Is videogame music is enough to hold an ENTIRE game?

[DioWallachia]

Some music while you read (as always on my part):


I was playing the game "Poacher" made by Yahtzee a few months ago and after noticing the LACK of music on it, except on boss battles, made me realize how.....umh....."indoctrinated" i am into expecting music going along with the game. Now, don't get me wrong, the game HAS music in form of ambient music (that resets a few times when you cross a screen) it is just jarring when i am wandering on an area with a sort off relaxing ambiance, and then i reach a boss battle and SUDDENLY HEAVY METAL STARTS TO PLAY!! It breaks the tone of the game specially when the first boss battle ever on that game is a Giant Evil Rabbit of some kind with a very silly music playing.

Then i realize that i didn't know what tone the game has from the beginning because it never had one. I couldn't wrap my mind on how i should feel in several moments.

Also it made me question if all the games up until this point have been actually good or i was there just for the music. The only way to know is playing without it and see what happens but it sounds silly isn't it? a piece of work/art is just the sum of all its part, making something greater than it was originally, also know as "Gesamtkunstwerk"

Lets suppose, for the sake of argument, that the game should be more like: 33% Gameplay + 33% Story + 33% Music = ART, right?
But what would happen if all this time, the formula on games you played was more like: 10% Gameplay + 10% Story + 80% Music = ART? that would explain why some scenes that SHOULD be able to hold up on their own just fall apart like they aren't there without the music.

Think about, for example, Silent Hill 2 without this piece of music:


Shouldn't the moment alone be enough to carry the game? or we need the music to tell us how to react/feel?

EDIT: Amazingly enough, a few days after posting this, Red Letter Media mentioned a phenomena like that in its review of "The Dark Knight Rises". Hell, they even used the example of % to illustrate how sound is more than the 50% of what makes a movie. Its nice to know that i am getting to their lvl of reasoning.

You should view from 1:50 to 3:00

Spoiler

 

[Savo]

Well, I think that music is necessary to punctuate important moments in any visual medium. It sets the tone for a scene by working in coordination with what's happening on the screen to provoke greater reactions out of the viewer. You play ominous music during suspenseful scenes, upbeat tracks during action sequences, and heartrending violin music during sad scenes.

It works hand in hand with the story, or as in video-games, the gameplay as well, to create a fully realized experience.

Think of all the heartbreaking scenes you've seen in films, TV, and videogames over the years. Now imagine them without the sad music. Just isn't the same, now is it? Probably the best example I can think of this would be the ending to Lost. Take away the track "Moving On" that plays during the last scene and you lose a bunch of the emotional impact.

As you pointed out, Silent Hill 2 is a fantastic example of music in video-games complementing the story and atmosphere of the game. It'd still be a decent game without the music, but it'd feel hollow.

I don't think that music could purely carry a game (as you said, 80% music), but it's not impossible. I'd have to see a good example of it.

 

[Sean Hollyman]

Well Betrayal only played during one boss fight near the end.. quite a short boss fight too.

And I don't think it's enough to hold the entire game, but it does make it better, if that makes sense.

 

[DioWallachia]

I don't think that music could purely carry a game (as you said, 80% music), but it's not impossible. I'd have to see a good example of it.

Is just that, when you think about it, it seems that without the music the game just feels....wrong, like everything else doesn't matter if that missing chunk is not there, when in reality it should feel that bad when the rest is there to hold up............unless they didnt hold up the game at all from the very beginning.

Lets try to compare some games of the Shoot-Em-Up genre, since for (some) people they all look the same. Lets have a look at one of the best IMHO of the genre:

Spoiler

Thunder Force IV on its best lvl and music, Bio Lab - Metal Squad

EDIT: There is also Tyrian but lets just go one at the time.

 

[Tupolev]

So that would mean that (in theory) the game should be more like: 33% Gameplay + 33% Story + 33% Music = ART, right?
But what would happen if all this time, the formula on games you played was more like: 10% Gameplay + 10% Story + 80% Music = ART?

As if there should be a particular general-purpose ratio for some weird rubric, as if these things couldn't all interact in very complex ways that differ between games.

Common assumptions, but weird assumptions.

 

[DioWallachia]

So that would mean that (in theory) the game should be more like: 33% Gameplay + 33% Story + 33% Music = ART, right?
But what would happen if all this time, the formula on games you played was more like: 10% Gameplay + 10% Story + 80% Music = ART?

As if there should be a particular general-purpose ratio for some weird rubric, as if these things didn't all interact in very complex ways that differ between games.

It is just an example to drive point. It to further indicate how would it feel when a game has a music that makes the most effort than the rest of its parts COMBINED.

 

[DioWallachia]

Well Betrayal only played during one boss fight near the end.. quite a short boss fight too.

And I don't think it's enough to hold the entire game, but it does make it better, if that makes sense.

Yes, but its the ICONIC music from that game, the one that EVERYONES recognizes.

 

[DioWallachia]

Take away the track "Moving On" that plays during the last scene and you lose a bunch of the emotional impact.

Wont that mean that the REST of the things that made the scene (story, voice acting, animation, cinematography) have FAILED in its purpose to evoke emotion? Why the music is such a powerful force that the instant it is gone, everything else is like it wasnt there?

 

[BeeGeenie]

People say that videogames (and movies, and TV) are a visual medium, but that's only because background music is so ubiquitous that we don't even think about it. Music has always been used by these industries to heighten the emotional resonance of their media.

Music won't make a bad game good, but it can definitely make a good game more memorable.

For an interesting read on the evolutionary and psycho-social benefits of music, check out "The World in Six Songs" or "This is Your Brain on Music" by Daniel Levitin.

 

[Sean Hollyman]

Well Betrayal only played during one boss fight near the end.. quite a short boss fight too.

And I don't think it's enough to hold the entire game, but it does make it better, if that makes sense.

Yes, but its the ICONIC music from that game, the one that EVERYONES recognizes.

Really, I alwas thought this was the one everyone knew..

 

[DioWallachia]

People say that videogames (and movies, and TV) are a visual medium, but that's only because background music is so ubiquitous that we don't even think about it. Music has always been used by these industries to heighten the emotional resonance of their media.

Music won't make a bad game good, but it can definitely make a good game more memorable.

For an interesting read on the evolutionary and psycho-social benefits of music, check out "The World in Six Songs" or "This is Your Brain on Music" by Daniel Levitin.

The way that this thing bugs me is that great music is kinda like Silent Protagonist on videogames, if you get what i am talking about.

Is kinda convenient that "great" games that everyone loves happens to have Silent Protagonist for the people to project to, in the same way that other "great" games have very nice music. To the point that it makes you wonder what happen if those elements are removed? were they carrying the game all along?

"Music won't make a bad game good"

That would be certain for The Cheethamen of Action52, but then again, we are only starting this thread, so who knows what games are saved by the music alone.

 

[Savo]

Take away the track "Moving On" that plays during the last scene and you lose a bunch of the emotional impact.

Wont that mean that the REST of the things that made the scene (story, voice acting, animation, cinematography) have FAILED in its purpose to evoke emotion? Why the music is such a powerful force that the instant it is gone, everything else is like it wasnt there?

Don't get me wrong, the music isn't everything when it comes to emotional impact. You need good writing, acting, cinematography, etc to start with to create an emotionally powerful scene, all the good music in the world won't make up for a lack of that. It's just that... it's not the same anymore if you take away the music. You can still have a great scene, but a good soundtrack can elevate a scene to a higher level if used properly.

It's probably because we're so used to music being there. Every visual medium like TV, film, etc uses music to set the tone, so now that we're used to it, things feel hollow and weird if we don't have music. When I try and think about my favorite pieces of media stripped of all their background music, I have trouble imagining what it'd feel like.

 

[General Twinkletoes]

I think so. I wouldn't enjoy legend of zelda games nearly as much if they didn't have the music. I don't think I would like them at all actually :/

 

[DioWallachia]

I think so. I wouldn't enjoy legend of zelda games nearly as much if they didn't have the music. I don't think I would like them at all actually :/

See? that is what i am talking about! i guess that all this years of you playing Zelda were because some guy that made the music did such a good job that you ignored the game's flaws.

I can understand, say, an old NES game like Batman: Return of The Joker to kinda depend on its soundtrack to kick ass, but what happens when newer and more advanced games STILL fall flat without the music?

Spoiler

 

[FalloutJack]

I'm going to go with no.

Music plays an important part of gaming, but if it were all anybody needed, you could hire yourself out as a music company and save a ton of cash on everything else. No, games need GAME in them. It needs control and fun and for something for the music to flow TO.

 

[Reyold]

And I don't think it's enough to hold the entire game, but it does make it better, if that makes sense.

I agree. The music makes the game better, but it's not enough to carry a game. After all, the point of any videogame is interactivity, and if that's not good, than the game's not worth it. Now, music can a very important elements in games (especially rhythm games), but not enough to essentially replace gameplay. If you did that, you're better off releasing a CD or something.

 

[Sean Hollyman]

I know it's from CoD, but I don't care. Just an example I thought of.


The music fits it really well. Try and imagine that scene now with no music at all. It wouldnt be as good, wouldn't it? Everything needs fitting music.

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

Music can be an intergral part of a game's success, but it needs more than that to actually succeed. I'm sure everybody knows of one very popular franchise that simply wouldn't have been the same without its music.

Spoiler

While Star Wars still would've been a perfectly serviceable film without the John Williams score, it simply wouldn't have resonated as well with audiences.

So the soundtrack can be an integral part to a film or game's success. But it's a lot like cooking. You could still make a good dish with one ingredient being of poor quality, or even being completely absent, but some recipes simply won't work without that one ingredient. And inversely, one very potent ingredient can't save the dish if everything else is rubbish, or the skills with which they are handled are lacking.

 

[DioWallachia]

I'm going to go with no.

Music plays an important part of gaming, but if it were all anybody needed, you could hire yourself out as a music company and save a ton of cash on everything else. No, games need GAME in them. It needs control and fun and for something for the music to flow TO.

What about the cases like "GeneralTwinkle" over there? The mere idea that the game isn't serviceable enough without the music seems to bring a lot of implications about the games we thought we love but only IF they had the music on.

 

[FalloutJack]

I'm going to go with no.

Music plays an important part of gaming, but if it were all anybody needed, you could hire yourself out as a music company and save a ton of cash on everything else. No, games need GAME in them. It needs control and fun and for something for the music to flow TO.

What about the cases like "GeneralTwinkle" over there? The mere idea that the game isn't serviceable enough without the music seems to bring a lot of implications about the games we thought we love but only IF they had the music on.

Only way to know is to turn it off and find out.