There’s something that has been bugging me for a very long time now when it comes to darker games like Dark Souls, Blasphemous and most recently, The Last Faith. Game developers used to create music that fits the game atmosphere and would really get you in the zone. There are numerous examples from games like Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden, Mega Man and even lesser known titles like Monster Party (which deserves a remake) Astyanax and even GI Joe Atlantis Factor. These games are all fairly old, but they had great chiptune soundtracks that would keep you playing. Even games like Chrono Trigger and Sonic 2&3 had remarkable soundtracks. Castlevania knew how to hook us with the very opening to Symphony Of The Night which had a guitar in it. There’s was a rock, even heavy metal backbone to the game, which followed on into other titles. Bloodstained also did the same thing. The boss battles were especially high energy. However, when it comes to a lot of more darker themed games lately, the rock and metal has disappeared entirely.
The oddest thing here for me is that this starts with Japan, a culture that ultimately embraces metal and has put several metal idol groups together like Baby Metal and Hanabie. Marty Friedman is looked at as “Mr. Metal” over there. So what happened? Well, for starters I want to blame the one man responsible for all of this – Motoi Sakuraba. Sakuraba is known for the music in the first three Dark Souls games, a series heavily influenced by Kentaro Miura (RIP) and more than likely a lot of dark fantasy and heavy metal. Anyone who has seen a heavy metal album cover, even some of the most vile ones can tell that those were an influence in his at times very graphic and disturbing imagery for the series, considered one of the most mature series in the whole of manga due to It’s explicit nature. Even the anime pulled no punches, at least within the 97 series and the three film adaptations.
However, with the Dark Souls games, There’s very little to chew on in terms of soundtrack. It’s mostly atmosphere, even when at points of high tension, like when fighting giant monsters. In a series so influenced by the look of Berserk and heavy metal, there is no music in the game that actually fits the high energy atmosphere. I won’t say that the heavy orchestras and choirs can’t do it, but it becomes old, very fast. I’ve already tired of orchestras and symphonic atmospheres as the norm in most games, which honestly sounds lazy. Even for an orchestra. I get that it takes some time to compose different pieces, but the issue is that many wind up being variations on the same piece. We’re not talking about a Septic Flesh situation here or any other band that uses orchestras, as the main issue stems from orchestral pieces being all that we get these days. Japanese soundtrack composers used to love heavy metal and remember that legendary Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu loved it so much that he created a progressive metal band called The Black Mages, which performed all the songs live. This is the way he wanted them to sound – and it was electrifying.
Unfortunately, we no longer have that and my honest opinion isn’t that it is completely Sakuraba’s fault. Obviously, From Software knew that big budget AAA games were using more atmosphere and orchestral pieces, which are honestly probably cheaper than paying musicians to do the music for a game. So they opted to use the same approach. That is all well and good and I’ve explained my issues there, but it isn’t going to change as long as people accept it. Yet therein lies the problem. A lot of Soulslike games, 2D games like The Lost Faith, Blasphemous (which I will give some credit because of the Cathedral music at least) and others are opting to follow the same boring formula as the 3D AAA games. Yet what this does is leave us with a sense of boredom. I get it devs, the city is dreary place, but do you really have to go all out with a simple violin piece that can be thrown together in seconds? This is the case with The Lost Faith, which is a fun experience but lacks so much in terms of music. It’s just literally “let’s use dark orchestra music with a choir” for every boss. This is unacceptable for a studio like Kumi Souls, which is based in London.
Go look up “English doom metal bands” for me right now. Go on, type it into Google. You’ll see with no surprise to anyone, that the UK is the hub for this kind of music. The very progenitors of the genre, Black Sabbath are there. Paradise Lost, Witchfinder General, Electric Wizard, the almighty My Dying Bride who actually uses violins in their dreary doom dirges and even Cathedral. Forty-Seven bands to be exact, and with a game that made 210,000 euros on Kickstarter (which is over the 45,000 euro goal) they should have had more than enough money to cover hiring a band, especially one right there from the home of Doom metal, England; to compose the soundtrack for their game. Could you even imagine if the doom metal titans My Dying Bride composed the soundtrack for this thing? It would not only encapsulate the feeling of dread that the devs originally wanted, but it would make for a fittingly Gothic soundcape that would surely be the best for both parties. My Dying Bride would have new fans and The Last Faith might get new supporters who are there just for the soundtrack. Plus It’s been a good while since we’ve had a new record from these gents and it wouldn’t be a bad thing to hear them in the studio composing pieces for this thrilling Gothic Soulslike adventure.
And that’s what I’m talking about. Right now, musicians are making less money than they ever have. People don’t really buy records anymore, even with the fierce vinyl collectors. Many bands make their money from merch sales and the pittance most get from streaming services. It’s a sad, unfortunate truth. So for a band to put their music into a video game like this one, where not only new fans would be exposed, but they could make something off the royalties; would be a weight off their back. Other bands would want to join in. In fact, one of the devs from the Postal series more or less told me via email that “there’s no shortage of bands who want to do music for our game.” His reasoning was quite sound on that, because Postal has a radio station so they would have to book time with a DJ to record lines every time a new song was featured in the game. That kind of studio time is not cheap, especially for a game that isn’t quite doing as well as expected.
But that’s not the case with MOST games. And it certainly didn’t stop CD Projekt Red from using a lot of popular bands and giving them all different names and titles in Cyberpunk 2077. A new radio station was even added into the game with Sasha Grey as the DJ. Even if Kumi Souls doesn’t have the CDPR money (they don’t) they can still hire a band or several to produce music for this game. Artists are chomping at the bit right now for these opportunities and with such high marks given to the game in general, you can see how it would’ve been a tide that lifted all boats.
Shouldn’t that be the point of it all? Lifting all boats? Helping musicians out who desperately need it and giving a great game a better soundtrack? I’d even be fine with paying for an alternate soundtrack as a DLC option. Nintendo gave players that option with their Super Mario RPG Remake this year as well (which is fantastic), showing that maybe it should be time for players to choose how they want to experience the game. Maybe you feel my idea is too heavy and too metal, so you’d pick the original soundtrack. That’s fine – but for those of us who want a pummeling soundtrack, something that really fits the spirit of the game better than the atmosphere we’ve heard for years now; It’s a more than welcomed addition. I’d love to see more metal in these types of games. I’d like to see more music options in general for these types of games. Because for some of us, the last thing I want to experience while I’m going through the adventure you’ve crafted is boredom.
– The Grim Lord