. Just standing outside of the shops that you can’t go inside of plays a little jingle.
Video game music, like movie soundtracks, are important to the player, because It depicts the tone of the game(The McKendree Review). A racing game, for example, has an upbeat tune and an exploring game or games that follow the format of breath of the wild, will have a calmer melody, and are often intended to help the player focus(The McKendree Review). Splatoon has music that comes from bands in the game, where most video games have music where the source of the sound is unknown, and I think that’s one of the reasons that I love the game.
There are tons of variations in the genre of music in splatoon 3 too. You have Jazz, you have punk rock, you have 80’s style lofi, there's pop too. Most players will find some song they enjoy in the game because the music is very diverse. That is why splatoon would be popular to many different audiences, however the game isn’t as popular in America as it is in Japan, so the game is still a bit niche.
The world building is phenomenal and everything has a reason. Games wouldn’t be as much of an escape from life if they didn’t have their soundtrack (The McKendree Review). Splatoon, I think, helps me escape so much, because of its music. The game feels so real, and there are excellent musical motifs in the game.
The most common motif in the game is the motif onward, which is heard through the many story modes in the game. It’s to symbolize the presence of the main character's enemy. I think the motifs are really clever, because when you hear it, it automatically in your brain is associated with the enemy (Joff winks). The cleverness of the music is why I love the music the most! You can’t find game music that is more detailed than Splatoon, but there are tons of game songs that could make one cry from nostalgia.
Video game music connects the audience to the experience. It’s why just hearing the wii theme is nostalgic. The music is connected to action and moments, and memory (Joff winks). That’s why it holds a special place in mine and lot’s of individuals' hearts. Even though a lot of people consider video game music as not real music I know it is, and I know I’ll never stop listening to it any time soon.
Works sited
Kristina Ferry, Video Game Music Will Help You Study, The McKendree Review, April 10th 2023 https://mckreview.com/video-game-music-will-help-you-study/
Joff Winks, Why is music in video games so important?, Joff Winks, December 28th 2023 https://www.joffwinks.com/blog/why-is-music-in-video-games-so-important
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Hi Krysantha! This blog post was very interesting to me especially since I have never played video games before. I think you did really well in explaining how different video games sound (some upbeat, some somber, etc.) You really used very detailed descriptive words to describe music that we can’t hear. You did really well!
ReplyDeleteThank you but I'm not Krysantha I'm Al ):
DeleteI really enjoy how this talks about how the music is important to the game and experience since for me when I play games without sound it feels empty but if the game itself takes away the sound it feels more eerie and frightful because I didn't remove the noise the game did. I like how it talks about how the music sets the tone too because it does. A scary song like nosk in Hollow Knight makes the boss more scary than without and same with other songs like Fly Octo Fly version of Ebb and Flow in octo expansion it makes me feel energetic and aware of whats happening while fighting tartar or the boss version of agent 3 it just makes me feel nostalgic yet scared and panicky because of the boss but also the weird version of Splattack. Another thing is for certain song like in the multiplayer would the band songs be playing through speakers? and for during single player same because the octolings might've made the songs(if this is wrong sorry it's been a while since I looked into the splatoon music lore) and same for the other story modes? I really like how this talked about music because for me music has a really big impact even if it's one song that plays for 5 seconds in a trailer it impacts.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post, Al! I haven't played Splatoon 3, but you've made me interested enough to at least want to listen to the soundtrack. I agree that music is an incredibly important part of the gaming experience—my first blood moon or Guardian encounter in Breath of the Wild just wouldn't have been the same without the dramatic presence of the music in the background. (Also, I'd like to have a word with the people who say video game music isn't real music, haha.)
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