And I couldn’t think of a better example of this than The Banner Saga trilogy. All of them filled with great music written for games that are mostly all about gameplay.īut every now and again comes a story-based game that really benefits from a fully-thematic, sprawling score as detailed and intricate as the narrative it’s supporting. Just look at things like the Minecraft expansions, the Civilization games, or platformers like Cuphead, LittleBigPlanet or the Mario franchise. And mind you, I’m not implying that a score for a game with little to no story is lesser than one for a story-based game. Of course, a composer can only tell a traditional musical narrative if the project they’re scoring tells a story of its own, and with games coming in literally all shapes and sizes, that’s not always the case. When done well, hearing the score react to you as the game unfolds can be a powerful experience. With games it’s even more fascinating because of their interactive nature. There’s nothing quite like hearing a musical gesture at exactly the right moment in a film, making you feel something that the images and sounds alone wouldn’t have been able to do. Hearing a piece of music against film or gameplay is a special kind of joy to behold. Musical constructs evolving over time to complement ever-shifting dynamics in both character and plot, taking the score in interesting directions and helping provoke that palpable rush of emotions that emanate from a well-told story. No words, no lyrics, just melodies, instrumentation and development. The thought of representing characters, places, relationships, or esoteric concepts through music. One of the things that attracts me to game, film and TV scores that other types of music don’t really offer is the idea of it supporting a story portrayed on the screen.
#The banner saga varl series#
It’s The Banner Saga month in Game Music Hub! This article continues a four-week coverage on Austin Wintory’s stunning trilogy of scores for the tactical, turn-based RPG series of games.
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