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Old 04-05-22, 12:02   #1
_Seth
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Thumbs up The Musical Direction

I think most game (and film) scores are way too unidenfiable and very, very dull, to the point where it's as if film and game music is trying to be emotionally unimpactful. Scores seem to be used as supplementary background stuff instead of really feeling like it has active placement in scenes. I think strong melodies and actual tunes need to return and be given prominence. Alan Silvestri, the composer of Cradle of Life, said music should be as important as if it was another character in a scene, and I completely agree.

I'm not being facetious when I say I genuinely can't understand how anyone likes Shadow of the Tomb Raider's music. It had unique instruments in place, but when it came to emotional value and memorability, it was just so... nothing. There may as well have been no music.

I'd like to see incidental melodic music as you approach certain situations and locations. Harps were used to great effect in TR1, and should return because they're beautiful, historic and uncommon. Here are a couple of tracks of the style I'd like to see:





I really think music and the importance of it is something most people don't tend to notice because in the last decade+ we're so used to generic, homogenised music, but when it is given the importance and love it so it can shine and stand out, it does absolute wonders for the magic of an experience and the world the game is trying to create.

Last edited by _Seth; 04-05-22 at 12:12.
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Old 04-05-22, 12:19   #2
Noatak
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For me, Troels Brun Folmann's music for Legend/Anniversary/Underworld was top notch. I would love to have him back as the composer for the next game, esp. for something similar to Legend.

I found the survivor trilogy's music to be rather underwhelming. It had some nice tracks here and there, but nothing too memorable especially regarding the main themes.

For example, I loved those two from Rise:





or this one from Shadow:



Wouldn't mind something like that either
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Old 04-05-22, 13:42   #3
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I have to highly disagree with you with SotTR's OST. It's not just unique instrumentation, if you hear the OST (and some tracks that were not part of the OST but Brian d'Oliveira has on his Soundcloud page), you still have highly melodic tracks that are genuinely great. Just from the top of my head:
  • Prologue
  • Overture (very underrated main theme, honestly among my favourites of the franchise alongside AoD's and TRL's)
  • Ruins at Cozumel
  • Innocent Death
  • All "Lara's Dream" tracks (entire Croft Manor section)
  • Paititi (City of the Serpent)
  • Hope
  • The entire San Juan suite (basically everything during the Via Crucix sequence)


And the list doesn't include Goodbye Paititi and tracks present in some of the DLC, like the one Noatak shared.

The more ambience/percurssion tracks that exist in SotTR's OST are also quite distinct from one another, instead of being all too overly similar, which also adds to it.

Obviously, different people will have different tastes, but I do think SotTR's OST can be quite underrated. Personally my favourite of the entire CD era and I would be extremelly happy if Brian d'Oliveira wrote the OST for the next game as well.

That being said, I do kind of miss the sound direction of just the ocasional strong melody after moments of silence from the classics, and while I really like what SotTR did, I also wouldn't mind a return to that soundtrack design.
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Old 04-05-22, 13:52   #4
Ellioft
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You forget the Death of the Sun wich is great
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Old 04-05-22, 13:57   #5
biscuits
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What Shadow's soundtrack is amazing
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Old 04-05-22, 15:05   #6
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Something that has been missing from Tomb Raiser's score since AOD is memorable motifs. Early TR games were very good at this. Motifs were clear, distinctive and built upon with pieces later in the game or in later sequels (see TR4-6 in particular). The most memorable soundtrack post-AoD is TRA (and I know some will disagree with this).

From the reboot trilogy the only memorable motif is the main theme, which I don't particularly like because it's an inversion of the classic theme and that just doesn't sound right to my ears. I can't think of any others.
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Old 04-05-22, 15:29   #7
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I’d love some orchestral music like they did in AOD. It’s one of the best soundtracks. But Legend also had a really nice soundtrack.
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Old 04-05-22, 15:42   #8
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The only music I can remember from the reboot is the main theme of 2013. Nothing else has stood out. It could be partly because I've only played them through once each, but it's definitely possible to make your soundtrack standout on a first playthrough.

I remember playing through Uncharted 4 for the first time and lots of tracks stood out to me, and I listened to them afterwards. I think all the music from TR1-TRU is really great. The classic themes, AOD... Legend's main theme is epic too. Even Temple of Osiris has an amazing theme which is instantly memorable.

I hope for some better music overall, less generic background audio, tracks that stand out in specific moments and don't get overshadowed by the game. Also I hope the main theme is good too, as Shadow's seemed so absent when I played. Players aren't going to be on the menu for that long, so it needs an instant hook.
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Old 04-05-22, 19:21   #9
_Seth
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Noatak View Post
For me, Troels Brun Folmann's music for Legend/Anniversary/Underworld was top notch. I would love to have him back as the composer for the next game, esp. for something similar to Legend.

I found the survivor trilogy's music to be rather underwhelming. It had some nice tracks here and there, but nothing too memorable especially regarding the main themes.

For example, I loved those two from Rise:

[youtube]OM-sfUdlRkM[youtube]

[youtube]WLNboCydyTg[youtube]

or this one from Shadow:

[youtube]XbYJylBphvM[youtube]

Wouldn't mind something like that either
The Atlas was a very great track, here. idk what happened to the mixing because it's really not allowed to shine, unfortunately. The Serpent's Heart started strong but just dragged on with no changes. No highs or lows. It would have worked if it was one third of the length.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Portugalraider View Post
  • Prologue
  • Overture (very underrated main theme, honestly among my favourites of the franchise alongside AoD's and TRL's)
  • Ruins at Cozumel
  • Innocent Death
  • All "Lara's Dream" tracks (entire Croft Manor section)
  • Paititi (City of the Serpent)
  • Hope
  • The entire San Juan suite (basically everything during the Via Crucix sequence)
I've listened to the whole soundtrack multiple times when I've wanted to use it's music for video editing but have always struggled to find anything decent. Giving it another shot and here are my thoughts:
  • Prologue was just dreary and I didn't enjoy the strings.
  • Overture for the first half was just a higher tempo Prologue and just repetitive. The second half had some good moments when it sounded like a tune was about to come about, but then it went nowhere.
  • The first half of Ruins at Cozumel is the same dreary tune repeated over and over and over with very small increments in tempo, and a very generic baseline beat. The second half had one moment that sounded engaging, but a whole lot of directionless nothing will no structure.
  • Innocent Death was lovely when it came to the piano. I think it would have worked better without the shrieky violins beneath it.
  • The first half of Lara's Dream was goofy and cringe-inducing with the amount of cheese it had. Sounds like something from a very young children's cartoon. The second half is a really good build up and of a quality I appreciate. Could have shone more if mixed better. =/
  • City of the Serpent is one of the very few that's nice. I like it, but for some reason it's not given enough surface on the soundscape. I recall it, but it never stood out, even though I like it. The second half verges on great but is also given no prominence. (I certainly shouldn't have to purposefully imbalance the sound mixing so the music gets to shine like it deserves.)
  • The first half of Hope is long, drawn out and a whole lot of unshapely nothing. It sounds very much like something specifically created to be kept unnoticed in the background and not to really truly enrich, just to sort of supplement. The second half actually tries to do something, which is very good. Still not on a level with pretty much any Angel of Darkness or TR1 track you could hand pick from a YouTube playlist.
  • San Juan Catacombs is quite good. Good melodies, but I don't like the train station hobo instruments at play.
  • San Juan Via Veritas Vitae was pretty flat and unmemorable. On the edge of going somewhere good, but didn't.
  • San Juan The Chosen had a choir that I loved and wished they capitalised on but the track just didn't rise up to anything more than dreary and droney. Also on the edge of doing something but didn't.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ellioft View Post
You forget the Death of the Sun wich is great
First couple of minutes were a whole lot of nothing. The rest of it was just a mess of sounds barely tied together by structure. The battle theme in Rise is better, even.
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Old 04-05-22, 19:52   #10
Valentino
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Legend was peak TR music.
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