Awesome Video Game Music: Tali
By majormitch 6 Comments
One of the best things about the Mass Effect 2 soundtrack is that it has a great, thematic song for each party member, and perhaps my favorite such song is the one for Tali.
Not only it this an action packed song that's just a ton of fun to listen to, but its nature walks hand in hand with Tali’s character (as seen primarily through her loyalty mission, the details of which I won't elaborate on for spoiler reasons). The song starts out quiet, yet alert. Quarians (Tali’s race) in general seem more passive than other races, but there is a certain awareness to their nature. Tali is no different, and constantly seems attentive to everything going on around her. So even when the song starts out peaceful, it seems to know that nothing stays that way forever. Sure enough, it turns on a dime into a very bold, forward moving action theme. Similarly, whenever a crisis emerges, Tali always hits the ground running. She’s never caught off guard when things escalate, and this snappy transition seems to represent just how quick she is to respond to the situation at hand.
This first action segment has a decisive, steady beat that seems to know exactly where it’s going. Tali is an incredibly smart character, and when she sets her mind to it she can tackle any problem. This segment seems to represent that fact. However, almost as quickly as the song explodes it loses traction, slowly turning to a dark, brooding tone. Tali has her doubts just like the rest of us (she has some big ones during her loyalty mission), and this portion of the song seems to represent this contemplative, self-examining nature. But that moment of doubt only seems to be a source of strength in the long run- a momentary pause that serves to reinforce her resolve. Immediately after its lowest point, the song executes a rift that quickly ramps it all the way back up. The resulting final action bit is even more bold and determined than before. It seems to give Tali a proper send off, with the knowledge that while she may occasionally second guess herself, she always trusts herself to get the job done in the end.
Is it a coincidence that my favorite “character song” on the Mass Effect 2 soundtrack is the one for my favorite character? I don’t think so. Each of these songs does an amazing job at representing its character, and it only makes sense that liking one implies liking the other. It’s a wonderful thing that we can have music in video games that is so representative of its source material, and Tali is as good an example as any.
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