Saturday, December 3, 2011

Veni Vici Video(games)


Skyrim
Been playing a lot of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim recently, and it's got a soundtrack... by series veteran, Jeremy Soule. Makes me think of videogame music from my past - 21st century style!

Here's a taste:


"Skyrim Main Theme" by Jeremy Soule, from TES V: Skyrim (2011)

America. Art: butterfly collecting.

Nothing like Viking chants to get you going! To, uh... pick flowers, catch butterflies, mine some iron, cook some soup, and maybe fight some dragons and such.



"Propaganda" by Christophe Heral, from Beyond Good & Evil (2003)

France. Art: nature photography.

BG&E nature photo
You play a photojournalist in a world secretly being overtaken by nefarious forces. Your uncle is a talking pig. This music plays in the seedy Akuda Bar.



"The Street Band" by Tomas Dvorak, from Machinarium (2009)

Czech. Art: puzzlery.

You play a robot on an adventure in a robot city, built out of puzzles. There's a street band jamming out in one location. They are involved in a puzzle. This is actually a more typical song from the soundtrack. [previous post]



"Bee'Jam Blues" by Mojo King Bee, from Gitaroo Man (2002)

Japan. Art: insanity.

A very weird game. You play a lovestruck young man who is secretly from a race with alien guitar-weaponry. Musical villains try to prevent you from realizing your destiny. One of them is a black trumpeter in a glam bee suit. Or maybe he's a trumpeting bee in a black glam costume...



"Reggae Aircheck" by K.K. Slider, from Animal Crossing (2002)

Japan. Art: interior design.

Super-relaxing. You play a person who moves to a pastoral small town, home to various animals who come and go. This music was playing on one of my favorite villager's jambox. It was T-Bone (a bull), and his house was filled with nothing but plants and an aquarium, and he was lazy, always hungry, with short-term memory problems... and he was always listening to reggae. He eventually moved out of town, and I was sad to see him go. K.K. Slider is a traveling musician (a dog) who sells you tapes, here's the original live version.



"Call of Magic / Nerevar Rising" by Jeremy Soule, from Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002)

And back to U.S.A. Art: fiction.

Uhhh, wow. You play the reincarnation of an ancient warrior-hero, who was secretly double-crossed by his allies, in an effort to stave off a greater evil, which has now returned. The betrayal of your pre-existence also lead to your 3 traitorous buddies being made into living gods who are now worshipped by the modern Temple of Vvardenfell. There are other godlike demon-spirit personalities roaming, the 'dwarves' have disappeared under unknown mystical circumstances, there's friction between the indiginous peoples and the Imperial occupation, and then there's your typical 'side quest' high-jinks and tomfoolery. O yeah, and lotsa books to read. It's a trip.

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