I went back and found my FF7 OST, so I popped in the first CD. Now FF7 is probably the first game I can think of where the concept of the filler music come out in full force, as it's the first game I can think of with a 4 CD OST and clearly a lot of tracks were just there to fill the space. So as I go through the tracks, I realize that a lot of the tracks I have no idea where they show up in the game, and then I remembered where the music was played and realized it was because nothing of importance happened during these tracks. Tifa's theme, which is partly used in the ending (typically where your powerhouse music shows up), somehow manages to slip through completely unnoticed. It literally doesn't get into any kind of climax until about 2 minutes into the theme, and at which point you probably already left the screen where the music is played. Likewise the 1st CD has some gimpified version of Aeris's theme (music played at the church). While Aeris's theme is the most popular track in FF history from a poll conducted by Square, the previous version again has no substance and no climax to it whatsoever, which is appropriate since it is played when you meet Aeris and nothing of interest happens.
So then I started thinking, has there been a part where something cool, good, or memorable happened that have some totally forgetful music? If you think hard enough you can probably think of something, but nothing obvious comes to mind. It's like it's illegal to have something important happen and play some pointless music in the background at the same time. The corollary to this is that if you composed some filler music, nothing important can possibly happen while it's being played.
I think music tells you a lot about what the underlying game is. A game with as good music as say, Wild Arms Altered Code F, has to at least pretend it cares about what's going on. I really don't think anyone remembered what Jane Maxwell, the bunny girl, did in the original Wild Arms since she was given some relatively unexciting track (for WA standards). In the remixed version she was given her own theme song, and her own battle theme. Although what she does in the story is as forgettable as the original (it's the same game after all), it's as if her new music themes force her into a more prominent situation. It doesn't matter she still didn't do anything of importance or that she's involved in some kind of dumb love triangle with Cecilia and Rudy. It's as if the music gods decided to grant us these good music, so the story writer has to at least make something out of it that is not just forgettable filler.
In the liner notes of Chrono Cross OST, Mitsuda wrote something like how Kid was his favorite character and he really put a lot of thought into her theme, The Girl Who Stole A Star. Since the original version already existed in Radical Dreamers, I'd assume the music existed before the game was finalized. And really her theme song is incredibly sad. It feels as if you've a character that otherwise have no shred of personality is saying look at me, I got this great theme that just begs having a tragic past story, so that's how you get the Orphange of Flames, one of the few part in Chrono Cross where it didn't feel like someone is just babbling interdimensional nonsense and interaction between people take place. Why not go back further to Chrono Trigger? What did Schala do? Mostly nothing of significance. But her theme song keeps her around far more than whatever the game could, and likewise the game can't just abandon a character that's been blessed with such a good theme music.
On the opposite side, I'd like to point to Eiko Coral (I think that's her name), some girl with a summoner's horn in FF9. She had her own theme, but it could easily be mistaken for Happy Town B Theme as well since it contained no shred of personality in the song itself, which is quite appropriate for a character that has nothing worth remembering.
I go back to a soundtrack like say FFT, or Wild Arms Code F, and for every good track I can tell you what happened when that track was played.
So maybe games should spent more time hiring people who can compose good music. At the very least it'd hide the game's actual shortcomings, espeically since it looks like a game's quality adjusts itself to fit the level of music that exists. It might not work for the upward direction, but it certainly works for the downward direction.
So then I started thinking, has there been a part where something cool, good, or memorable happened that have some totally forgetful music? If you think hard enough you can probably think of something, but nothing obvious comes to mind. It's like it's illegal to have something important happen and play some pointless music in the background at the same time. The corollary to this is that if you composed some filler music, nothing important can possibly happen while it's being played.
I think music tells you a lot about what the underlying game is. A game with as good music as say, Wild Arms Altered Code F, has to at least pretend it cares about what's going on. I really don't think anyone remembered what Jane Maxwell, the bunny girl, did in the original Wild Arms since she was given some relatively unexciting track (for WA standards). In the remixed version she was given her own theme song, and her own battle theme. Although what she does in the story is as forgettable as the original (it's the same game after all), it's as if her new music themes force her into a more prominent situation. It doesn't matter she still didn't do anything of importance or that she's involved in some kind of dumb love triangle with Cecilia and Rudy. It's as if the music gods decided to grant us these good music, so the story writer has to at least make something out of it that is not just forgettable filler.
In the liner notes of Chrono Cross OST, Mitsuda wrote something like how Kid was his favorite character and he really put a lot of thought into her theme, The Girl Who Stole A Star. Since the original version already existed in Radical Dreamers, I'd assume the music existed before the game was finalized. And really her theme song is incredibly sad. It feels as if you've a character that otherwise have no shred of personality is saying look at me, I got this great theme that just begs having a tragic past story, so that's how you get the Orphange of Flames, one of the few part in Chrono Cross where it didn't feel like someone is just babbling interdimensional nonsense and interaction between people take place. Why not go back further to Chrono Trigger? What did Schala do? Mostly nothing of significance. But her theme song keeps her around far more than whatever the game could, and likewise the game can't just abandon a character that's been blessed with such a good theme music.
On the opposite side, I'd like to point to Eiko Coral (I think that's her name), some girl with a summoner's horn in FF9. She had her own theme, but it could easily be mistaken for Happy Town B Theme as well since it contained no shred of personality in the song itself, which is quite appropriate for a character that has nothing worth remembering.
I go back to a soundtrack like say FFT, or Wild Arms Code F, and for every good track I can tell you what happened when that track was played.
So maybe games should spent more time hiring people who can compose good music. At the very least it'd hide the game's actual shortcomings, espeically since it looks like a game's quality adjusts itself to fit the level of music that exists. It might not work for the upward direction, but it certainly works for the downward direction.
