Breath of the Wild's music soundtrack, oh my goodness is it bad.

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

They should have hired Jesper Kyd to do the music. After Darksiders II score it amazes me that more people aren't lining up to hire him to compose the music for their open world games. And Darksiders II seems heavily inspired by Zelda games, so it would have been a good match.

 

[Hades]

It certainly has a little less ''oomf'' to it but would more bombastic tracks fit with a game that takes place after the apocalypse?

 

[Guffe]

For me the perfect fit to this game would be Running Free and Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden!!
I am mainly running around without anything binding me, towards hills, so that would be my choice

 

[Foolery]

Isn't the music in BOTW context-sensitive? As in, it changes with what's happening on screen. I thought I read that somewhere.

 

[Fox12]

Yeah, the moment I saw you say it was terrible, I kind of figured I would love it.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

this makes me think I am just looking at a beautiful grassland from a Window.

Isn't that what you do a lot in the game, though? It seems to fit the "vast empty quiet land" vibe BotW has going for it pretty well I'd say, and isn't the goal of an OST to increase the specific mood a game wants to set?

Also, the OST is a lot less synthetic as you might think. It has digital effects thrown in, yes, but there's a lot of orchestration going on there.

Well this is a point where I completely disapprove of the theming of the soundtrack.

But it's the same theming as the game. You need those to match when you create an OST, or else you get tonal dissonance. And unless your goal to create a comedy or parody piece, you don't exactly want that.

Well if they were going for that vibe they failed, Shadow of the Colossus did it better.

 

[RaikuFA]

Yeah, try again.

A game's soundtrack is supposed to add to the tone the game is trying to set. This game is about you being alone in the wilderness, with the vast open plains showing small signs of a world that once was, but has long gone silent. The soundtrack illustrates this perfectly.

It's a samtendo thread, what do you think would be said?

 

[Cowabungaa]

Well if they were going for that vibe they failed, Shadow of the Colossus did it better.

What? Shadow of the Colussus' OST is majestic as fuck. It's not even nearly the same vibe. I don't see at all how BotW's OST failed at resonating with the empty, post-apocalyptic atmosphere of the actual game.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Well if they were going for that vibe they failed, Shadow of the Colossus did it better.

What? Shadow of the Colussus' OST is majestic as fuck. It's not even nearly the same vibe. I don't see at all how BotW's OST failed at resonating with the empty, post-apocalyptic atmosphere of the actual game.

I was thinking of music like this and I think this would also resonate with the Empty athmosphere of Breat of the Wild:

 

[SmallHatLogan]

Well if they were going for that vibe they failed, Shadow of the Colossus did it better.

What? Shadow of the Colussus' OST is majestic as fuck. It's not even nearly the same vibe. I don't see at all how BotW's OST failed at resonating with the empty, post-apocalyptic atmosphere of the actual game.

I was thinking of music like this and I think this would also resonate with the Empty athmosphere of Breat of the Wild:

I could be remembering wrong but doesn't Shadow of the Colossus have large stretches of no music at all? Pretty sure those atmospheric pieces only play when you enter a boss arena, then once you start the fight it switches to the loud epic music. General exploration/travelling is silent apart from sound effects.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Well if they were going for that vibe they failed, Shadow of the Colossus did it better.

What? Shadow of the Colussus' OST is majestic as fuck. It's not even nearly the same vibe. I don't see at all how BotW's OST failed at resonating with the empty, post-apocalyptic atmosphere of the actual game.

I was thinking of music like this and I think this would also resonate with the Empty athmosphere of Breat of the Wild:

I could be remembering wrong but doesn't Shadow of the Colossus have large stretches of no music at all? Pretty sure those atmospheric pieces only play when you enter a boss arena, then once you start the fight it switches to the loud epic music. General exploration/travelling is silent apart from sound effects.

And I think that's what made it even more effective, no music at all in the exploration parts. Something Breath of the Wild failed if they wanted to capture to empty, post apocalyptic aspect.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

They should have hired Jesper Kyd to do the music. After Darksiders II score it amazes me that more people aren't lining up to hire him to compose the music for their open world games. And Darksiders II seems heavily inspired by Zelda games, so it would have been a good match.

He does a lot for video games in general, captures their essence perfectly to me. After hearing his work in the Hitman series, I was convinced he was one of the best ambient composers of all time.

OT: The track linked by OP does sound somewhat empty and minecraft-ish, definitely not very inspiring. Just feels 'stationary', if that could be used to describe. And from what I've seen in BotW, everything is colorful and pretty peaceful, but it's always flowing and moving, alive with wind. The song feels like it would start flowing, but stays focused, to the point of unnatural. More like watching a cocoon open in a nature doco, rather than running thru fields.

Then again, context matters, maybe for where it's used in the game it fits better?

 

[disarraygun]

Huh. I have really been loving the music as I have been playing through BotW. I finally put this on while working today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGgnwpY8cuM

Listening to the music on its own: I am floored at how subtle and beautiful this soundtrack is. I suppose I have to heartily disagree with the OP here. Zelda is my favorite game series pretty much since the original game came out, and I have loved the music of this series--I'll listen to it frequently while working etc.

I really adored the Skyward Sword OST, and think Dragoon Roost island from WW is one of the best Zelda tracks ever ... or at least I thought that ...

IMO, this soundtrack is a surprise and on a very different level than what has come before. It is so different than a lot game music out there right now for one, but what's more: it's a really mature expression of this series. To me, it feels like the older, wizened Zelda score. There's subtlety. There are echoes of Steve Reich--maybe a little Aaron Copland. And the execution: the way the music transitions and the way it inhabits the world, rather than overpowering it, feels amazing. I also love how older themes are sometimes buried just beneath the spare compositions. It's artful, thematically great, and I really, really love it.

It's a bit too soon to say it's my favorite score of the series to date, but I wouldn't count that out.

Ugh. This game...<3

 

[VarietyGamer]

The game has over 4 hours of music, not including ambient sound. It is an amazing soundtrack, look up the full 4 hour soundtrack on youtube. Hyrule castle theme may be the best in any zelda ever.

 

[Rangaman]

SNIP

SNIP

Nice necro. That goes fer the both of yas.

Well, might as well say something while I'm here: there's still the standard batch of orchestral Zelda tracks. They're reserved for specific occasions (towns, boss fights, Hyrule Castle) and they're damn good. I'd be lying if I said that this game's rendition of Zora's Domain isn't my favorite rendition. Also, the Hyrule Castle theme is just spectacular:

 

[shani]

I have not played the game

How can you even judge a soundtrack without having experienced the piece of art (game, movie, show) it is made for? Do you even know what the purpose of a soundtrack is?

A game's soundtrack is supposed to add to the tone the game is trying to set. This game is about you being alone in the wilderness, with the vast open plains showing small signs of a world that once was, but has long gone silent. The soundtrack illustrates this perfectly.

That's exactly what it's meant to do and it does that perfectly.

BTW, here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnCb7lpvlSs]'s (AFAIK) the full soundtrack and it does contain orchestral pieces too.
Or maybe this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBnrx_jrQAg] is what you were looking for. Those themes are all orchestral and more like the LoZ OST albums that were previously relased. My favourite is the story trailer theme (the last one in that video). I stell get goosebumpbs and almost teary-eyed whenever I hear it.
BTW, there are also tons of classic tunes from previous games in Botw, like Epona's Song, Zelda's Lullaby or the OoT main theme.

I think context is important. I agree that it's not the most interesting music to just sit down and listen to (well I might listen to it, but a lot of people wouldn't). But when you play the game it fits perfectly. I like Ocarina of Time's Hyrule Field, but having that on loop while spending hours exploring in Breath of the Wild would start to get annoying. Even that WoW music you posted feels a bit too grandiose to fit in.

Exactly! What makes the Botw so much different from previous Zelda games is that it's dynamic. It's not a loop constantly playing in the background, it adapts to what you're doing or experiencing at that moment. It's more like having a few musicians accompany your Botw journey on their instruments.

I'm not saying you have to like the soundtrack per se. I also love to listen to the orchestral soundtrack of Skyward Sword or the 25th Anniversary Special Orchestra CD in my free time and maybe I won't do it that frequently with Botw's soundtrack (although there are some tracks from Link's memories that I'd really like to hear when I'm not playing the game). But that's not what the soundtrack was made for - you have to acknowledge that.

Nice necro.

How is it a necro when the thread is barely two months old? Chill out dude, it's still a new game after all.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

I have not played the game

How can you even judge a soundtrack without having experienced the piece of art (game, movie, show) it is made for? Do you even know what the purpose of a soundtrack is?

A game's soundtrack is supposed to add to the tone the game is trying to set. This game is about you being alone in the wilderness, with the vast open plains showing small signs of a world that once was, but has long gone silent. The soundtrack illustrates this perfectly.

That's exactly what it's meant to do and it does that perfectly.

BTW, here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnCb7lpvlSs]'s (AFAIK) the full soundtrack and it does contain orchestral pieces too.
Or maybe this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBnrx_jrQAg] is what you were looking for. Those themes are all orchestral and more like the LoZ OST albums that were previously relased. My favourite is the story trailer theme (the last one in that video). I stell get goosebumpbs and almost teary-eyed whenever I hear it.
BTW, there are also tons of classic tunes from previous games in Botw, like Epona's Song, Zelda's Lullaby or the OoT main theme.

I think context is important. I agree that it's not the most interesting music to just sit down and listen to (well I might listen to it, but a lot of people wouldn't). But when you play the game it fits perfectly. I like Ocarina of Time's Hyrule Field, but having that on loop while spending hours exploring in Breath of the Wild would start to get annoying. Even that WoW music you posted feels a bit too grandiose to fit in.

Exactly! What makes the Botw so much different from previous Zelda games is that it's dynamic. It's not a loop constantly playing in the background, it adapts to what you're doing or experiencing at that moment. It's more like having a few musicians accompany your Botw journey on their instruments.

I'm not saying you have to like the soundtrack per se. I also love to listen to the orchestral soundtrack of Skyward Sword or the 25th Anniversary Special Orchestra CD in my free time and maybe I won't do it that frequently with Botw's soundtrack (although there are some tracks from Link's memories that I'd really like to hear when I'm not playing the game). But that's not what the soundtrack was made for - you have to acknowledge that.

Nice necro.

How is it a necro when the thread is barely two months old? Chill out dude, it's still a new game after all.

I have played the game now and its still fails for me. And yes I get the point of the music, but I could think of better music to go with the theme, like this for example, imagine this as the Hyrule Field theme for Breath of the Wild:

 

[Michael Devenish]

The music while out exploring is (as I'm sure) purposefully laid back. Sometimes, it's not even there and if you stop, just for a moment, the world is literally silent. However, the music for some cutscenes are amazing. And trust me, when Dinraal descends, you will be left awestruck. Never have I ever had such a (what I can only describe as) celestial moment from a game. Sure I won't go looking for that extremely stripped down song they play when you're out exploring, but Dinraal's theme(?) and the music I "feel" (I honestly can't even say for sure right now if there is music for this moment) they play when that view just opens up before and you can behold the vast land that is this game are songs I want on my phone for reading, relaxing or for when I want some ambience in my life. Your verdict of this ost lacks perspective. They didn't make a masterpiece of a game and mess up something as integral as an ost. Ost's have to match their thing (thing?). Prime example is Zimmer. Listen to Kung Fu Panda 3's, Interstellar, Chappie, Inception and Dark Knight Rises (after you watch each of them). They all fit perfectly. And for my point, I didn't really like Chappie's as a sit down and listen to ost but during the movie, I felt like it was "better" (for the lack of a better word). Reason being: it, as I mentioned before, fit perfectly. Just like botw's.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

I have played the game this time, and I still don't like the laid back music, to the point where almost nothing plays at all for long intervals. It just does not make me excited to explore the world. And this is saying something because I liked Shadow of the Colossus and I think it handled it better.