Music in Gaming

[lx_theo]

So whats your thoughts on music in gaming. Is it important to the game? Does it have much relevance to your favorite games? Which games do you think have the best soundtrack?


Personally it seems all my favorite games have had my favorite music, though I'm not sure which caused which. The game with the best music in my opinion has to be Shadow of the Colossus for the PS2

 

[thedestinedblade]

Music plays a big factor in game for myself. Especially since I'm a big RPG fan. (Where having a good OST seems like a must) It's not a make or break but it certainly does help to have a fitting soundtrack. I'm the same as you. My favorite games probably contain my favorite video games tracks too.

 

[institutions]

Handheld games I don't play with the music on so I can't judge there.

In console games the music is a pretty important part. Fallout 3 had some awesome music on the Galaxy News Radio station. Mass Effect had decent music, although i'm not really into that orchestral stuff. I also play lots of music games like Rock Band, where the music is probably the most important thing.

Music can also really help scenes in a movie. I knew I was going to like The Departed before it even got into it because they had Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones in the intro.

 

[yaminokaitou]

Having no music in a game is actually pretty creepy. So I prefer music. Half the time I tune it out or dismiss it as background noise, but it does subconsciously affect one's gaming experience, so it's better to have it in than have nothing.

 

[Stellar]

I'd have to say the top OSTs for me have to be Tales of Legendia, The World Ends with You, Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, and Persona 3 and 4. I actually haven't played through either of the Persona games, but I watch my friends play it all the time and it's awesome. <3

 

[Timbjerr]

Being the brother of an aspiring music composer, I can't play any video game in his presence without him picking apart the music and analyzing how it adds to the "feel" of the scene. Some of my favorite game series, Metroid, LoZ, and Fire Emblem, are known for having superb music...Metroid for creating atmospheric and ambient music, Fire Emblem for being able to communicate the emotion of the story through music, and LoZ strikes a balance between the two. All in all, I believe that music plays the same role in video games as it does in a movie score, play with the audience's emotions and pull them into the story and feel for the characters.

Even if I pick up a game with a more "modern" soundtrack like Madworld or TWEWY, he'll be sure to let me know how well the music fits in with the mood of the game. XD

 

[Luck]

Its importance to the game really depends on the kind of game. The likes of Halo and Call of Duty have barely any music in the first place so it really wouldn't make a difference, but long RPGs like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger wouldn't be anything without that one track that just sets the mood.

 

[Droidz]

Yeah i agree with Luck. There's this one main song in Final Fantasy XIII which really suits the theme of the game.

 

[Aether★]

Of course yes... Well in some games music can be annoying, but in the most of games music is very important for me. For example: Mystery Dungeon: music is so emotional, and makes me cry sometimes. I like to listen game music in racing games like Need for Speed series, this series have nice combination of awesome tracks.

 

[alisaie]

Music is a very important part of RPG games for me. If the game doesn't have a good soundtrack, then it's not that enjoyable to me. Luckily, my favorite series, the Tales of Series, always seems to have good OSTs. <3 The other RPG games that I have played have had pretty good music as well.

 

[Eruption]

I don't mind music in games that much as someone mentioned the radio on Fallout 3 was great.

I prefer games with soundtracks that are 'real' songs if you know what I mean?

 

[I Laugh at your Misfortune!]

It's important, but I don't find it to be as crucial as many other gamers. I loved Ocarina of Time even though I played most of the game without sound. But then again, playing San Andreas would have been nowhere near as much fun without Radio X.

 

[Sydian]

I think it plays a big part in games, such as Ocarina of Time and Mother 3. If you don't have the music playing in Mother 3, good luck in your battles, because the battle system goes by mashing the A button to the beat of the music. I find it an addictive gameplay mechanic...but I digress. I do enjoy the music in games, though. Especially 8 bit games.

Also, the music sets the mood for places. The Shadow Temple in OoT for example. It's already creepy enough just looking at it, but the music just really enhances that awful feeling in your gut. The music reminds me of people moaning in pain, grunting, and there's a little 16th note run that makes me think of spiders crawling around. And the Forest Temple music sounds like someone laughing...I'm thinking too much on this, haha. I just have a strong attachment to music in games. :)

Spoiler:

Also, chapter 6 of Mother 3 when Lucas sees Hinawa's spirit, the music that plays right as she appears...just gives me chills.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

Music is important. It can make a great game even better or a bad game even worse. Much like with movies, the score is major part of the experience. It conveys feeling. And if it isn't appropriate then the work suffers.

 

[©ereal Killer]

Definitely IS important. Just imagine you're fighting the final boss or you are in the final stage with just sound effects... Pretty dull huh?
The music also changes your mood, from exciting stuffs to seriousness.
And also some games are popular because of its soundtracks.

My favorite game/s with the best soundtracks have to be Shin Megami Tensei: Persona both 3 and 4.
Shoji Meguro is a frickin genius! 'Nuff said!

 

[Coldfire]

Music is really important in a game. It really helps to set the atmosphere, and it helps determine whether or not the place is happy, scary, sad, ect. Without music I don't think I could really be sucked into a video game. Also, I know that a lot of games use the sudden absence of music to make it creepy- as in you're safe with the music, but as soon as it stops you start freaking out thinking that you're about to be attacked.

My favorite video game music has been from Kingdom Hearts. It's very pretty-sounding :)

 

[HaloSonic]

music is needed in the3 vast majority of games, and it carries the intended atmosphere o the moment. since Ive been around from 8-16 bit gen, i can appreciate chiptunes more, and hence some of my favorite VGMs are chiptunes. however, games with stellar soundtracks like Shadow of the Colossus, or the Final Fantasy games are also some of my favs. from another angle, sometimes, even licensed music is all that is needed, such as in the Need for Speed Franchise.

 

[WolfSoul]

I really pay attention to video game soundtracks, it influences the way I feel when I play :P IMO the best game soundtracks are in the Halo, Legend of Zelda and Naruto games. With the Halo soundtrack I get really pumped up when I play, I love Zelda's calming music and Naruto games have an awesome and enjoying soundtrack too :)

 

[Amaruuk]

Music is one of the most important things about games to me, especially since a lot of the kinds of games I play are ones in which great music is essential. Remembering a particular music track is the number one most common cause of my going back to play a game again.

Music is also important enough that I won't play a game with a great soundtrack if I find that the music doesn't work (as is the case with my old PC CD-ROM ports of a couple of games when run on any Windows version more recent than 98). Good thing I was able to get PS1 ports on Amazon for dirt cheap!

 

[Legobricks]

Games feel empty when I turn music off, most of the time, since they're made to have it on; so usually have no or few ambient environmental tracks going on. Music seems to be used to set the mood and influence how the player plays; used to notable effect in Halo, I find. Ultimately though, it is something I could and probably would do without if there was sufficient ambience, atmosphere (Dark Messiah is a decent example of this, assuming the combat music's not playing). Looking at it this way, music seems like a bit of a cop-out against effort... not that it is, I'd just prefer hearing the wind and trees, but it's then a matter of having good wind and tree sounds, haha.