Memorable Music in Gaming #49

For my third and final edition of my Dungeons & Dragons Memorable Music articles I’ve been pulling from games that are pretty old now. It’s a testament to how good these soundtracks were then, and still are today. Gameplay has evolved, graphics have gotten better, but the music has aged flawlessly over the years, evoking powerful memories and emotions whenever I hear them play.

Neverwinter Nights – Forest Boss

This song just hits my nostalgia hard. The beginning just has this sense of scale that makes you think of an epic, grand battle about to take place, but even midway through, there’s a shift in the tempo that somehow makes everything feel just that much more amazing to me.

Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn – Jaheira’s Romance Theme

While so many of the songs in this series drive hard and fast to create a sense of urgency during big, bombastic battles, there’s a lot to be said about some of the quieter, more emotional songs, such as this one.

Planescape: Torment – Deionarra’s Theme

Haunting, sad, and a little unusual – this song in many ways encompasses this unique game itself.

Icewind Dale 2 – Skeleton of a Town

The twinkling sounds at the start remind of the snowy fields of Icewind Dale, before giving way to a more sweeping song that I could listen to on repeat while writing stories of fantastic lands – or simply recalling my adventures in this one.

  

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance – Ciraxis the White Dragon

Perhaps not the most challenging boss fight, but any time a white dragon is involved, there’s a greater sense of awe involved, and Ciraxis was certainly an entertaining battle with an excellent musical score to back the encounter up.

These are just some of the many songs that come to mind when I think of Dungeons & Dragons games, and this really just touched on the old Bioware titles from years ago. Not the really old Gold Box games, or the newer titles like the MMO Neverwinter Nights (which has a fantastic soundtrack as well). Any of your favorites in here, or glaring omissions? Thanks for reading!

Article by: Nick

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Memorable Music in Gaming #48

Welcome to the second installment where we are talking about (or listening to) music from classic Dungeons & Dragons games. I always felt like these games made great use of audio. I remember playing them and having my headphones on late at night, listening to the sounds of skittering creatures in dark caverns, all of it complimented by some of the best RPG music in the business.

Icewind Dale II – The Severed Hand

This song stands on its own, with an epic introduction that continues strong throughout what is the final battle of the game. A confluence of events that just brings the experience together for the definition of a memorable moment.

Baldur’s Gate – Sword Against Darkness

So many of the songs in this soundtrack just come out hard, emphasizing the tempo of combat. Not that this particular scene was all that challenging for me at the time, where the music outperformed the moment in gaming.

Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark – Main Theme

Given this expansions theme of being located in the Underdark, this theme’s tone compliments the experience perfectly. There’s a dark undertone to it, but moments of higher pitched instruments that cut through it, like a shining hope amidst the oppressive darkness. This expansion’s narrative was similarly fantastic.

Baldur’s Gate – The Friendly Arms Inn

Pull up a chair, huddle near the fireplace and rest your weary bones for a spell. Your journeys have been hard, and you’re not done yet - but for tonight? Tonight, you sleep well, my friend.

That is the vibe I get from this slow, comfortable song.

Neverwinter Nights 2 – King of Shadows Battle

What an amazing (if somewhat frustrating) battle this was for me. The music comes in fast and hard, and when the chanting vocals enter the song later, it just compliments what has happened to this point in the story and sets the stage beautifully.

Article by: Nick

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Memorable Music in Gaming #47

Given that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves just released (a movie that I enjoyed a great deal), it got me reminiscing about some of my favorite songs from the vast catalog of Dungeons & Dragons video games.

Honestly, I could turn this into a two or three part article instead of a single Memorable Music, given how many fantastic soundtracks these games have seen over the years. In fact… I just talked myself into it.

So here’s Memorable Music in Gaming – Dungeons & Dragons Edition: Part 1

Baldur’s Gate – From Out of the Storm

This song is one that just hits you right out of the gates. It’s an absolutely epic mix of vocal harmonization and instruments as you wage an epic battle against Sarevok.

  

Icewind Dale – Kuldahar

Jeremy Soule is known for his epic fantasy songs, and this is among my favorites of his. There is something both inviting to the wind instruments here, that also make me recall the cold, frosty environments as well.

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Neverwinter Nights – City Docks Day

An underappreciated favorite of mine from Jeremy Soule. I almost feel like there’s a haunting quality to this song that would make it more appropriate for night than day, but it’s not going too far to say that this is one of my favorite songs ever from a video game. It’s shown up in a prior Memorable Music of mine, but I couldn’t justify leaving it out here.

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Baldur’s Gate 2 – The Pirate Isle

Flutes and percussions make this a fun, lightweight tune. The tempo’s a bit uneven, and with it a sort of bawdy sound that would be right at home in a tavern. Sometimes a song can simply be fun, and not need to be tethered to a grand battle or overly emotional moment, to remain memorable.

 

Planescape Torment – Sigil

I didn’t play this title when it first came out, and I wasn’t much of a Planescape connoisseur during my tabletop days, but this particular song stuck with me when I did play. The chiming sound of a clock near the end caps off a strange mix of sounds and tones that works in an almost haunting way.

Article by: Nick

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Memorable Music in Gaming #44

Having received Baldur's Gate I & II Enhanced Edition from my youngest daughter for Christmas, I've been finding myself gaming like it's the 1990's all over again.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

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Now, it is fair to say that the visuals can be a bit rough, and the controls are a little janky at times (after all, this game was designed for PC point and click goodness), and storytelling in video games has come a long ways over the last couple of decades - but I have been enjoying the Nine Hells out of my return to the Forgotten Realms.

While some of these gameplay elements have aged better than others, you know what is still fantastic today? The original soundtrack. So this got me thinking back to those older games in general - Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, Planescape and of course, Baldur's Gate. So here is a quick collection of what I consider to be some of the more memorable songs from a bunch of absolutely fantastic soundtracks.

Icewind Dale - The Mage Tower

When I think of Dungeons & Dragons, my imagination begins to paint so many mental pictures. One of them is always a softly playing, enchanting environment filled with magic and wonder. This particular tune helps to create that atmosphere perfectly.

Planescape: Torment - Deionarra's Theme

Planescape is such an odd setting, harsh in every way but also rewarding when you stumble onto glimpses of something good and happy. Deionarra's story however, is not one of those happier tales, and her sad story had a haunting theme that used to make the hairs on my neck stand up a little whenever I would visit. Used to - and still does, I should say.

Planescape: Torment - Civic Festhall

Where as the prior track is slow, lingering and dark, there is a deranged and upbeat quality to Civic Festhall that shows how dramatically the events in Planescape: Torment can swing. It captures some of the lighthearted music often used in taverns, but with a slightly different, unhinged quality to it as well.

Baldur's Gate II - The Five

This tune comes from the Throne of Bhaal expansion, and is a perfect example of how these older Dungeons & Dragons titles absolutely nailed their battle music. There are often multiple fantastic combat themes in each and every game, but for my money The Five is an epic combination of sounds that set the stage beautifully.

Baldur's Gate - Attacked by Assassins

Continuing my theme of epic music, this theme song starts strong and never lets up. For me, this is the song that just embodies the spirit of Baldur's Gate. It promises an adventure and delivers throughout its minute and a half run.

Neverwinter Nights - City Docks Day

I usually keep these Memorable Music lists to five songs, but felt compelled to add an extra one here. Why? Because it is one of my all-time favorite pieces of gaming music ever. Now, I had listed this one once before (almost four years ago in Memorable Music in Gaming #20), which is why it is getting sort of an Honorable Mention status in this article which is paying respects to the other Dungeons & Dragons games of the era.

Now, if you'll excuse me - the Forgotten Realms await...

Article by: Nick

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Skybound Games and Beamdog Launch Classic DnD RPGs

LOS ANGELES – May 31, 2019 – Skybound Games and Beamdog announced today that enhanced editions of several classic Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing videogames – including Baldur’s Gate, the Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear expansion, Baldur’s Gate II, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights – will be available on consoles this fall and for the first time on both PlayStation®4 and Nintendo Switch.

Physical editions of Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition will arrive at major retailers on Dec. 3, 2019, in North America and Dec. 6 in other territories, while the other titles will arrive earlier, on Sept. 24, 2019, in North America and Sept. 27 in other territories. All physical editions will be released for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch™. Available for $49.99 each, these special boxed editions include:

• The Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition Pack: Celebrating the series’ 20th anniversary, the original Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition and its sequel, Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition, return with all DLC and restored quest content, as well as the Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear expansion, featuring new original content developed by Beamdog to bridge the two games.
• Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition / Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition: Two must-play games and all their DLC in one package – the chilling Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition, plus its expansions, and the enhanced edition of 1999’s RPG of the Year, Planescape: Torment.
• Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition: The 2002 Computer RPG of the Year and all its DLC deliver 10 standalone D&D-based adventures featuring co-op and online multiplayer.      

Tailored for a natural gameplay experience on consoles, these enhanced editions give longtime fans and newcomers alike the opportunity to play these critically acclaimed adventures from a golden age of RPGs in a whole new way. Beamdog has upgraded all of the above titles with native support for high-resolution widescreen displays, controls optimized for console controllers, new standalone content, new characters and classes, new voice sets, expanded character creation options, improved multiplayer functionality, redesigns of the UI and UX, bug fixes, balance changes and more. For complete breakdowns of the content available with each title, visit: https://www.beamdog.com/games/

“It’s such a pleasure to celebrate the 20th anniversary of one of the most legendary RPGs of all time, the original Baldur’s Gate, as well as the iconic games it inspired, by bringing these special enhanced editions to a new generation of players and platforms,” said Skybound Games CEO Ian Howe.

“It’s been nearly two decades since Baldur’s Gate was born from a D&D campaign between me and the game’s co-creators,” said Trent Oster, Beamdog CEO. “The longevity of this series and the games that followed has been both humbling and rewarding. Our team is thrilled to continue that tradition by finally making this wealth of amazing storytelling and gameplay available to everyone on modern consoles.”

Each game will also be available to purchase for digital download individually upon release through the PlayStation®Store, Xbox Games Store and Nintendo eShop.

About Skybound Games

Skybound Games is a division of Skybound Entertainment that publishes videogames and tabletop games, focusing on unique and exceptional independently developed IP. Skybound Games expanded into the videogames space in 2018, led by CEO Ian Howe. The current slate of games includes Slime Rancher by Monomi Park, Skullgirls by Lab Zero Games, and Death’s Gambit with Adult Swim Games and White Rabbit. Skybound Games also took ownership of Telltale’s The Walking Dead in October 2018.

Tabletop games include The Grimm Forest with James Hudson and Druid City Games, Pitchstorm with Ben Kepner, and Superfight and Red Flags with Jack Dire.

Skybound Games can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

About Beamdog

Beamdog is a Canadian video games studio located in Edmonton, Alberta. Founded by veteran game developers Trent Oster and Cameron Tofer, Beamdog has grown into one of the largest game studios in Alberta. Beamdog creates compelling game experiences for our fans, wherever they choose to play. Since 2009, our team of artists, designers and developers have crafted original content and engineered enhanced editions of classic games. We’re best known for bringing beloved Dungeons & Dragons role-playing games like Baldur’s Gate and Planescape: Torment back to life on desktop and tablets. Visit our website, www.beamdog.com, for more details.


Article by Susan N.

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