Lusi and I spoke briefly about the PSN/PC game Shatter when recording my segment for the Easter Podcast (I haven’t made it through the epic ‘cast yet, so I don’t know if that chitchat made it in). The game is what happens whenArkanoid gets a tremendous post-millennium facelift, and a killer soundtrack to match. Best of all, the music was made available to download for a fee.
Heavy Rain, a game I cannot speak highly enough, has a moody score that really set the tone for the game. It is now available for purchase.
Another great game with a fitting soundscape was Flower. The music, the atmosphere, and the visuals combined to bring a gameplay experience unlike any other. Its soundtrack is available for download now too.
While videogame soundtracks have been a big thing in Japan for decades now, I feel like the Western world has really only started getting into them over the past few years (what with Tommy Tallarico’s Video Games Live and all), and that Sony and their cohorts are the only people to really get that since Microsoft released the Halo 2 soundtrack album day and date alongside the game (okay, maybe Rockstar and their GTA series soundtracks, but those are licensed). They consistently embrace the culture and push for people to embrace all sides of the artistry that goes into making a game.
That said, I wonder what soundtracks and scores have recently wowed you, or made you want to pick them up to listen when you are not playing. Tell me now.
Lusipurr
Bup
Ginia
Lane
Eric J
Jenifer
2010.04.07 at 21:53
Shatter is very awesome, best Arkanoid/Break Out type clone ever IMO. The Soundtrack is kickass as well.
Lets see… I much enjoyed Uncharted 2’s musical scores. Resonance of Fate had a pretty great Soundtrack as well, I think it was like 6 cd’s.
2010.04.07 at 22:16
@Oyashiro: You mean a Tri-Ace game actually has an unambiguously good OST?
-I really like the Bioshock OST (minimal though it was), the Heavy Rain OST, The GoW OST and the Yakuza 3 OST.
-On the other end of the spectrum I thought FFXIII had a really bland OST …
2010.04.07 at 22:21
RoF has the best soundtrack to ever come from Tri-Ace. I love the fact that there is like 10 different battle themes depending on the place your fighting.
2010.04.07 at 22:44
It’s like they had to wait for Sega to come along in order to make a good game. I’ll be sure to give it a purchase in the next few weeks, what really impressed me was the art direction … and Nolan North …
2010.04.07 at 23:05
Nolan North never fails to impress. <3
2010.04.07 at 23:12
Nolan North has a value adding presence sufficient to be considered for a bullet point mention on the back of game cases …
2010.04.08 at 13:00
anything by Sakimoto. truth be told it’s probably conditioning from having put over 100 hours into final fantasy tactics but his shit just makes me want to go to war.
I’ve been playing valkyrie profile 2 again and as I listen to it Motoi Sakuraba has pleasantly surprised me. the main theme in particular is quite good. he developed the main melody very well in that particular piece. I wish I knew more musical terms so I could describe it better…
2010.04.08 at 13:20
Despite Hans Zimmer at the helm, I was a little disappointed at the Modern Warfare 2 OST. MGS4 was done rather well by Harry Gregson-Williams, and I absolutely love the Guild Wars OST as done by Jeremy Soule.
As far as non-Western composition is concerned, I’ll always be an Uematsu fangirl, but I rather liked the soundtracks done by Shoji Meguro for the Trauma Center, Digital Devil Saga… he may have also done Persona, I can’t remember off-hand.
2010.04.08 at 16:01
oh yea, the romancing saga OST by kenji ito. lots of guitars, inspird by folk music, very nice.
2010.04.09 at 00:38
@Oyashiro- I just ordered RoF, so I should have it in a couple of weeks.
2010.04.09 at 03:55
Awesome, Hope you like it as much as I did. :)
2010.04.09 at 04:54
I think I will, my only concern is for the story. The game looks very interesting.