How important is music in a game?

c0exist

Might be a dumb question to some, but this element to me can differentiate a good game from a great game.  Final Fantasy games have always had a great score.  The music in the different zones in ffxi and ffxiv really set it apart for me.  I know it seems minor but take the music out of the zone or the combat engage music and its a diiferent feel.  Same goes for the elder scrolls games, incredible music.

c0exist

Thats great to hear

Jacxolope

To me , music is of little to no importance but 'sound FX' and 'ambient sound' are crucial. I prefer to listen to audio-books or the news/talk radio while playing pretty much any game. 

-But yeah, Skyrim had fantastic music (as did Morrowind) but even then I turned the music off most of the time.

I also realize that I am the extreme minority here. =(

c0exist

I understand that, sometimes I will turn it down to play some music if Im doing repetitve stuff.  Yeah that morrowind song I would whistle at work couldnt get that out of my head.

DamonVile

games have music ?

Elegance92

Personally music plays a reallly big factor in games for me, I've stuck with sinking ships for the longest time just because they had good music(mostly dying f2p ones). And this is honestly one reason I'm seriously considering getting this when it comes out, despite the negativeness of the first launch.

austriacus

Originally posted by DamonVile
games have music ?

I hope you are kidding, gaming music nowdays is really good. Half my cellphone is full of music from games or remixes of them.

PsYcHoGBR

Music to me is important in a game as it is part of the immersion. I know people that turn the music off in games which I cannot understand. Ambient music can also set the mood of the game to me its a big part of a game.

Ralstlin

I dont know other games, but Final Fantasy music is for me one of the best of this genre:

 

http://www.ie10.ffxiv.com/ an example form Internet Explorer 10 website

 

Is just like a Fantasy movie OST

aldenceise

I'm probably of the extreme minority that believes music is extremely important even from a quality production perspective.

Animations are the second thing to me similar to music in that I believe are extraordinarily important but most don't seem to even think about.

I liken stuff like this to the production of a movie. Is it done cheaply or ineffectively? Or did someone actually take the time, with excellence in their field, to craft music to cater the mood.

It's the immersion to me as someone else mentioned prior. Probably helps that I'm an AV enthusiast also. Regardless, figured I'd chime in to represent the demographic.

BadSpock

Originally posted by Ralstlin

I dont know other games, but Final Fantasy music is for me one of the best of this genre:

 

http://www.ie10.ffxiv.com/ an example form Internet Explorer 10 website

 

Is just like a Fantasy movie OST

That music is so, so FF thanks for the link.

Ralstlin

NP ^^ i like it so much too.. Final Fantasy have Great Music, Great Graphics, Great History... i hope they achieve too Great gameplay on this title.. and probably i will play it for years.

ShakyMo

Very more important than graphics

You can get away with old fashioned looking or highly stylized graphics if the audio is right.

Examples
Hotline miami
Terraria
Both torchlights
Monaco
and of course - Wow (the main reason people think wow combat is "weightier" is purely down to the excellent audio, play it with the sound off its no different to say warhammer or rift)

Note, I mean graphics, not artwork. Good artwork is important.

striderbob

in an MMO it isn't important to me at all, usually have my own music playing. music in an MMO gets repeatitive after a while

Tekkaman

Originally posted by c0exist
Thats great to hear

I see what you did there.

Rictis

I used to think music was not that important, until I played Ni No Kuni on the PS3. The music was soooo good in that game that it actually got me to enjoy the game more than I already was.

I think music can make or break certain games, its true that you can mute them and just play something in the background. I often do this when I PVP etc, but when your just sitting there doing some PVE or going through at your own pace ... its nice to hear music that magnifies the world and its ambiance.

ElRenmazuo

final fantasy stopped having good music after 9 best were from 6 and 7. Chrono Trigger and Xenogears were squaresofts best musical scores. But squaresoft doesnt exist anymore. Now they are a just a shadow of their former selves.

ZizouX

Respectfully disagree.

 

FFXIV 2.0 has amazing music and i've only experienced a fraction of it.

FFX had really good tracks like Road to Zanarkind (piano solo).

FFXI has amazing music in certain zones, like Zanctuary of Zitah.

 

Music is very subjective.  It never really makes or breaks a game, but it sure can add that special agreement to make it "special" and/or "memorable" in your heart.

Sovrath

Originally posted by c0exist
Might be a dumb question to some, but this element to me can differentiate a good game from a great game.  Final Fantasy games have always had a great score.  The music in the different zones in ffxi and ffxiv really set it apart for me.  I know it seems minor but take the music out of the zone or the combat engage music and its a diiferent feel.  Same goes for the elder scrolls games, incredible music.

hmmm.

great music can help but as in movies, "overscoring" anything can detract from the experience.

And not to hate on you as I support you in love of final fantasy scores, but I haven't heard many pieces/bits in final fantasy scores that I would deem good.

Maybe you can point me to some you like and I can see if they are any different from the music I have heard?

(though I agree, the elder scrolls games have great music to my taste)

c0exist

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by c0exist
Might be a dumb question to some, but this element to me can differentiate a good game from a great game.  Final Fantasy games have always had a great score.  The music in the different zones in ffxi and ffxiv really set it apart for me.  I know it seems minor but take the music out of the zone or the combat engage music and its a diiferent feel.  Same goes for the elder scrolls games, incredible music.

hmmm.

great music can help but as in movies, "overscoring" anything can detract from the experience.

And not to hate on you as I support you in love of final fantasy scores, but I haven't heard many pieces/bits in final fantasy scores that I would deem good.

Maybe you can point me to some you like and I can see if they are any different from the music I have heard?

(though I agree, the elder scrolls games have great music to my taste)

The final fantasy games on console are very similar throughout the games.  Not sure if you played ffxi but many zones in that game were incredible.  But you dont realize it until you play a game with no music in the zone.  Most recently i can think of my journey playing tera, took me a while to realize what was missing as I was exploring.  The music.  There is a youtube playlist off all the zones in FFXI and sometimes I would play it in the background with Tera and FFXIV muted.  Music directly correlates to our memory.  We can recall an activity or something fun we did in game just by hearing a song.  I have many fond memories in my 6 years of playing FFXI.

ElRenmazuo

Originally posted by ZizouX

Respectfully disagree.

 

FFXIV 2.0 has amazing music and i've only experienced a fraction of it.

FFX had really good tracks like Road to Zanarkind (piano solo).

FFXI has amazing music in certain zones, like Zanctuary of Zitah.

 

Music is very subjective.  It never really makes or breaks a game, but it sure can add that special agreement to make it "special" and/or "memorable" in your heart.

if you thought those were good check out xenogears and chrono trigger soundtrack if you hjavent played those games...i agree some of the new songs are good in their newer games but still nothing compared to an as memorable as their older songs.

- Xenogears sample

- Chrono Trigger

sudo

Music in original FFXIV was amazing but could become repetitive if you stayed in the same zone, since it would just play in a loop over and over and over and over and over again. I hope Square did something with this now...

I also really love GW1 and GW2 music, especially the northern zones tunes, such as:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSw0CyFYV4Q

Sovrath

Originally posted by c0exist

 

The final fantasy games on console are very similar throughout the games.  Not sure if you played ffxi but many zones in that game were incredible.  But you dont realize it until you play a game with no music in the zone.  Most recently i can think of my journey playing tera, took me a while to realize what was missing as I was exploring.  The music.  There is a youtube playlist off all the zones in FFXI and sometimes I would play it in the background with Tera and FFXIV muted.  Music directly correlates to our memory.  We can recall an activity or something fun we did in game just by hearing a song.  I have many fond memories in my 6 years of playing FFXI.

Well, as I said, music can add to a game/movie, etc but it can also ruin it.

I'm pretty sensitive to the music that a game has as my degree is in musical composition.

Some of it's decent:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTS56UCCaDU

I like "number 8 of this bunch, number 9 and 7 I don't like at all. Well, dont like most of these selections based on the "music" and ignoring the synthesized instruments used.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhyUbGf264g

but I'll look for more to see if there is anything that is decent.

I do know that there is a bit of music in FF14 where I don't like it anything of it but I really like the bridge.

 

 

austriacus

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by c0exist

 

The final fantasy games on console are very similar throughout the games.  Not sure if you played ffxi but many zones in that game were incredible.  But you dont realize it until you play a game with no music in the zone.  Most recently i can think of my journey playing tera, took me a while to realize what was missing as I was exploring.  The music.  There is a youtube playlist off all the zones in FFXI and sometimes I would play it in the background with Tera and FFXIV muted.  Music directly correlates to our memory.  We can recall an activity or something fun we did in game just by hearing a song.  I have many fond memories in my 6 years of playing FFXI.

Well, as I said, music can add to a game/movie, etc but it can also ruin it.

I'm pretty sensitive to the music that a game has as my degree is in musical composition.

Some of it's decent:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTS56UCCaDU

I like "number 8 of this bunch, number 9 and 7 I don't like at all. Well, dont like most of these selections based on the "music" and ignoring the synthesized instruments used.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhyUbGf264g

but I'll look for more to see if there is anything that is decent.

I do know that there is a bit of music in FF14 where I don't like it anything of it but I really like the bridge.

 

 

I dont know about the best FF music but this is some of the latest iive been hearing on my phone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9ee_Ez6tFk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8VeQUk2Dkw

This is some of the new stuff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9pzcp6GiYs&list=PLBF8AEECF44B0A303

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSDU0jmgOhI&list=PL2FCDEEF1F49A2B5A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-ReIyfVTGQ&list=PL2FCDEEF1F49A2B5A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAhsEd2BTqk&list=PL2FCDEEF1F49A2B5A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rux7GUhPnIA&list=PL2FCDEEF1F49A2B5A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQN9Yx2txxU&list=PL2FCDEEF1F49A2B5A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gswNm4AUbW0&list=PL2FCDEEF1F49A2B5A

Any good?

Any purist that is gona tell me FF13 sucks and all can save it, i dont care.

WW4BW

 It certainly helps to draw you in and set the mood.. Even if almost everyone turns it off eventually, it helps to create a feeling.

 I loved the music in EvE and in other games, but once I got into the game I would rather listen to web radio or I would go without for voice coms.

 So even if it will eventually become repetitive, it can be really important when we first try a game.

Latronus

I tend to tune out any music as the game goes on.  I notice it as I'm logging in or crafting but if it's good it can set the mood and make for a better gaming experience if its good, and if not... well at least it can be turned off or down far enough not to notice.