[Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl] BDSP Music and DS Sounds

[Sheep]

What did you think of BDSP's music? How would you say it holds up to the original tracks? Were there any you particularly liked or disliked? Did you use the DS Sounds item when obtaining it to change the songs to their older versions?

 

[Hiroshi Sotomura]

Personally? I liked the new music enough compared to the old tracks that I kept the game with the fresh tracks.

I still think BDSP's music could've been so much better with a budget behind it, though a lot of it is improved over the tracks that were in the game code before they were patched with the newer versions! The songs baked into the game card sounded like some pretty simple, downright awful MIDI conversions! (Yeesh.)

Also disappointed at the lack of a dedicated theme for the Tower Tycoon.

 

[drafyn]

I only like some tracks from this game.
The Veilstone Game Corner.
Route 225.
The Giratina battle.
And some how the other tracks i liked more in the originals.

 

[Sweet Serenity]

I always enjoy Pokémon music. I especially liked the music in this game, mainly because of the main wild Pokémon battle theme. It goes super hard in this game!

 

[Papí Chulo]

Please can someone trade and help me get a gengar. I've been trying and everytime someone jus steals it from me

 

[Adam Levine]

From what I've heard of BDSP's soundtrack, it sounds a lot like someone took the MIDIs of the original tracks and slapped them on a DAW. I'd say it feels...cheap? It's serviceable most of the time, but there are tracks like the Team Galactic and Gym Leader battle themes whose lead instruments sound incredibly underwhelming (which is a shame, especially for the former, because rock organs are some of my favorite instruments), and sometimes I wish the percussion hit a little harder, like in Cynthia's battle theme.

That said, I'm not sure if I can pick a favorite between BDSP's arrangements and DP's original soundtrack. DP's soundfont isn't my all-time favorite, but sometimes I'd much prefer its harshness over BDSP's more mellow instrumentation. BDSP's Eterna Forest is a straight upgrade though, and I'm glad they finally gave the Elite Four a slightly more unique arrangement of the Gym Leader theme instead of just pitching it down.

 

[giradialkia]

I'm pretty sure I played SP on day one, and something felt *off* about the soundtrack.

Sure enough, they actually patched the music in an update (along with the intro movie and stuff). Before then it was literally MIDI instruments rather than actual orchestration. That's… kind of inexcusable, but I guess it's not really the point here.

The orchestral soundtrack is quite lovely; it made me realise how nostalgic I was for Sinnoh. Those games came out right at the start of my teenage years and saw me through most of my teen years, with BW coming out as I was finishing school.

With that said, while it was nice of them to include the DS Sounds, it's kinda funny how there's not as big a difference between soundtracks as there was with HGSS' GB Sounds, or even between the original RSE soundtrack and ORAS' soundtrack. By the time DP arrived on DS, their sound engine had progressed quite a bit past the GBA, and their sound samples were higher quality. So switching DS Sounds on/off doesn't show an immediate or stark contrast, as much as switching GB Sounds on/off did. But still a nice inclusion, for sure.

 

[KalloFox34]

Personally, I prefer the old music. There's something about the DPPt soundfont that just sounds so... good.