The Floofer Zone #18 | August 11th, 2024
My Favorite Video Game Soundtracks
Banger after banger
I talk a lot about music on this blog, don’t I?
I recently went back and re-read some of my older blog posts, and there's almost always a paragraph or two near the end where I ramble on about how good the music is, post a link to my favorite piece from the OST, and give a shout-out to the game’s composer by name (maybe I should also do that for other roles like director, writer, or character designer?)
That gave me an idea: while I work on getting back into the swing of writing video game reviews after months away, why not write a smaller post to shine a spotlight on some of my favorite video game music? Starting with…
ESCHATOS (2011, Qute)
ESCHATOS (which I think is pronounced "ess-ka-toss") is a vertical shoot-em-up released by Qute for the Xbox 360 in 2011. In it, you control an unnamed space-faring fighter craft who embarks on a mission to defend the Earth from an alien invasion, orchestrated by a mysterious alien entity known only as “the Purple Erosion” who has taken over the moon. In the years since its initial launch, ESCHATOS has earned ports to PC, Switch, and PS4, as well as a reputation among shmup aficionados for being one of the best in the genre, thanks in no small part to its stellar gameplay and out-of-this-world FM-synth soundtrack by Yousuke Yasui (puns completely intended :3)
I admittedly haven’t spent that much time with this game (I’ve only beaten it once or twice on Normal mode), but I’m eager to go back to it someday, if only just to hear that absolutely incredible FM sound again. Point of No Return (which I embedded above) is obviously the standout track, but I adore Stellar Light too. Really though, the whole fucking soundtrack is nothing but bangers- check it out!!
Etrian Odyssey series (2007-present, Atlus)
On the topic of FM-synth: the Etrian Odyssey series of first-person dungeon crawlers by Atlus is home to some of the most beautiful compositions I’ve ever heard using said style, all thanks to the great Yuzo Koshiro, one of my favorite video game composers :)
I’m not referring to any one game here, but rather the whole series! While I haven’t played all of them (most of my time was spent with Etrian Odyssey 5 specifically), each game in the Etrian saga is packed to the brim with bangers- from serene melodies that accompany exploration, to heart-pounding tracks that play during battles, and everything else in between, the music in these games never disappoints.
In no particular order, some of my favorite Etrian Odyssey songs that I’ve heard are: The Lounge Where We Speak of Tomorrow from Etrian Odyssey 1 (that’s the one above), Forbidden Forest from 2, and The First Campaign from 3.
Also, the later Etrian games on 3DS switch away from the FM-synth to a more traditional orchestral style. And guess what? The music STILL goes hard as fuck!!! Below this paragraph is my favorite Etrian song out of all of them: the orchestral arrangement of Woodland Ruins from Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold.
VVVVVV (2010, Terry Cavanagh)
Any discussion of banger video game tunes just wouldn’t feel complete without a mention of the gravity-flipping indie game VVVVVV (which I think is pronounced “The Letter V Six Times”? Don’t quote me on that lol)
In this brutally difficult platformer, u control Captain Viridian, a captain of a space-faring crew who must venture out into dimension VVVVVV to rescue his comrades after an accident involving a teleporter scatters them across space. Equally as legendary as the game itself is its excellent soundtrack, composed by Swedish chiptune musician Magnus Pålsson, a.k.a. SoulEye. Magnus fucking cooked when he made these songs- to this day it is still some of the best, catchiest, most fun chiptune music I’ve ever heard (and I’ve played stuff like Shovel Knight and the Scott Pilgrim game, so I don’t say that lightly!). VVVVVV is one of very few games where I can confidently say that every song in the OST is a classic. As one reviewer on the soundtrack’s Bandcamp page puts it: the only problem with it is that there isn’t enough of it!
If u must know my favorite track, it’s Pushing Onwards… but please, click on the Bandcamp link in the previous paragraph and listen to the whole OST!! It’s short and sweet, and I guarantee u won’t regret it :3
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (2008, Konami)
And last but certainly not least, one of my favorite soundtracks from one of my favorite video games: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia :)
This semi-sequel to Symphony of the Night stars Shanoa, a warrior on a quest to regain her memories after a failed ritual. Rather than collect physical weapons, Shanoa uses glyphs: magical manifestations of weapons, spells, and other tools that she can use to fight. Unlike other castlevanias where MP is a precious resource that u spend sparingly on big attacks, everything Shanoa does costs MP… but the tradeoff is that MP regenerates very quickly, and u get access to more powerful and unique regular attacks than in other games. For me, this change to the moment-to-moment gameplay makes Ecclesia the best game in the series, and it has the best soundtrack by a country mile! Composed by the absolute GOAT of Castlevania music herself, Michiru Yamane (alongside Yasuhiro Ichihashi), Ecclesia joins the ranks of VVVVVV in my list of games where nearly every song is an absolute BANGER.
I could go on, but… just fucking listen to it it's so GOOD
I don’t think there’s a single bad song in Ecclesia, it really is just that incredible
And finally, while it was REALLY hard to pick a favorite… I think I’m gonna have to give it to Jaws of a Scorched Earth. Take a listen:
That's everything for now. Stay tuned for next time on The Floofer Zone where I discuss the validity of removing the jelly from a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and just eating a peanut butter sandwich bc that's the part that makes it taste good anyway. oh and maybe i'll talk about a video game idk /joke