Ken Hisuag

The Switch port of Cave Story had two unique arrangement soundtracks added, the first of which was RushJet1's "FamiTracks." This straightforward chiptune version of the game's music is currently the only official soundtrack that can be purchased individual from the game, and almost the only version to have an official release at all (the New soundtrack may have had an official release at some point). This is arguably the simplest version of the soundtrack, even in comparison to the original; RushJet held strictly to the style, adjusting tracks as needed to fit. While this lessens the overall creativity one can expect from it, it has the benefit of also being the most consistent sounding version. Tracks of high and low energy are less likely to clash, making some transitions smoother and a few track comparisons easier. For example, I hadn't noticed the similar basslines in Mischievous Robot and Scorching Back before hearing them in this style.

Nothing in particular this week; just the standard recent (for me) discoveries.

It's been a busy day for me. I intended to post earlier; hopefully these'll still be enjoyable.

When Cave Story was ported to the Wii, it came with its own "New" soundtrack arranged by one Yann van der Cruyssen (I've seen him referred to as Morusque, though I've yet to find official origin for the alias). Upon initial release, the music did not play correctly in-game, with issues ranging from distorted sound to missing instrumentation (I like to refer to this version as "Wii-Broken"). While these problems were fixed later ("Wii-Fixed"), the soundtrack remained poorly perceived by the fandom, and continues to be somewhat controversial for some. There has been at least one fanmade overhaul of this soundtrack ("Wii-Balanced" by SoloMael); ironically, this means there are three versions of this particular iteration. Cruyssen's soundtrack stands out from the others for its stylized creativity. With a softer tone overall, it strays farther from the original material to play the strengths of its unusual instrumentation. While this tends to hurt it in previously high-energy pieces, its low-energy pieces are often superior in setting the anticipated mood. Cruyssen also built upon Amaya's countermelodies with layering changes and new countermelodies of his own, and the resulting album is quite the musical accomplishment.

The Fanon Depiction thread had unexpectedly caught my interest, but I can't spare the time right now to engage. I will be back later (I'm saying this to ensure I am obligated). For now, I found this heavy metal artist.

Next up: Cave Story 3D, the 3DS remake of Cave Story, featured a remixed soundtrack from Danny Baranowsky (I am familiar with him through Crypt of the Necrodancer, but I expect most are more familiar with Super Meat Boy and The Binding of Isaac). This "Remastered" soundtrack stayed fairly close to the Organya in format while focusing on expanded instrumentation. The result was a more modern and full sound, which worked especially well for higher energy tracks while retaining the musical integrity overall. From a purely listener's perspective, this version sounds exactly how its moniker implies, as an updated and improved form of the original. I suspect a slight reverb effect was added to enhance the "cave" atmosphere, though it tends to sound more stylistic. I'd like to think this fit perfectly with the aesthetic of 3D, which is very different from the original; against the visuals of Cave Story+, it doesn't always seem cohesive. That being said, it still remains my favorite version overall.

/\ I appreciated some of their other remixes as well, and would recommend them to others. All that symphonic metal reminded me to follow up on S.H.O.. Do you put another period when ending a sentence with an acronym?

Might as well. I'm a big fan of old BBC detective drama shows, and by extension (whether by familiarity or genuine admiration, you may infer) their opening music themes. These are a few of my favorites, though there are plenty more I'm familiar with.

Cave Story, a part of the bedrock of indie gaming as an industry, is an excellent balance of production across its visuals, gameplay, story, and (of course) music. Over the course of two decades, it has received several soundtrack reworks, to varying levels of success. This month will be dedicated to featuring these different soundtracks, hopefully demonstrating their individual strengths and collective notability. The original (known as the "Organya" soundtrack) consists of unique sounds reminiscent of, but not quite exactly, an advanced chiptune. Layering is limited, but dynamic quality is achieved through extensive use of counter-melodies within harmonies. The simpler music also blends well with the game's standard sound effects.

I decided to go for a laid-back theme this week. Enjoy these low-energy relaxation pieces.

The first video is the official release, but the edited version includes additional parts and removes the unnecessary vocal lines.

I happened upon the recently released soundtrack for Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty this week. I had to do a bit of searching to determine if this was a video game soundtrack or not; from what I can tell, it isn't. However, a lot of the contributors are experienced VGM artists, and I believe this is evident in the music (and besides, it is technically still "game music"). The instrumental tracks (approximately half the album) are typically blends or oriental folk with some modern electric genre such as metal or dubstep. Said blends are unusually clean, though perhaps overly reliant upon the blending genre and not enough upon the folk. The notable exception is Neon Riverside, which is the track that caught my attention to begin with. The vocal tracks are mostly English, and none of the ones I listened to impressed me. Some may appreciate them, but they aren't apart of this feature.

A recent request from @Josecrist led me searching for a multilingual vocal arrangement of Doll of Misery. Ultimately I didn't find the desired piece before the inquirer rediscovered it, but I can still share some of the other things I came across.

Fracture feature number three! Because I have more! These might be stock musics, since they're from old Flash games. But maybe they aren't? I think I found this one through an actual typing program. It's not as long as it looks, that's just what the uploader extended it to. One of three RTS games I've actually played, despite once considering it a favorite genre. This one had surprising depth to it for what it was. I know this one is stock, and the sequel's main theme is original, but this is the track that I remember most vividly. This was the beginning of my platformer experience. I'd love to get a Steam release some day.

Fracture feature! Sometimes I find something that isn't quite worth its own feature, but I still want to share it. Deemo II came out last month. I'm not interested in perusing its soundtrack, but this piece popped up in my recommended, and it's exactly the kind of piece that I liked from the first game. FamilyJules apparently composed for a little VR game. Can't speak for the game, but the track he released is quite good. Finally, the workshop characters update finally released for Rivals of Aether! As one may expect, the new music is fantastic. That should do it. Till next week!

One last round, once again belated. I need to expand my repertoire of ZUNish composers; too many of my collected features are from the same people. Hopefully I'm better prepared next time.

A proper feature for this week. It was the title of Wargroove that got my attention some years ago, and to this day I know nothing about more of it than the music. It's good music, featuring a variety of genres for what I assume to be differently themed characters. The melodies are well designed to be complimented by the assigned instrumentation, allowing each piece to stand on its own merits.

This isn't technically a feature, as it isn't about a specific game. Nicolas Daoust has recently begun a series of short dialogues on various VGM related subjects. I've been appreciating them, and I believe they fit with the theme of this thread well enough. An introduction: Some examples:

Continuing to feature original works for now. These are from artists I'm less familiar with.

Consider this a bonus addendum, born out of a fascination that the Japanese and Western Hemisphere releases have different opening tracks.

The Yakuza series is a surprising blend of cheesy tone and deep story with quality character development, and one of the reasons I'm convinced the film industry isn't even trying anymore. The music of said series is a less surprising blend of funky rock and smooth jazz, with the added bonus of some high quality standalone vocal tracks. I've been aware of this series for quite a while, and it's about as different from the rest of this month's entries (or anything else for that matter) as I could ask for. This specific feature is for Yakuza 0, more because it was my first experience than for any special music related reason.

Against my better judgement . . .

I had taken to collecting original pieces for usage during tournaments. But now I have more tracks than I could possibly need, so this week will be a quick offload of some more familiar names in recent times. Also . . .

I'm trying for a wide variety of games this month. Why didn't anyone talk about the music for Boneworks? As much as was said about this game, I don't remember anyone talking about its soundtrack, and frankly I find that unacceptable. Its focused genre is synthwave, from retro to more experimental, but the net is stretched a bit at the edges to encompass some other styles. All of it is great, and this feature will not do it justice.

Saturday was busy, consider this makeup. Also RT7 is active, so focusing on original works for now.