OCR04736 - *YES* Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild "Guided to the Infinite" *PROJECT*

[Emunator]

Name: Michael Hudak

Website: https://michaelhudak.bandcamp.com/album/polar

Game arranged: TLoZ - Breath of the Wild (also appears in Tears of the Kingdom)

Song arranged: Purified Dragon (YouTube link)

Name of my ReMix: Guided to the Infinite (Google Drive link)

 

This is my contribution to the album accompanying the excellent The Impact of Iwata project created & spearheaded by Lucas M. Thomas of Nintendo Force. He wanted each chapter in the audiobook version of the release to have a corresponding piece of music and reached out to OCR musicians to help. I chose to write something for the final chapter, Remembering Iwata, re-imagining music from Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom (per Lucas' wishes). I chose to remix Purified Dragon; without explaining too much, I'll just say that I think its in-game importance and usage thematically reflects the essence of a "last chapter". Thanks again to all judges. This is my first submission in the DarkeSword era - neat. Time does fly.

 

- Mike
 

[Liontamer]

The main melody kicked in at :31 and I love how sweeping the sounds are; arguably too loud, but I'm OK with what's there. I appreciated how it took until 2:33 to reference the very beginning of the source. Cool soundscape and an enjoyable treatment of the theme; there's elements of sadness, quirkiness, solitude, and loss for me. It feels like whatever feeling you want to find in it can be found.

YES

[Chimpazilla]

Michael Hudak and BotW?  That's already a "yes please" from me before hearing it.  Wow, I love the lush and intricate soundscape and the slowed-down motif.  This arrangement captures the dragon them so well.  I agree with Larry about the moods captured:  sadness, quirkiness, solitude and loss, but also a sense of bittersweet freedom.  I feel like I am floating in the sky while listening to this.  BotW and also TotK are all about the magical, emotional feel of solitary exploration of the vast realm of Hyrule, and this mix captures that feeling to perfection.

YES

[Emunator]

"It feels like whatever feeling you want to find in it can be found." I could not have possible said it better myself. This speaks to Michael's talents as a sound designer and an arranger, and the beauty of the Breath of the Wild score itself. It's a blank canvas, waiting for you to imprint your own stories and memories onto its amorphous textures. I love this piece because, as I'm reading through the other judge comments thus far, I agree with every adjective and image conjured but also don't know if I would have used any of those myself. I feel serenity, weight, solemnity, weightlessness, beauty, and so much more that language can't quite capture. I can't wait to see what others hear in this.

YES

[prophetik music]

that opening bell is extremely evocative even before it gets reversed.

i know that OCR views Zelda games as The Sacred Texts (and the judges love them some BOTW especially), so it's always fun to see the reactions to remixes. such strong emotions tied to these tracks is why we all started remixing, after all. michael's approach here is a particularly patient and expansive one, especially suited to the project that he created it for. the airy, emotive motivic work alongside the aleatoric bells and restrained ostinado is exceptionally well done. the sfx of birds and other nature sounds alongside the windiness of many of the synths is a really neat combination, and the sweeping, all-embracing textures do a vivid job conveying endless space, timelessness, and a weighty, fulfilling sensation of "finally, we're here".

as expected - excellent work.

 

 

YES