"In these mostly action-adventure games that highlight exploration, you gain abilities and items that allow you to return to previous areas you've been through to unlock or get new stuff". So, that's the definition of a metroidvanian game. The only game that I had seen the 'metroidvania' tag on it was Castlevania. I've never played this one, but I have watched and heard the music to it many times. This February's collective of Memorable Music in Gaming is Metroidvanias. Here below are our contributors. Sadly I am not among them as I haven't played one to speak of, let alone enjoy a music composer associated with said game.
Nick
Guacamelee was a game that took me completely by surprise when it came out. I was asked if I was interested in covering it at the time, and I didn’t know anything about it. One trailer later, I knew it was something I had to get my hands on. Metroidvanias are not even one of my go-to gaming genres, but the unique story was beautifully and colorfully brought to life with the perfect melding of visuals and sound. With an OST that spans nearly one and a half hours from start to finish (34 tracks in total!), the composers Rom Di Prisco and Peter Chapman outdid themselves here.
Rom Di Prisco is an electronic composer hailing from Canada and has dozens of video game soundtracks to his credit. Meanwhile Peter Chapman’s better known for music that shows up in television shows, with numerous IMDB credits.
The story of Guacamelee is a zany one, where our protagonist Juan Aguacate is slain by the skeletal Carlos Calaca, who then steals Lupita, our hero’s love interest. Of course, he doesn’t stay dead – it would be a short game after all. But from there Aguacate’s tale is one that is told with the help of vibrant Mexican-inspired visuals and music that is a unique mix of EDM and more traditional sounds. Alternating between bright, up-tempo beats that compliment the action-oriented stages and sometimes spooky synth sounds to represent Aguacate’s undead adventures, Guacamelee has an unforgettable OST. Check out Sierra Morena (World of the Dead) if you don’t believe me.
Richard
You know, Metroidvanias are kinda my biggest genre. I absolutely love them. From the exploration focused, to the combat focused. What’s a big part of Metroidvanias is the soundtrack, mainly because you’ll be re-exploring the same area 20 to 30 times to find all the hidden items or upgrades etc. So, what is my most memorable Metroidvania soundtrack? Well, there have certainly been a lot of really good soundtracks, some of which are being covered by my fellow writers, so I think my choice would have to come down to RabiRibi, and by extension Tevi. The amount of love put into RabiRibi and Tevi are absolutely astounding, and while I would highly recommend you to play them, we’re here for the music today.
So, what makes the soundtrack so good? Well, pretty much every track is extremely catchy, and they’re all good, which is a rather rare find in any game. The team at CreSpirit and/or GemaYue (two collaborative developers) have done a good job at collecting tracks from various composers for these two titles. 3R2 and Triodust did a smash up job at creating a whole slew of tracks that stuck in my head for YEARS after I’d finished playing RabiRibi. No, seriously, RabiRibi released in 2016 and I still occasionally start humming tunes from it. These two composers, one who started composing at 9 years old and the other self-taught, both I believe are from Taiwan, deserve to get their music heard more around the world.
Whether it’s a stage theme like “Inside UPRPRC” or a battle theme like “Bounce bounce” or “M.R.”, or the emotionally packed “The Truth Never Spoken”, the entire soundtrack from one end to the other is permanently etched in my brain, as well it should be. Seriously, give it a listen here, posted by the developers themselves. These Taiwanese developers and GemaYue created a truly fantastic experience, and the soundtrack only heightened that. I have nothing but accolades to give here.
Pierre-Yves
I've always loved the Metroidvania style, which is funny, as I didn't play a Metroid until the Prime series much later down the line. But Castlevania? That I played very early on and learned just how brutal it could be. But it sold me on the style.
Going back a few years now, the creative minds behind Ender Lilies made an impact on our team. Nick, Richard and myself all had the chance to sit down to this visually somber post apocalyptic world where the blighted rain devastated everything it touched.
While the gameplay was fantastic, it was the audio that stole the show for me. Ender Lilies uses a combination of piano based music alongside appropriate bouts of silence to bring the world to life. Soft melodies like "The main theme" in the beginning as you find your bearings will alternate between whimsical tunes of "The Witch's Breath" in the forest to dark foreboding scores like "If You Gaze Long Into the Abyss".
The shift in-between these tracks is one thing, but the boss tracks as you move through the phases was chilling. These tracks were so well designed as they weren't time based, they were hit point based and didn't speed up in tempo until you had earned the right to listen to that track in game.
Accolade Intro and Outro
https://youtu.be/GsjAXexsWp0?si=ZrmAGR3AiGHpa7bC
Richard assures me that Ender Magnolia has just as great audio to accompany its gameplay and I look forward to it.
