How Important Is Game Music?

joxer · April 12, 2015

Okay I'll post one thing more than will move away from here as I'm becoming annoying.

All of you who turn off the music in a game "by default" without giving it a shot, please, rent or buy last year's (I think) movie: Gravity.
And watch it without music.
Then rewatch it with music.
Is there a difference? Is the movie better with or without the music?

I'm eager to read your answer on this.
I know movies and games are not supposed to be compared, but music is music, it sounds the same, it's not frames per second or another hardware based "statistic".

Deleted User · April 12, 2015

Imagine playing Chrono Trigger without music. Blows my mind that someone would choose to do that.

sakichop · April 12, 2015

joxer said:
Okay I'll post one thing more than will move away from here as I'm becoming annoying.

All of you who turn off the music in a game "by default" without giving it a shot, please, rent or buy last year's (I think) movie: Gravity.
And watch it without music.
Then rewatch it with music.
Is there a difference? Is the movie better with or without the music?

I'm eager to read your answer on this.
I know movies and games are not supposed to be compared, but music is music, it sounds the same, it's not frames per second or another hardware based "statistic".

My level of interest and immersion with video games is so different from movies that it's not a real comparison.

How about I just play games with the music on and then when it's off. Oh wait I've already done that and I much prefer ambient sound and hearing dialogue than having an orchestra following me through a cave or forest.

Aubrielle · April 12, 2015

Fluent said:
Imagine playing Chrono Trigger without music. Blows my mind that someone would choose to do that.

That's completely unthinkable.

Nukester · April 12, 2015

For RPGs I usually turn the music way way down. I just find it breaks my immersion for the most part. I don't usually turn it all the way down though. Just enough to be barely audible behind the ambient sounds

Carnifex · April 12, 2015

Game sound off. Game music off. Personal music on and blasting. I don't need their silly idea of music, and subtitles serve me fine. I like to hear MY music.

Luckra · April 12, 2015

I'm in team "very important". Good music transcends a game.

Dez · April 12, 2015

Music is very important to me. PoE for instance has such a beautifull score. I could not think about playing it with out music!

Only times when I turn music off in videogames is when i'm playing some online first person shooter where i need to hear enemy footsteps or something

Notorious · April 12, 2015

Very important. It's not just the instrumental score that sets the tone. Where would Fallout be without "Maybe"...

DArtagnan · April 12, 2015

Since I'm an immersion freak, music is integral to the experience in games that use it well. In other games, it's just important

I can't imagine playing games like Deus Ex: HR, Homeworld, or Age of Conan without music. It would certainly be an entirely different experience - but I guess I can't rule out it's fine if you really don't enjoy music.

To me, music is part of the identity of many of my favorite games - and I know that many developers go to great lengths to come up with the right sound for every aspect of their games. So, playing games with the music turned off would be like pouring a massive amount of salt on the food some chef has spent hours preparing.

I guess that's one way to do it, but I don't recommend it for the genuine experience

Nephologist · April 12, 2015

Fluent said:
Imagine playing Chrono Trigger without music. Blows my mind that someone would choose to do that.

https://smoothmcgroove.bandcamp.com/

Fluent, check this guy out if you haven't heard of him already. He does fully acapella versions of a lot of video game music from the 8 and 16 bit days. He has quite a few Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana songs. He really blew me away.

wolfing · April 13, 2015

Nukester said:
For RPGs I usually turn the music way way down. I just find it breaks my immersion for the most part. I don't usually turn it all the way down though. Just enough to be barely audible behind the ambient sounds

This. I turn music waaay down. I play RPGs for immersion, not to watch a movie. So yes, I feel more immersed when I'm in a forest hearing chirping sounds, owls, etc. than hearing John Williams music out of nowhere.

dwelfusius · April 13, 2015

Dez said:
I recall reading that Kirill fell ill during Orginal sin Development and it took him quite a while to recover. So that may explain why orginal sin soundtrack may not always be in synch what happens in game.

(found this thread about this http://www.larian.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=498720)

Imo he doesn't lack talent and Orginal sin soundtrack is quite good, but slightly unbalanced at times. It may have needed more work and polish.

edit: I agree with Aubrielle about the orchestra. It was so strange that they did not do that when it was one of the goals during the ks campaign.

Indeed it took a very long time for him to get reasonably well, so they also used unused material from previous games.Good stuff BUT you notice that there is not the cohesion like in DD or DKS

luj1 · April 13, 2015

Not crucial I'd say. But can enhance the experience.

Terry · April 14, 2015

Aubrielle said:
Jeremy Soule is absolutely incredible.

Music is tremendously important. With Divinity: Original Sin, the music direction was really scattered and confused. I really don't think Pokrovsky is a very good composer, and I don't think he knew what he wanted to do in D:OS. So if you play with the music on, the music tends to go off and do its own thing sometimes and completely ruin your immersion.

Some games - like Pillars of Eternity and Arcanum - are totally spot on with their music and creating an ambiance. Other games have music that can ruin the experience.

I have to agree, not necessarily Pokrovsky's best work though if memory serves he got very sick during the development of D:OS. So that might have had a negative effect on the end product.
I find my self humming along in the inns of PoE they did a very good job there.

Gamer Joe · April 15, 2015

Music is huge. In most mmo's I turn on my own in the end, but that is understandable since it's an mmo. In single player games, I've never put on my own music.

It's not really music but try to look at this trailer and just after the narrator says Bovakin, the person shouts against the dragon. I get shivers down my spine every single time I watch that video and he shouts. They should almost make studies on it, what enables it to give me that shiver every time? Of course it helps that the trailer puts on some sick music after the shout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjqsYzBrP-M

wolfsrain · April 15, 2015

Jesper Kyd and Jeremy Soule. Yeah, those dudes did a tremendous job in raising the quality of many games. I'll add Frank Klepacki for his work in a big number of the C&C/Dune games and not only.

Jesper Kyd raised the quality of a rather mediocre game like IO Interactive Freedom Fighters to a better than average. So yeah music is important. The original Tropico featured Daniel Indurain's music making it into a great game. And Jeremy's Soule Morrowind theme, goddammit...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhaq4JP_t6o

And to be honest i like the music from TES3 a lot more than the music from Oblivion or Skyrim. The music was fitted for the insanity of the Morrowind's landscapes.

luj1 · April 15, 2015

wolfsrain said:
... I'll add Frank Klepacki for his work in a big number of the C&C/Dune games and not only....

Tiberian Sun OST was fucking brilliant. That's some atmospheric post-apoc music. I listen to it just as I'd listen to any piece of (non game related) music.

Gloo · April 15, 2015

For me it all depends on the game and specific moments in game. There are games and moments where I hardly stand any music playing at all. On the other hand I can definitely recall moments or even an entire game solely by hearing a couple of notes. Games like Fantasy General, Arena (and Daggerfall) or Icewind Dale are games like these. Despite not being an aficionado for opera scores, a game like Fantasy General remains probably the game score that impressed me the most ! Most of the time though, I play with the music on for a while then shut it off completely or turn it down so its merely an annoying and faint sound melting with the background. Like the game translations I find music is more a pain to endure than a pleasure.

Ryder · April 17, 2015

The first thing I do on every game I play is turn the music off. I want to hear the speech and sound effects and the like, not some crap music. If all the music was like the intro to Dungeon Keeper then things may be a little different.

How Important Is Game Music?

How Important Is Game Music?

Very Important To Me

Depends on the Game

I Listen to My Own Music

Not Important at All

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