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Chudah"s Corner

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

RPG's and RPG Soundtracks

Excuse the bluntness that follows but regardless of how I write the following it's going to come off as a rant.

It just may be me, but when it comes to the music in RPGs today it seems so much harder to dig in, especially when you're presented with huge 4+ disc set. In the past I use to believe in the idea that more =s better but this is ideology is deeply flawed if anything and I come to acknowledge it. If anything, more usually =s more filler. Anyway, sry for repeating what everybody probably already knows.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

If only every rant were a short paragraph. :P

But yeah, I feel what you mean about soundtracks being brimming with filler. But with the size and scope of RPGs nowadays, it's only natural for soundtracks to get equally huge. It does mean more digging around the ho-hum to get the ah-ha, but what can you do about it?

Unless of course, the entire soundtrack is ah-ha, which is exactly what I expect from FFXIII.

Tommy Rock said...

For me, the ideal size for an RPG soundtrack that I haven't played is 2 discs, like An Cinnuint. That's just meaty enough for it to have some substance, and there's less chance for filler. 3 and 4 disc OSTs are good if I've played the game, but it's so difficult to digest so much stuff from one score if you're not familiar with it.

But, yes. Agreed. Small rant = effective point, well taken. :)

Anonymous said...

Yeah, a lot of RPG OSTs feel overwhelming to listen to with all of the filler and what not. That was one of the big reasons I couldn't get into sakuraba's trusty bell score. Just way too much stuff to digest. I often find myself listening to the battle themes first for games I haven't played, and then going back later to listen to town/dungeon music (this all depends on the composer of course; if its yasunori you better believe I'm listening to some of the town music and maybe the closing theme first).

All that said, I think the Ar Tonelico OST is the first OST in a while where I've enjoyed almost everything first time through.