While you’re collecting yourself from a memory of something from Silent Hill, I’ll move on to what inspired these words:
Pandora’s Tower establishes something a little different in terms of the game’s soundtrack. Some of the game’s major themes are actually classical compositions by Franz Liszt, Caccini, Bedrich Smetana, Verdi, and Tchaikovsky. While I don’t have a particularly strong background in classical music, I am far more interested in what this means for the evolution of music in games. While original compositions are fantastic, and there are an infinite number of Japanese and American composers that deserve your time and attention… Pandora’s Tower takes its songs right from some of the origins of classical music.
A game that is indeed a testament to how the medium has evolved over time…certainly knows its roots when it comes to music, knows the raw power of the “classic” composer. I wonder if the game’s environment and story will seem antique when accentuated by such wonderful music. This sentiment doesn’t just express my interest in music—it’s also one more reason this game should be on everyone’s radar, including North America’s.
A game’s soundtrack has influence on the environment of the game, its character interactions, and even, to some extent, the one who’s playing it. Whether unique compositions make leaps and bounds towards the future of gaming, or whether a game borrows from the roots of classical music that inspired people long ago, there is simply no denying the impact that songs have on you while you hold your controller.
When I’m amongst friends as I attend the Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses tour this July, if I get to hear The Ballad of the Wind Fish from Link’s Awakening with a full orchestra performed live, right in front of my very eyes, my inner-child, who still remembers when I was first moved by the song in its more primitive form, will soar.
Music won’t just continue to evolve over time… the music that’s already here will transcend.
Don’t forget to buy Pandora’s Tower when it releases Spring 2013!
