5th Gen Input on Fifth Gen Soundtracks

[Thoriére]

Hey everyone,

with the new PC event going on, I figured that I'd give this branch of the forums a shot, considering that most of my work deals with ROM hacking general artwork/writing, though I don't tend to post the latter on here. I've been really curious as to what people nowadays think of the BW/BW2 soundtrack; I've seen some people herald it as the greatest Pokémon OST to grace the planet, and I've seen a lot of others (particularly including hardcore Gen 1 fans) that hold it to higher standards or just find it lackluster.

A note to the mods: I did a quick Google Search and found a similar thread, but it was from 2012 and I really didn't think it was appropriate to revive. You can find the thread here. Thank you for understanding. If I've slipped up and misunderstood the rules, feel free to let me know and/or remove this thread. I also couldn't select both BW and B2/W2 as prefixes, sorry about that.

Either way, feel free to discuss here. I personally have mixed feelings about the soudtrack, considering that it's a bit of a new sound with some brighter stimulating tracks, and I consider Diamond/Pearl Platinum to have more of a whimsical or airy/fluffy sound to it; however, that's just my opinion, and I'd definitely appreciate some extra input on your parts.

 

[Nah]

Thread revival is up to one year in this section, so yeah, a thread from 2012 is much too old to revive.

I do like Gen 5's soundtrack a lot (could probably make a somewhat long list of tracks I like from it), and would probably call it my favorite overall if I had to choose, but Pokemon music in general is fairly good and all of them have at least a few good tracks. Not exactly a huge fan of Gen 1/2 music tbh, but that's more cuz I'm not really into 8-bit and 16-bit music.

 

[Thoriére]

Thread revival is up to one year in this section, so yeah, a thread from 2012 is much too old to revive.

I do like Gen 5's soundtrack a lot (could probably make a somewhat long list of tracks I like from it), and would probably call it my favorite overall if I had to choose, but Pokemon music in general is fairly good and all of them have at least a few good tracks. Not exactly a huge fan of Gen 1/2 music tbh, but that's more cuz I'm not really into 8-bit and 16-bit music.

I feel like when Gen 1/2 fans say they prefer the soundtrack of those games are either super nostalgic or are referencing the FR/LG games (don't thing those were 16-bit but I could be wrong). In terms of favorites and least favorites, I'd really have to rule out Hoenn, sadly, because trumpets are honestly a bad sensory feeling for me, hence my issues with the OST. I do really appreciate BW, though. I never finished B2/W2, sadly, so I can't really offer input.

 

[Nah]

I feel like when Gen 1/2 fans say they prefer the soundtrack of those games are either super nostalgic or are referencing the FR/LG games (don't thing those were 16-bit but I could be wrong). In terms of favorites and least favorites, I'd really have to rule out Hoenn, sadly, because trumpets are honestly a bad sensory feeling for me, hence my issues with the OST. I do really appreciate BW, though. I never finished B2/W2, sadly, so I can't really offer input.

I feel like a lot of it is nostalgia too. Nostalgia is really strong on some people. Though I don't remember how the stuff in FR/LG sounds, haven't touched that in like years now.

Hoenn trumpets have always seemed to be a little divisive to me. Seems like most people tend to either love the trumpet filled soundtrack or hate it.

And even if you don't finish playing Black2/White2, you can still listen to it on Youtube (and the majority of the tracks in it is stuff that was in Black/White, if you played through that).

 

[Thoriére]

I feel like a lot of it is nostalgia too. Nostalgia is really strong on some people. Though I don't remember how the stuff in FR/LG sounds, haven't touched that in like years now.

Hoenn trumpets have always seemed to be a little divisive to me. Seems like most people tend to either love the trumpet filled soundtrack or hate it.

And even if you don't finish playing Black2/White2, you can still listen to it on Youtube (and the majority of the tracks in it is stuff that was in Black/White, if you played through that).

I did play through that. A lot. I think I have four hundred hours logged on it? Mostly grinding and shiny hunting, which worked out pretty well on my end, but I haven't played it in a while :/ maybe I'll get back into it soon.

I think I've listened to it while working before, but honestly my memory is incredibly poor due to health and I was probably only vaguely awake doing it, so I'll have to fix that soon.

 

[Hikamaru]

You do have to admit 5th Gen's soundtrack is my favourite of the entire Pokemon series. The fact that cities/towns don't share the same tracks makes it very unique, and there's lots of pretty memorable sounds in there. I often got turned off by Hoenn's trumpets and those older sounds of Kanto/Johto so I can understand how you feel.

 

[Thoriére]

You do have to admit 5th Gen's soundtrack is my favourite of the entire Pokemon series. The fact that cities/towns don't share the same tracks makes it very unique, and there's lots of pretty memorable sounds in there. I often got turned off by Hoenn's trumpets and those older sounds of Kanto/Johto so I can understand how you feel.

Something else I really loved about the B/W OST was the fact that the music really matched the vibe of the game. B/W had a lot of huge steps forward in terms of sprite animation, depth of sound, plot, and a really fantastic new generation of Pokémon. I felt like the modern interface aligned with the music just perfectly. I think a part of the reason I liked it so much was the fact that I base a lot of myself around technology and contemporary settings as opposed to being down-to-earth, so even the atmosphere of the games really resonated with me.

 

[jessluvstolaugh]

All of the soundtrack was great... except for Nimbasa City! It was pretty annoying to me lol.

 

[Hikamaru]

Something else I really loved about the B/W OST was the fact that the music really matched the vibe of the game. B/W had a lot of huge steps forward in terms of sprite animation, depth of sound, plot, and a really fantastic new generation of Pokémon. I felt like the modern interface aligned with the music just perfectly. I think a part of the reason I liked it so much was the fact that I base a lot of myself around technology and contemporary settings as opposed to being down-to-earth, so even the atmosphere of the games really resonated with me.

Another cool thing you have to note with the music is that there's certain areas that have slightly different sounds used depending on the season, such as chimes being used during winter. The music really fitted the atmosphere well in that regard.

 

[Pendraflare]

There are so many amazing tracks from Generation V that I could name here (Iris' Champion theme, N and Ghetsis themes, Celestial Tower, Colress, Plasma Frigate, really the list goes on). Of course I don't think ALL the tracks are awesome per se but a lot really stood out, especially near the end of the game.

One track I will name is Route 21/22, because that one felt very reminiscent of Hoenn's music.

 

[Hikamaru]

One little mention I have to put out here was that Celestial Tower's theme reminds one of Chrono Trigger a lot, even Marriland mentioned that in his White Adventure (which was basically his walkthrough/let's play) series.