6th Gen Hoenn's Heralding Horns - The Music of Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire Versions

[fenyx4]

Well, it seems that the old music thread perished in this subforum...? :(

Anyways, with the Pokemon OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire demo release, a few more tracks are becoming known. Pokeli has some fanmade remasters (from awhile ago), too.

Here's an example of the title theme that was featured in trailers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FJEyj6ctTQ

The Pokemon OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire soundtrack is also getting a Japanese release (including the Pokemon OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire arrangements and the original Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire songs); no word yet on an English release.

So, what are your opinions of the Pokemon OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire music?
----------------------

My remarks:

I feel like the OR/AS rendition of the title theme (particularly 0:25 - 0:32 of the aforementioned "title theme" video) is too repetitive/non-inventive compared to the original version. The OR/AS arrangements of "Battle! VS Wild Pokemom (Hoenn)", "Battle! VS Trainer (Hoenn)", Hoenn's "riding a Bicycle" theme, and the Pokemon Gym interior theme of Hoenn have sounded great so far from the snippets I heard.

Regarding Maxie/Archie's presumed encounter theme (heard beginning at 1:17 in this video) (which is apparently a "slow, menacing" version of their battle theme), I feel like the encounter theme is somewhat diminished due to the tempo/speed of the song. It reminds me of how Agatio and Karst's encounter theme (though still good) from Golden Sun: The Lost Age sounds so painfully slow once you hear their actual awesome, faster-paced battle theme (also from Golden Sun: The Lost Age). I felt like a unique encounter theme with a different melody should have been made if Game Freak is going down that route; otherwise, just let Maxie/Archie share the same upbeat theme as the rest of their respective crews, Team Magma and Team Aqua.

I heard a snippet of the OR/AS arrangement of the "Battle! VS Team Magma/Aqua Grunt" theme... Um, what happened to the buzzing? (apparently replaced by trumpets..or violins? >_>)

That was one of my favorite parts in the original version, so to hear the amount of electronic usage lessening is quite disappointing. I'll reserve judgment for when I hear the entire track, but the integration of trumpets with offbeat electronic sounds was one of the things I loved about the original Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire songs..

Someone on YouTube put what I was thinking succinctly into words regarding the potential approach to the remastering of the Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire melodies:

I wonder if the conservative approach here is due to the fact that Ruby/Sapphire marked the first games where "sophisticated" arrangements became possible, and there's much less room for interpretation on the already robust foundation laid forth.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVJ7bpVoFs8&google_comment_id=z123xzabmyf0dprwy04cg54zsoychjjj1dc

Well, there is a sense that the GBA tracks onward were more or less written as the composers "intended", where the 3-channel Game Boy tunes were only as expressive as they could be at the time. So it's not a bad reason in that it's nonsensical, but these games marking the culmination of 11 years of progress (and being that Game Freak may never revisit this score), it's definitely a missed opportunity.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVJ7bpVoFs8&google_comment_id=z123xzabmyf0dprwy04cg54zsoychjjj1dc


 

[Mark Kamill]

We have a music thread? Then I'll post what I said in the confirmed info thread. VS Magma/Aqua is a near perfect rendition, and it works as well as the original. God damn I cannot wait to see what they did with the Victory Road.