Melody in game music

[Nightpolymath]

Yeah, the big story-driven games (like RPGs and adventure/action-adventure games) are great for memorable melodies. A more complex story can be highly complimented by a more melodic soundtrack - story seems to lend itself to melody, doesn't it?

As opposed to mindless shooting of aliens and zombies? Most definitely. Franchises such as Final Fantasy probe very, very complex emotions - love, betrayal, sickness, death, etc and they do lend well to a melodic approach to the entire score as you say. Any person who has played something like FF VII can attest to this. I don't know much about composing for games but I would assume that scoring an RPG would probably require much more immersion and/or an attachment to the game in order to come up with something that sounds both enduring and is able to provide a great emotional impact to the player. Whether this is good or bad for the composer, I am not really sure. I would go so far as to say that the music can make or break an RPG depending on how it's done. Thankfully composers such as Kondo have set the bar really high for everyone to aspire to.

[Aloysius]

I've never seen or played this game but it's very interesting to hear about your approach. Pity the audio (particularly the voice) was not taken directly from the mixer.

Used to love this one:

[Winifred Phillips]

Thanks, Aloysius - I'm glad you liked my MIGS speech! And because you mention Pong, I must post this:





Nightpolymath, you have a very good point - the deeper the story in a game, the more a composer needs to get fully immersed in that story. In my experience, it's a good thing for the composer. It keeps the game composer inspired. Music can definitely have a deep effect on a gameplay experience - I talk about that in the book I wrote. I've played some games in which music has really taken the experience to another level entirely. Also, we've been talking a lot about story, but gameplay is also impacted pretty profoundly by music, I think.