To cap off the first week of 2012, I finally finished my first playthrough of Skyrim this weekend! I wrapped up both the Mage’s Guild and Civil War questlines, thus earning the remaining achievements I had left (S-rank get!). I have to say, it feels pretty good to get that albatross out of the way. For as much as I have enjoyed Skyrim, I think I hit the burnout stage a few weeks ago. Yet, being the stubborn gamer I am I kept going, and plowed through the remaining quests I had as quickly as I could.

There’s not much left to say about Skyrim really. It’s a fantastic game of course, and I’ve enjoyed the vast majority of the time I’ve spent with it, even if it started to drag towards the end. Open world games always do that for me though, and it speaks to how good Skyrim is that it hooked me for as long as it did. If I have one parting comment on Skyrim, it’s that I hope future Elder Scrolls games can get away from the contrived storylines they typically have for the various factions. Namely, the way you go from zero to hero almost instantaneously in every single faction is pretty ridiculous. It feels unearned on the whole, especially given the fact that there’s always a better candidate for leader than you. While I’m at it, being able to lead every single faction simultaneously is just silly, and feels too convenient. It’s a narrative cop-out (“You get to have everything, because, you know, video games!”) that makes me feel like I’m never really a part of these groups, as if the rules everyone else follows don’t apply to me. If I could change one thing for future Elder Scrolls games, it would be to make the faction questlines more down to earth. I might actually get into the fiction if I felt like a genuine participant in the world rather than an exception who operates above it.

That probably won’t happen though. The Elder Scrolls games have never functioned that way; they’re more about giving you more power all the time. Oh well, c’est la vie. All I know is that I’m done with Skyrim for a long, long time. I probably won’t touch it again until all the DLC is officially out, at the earliest. My next target is my second Dark Souls playthrough, which I couldn’t be more excited about. Despite it being another long winded RPG, it’s a great change of pace from Skyrim, and I’m really curious to test this character idea I’ve been thinking about for a while now, one that should play very differently from my pyromancer. It could end up being completely amazing or the dumbest thing ever. I’ll describe the build in detail next week, along with early results.

Otherwise, I’ve been getting my feet wet in The Old Republic. I’ve never been a MMO guy, and probably never will, but TOR does a handful of things that I’m liking so far. I like the general flow of the quests, and that I always have plenty of them to do. It lets me focus on the quests themselves rather than actively grinding, which is what typically drags me down in MMOs. I also like that I can solo the vast majority of quests, and I’m starting to think they might have been telling the truth when they said you could solo the entire game, which I’d be happy about. I also like the production values and story stuff so far. It may not be super intricate, but it still gives a much better sense of purpose to what you’re doing than most MMOs ever do. All of this stuff combines to make it feel almost as much like a single player game as it does a MMO, which is awesome for someone like me who generally doesn’t like MMOs. Maybe it bothers others, but I’m liking it so far. That being said, I still have to pace myself, or else I know I’d burn out on it quickly. I’m actively not playing if I’m not in the right mood for it, and still feel very fresh on it, so that’s a plus. I'm sure I'll have plenty more to say about TOR in the coming weeks.

Oh, one last piece of news: my StarCraft 2v2 partner and I got promoted to Diamond recently! I know 2v2 Diamond League is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but given how little we actually play anymore I’m pretty proud of that. Now watch us get demoted the next time we play... Anyway, that’s all for now; until next time!

Currently playing: Dark Souls, Star Wars: The Old Republic

I love Metroid music, and a big reason why is that it often does an amazing job at contributing to the thick atmosphere that the best Metroid games can create. In a lot of ways, that sense of atmosphere can be traced all the way back to the original Metroid’s title theme. It’s an iconic theme that sums up a lot of what the series as a whole is about, and we now have a wonderful remix from Shinesparkers’ recent 25th anniversary album to supplement it. But first, the original.

The original Metroid theme is simple and pure. It makes me think of space, from the sci-fi chip tunes to the hollow void it seems to create. Space is, first and foremost, big, empty and lonely. The sparse, reverberating beats that the song opens with seem to emphasize just how big and empty space really can be. Not only does this fit with Metroid’s general sci-fi aesthetic, but more importantly it underscores what I have always felt is one of the Metroid series’ defining characteristics. In most Metroid games you are exploring an unknown, hostile world all by yourself. There’s nobody else to interact with, or provide any kind of support. The games can be about being isolated and on your own as much as anything, which is precisely the feeling I get from the opening of this theme.

A little ways in, however, a new melody kicks in (around the 30 second mark in the above video). The song gets a little more upbeat, and all of a sudden doesn’t sound so lonely anymore, while still retaining the same general sci-fi vibe. This, to me, represents how majestic and wondrous space can be. There are countless mysteries and secrets to find among the endless expanse, and this section of the song seems to approach that idea with a healthy curiosity. I’ve always felt that the act of exploring large, unfamiliar worlds is another one of Metroid’s key traits. There’s always something new and interesting to see around every corner, and that immersive sense of exploration and discovery is something games rarely come close to matching. That’s one of the big reasons I love the franchise as much as I do, and I feel that quality is well represented in this classic song.

In the Beginning is, for the most part, a straightforward remix of that original Metroid theme. It contains the same basic melodies, but rearranges it into a full song with a solid arc (rather than a short snippet that’s meant to be looped), and replaces the sketchy NES sounds with the always fantastic piano. As such, the same general themes apply: space, solitude, discovery and adventure are still at the heart of this song. And yet, I feel like its masterful arrangement and fantastic sound quality convey these themes even better than the original. The way is starts out so soft and empty, then transitions into a period of curiosity and wonder, all to end with a segment that seems to embrace the pure excitement of discovery is just mesmerizing to me. I simply can’t imagine a better representation of the Metroid franchise and all it stands for than this. That the song manages to be so incredibly beautiful at the same time is almost too good to be true. In the Beginning is a great remix of a classic song, and my hat’s off to the folks at Shinesparkers for their awesome work.

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I've been on GiantBomb since the beginning, and have posted a user review for pretty much every “new” game I’ve played since. That’s a whopping 118 reviews (don’t trust the number the site lists, it lies!) in about three and a half years, which, in retrospect, is kind of nuts. In that time I came up with a style that worked well for me, that focused on giving concise, fluff-free reactions on why I thought a game was worth playing or not. There have been plenty of ups, such as my review for Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One being a featured user review back during a time when GiantBomb did that sort of thing. Even better are the (very) rare occasions when someone would leave a comment on a review saying that it helped them make up their mind about whether to purchase said game. That kind of stuff genuinely feels good.

Of course, there have been some downs too, such as a few reviews getting “downvoted” into oblivion for unknown reasons. Worst of all, and the real crux of the matter, is when the review format feels restrictive. I’ve had multiple instances, mainly recently, where the only meaningful things I have to say about a game don’t really have a place in an actual “review”. In the traditional sense, reviews are supposed to evaluate the relative quality of a video game and offer purchasing advice; that’s my understanding at least. Recently, however, that measure feels limiting. So many technically “good” games come out all the time now, and the only way anyone can parse through them is to get into the nitty gritty about what they personally do or don’t want in a video game, then try to find what’s out there that satisfies their needs. If the Great Gaming Avalanche of Fall 2011 has confirmed anything, it’s that anyone can like or dislike any game, to any degree, for any reason, regardless of what any review says about its quality. Personal preference rules the day in the gaming community, which, in all honestly, is probably for the better. But it sure makes writing reviews weird.

I love writing about games, and for a long time (much longer than the three and a half years GiantBomb has been active) writing reviews felt like the best, most satisfying way to express my thoughts on the games I play. That’s not the case anymore. As time goes on I find myself wanting to be more and more subjective and personal with my writing. I have a lot of ideas I’d like to express that don’t belong in a review, which simply means it’s time to switch formats. I think the general trend of video game journalism is slowly moving in that direction anyway, but that’s a story for another day. For now, I just want to give anyone who actually follows me on GiantBomb a heads up: I will not be writing any more user reviews, at least for the foreseeable future. Instead I will post any writings in this blog space, the format of which I’ll figure out as I go (it will probably be pretty freeform). The one thing I do know, however, is that I won’t stop writing about the games I play anytime soon.

Regardless of how you feel about Final Fantasy XIII on the whole (it seems to be a popular game to give a hard time), it had some pretty darn good music. One of my personal favorites is, surprisingly enough, the battle theme, Blinded by Light.

Blinded by Light starts out simply enough, as it’s very similar to most Final Fantasy battles theme openings. It kicks off with a low, steady beat that proves to be the driving force of the entire song. It’s very emblematic of a war march in a way, and does a great job at mentally prepping the player for the battle ahead. As it goes on it begins to slowly add in more layers, ultimately giving it a lot more texture. First are the horns, which I really dig. They execute a lot of long, sustained notes that are great for building tension. There’s some semblance of a melody here as well, but that’s ultimately the violins’ job. They slowly work their way into the song, and if the drums and horns are the backbone, the violins are the heart. They initially dance around the other instruments, only to eventually break free into a wonderful medley that’s clearly the song’s apex. This is the battle at its most intense state, and this section is extremely catchy and exciting.

I really love this part of the song, and the choice of instrumentation is a big reason why. It’s a distinct sound that not only defines the Final Fantasy XIII soundtrack at large (and help set it apart apart from the other Final Fantasy soundtracks), but it also gels really well with the general aesthetic Final Fantasy XIII is going for. It’s all very light and free; even when crazy stuff is going on it’s not all giant explosions and wailing guitars. Final Fantasy XIII’s tone is a lot more subdued than that, and that nature is represented very well in its soundtrack, battle theme included. That’s the goal of any good video game soundtrack, and one that songs like Blinded by Light work towards splendidly. That it also manages to be a great sounding song that’s fun to listen to makes it even better.

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I really enjoy all the God of War soundtracks; they all bring a slew of epic songs to the table that's practically unmatched by anything else out there. One of my personal favorites in the entire series is Typhon Mountain from God of War II.

All of the songs on the God of War soundtracks are epic of course, and Typhon Mountain is no different. One of the things God of War II specifically introduces to the series are the titans, and I feel that Typhon Mountain does a great job at showcasing the kind of gargantuan presence they create. Right from the start, the notes in Typhon Mountain sound big. You have deep, reverberating beats played from some heavy brass instruments and drums; these are big instruments for big creatures, and the titans deserve no less. It’s a great intro for such sizable characters, and this intro transitions nicely by adding some vocals and smaller horns into the mix. It all gels nicely to give off that ancient Greek vibe that helps define the rest of the soundtrack.

Shortly after the first minute, there’s a distinct, yet brief melody that takes control for a few gripping seconds. I love the basic rhythm of this short string of notes. The trumpets here may not be as big as what’s used at the beginning of the song, but they’re able to pierce through all the other drum beats and cymbal crashes to stand out all on their own. It’s a slightly different, yet equally epic take on what the titans represent, and hints at more to come. The song then backs off in intensity a little bit (or at least as much as a God of War song ever backs off), and starts building up for its climax. Using mostly the big drums and horns it started off with, it ramps up to an even greater moment. Right around the two minute mark almost everything else stops and the trumpets return, even louder than before, to execute their melody once more. This is my favorite part of the entire song, and serves as a nice exclamation on what kind of a sight the titans really must be. It’s almost like the song is stopping in its tracks, looking up at Typhon himself and exclaiming “Damn, you’re big!” It’s easy to get complacent in a God of War game when everything is so consistently ridiculous, but I love that little moments like these exist in the soundtrack (and elsewhere) to remind us just how spectacular the games’ sights and sounds really are. Typhon Mountain serves as a great showcase for the kind of experience you can expect in the God of War franchise, and is one of my favorite songs from a series known for having great music.

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Star Ocean: The Second Story is a fantastic game that too often gets lost among the horde of other similarly great JRPGs from that era. Not only was it a great game, but it had a few memorable songs that have stuck with me over the years, none of them more so than it’s main overworld theme, Field of Expel.

Like many JRPG overworld themes, Field of Expel is grand and epic. It’s bombastic in a way that speaks of pure adventure, and does a great job at representing the game’s mostly medieval setting. There’s a royal pomp to the horns and flutes that carry the main melody, which does a lot to define the game’s general tone. This is a pretty straightforward fantasy tale full of swords and sorcery, and the central plot revolves around your grand quest to save the world and its people from their fate. Field of Expel captures that essence and runs with it, though things cool off a little around the second half. The blaring horns and crashing symbols take a brief respite to allow for a more subdued tone. This is a nice, quieter section that I appreciate, even if that’s mostly because of the way it allows the song to build back up again. The intensity of that ramp up is probably my favorite part of the entire song. It’s the boiling point that brings all of its instrumentation and motifs together for one last exciting hurrah, before looping back to the beginning to start it all over again.

There’s nothing terribly complex about Field of Expel, which is just as well, because Star Ocean: The Second Story never becomes terribly complex itself; at least when it comes to its narrative aspects. Sure, there’s a weird sci-fi slant to things at times, but for the most part you’re dealing with very medieval fantasy happenings, and that is all represented nicely in this awesome song. Field of Expel is just a great, memorable overworld theme to accompany you on your epic journey in Star Ocean: The Second Story, and is a personal favorite as a result.

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Meteos is a fantastic DS puzzle game, especially in those early days when good DS games were scarce. Still, it would hold up just as well today, and a lot of what made it stand out to me was the robust soundtrack. Each level’s theme was molded in part by your actions, but it’s the grand menu theme, The Path You’ll Travel, that takes the cake.

The Path You’ll Travel is super energetic in all the right ways. For such a quirky, oddball puzzle game that has little to no real story, the way the main menu theme leaps out never fails to put a smile on my face. It’s grand and epic in that space-faring “Save the galaxy!” kind of way, from the the blaring trumpets down to the rolling drums beats. I especially love when it breaks out (first occurring about 27 or so seconds in the above video), as if its announcing itself for a second time. It's so excited about it all! I simply find this to be a fun, jaunty theme that’s great to hum along with, and it made my experience with Meteos all the more enjoyable as a result- menus have never been this bombastic. And with that, there’s not much else to say. I just had to give a shout out to this awesome theme :)

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I absolutely love Bastion’s soundtrack. Each song is fresh and imaginative, and they all fit their respective levels in the game perfectly. The songs that sick with me the most, however, are the lyrical ones, especially Setting Sail, Coming Home. It’s more or less a simple fusion of the other two lyrical songs, Build That Wall (Zia’s Theme) and Mother, I’m Here (Zulf’s Theme), so I’ll focus on those two first. Be warned, spoilers lie ahead.

Both of these songs have a fair amount in common, not the least of which is their instrumentation. They use only a guitar to supplement the vocals, and this simplicity works in their favor. The world in Bastion has a fairly wild-west, frontier-like vibe to it, and the bare-bones instrumentation of these songs gives me the image of people gathering around a campfire in the wilderness, sharing songs and stories. They have a folklore feel to them, which can also be seen in their simple lyrics. The first, Build That Wall, is about nothing more than, well, building a wall. It’s a catchy, lighthearted tune that sounds like something passed down through generations, something hummed within a community as they go about their daily chores. Indeed, when you first encounter the song it’s being sung by Zia, who’s just sitting around minding her own business. It gives a nice insight into the culture of her and her people, and also fits the rugged world of Bastion amazingly well.

Mother, I’m Here is equally simple in its instrumentation, and for the most part its lyrics as well. To me it’s about going “back to my home, sweet home”, though I’m sure someone more artsy than me could dive deeper into the lyrics. But like Build That Wall, my big takeaway is the folklore nature of it and how it helps to flesh out the culture of Zulf and the Ura. The main difference between these two songs, to me, is the tone of them. Where Build That Wall is more upbeat and catchy, Mother, I’m Here is more somber, and almost a little brooding. I view this as an insight into the two characters’ differing ideals; Zia is more forward thinking, Zulf more stuck in the past. The lyrics point to this time dynamic as well. Zia is singing about something coming in the future, while Zulf is singing about going back home, returning to better times. This dynamic is the very focus of Bastion’s major plot point, and Setting Sail, Coming Home combines it all into one representative song.

Bastion’s climactic moment sees you completing the titular Bastion and deciding if you want to use it; do you want to turn back the clock to before the Calamity happened, or move forward and do the best you can in a post-Calamity world? The way the game unfolds makes this a very interesting question, but more importantly for our purposes, it’s the same dynamic that’s contrasted in Zia’s and Zulf’s themes. Setting Sail, Coming Home is literally a combination of the two songs. They play simultaneously, overlapping each other to great effect, which is an awesome way to summarize the game’s major theme. The instrumentation is also much more complete, featuring a lot of the musical qualities that permeate the rest of the soundtrack. As such, Setting Sail, Coming Home is just a fantastic summary piece that captures the spirit of Bastion beautifully. I’m always amazed when a single song can so accurately represent a game, and Setting Sail, Coming Home does it as well as any.

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I’ve always loved the upbeat, whimsical nature of a lot of Rare’s soundtracks, and the Banjo-Kazooie games are arguably the best examples of this. The latest (and hopefully not last) game in the series, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, has a wonderful orchestrated soundtrack that’s a ton of fun. One of the most memorable tracks to me is Banjoland.

Banjoland is first and foremost a trip down memory lane for those who played the original Banjo-Kazooie. The level itself is a theme park built in honor of Banjo-Kazooie, and its theme is a mish-mash of original Banjo-Kazooie (and some Banjo-Tooie) tunes. All of the songs it brings together were great in their original forms, and they are even better here thanks to solid instrumentation and sound quality. Everything just sounds great, and there’s a lot of variety in the instrumentation. This song is kind of just all over the place, which might be expected given how many tracks it pulls together, yet it manages to transition extremely smoothly from on segment to the next. My favorite segments will always be the ones that showcase a lot of horns. They’re generally upbeat and jaunty in that classic Rare fashion, and never fail to put a smile on my face. I especially love them in the Freezeezy Peak segment, which is still one of my favorites from the original game (along with Click Clock Wood, which I’ve already given tribute to).

Ultimately, it’s the simple fact that I like all of these songs from Banjo-Kazooie that makes Banjoland so memorable to me. I also love that Nuts & Bolts, as a game, is equally as carefree and joyful as the Nintendo 64 platformers were. That means that these songs still work as well as they ever have, and to have them all strung together in a giant throwback level is pretty rad. It’s a nice level and a nice fit for some genuinely entertaining music, which goes a long way towards describing why I like Banjoland as much as I do.

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I love it when a song can define a single, powerful moment. Be it in video games, movies, or even real life, the right song used at the right time can make an already memorable moment even more so. One of my favorite examples of this in video games comes in the form of Aeris’ Theme (I know it's technically "Aerith", but she'll always be “Aeris” to me!) from Final Fantasy VII. I should probably warn you that if you’re one of the two people left on the planet still concerned with Final Fantasy VII spoilers, there will be big ones here.

Aeris’ Theme, as the name suggests, is the character theme for Aeris. In this sense, it does a lot to define what Aeris is all about. Amid all the crazy things that happen during Final Fantasy VII, Aeris somehow manages to remain calm and collected the entire time. She is, in a lot of ways, portrayed as a beacon of hope and reason, someone who just might be able to save this poor planet. And she handles that role as calmly and as confidently as anyone could be expected to; she proves the strength of her character multiple times throughout the game. Unsurprisingly, her theme represents all of these same attributes. It is, first and foremost, a calm song. The instrumentation and chords are all very soft, and represent someone who accepts her role without complaint. At the same time, the notes here are strong and steady, and exude a lot of subtle confidence. This is clearly someone who knows what they need to do, and is at peace with their fate. The tone of the song represents this dynamic incredibly well.

These qualities combine to make Aeris’ Theme an extremely powerful song. It doesn’t shove itself in your face, but the way it swells and grows as it moves along can pull at your (or at least my) heartstrings. Relying mostly on the same basic melody throughout, the song starts out quiet and peaceful and then slowly builds up until it finally erupts in a grand swell of emotion. I see this as chronicling Aeris’ trials as they build during the game, ultimately culminating in that aforementioned penultimate moment at the end of the first disc; her death. And what a moment it is. As Cloud holds a limp Aeris in his hands, this song continues to play on, almost as if to try and convince us that we shouldn’t be sad (I kind of see it as a message from Aeris to Cloud, telling him to be strong). Aeris herself is the last person who would cry about her fate; she would simply soldier on with a smile. Her theme does an equally wonderful job at accepting its role and carrying on with a calm but powerful confidence, as if to remind us to never give in even in our worst moments.

In some ways Aeris’ Theme is a sad song, but I also find it to be a surprisingly uplifting one. Also, what's often lost in the drama of the memorable scene it accompanies is just how beautiful the song itself really is. The instrumentation, the core melody, the chords, the rhythm; I find it all incredibly beautiful purely as a song (I’ve posted an orchestrated version as well, which is my preferred version). That such a wonderful song is also so directly linked with one of gaming’s most memorable scenes is a fantastic treat, and does a lot to cement Aeris’ Theme as one of my favorite video game songs.

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