Role of music in video games understated?

[deftflux]

I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but I started playing Metroid Prime 3 recently. I like the gameplay, with the wii controls, very engaging. It did not take me long to realize that the soundtrack generally consisted of short loops of uninteresting filler music. I just got the feeling that I would enjoy the game so much better if it had a good soundtrack.

That got me thinking, and I realized that all of my favorite games have exceptional soundtracks, like the classic Sonic games for Genesis, Zelda, and Descent. So that begs the question, would they still be my favorites if they didn't have good soundtracks? What role does music really play in the enjoyment of a game? Am I part of a minority of gamers that has an especially strong appreciation of game music? Or is the importance of music in video games underappreciated by many game developers?

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

It's a mixed bag, whereas there are games that rely greatly on music as a theme(games like Eternal Sonata and Rhapsody come to mind) and thus take great care to make sure that it's done very well, there are games and developers who don't really worry too much about it.

I can see why in a game like Metroid Prime 3, there wouldn't be that big of an emphasis, rather it would just be good enough to provide the right ambience and let the game flow from "scene A to Scene B" without making it awkward. I think that in general, that's the main idea behind composing a score for a movie or game. Sure, the music would definitely do a lot for the work if it were something memorable, at least I think so, but more important than that I think is that it has to "work" if you get my meaning.

Those are my two cents anyway.

[benprunty]

I know that my enjoyment of certain games like Shadow of the Colossus, EarthBound, Tetrisphere, Ocarina of Time, the first three Metroid games and many others was probably somewhat dependent on their soundtracks. I've also written and produced a game soundtrack, so I definitely agree to the importance.

On the other hand, when I play Half-Life 1 or 2, I turn the music off and I think it is a much better experience for it. I feel that music (like lens flare) can be inappropriate in a first-person perspective game that is trying to be experiential. A person does not have a personal soundtrack being piped into their head (just like their eyes aren't freaking video cameras, I'm looking at you lens flare) so I feel like the music takes the player out of the experience of really being there. This is just a personal thing.

BioShock was a tough one, for instance though, because the score was really well done and most certainly heightened the dramatic tension for me. So I'm still kind of torn on the issue of music in FPSes. The songs that you hear playing in Rapture don't count, because they're part of the environment.

Sorry, went off on a tangent. I love music in games. Yeah your preaching to the choir, but its still a fun discussion.

[Nohbody]

Good music adds to the replay value, for one thing. Half of what is great about games like Zelda, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy, and Sonic is that music playing in the background. If its the right stuff, it adds to the mood a lot. Basically, music is another form of scenery.

And yes, Metroid Prime 3's BGM was like elevator music. Kind of ironic that its initials are MP3.

To solve problems like bad bgm, have your gothic roomate blast death music instead, that sets the mood nicely.

[Sil]

It did not take me long to realize that the soundtrack generally consisted of short loops of uninteresting filler music.

Whew, for a second there I thought you were talking about film soundtracks.

Oh shi

[OverCoat]

One of the few times game music pissed me off is with the Metroid Prime series. MP1 had great music, but then the quality dropped off steadily after that. The temple grounds music in MP2 makes me want to stab Kenji Yamamoto in the ears. Did none of the QA or tester people notice that THE GONG IS HIT EVERY 3 SECONDS from when you enter the area until you leave? Good lord.

[MaCe]

I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but I started playing Metroid Prime 3 recently. I like the gameplay, with the wii controls, very engaging. It did not take me long to realize that the soundtrack generally consisted of short loops of uninteresting filler music. I just got the feeling that I would enjoy the game so much better if it had a good soundtrack.

That got me thinking, and I realized that all of my favorite games have exceptional soundtracks, like the classic Sonic games for Genesis, Zelda, and Descent. So that begs the question, would they still be my favorites if they didn't have good soundtracks? What role does music really play in the enjoyment of a game? Am I part of a minority of gamers that has an especially strong appreciation of game music? Or is the importance of music in video games underappreciated by many game developers?

to me if a music in my favorite games is very important,and when i heard the metroid prime music i was very disappointed,i liked much better a snes version in terms of music,it ad's to the atmosphere and melody's are better,i dont understand a weak quality in metroid prime games,it is a good game but regrettably not a too good sounding one too...i usually like nintendo games music like zelda,mario(i will probably make a remix of mario galaxy music),koji kondo is a good composer he hits very good theme for specific game,i like that...so music has a great role in games,when i remember a games(or a movie) that i like i loved music in them so to me it is very important.

[cobaltstarfire]

I think it depends on what kind of game it is, like others have said.

I bet I might have enjoyed the new Yoshis island on the DS if the music wasn't so...bland. I think that might just be because I LOVED the first Yoshis Island and it's music, so I feel really let down when I play the DS one, and get the tripe it calls music. T_T

Sometimes I still try to play it on occasion with the sound turned down, but that doesn't feel right either...and some of the sound effects are messed up.

I think music (and sound) are very important to a games enjoyment in most cases. It goes a very long way to giving the game it's feel.

I think that's also just a personal opinion, because I've known people that turn the music (but not always the sound) off in all games they play, even if it's good music that suits the game well, they just don't want it.

[X]

I think that it may depend on the type of game at times, but for the most part, I'm a firm believer that the music should complement the game as much as the game should complement the music. I don't know if that makes sense to anyway but me, but that is how I feel about the issue.

Other than that, so long as I don't have to turn down the music - or turn off the music all together if the soundtrack is bad enough (none to common, but I do have to do it to preserve my sanity from time to time) - I really can't think of much else to say. I hate it when the SFX-to-music sound ratio is off though.

[Xenocrates Luna]

Thing is music can both enhace or completely mess up your experience. If a game is bad I won't play it, but if it's music is good, I'll get the OST.

For example: In fighting games, music is a MUST. Every character must have a personal track that goes with his story, personality and whatnot, IMO, while it must be that kind of rocking music that makes you want to beat the shit out of your opponent.

Very few games achieve this, and ranking 1st in my personal opinion is Guilty Gear. Excellent music, goes along with the atmosphere, matches the characters. It is GREAT.

Now, going to FPS. Think CoD4: simple loops, very little music in-game, which serves as an enhacer of the dramatic moment, as an intro to a cutscene and is all in all, very well used. But it fits the experience. You are a soldier. You have no music.

On the other hand, Halo. Beautifully arranged masterpieces serve as musical ambient while you save the world. But hey, that's not realistic. You could enjoy it, or make it realistic. So then music is in Halo an added replay value, while on CoD4 it is a very practical game experience enhacer.

To finish my opinion, I must point out that there are games where

a) Music doesn't fit the ambient

It's repetitive, sounds horrible, or has just no reason at all to exist (not helping the thrill of the moment, not good as ambient, no nothing)

c) Music just plain sucks.

And then what you must do is turn down the Music's volume in-game or press Mute.

Bottom line: Music CAN enhace or tone down a game, depending on the way you want to experience it. If the music per se is just shitty, then throw the game away.

[Adun The Untouchable]

"Good" music definitely helps a game. I sometimes go back to play Sonic simply to hear it again. Within my somewhat limited experience, "Good" music is hard to find in current games. There is a lot of orchestration (if that's a word) lately, and I'm not too fond of it. The whole epic/whatnot feel to it is a bit cliché/worn out. If the music isn't interesting I generally mute it and turn on Winamp or something.

[DJMetal]

I tend to agree that it depends on the game, but to me, if the soundtrack is awesome enough, I think it can really enhance the gaming experience. Horror or shooter, RPG or RTS, whatever, the soundtrack is a big seller for me. I'll still play a game if the music isn't great...but think of silent hill (the music for which is some of my favorite) if you bad music? I can, but it isn't pleasant! And no...I don't think the music is understated. I think that music in games (just like in cinema) fits in a very special niche. VGM 4 life =D.

DJ Metal

[Chiwalker]

Metroid Corruption had good music - the problem wasn't the music it was the lack of connection the music had to older games.

Why do we like music from old games? - Nostalgia

Why do we like music from newer games? - We can tie musical connections to earlier games.

Of course unless a game originally had bad music, but I think the nostalgia factor is big on 'liking' and 'preferring' the music to other good, non-video game music.

[jayc4life]

The whole argument barely applies now, what with people using licenced tracks from established artists more and more these days.

I agree with DJMetal though, if the sound's incredible, but the gameplay has its few niggles, then you'd be willing to overlook them and play on just to hear the rest of the soundtrack. As long as the in-game mood is echoed by the music, then it's all good.

[MadGonzo]

most games these days lack either style or a tune, oke orchestral music is beautifull but it fails when it lacks a catchy tune that is repeated over the course of the game in different styles and speeds.

like Assassins creed had no memoralbe tune but Jesper Kyd mixed Electronica sounds perfectly with Orchestra and a Arabian/Saracen Twist.

[X]

Metroid Corruption had good music - the problem wasn't the music it was the connection the music had to older games.

Sorry, but I tend to disagree with that statement. Corruption's music was ok, but I think that it was the fact that the connection to previous games wasn't made the most of that hurt it the most. Music referential to the previous MP games also felt at least mindly off in terms of overall feel (except for music that was blatant copy-and-paste, of course). That aside, the general music itself just never felt Metroid-ish enough for me (at least for the most part), which is why I liked the overall soundtrack much less than I did Prime or Prime 2: Echoes.

[burnham909]

The music from the final boss in Milky Way Wishes from Kirby Super Star made me want to play through the game to get to the awesomeness of that again.

[Chiwalker]

Sorry, but I tend to disagree with that statement. Corruption's music was ok, but I think that it was the fact that the connection to previous games wasn't made the most of that hurt it the most. Music referential to the previous MP games also felt at least mindly off in terms of overall feel (except for music that was blatant copy-and-paste, of course). That aside, the general music itself just never felt Metroid-ish enough for me (at least for the most part), which is why I liked the overall soundtrack much less than I did Prime or Prime 2: Echoes.

Oh, sorry I had a typo

Metroid Corruption had good music - the problem wasn't the music it was the lack of connection the music had to older games.

Funny how caught up I get when using negative terms in writing - I was trying to say MP3 didn't have connections to older games . ' . it's not as good.

[titan993]

The music from the final boss in Milky Way Wishes from Kirby Super Star made me want to play through the game to get to the awesomeness of that again.

Most deffinitely! that game's music was awesome all the way around. The gameplay wasn't always the greatest, but the soundtrack helps overlook that...

VGM is by far some of the best musical artistry out there today...

[Oni-91]

I connect music to videogaming like I'd connect vocals to music. Some games don't really need music, but with ones that do, sometimes a great soundtrack will save a bad game (Cheetahmen II...OK, I kid!), but a bad soundtrack really lowers my enjoyment of an otherwise good game.

[titan993]

but a bad soundtrack really lowers my enjoyment of an otherwise good game.

yeah, seriously... but it seems like the music in games recently has really gone downhill... the music for Brawl was pretty good, but most of the other newer games have really sucky soundtracks... (in my oppinion)

[X]

Oh, sorry I had a typo

Metroid Corruption had good music - the problem wasn't the music it was the lack of connection the music had to older games.

Funny how caught up I get when using negative terms in writing - I was trying to say MP3 didn't have connections to older games . ' . it's not as good.

Ah... Gotcha. Thanks for the explanation.

And yeah, it is kinda annoying when that happens in writing. What's even worse is when people accidentally pull double negatives when they don't want to. I've done that as well at times, often resulting in misunderstandings when it does.

[AMT]

I bet I might have enjoyed the new Yoshis island on the DS if the music wasn't so...bland. I think that might just be because I LOVED the first Yoshis Island and it's music, so I feel really let down when I play the DS one, and get the tripe it calls music. T_T

Sometimes I still try to play it on occasion with the sound turned down, but that doesn't feel right either...and some of the sound effects are messed up.

Yoshi's Island DS's soundtrack was absolutely atrocious, and that ruined the game for me. I would have been totally happy with a halfway decent platformer that kept the same atmosphere as the original, but the music totally ruined it. I was desperate enough that I honestly looked into the possibility of hex editing the music out or using Yoshi Touch 'n Go's instead, but of course that wound up being way too difficult. Oh well, we still have the original.

D:

[Bummer]

Music has the ability to motivate and set the mood. If the game developers pull that off well, then the soundtrack will without doubt be there as an important part of the gaming experience. While on the other hand, as some of you have pointed out, a terrible score will hardly make any difference, or even worse, make you annoyed.

[MaCe]

most games these days lack either style or a tune, oke orchestral music is beautifull but it fails when it lacks a catchy tune that is repeated over the course of the game in different styles and speeds.

like Assassins creed had no memoralbe tune but Jesper Kyd mixed Electronica sounds perfectly with Orchestra and a Arabian/Saracen Twist.

i agree same thing with gears of war great orchestra melodies but not catchy then again the music in that kind of games is not made to be catchy i think it is more made to blend in with the game,maybe that isn't a bad thing for that type of games....