It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This
A few years ago, I was never one to care much for music in games or movies. I never noticed, paid attention to or really acknowledged scores, OSTs or any of that stuff.
Then I played Dark Souls.
The Souls franchise has, arguably, some of the best music ever. Period.
Each boss has it's own music and all of them just work with the boss. Now, I'll be honest, if you've never heard the music from the Soulsborne series there are no words I can use to explain how great the music is, so I'm going to place some songs here to make my points for me.
The perfect opening to this boss battle. The Dragon gets to its feet and lets out a giant roar just as the music starts, opening with such intensity. It immediately lets you know "This is going to be some intense shit. Buckle up." Then the beautiful (I want to say violin) coming in after, giving off this sense of dread, pain but also a sense of beauty to it. Which, honestly, summarizes Midir so perfectly. The music just gives this extra layer to an already incredible boss fight in a way that words simply ca not describe.
The next song is a personal favourite. The beginning of the second phase for Ludwig is does the attached cutscene so much justice. It adds this extra emotion to the fight. This famous hunter, someone you hear so much about as this holy incredible man is simply a mad beast. Then, he sees his sword and regains some sanity and the music slows, gives off this sense of holiness. Then it builds, becoming more intense as he picks up his sword. Then, the fight resumes and the boss comes at you full force, not holding back and in a sense, the music does the same. It peaks, it reaches the highest it can and you're bombarded with so many sounds and, to put it bluntly, it's beautiful. It just works so god damn well.
Lady Maria's theme has to be one of the best songs ever. It's amazing. I just love it so god damn much. The first phase starts off so simple, so beautiful and somehow haunting. The elegance matches perfectly with this fight. Just you against a skillful hunter. Then, as you begin to best her she suddenly switches how she fights. The elegance vanishes as she resorts to stabbing herself to become more powerful. Then, the music becomes more intense as the battle does. It builds, growing more grand in scale as the fight does the same. Then, for the final phase everything just comes together so perfectly. 1:09 to 1:35 is just one of the best shifts in music my ears have ever heard. It's just insanely impressive how well done it is.
Now, the last example I want to use is one that fans of the Souls games will definitely understand.
The second phase to The Lord of Cinder gives me chills. Literal chills every time it plays. You finish the fight against the boss, health bar is gone. You did it, you won. Then, the bar refills, another phase hits you and you get ready to carry on fighting. But something's different. The boss looks oddly familiar. You're not sure why, but something about it seems familiar. Then, you hear it. A simple little bundle of notes on a piano. You know that, but where from? Then all at once, the boss does the moves of Gwyn, the grand orchestral tune of the Soul of Cinder's music fades out and you're just left with a piano playing Gwyn's theme. I don't need to explain to fans of the game why this is incredible. Whoever pitched this idea is a god damn genius. My first time playing, when it hit me that I was fighting Gwyn again I had to just stop. This, of course, got me killed, but it didn't matter. It was one of the most powerful moments in gaming for 2016, maybe even ever for me and with out the music, it wouldn't have been nearly as good.
Because of the Soulsborne series and it's incredible music, I now appreciate and notice music all the time in movies. I listen to scores for films, OSTs for games on their own, most of the time while not even playing the game or watching the movie it's from. I came out of the new Star Wars movie and immediately went to Spotify to listen to the score and appreciate the music and how much of a difference it made to some scenes. All because of how incredible the music in this franchise is.
These are just a few songs from these games, there are so SO many more I could link. There are so many games I could talk about with great music, but I'll leave that for the comments. If there are any songs from media you love, feel free to link them and I'll check them out. I want to know what music from movies or games effects you the most, maybe even explain why, I'm genuinely curious.
Or, make a blog post of your own and link it, I'm eager to see what other people think and if anyone feels the same as I do.