Thread 725056290

For all the contrarianism surrounding this (great) game, one thing I never see mention is how absurdly overrated the soundtrack is. It's nothing but generic, forgettable "le epic orchestra" tracks. I beat the game 3 times, and yet if you put a gun to my head and asked me to hum Manus' theme (whom mind you, I've fought like 30 times throughout all those playthroughs because I suck at videogames), I wouldn't be able to. Gwyn's theme and MAYBE Firelink Shrine are the only tracks that stand out.
I haven't played more FS games, so when people bring those up when talking about "greatest gaming OSTs" I remain silent. However, for DS1, I seriously don't get it.

Bloodborne is the only game of this series with an outstanding soundtrack.
Demon's Souls soundtrack is still great for how unusual it is.

>>725056290 (OP)
This is usually what happens with popular games, they get popular for one aspect and then people start going "yeah but can we also appreciate X" and then youtube essayists make 4 hours long videos about them spouting random shit for others to repeat.
In truth the second step of this is simply caused by the fact that some of this stuff sticks with you when you play a game multiple times, I can probably sing you the entire asylum demon theme simply because I like DS1, I wouldn't really call it a good OST personally.

OP here, I just wanted to also say that I don't hate orchestras (in case I gave that vibe). Pic related is an orchestra based OST and it's one of the best OSTs of all time if you ask me.

>>725056290 (OP)
The mediocre ost is one of the only bad aspect of the original souls games. Sekiro and ER also have pretty shit soundtracks.

Op is a fag and never made it to ash lake

>>725057025
nah

>>725056290 (OP)
O&S have a good track though that’s mostly because of that Space Jam remix.

>>725056290 (OP)
DS1 in terms of music has Firelink, Taurus Demon, O&S, Gwyn, and Nameless Song.
And the game has 29 tracks in it.

>>725056290 (OP)
All criticisms of Dark Souls 1 are valid until you start asserting DS2, DS3, or ER being better games.

>>725056290 (OP)
ds1 ost is good bar forgettable fight music
only ds3 onwards the music became completely forgettable

>>725056290 (OP)
Dark Souls has a solid OST, I think. It's more generic than Demon's Souls for sure, but it is LEAGUES above Elden Ring's ambient slopfest where not a single song stands out in reflection.

With Dark Souls I can instantly recall the O&S theme, Iron Golem theme, Four Kings theme, Ash Lake theme, character creation theme... There's plenty of variation and it's melodic enough to stick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCZFx6cx7w8

>>725057854
DS3 and Elden Ring are better games, for certain.

>>725058337
Elden Ring is to From Software what Skyrim is to Bethesda.

>>725056290 (OP)
I think Demon's Souls had the best OST out of the bunch, with each game having a few good tracks here and there. DS1 still had Pinwheel, Ash Lake, the Credits named 'Nameless Song', and the CC named 'A Moment of Peace'. None of the others really stick out to me at the moment, but I'm sure there's a few more. Dark Souls 2 had a few good tracks, but the mixing of them is pretty bad, as you can barely hear them in game. Pursuer's Theme is a good example, as it really fits the tone of a pursuing villian or something in a horror movie, but you have to listen to it by itself to really appreciate it. I especially love the harsher tone from 1:15 and beyond.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Por5WsWOsYM
There's other good tracks in DS2, obviously Majula is one of them. Fire Keeper which plays in Things Betwixt, Ruin Sentinels that starts off a bit odd, but really gets into it. And King Vendrik's as well.

>>725058406
The first game in the series to have decent gameplay?
Morrowind has some standing because of how weird it really can be, but anyone that likes Oblivion over Skyrim is ridiculous unless they really really like that specific shade of green.

Or are you going to act like you like Redguard or Daggerfall?

>>725057854
ds2 is the best soulsborne and that includes elden ring and bloodborne

>>725058485
I can't think of any BB, Ds3, or ER tracks I like. They just start to blend together, and at risk of soundin like a boomer, it becomes noise as opposed to a song to invoke what the boss is or what they expect the player to feel in the moment that isn't, "It's an epic boss battle, bro!"

>>725056290 (OP)
The game is trying to provoke a feeling of quiet isolation in the player so having a really in your face soundtrack isn't that appropriate.

You know why Gwyn's theme is so memorable? Because most of the game DOESN'T bombard you with music so when you enter a boss and do hear music it sticks out in your mind way more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bqLGebDRIY

>>725059018
BB has some dogwater tracks, like the chalice boss themes, but Ludwig's theme is probably the best Fromsoft has ever used.
>>725059160
No, its memorable for being a sad theme in a game where most themes are bombastic orchestral pieces.
Not for just being there.

Bed of Chaos theme is really good for instilling the dread of having to fight that boss.

>>725059231
There's a place for different types of soundtracks depending on what the game is going for.

For example I like the soundtrack to Ocarina of Time far more than Breath of the Wild. I don't even like Breath of the Wild much as a game but with a few little ambient piano notes it gives across a comfy pleasant atmosphere which works for what Breath of the Wild is going for.

>>725058485
>Dark Souls 2 had a few good tracks, but the mixing of them is pretty bad, as you can barely hear them in game
That would explain a lot. Sir Alonne has a really great track, but I can only really name it because I listened to it outside of the game.

>>725059160
>The game is trying to provoke a feeling of quiet isolation in the player so having a really in your face soundtrack isn't that appropriate
There's some truth to this but it is also a bit of modern meme used to justify games being lazier nowadays (games keep getting quieter and quieter). Silent Hill 2 was by far more athmospheric than the remake and the remake is a lot more silent, but indeed, the original also had its quiet moments. However, you can deliver a feel of quiet isolation with music, you just gotta compose the right track.
tl;dr I half agree

>>725056290 (OP)
Gwyn's theme, O&S's theme, Firelink Shrine's theme, Sif's theme, and the credits theme are all indisputably iconic. But yeah it's not as strong as Bloodborne, DS3, or Elden Ring.

I have never seen anyone praise DS1 soundtrack. It's decent, but NPC voices are GOAT

>>725056290 (OP)
From all of Fromsoft's games I only really remember and like 2 songs, both of which are from Bloodborne.
The one reborn's theme and The Cleric beast's theme.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BncJ1yX-BgQ&list=RDBncJ1yX-BgQ&start_radio=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICSk8-pJkX8&list=RDICSk8-pJkX8&start_radio=1

Even redditors aren't shameless enough to praise DS1's OST. Congrats, /v/.

>>725056290 (OP)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dXjfKFLHX0
Start screen theme, character creation screen theme, gywns boss theme at the end, and firelink are all kinosovl
rest is forgettable

Not true. Character creation screen, fire link, Taurus, O&S, Gwyn, credits - they're all amazing and unforgettable.
Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring, on the other hand, are bland as shit. I genuinely can't remember a single track from Dark Souls 3 except for the one that became a normie meme, and I don't even remember which boss it belongs to, and Soul of Cinder for obvious reasons. I don't remember a single fucking track from elden ring, except for main menu and ambient songs which I like, especially in the Nox cities and Caelid. But they feel kinda Terraria-like? It's weird.
Dark Souls 2 has majula and main menu, other than that, fucking nothing.

>>725061153
>a single track from Dark Souls 3 except for the one that became a normie mem
Vordt's theme. I also believe that Sister Friede's theme is one of the top 3 best from the Fromsoft sound team.
>elden ring
The Godskin theme is also top 3.

>>725060482
sekiro has the best music and story in FS's games
armored core 6 has a few standouts
elden ring has like 3 good tracks

I can't think of a single DS track I like though except the town theme in DS2

ost ranking
>Bloodborne > DeS > DS1 > DS3 > Nightreign > ER > DS2 > Sekiro
I don’t remember a single Sekiro song despite doing all the boss rushes and charmless. ER would be below DS2 is the DLC didn’t exist, same for Bloodborne being below DeS.

Nothing great about it.

wtf, I made a post saying op was 100% right, and it didn't show up

motoi sakuraba knows how to write music
but dark souls is his weakest ost by far

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEjqqUTz-us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAqyWqU8NUI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD9vSu0rrjo

wtf, I posted saying I agree with OP 100% and it didn't show up

motoi sakuraba knows how to write music
he did golden sun, valyrie profile, mario tennis, mario golf, and some kid icarus 3ds music, but dark souls is not memorable

>>725062238
>>725062091
ok now it shows up, strange

Music hasn't mattered in games since it stopped using soundfonts. Without that limitation everything is the same generic orchestral shit that blends together. Then there is stupid shit like Skyrim where it will play looming enemy music before you realize anything is there, ruining the atmosphere; so you are better turning it off.

>>725062345
you have no ears lmao

No one cares, retard.

>>725056290 (OP)
I don't think it's bad. People overrate other shit too, like MGS2's ost and yet they sleep on MGSV's amazing ambience tracks
https://youtu.be/L_DVoj_CpzA

>>725056290 (OP)
>Soundtrack only really works in the fight itself
Sounds like it did a perfect job. It makes you feel the fight more. Listening to a fight OST outside of the fight shouldn't really invoke the same feelings.
Or maybe I'm just coping and you wont think about it that way anyways.

>>725062565
there are heaps of games with fantastic battle themes that are memorable and fit the gameplay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tF2Gtdc_90

>>725062091
taurus demon could work in golden sun if in the soundfont
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8GivTENpgs

this too I guess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzR47RoKUUY

>>725062865
Yeah? I'm not saying a song can't be good outside of the game, but it will not have the same feeling as being played alongside gameplay. A song can be boring/forgetful when being listened to by itself, but it can still be a masterpiece when paired with gameplay. I don't think DS tracks are overrated, I think they are perfect when in context and deserve the praise they get. Looking at them & judging them without gameplay context seems like missing the entire point of an OST and I don't think they can be fairly criticized without that context.

>>725056290 (OP)
>just forgets about PLING PLING PLONG
Also the credits theme is pretty gud. The rest is pretty meh, I admit. The only soundtrack I remember outside of those two is the Firelink Shrine theme

>>725063370
whether a track is boring or not depends on if it has melody
ds1-3 doesn't have strong melodies, so you can't hum them, except this, but it's not by sakuraba I think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVtZqFCm3cA

>>725063518
Does a song need to have melody to be good in the context of a videogame? I'd argue no since the gameplay can support the song or vise versa.

>>725059608
The soundtrack to both Breath of the Mid and Tears of the Cringedom are complete phoned-in dogshit. That despicable faggot Aonuma was using MUH SENSE OF ISOLATION as an excuse to give you even less while charging you moar.

>>725064205
as a whole, they're disappointing compared to past zeldas, but there's some good tunes in there like hateno village or korok woods

>>725063791
melodic songs are superior, which is why people remember mario galaxy's ost and not the bazillions of other orchestrated games

what is the best dungeon theme in ocarina of time, easily the forest temple, wanna guess why?

>>725064926
>melodic songs are superior
This is an opinion and a different argument.
A song doesn't need to be remembered or catchy to be good. A song can be both boring and good in the right context. A lot of Dark Souls songs fit into that category.

>>725056290 (OP)
That's just you, I haven't played or listened to Dark Souls recently but can personally whistle from memory: Gargoyles, Sif, Pinwheel, Taurus Demon, Gwyn, O&S, Firelink Shrine, Gaping Dragon and the credits. I could probably remember some more if I wrack my brain a little, but the ones I definitely can't remember are jank crap like Centipede Demon.

>>725056290 (OP)
I agree with you a bit but it really doesn't matter as much as you think
the 4 tracks that matter are all amazing (firelink, gwyn's, gwynevere's only for the effect of reaching her the first time, fair lady)
the boss music is perfectly serviceable and that's all it is supposed to do
it would even distract from the game if they went a different route imo
also artorias theme is really good

>>725056290 (OP)
>I never see mention is how absurdly overrated the soundtrack is.
I don't think I've ever seen anyone mention the sound track. Its perfectly serviceable and fits the setting and theme, it does its job and really just exists to act as a cue that something else is happening.

>>725056290 (OP)
I love the soundtrack, since the most important song played is the silence that gives the game's ambiance to life and whenever something is playing it's meant to be impactful and magical, in fact I can remember the majority of the tracks from my mind alone. I will attempt to respect your opinion even if I find it godawful

>>725065732
>This is an opinion and a different argument.
it's an objective fact
nobody sits back and listens to generic ambience track 052
you're not going to see it performed in concerts, it's not going to be track 1 on the album

stop degrading music with your shitty non existant taste

>>725059160
soulsfags always come up with some of the holiest copes I have ever seen

>>725066557
John Carpenter himself said that a sound track should be wall paper for the movie.
Leaning too heavily on music is a cheap and easy way to be emotionally manipulative.

>>725066557
>nobody sits back and listens to generic ambience track 052
Brother, there is an entire genera of this that people listen to daily. What the fuck are you smoking.
>stop degrading music with your shitty non existant taste
How about you quit limiting your pallet and feel something for once in your life.

>>725056290 (OP)
and yet i can hum at least half the songs in the demon's souls soundtrack
and i can fart one of them

>>725056290 (OP)
DS1 OST fits the themes of the game and whatever boss or area it plays in and that's why it's good
>I haven't played more FS games
Mostly the same stuff in the other games but the tracks get more generic and fotmulaic to the point where in Elden Ring is straight up generic orchestra with vocals that could perfectly fit in any other Souls game

>>725067115
Carpenter makes films that are more interesting to talk about than watch.
How many people remember the insanely long fist fight in the middle of They Live?
Imagine watching Apocalypse Now without hearing "The End" being blared as loud as possible over the finale.

>>725069392
>Carpenter makes films that are more interesting to talk about than watch.

>>725067196
can you burp it doe?

>>725056290 (OP)
It is definitely "le epic orchestra" as you put it but in this game its done very well and suits the game perfectly. The problem is you hear this shit used in so much other games that it loses much of the impact it could have since it may seem generic to you at this point. For me though despite hearing orchestra music in several games prior to Dark Souls I still find its soundtrack to be one of the best in gaming. They mix the music in between a lot of moments of no music at all or just plain old ambiance. So this is why to me its so much more effective than in most other games that will use such music.

Anyone that hates Dark Souls hates gaming. I don't care what you faggots have to say about it. You people have no idea how much Fromsoftware saved gaming from the rut it was in. You only see that everyone is copying these games now that its become the standard for action/rpg genre but there was a time when this and Demon's Souls before it was extremely unique in an industry that was dead set on worshiping military grey/brown game and cinematic linear movie game after movie game.

>>725056290 (OP)
Gwyn's theme, Firelink Shrine, Ornstein & Smough, and Sif.

>>725070736
gaming wasn't saved, games haven't been this shit since the Atari days

>>725056290 (OP)
never liked the switch to orchestral and always thought the demon's souls themes were definitely more of a bop. it's not bad though.

>>725071260
It was saved. From's games are all great. If it weren't for them shaking things up it would be a whole lot worse than it is now. So if you think gaming is shit now you should thank them for saving it since it would have been buried at this point if not for them. This industry would have been completely consumed by linear cinematic slop. From at least threw a monkey wrench into the industry and proved that people wanted games with more difficulty and that weren't these completely linear movie like experiences or just boring shooter after boring shooter. And if you think action RPGs would have been in a healthy state or even relevant today without From making the genre succeed at a high level you are wrong. Bethesda basically fucked off after the success of Skyrim and have not made a new mainline TES game since. Square Enix sure as hell weren't going to keep the genre going strong with their sporadic releases that keep losing more and more fans. In fact Square probably got motivated to even finally remake and release FFVII only because they saw that the action RPG genre went back to a healthier state.

Again you clowns really do not understand how bad of a shape the industry was in because revisionist history and rose tinted glasses. The seventh generation wasn't the best thing for gaming either. There is at least a ton of variety now even if things are still bad. AAA nearly nuked this entire shit back then and Nintendo didn't care because they had the casuals in their pocket with the Wii.

>>725056290 (OP)
It's no Demon's Souls, but it's still far above what came after. Simply put it's more melodic than the later pure pseudolatin orchestral gape residue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ3nqf7Ndeo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_AkYeZcNM
Anyway I've never heard this referred to as one of the greatest OST's so maybe you're talking to gay retards too much. I hear "these few tracks are good" and that's it.

>>725072225
Fromsoftware peaked with DS1.
Moviegames (which are always easy, mind you) are still very relevant (see sony slop which always sells, see fucking RDR2 selling like 80M fucking copies, and yes, RDR2 is a moviegame).
Last good RPG was New Vegas in 2010 (inb4 wah wah tranny tranny tranny o algo).
Soulslikes are all shit.
Games are so woke that they make Overwatch 2016 look like a tradcath game.
We are living through an era of demakes which Fromsoftware happily took part in.
Everything is optimised like shit and buggy as hell.
Anti consumer practices keep getting worse and worse.

Gaming saved my ass.

>>725073139
Bodied that freak

>>725056290 (OP)
Gwyn's theme. /thread

>>725073139
RDR2 is not the kind of movie game I am talking about. That is an open world game made by Rockstar which is the very peak of the industry as far as most people see it. I was talking in regards to games that Sony was pushing heavily and still even does today. Yes of course they are still a thing today. I never said they completely went away. But if From did not throw that wrench in when they did the industry would be far more dominated by all the things most anons hate then it is today. You are only even getting so many action RPG and games made with difficulty in mind because of From making these style of games.

There was a serious concentrated effort back in the way to steer gaming in a very bad direction. You guys are either too young or just forgot or aren't looking at the clear picture due to your blind hatred of Souls style games. Women like Anita Sarkesian would have absolutely wreaked havoc on this industry if there was not enough of a push back.

You are all a bunch of idiots if you think certain games released at key moments in history didn't play a massive role in shaping this industry. In fact you admit it, you just refuse to see it in any way other than to validate your shitty hateful opinions. Its not their fault other people keep copying their games. But its also very appreciated that they helped big time to steer the industry away from the cliff it was inevitably going to fall into much sooner than the current year had their games not broke through and got popular. I would even go so far to say that Doom would not have even had the reboot it got if it weren't for From paving the way. Again you guys really do not get how shit this industry was becoming at that point in time. Capcom literally was openly saying how they wanted the Call of Duty audience back in the day. Things were really fucking bad.

nbo was here

>>725073139
>>725074385
And if you think my point on Doom is ridiculous. Its really not. They saw that there was a want for older style games and harder difficulty in games. Who was at the forefront of pushing this back into gaming? Fromsoftware was. They have led the way to altering the path of this industry so that it could embrace things like harder difficulty in games again and not literally point A to point B type of gaming. Doom's reboot whether you think its shit or not is a direct result because of a culture shift that may never have happened if it weren't Fromsoftware among others changing the game literally. Their breakthrough is one of the most important in the history of this industry.

>>725056290 (OP)
The music just fades into the background for most of the game, it definitely kind of sucks. For Firelink Shrine that's kind of intentional and it is still memorable enough, but you want your music to really stand out when the player encounters big set pieces or boss fights. Ironically the most memorable song plays at the very end of the game, and they couldn't even be bothered to fucking name it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgCods_IOgw
Yeah sure SOME people say it's because it's about the nameless chosen undead, but those guys are fags and fromsoft clearly just couldn't be fucked to come up with a cool name.

Each Souls game has one standout track that completely overshadows the rest. Maybe two, sometimes.
>DeS - intro movie track
>DaS - Gwyn's theme (Firelink theme is also acceptable)
>DaS2- Majula (I am quite fond of Aldia's theme myself, though)
>Bloodborne - Cleric Beast, Ludwig
>DaS3 - Twin Princes
>Elden Ring - Main Theme (and its variants, eg Radagon); special mention to Godskin duo theme
You know I'm right.
>inb4 "muh Taurus Demon theme"
No.

>>725074694
>harder difficulty
The thing that everyone gets wrong about dark souls isn't that it was ever that hard. Its obstuse as fuck, but that added to fun at release because everyone on /v/ were just banging their heads together trying to figure out the best way to do everything, and it was collaborative.
But I don't think the games were ever hard, but just that its a game that's willing to let you loose or give up.
Think about most modern games where its practically impossible to lose or get lost or have anything getting in the way of pressing the awesome button.

>>725075075
There was a serious attempt back in the day to make bosses QTE fests (you can thank GOW for that) and even to outright remove them entirely.

>>725067128
>there is an entire genera of this that people listen to daily
yeah, the brainless people

>limiting your pallet
brainless detected lmao
I bet you think kraft cheese is good too

>>725067115
and do people praise the music in his films more than indiana jones or the other things? no
if you're happy with C tier entertainment, that's on you

>>725074385
>muh difficulty over and over again
The difficulty wasn't what made DS1 good. The world was unique, fun to explore, and was connected in ways never seen before. The NPCs were interesting. Bosses were unique in their own ways, particularly the different arenas. There was enemy variety. Etc. But a lot of people like you seemed to only care about muh difficulty, muh challenge! FS saw this and they haven't been able to recreate the charm of DS1 because they know their fanboys only care about the games being hard, cuz that's what dark souls 'sall bout! And you know what's funny? The problem back in the day with gaming wasn't necessarily games getting "easier", since most of the best games of all time aren't exactly hard. The problem was the scripted sequences, the cinematic slop experience, the lack of engagement. And yet FS games ended up like that, ER is fucking boring, the rollspam cycle is as engaging and interesting as following Frank Woods in a Call of Duty Black Slops scripted scene. And every other aspect is inferior to DS1. Bosses, arenas, enemy variety, the world and how it's connected, the NPCs, etc, it's all so much less interesting man. FS is fucking dead to me.

And regarding gaming as a whole, you seem to be under the impression that David Cage would've ruled gaming for 15 years if it hadn't been for DS1. I don't have a magic wand to see different timelines, but I'm willing to bet it wouldn't have changed much had Dark Souls not existed, other than we would have no soulslikes. And to that I'd say nothing of value was lost.

>>725075075
This, Dark Souls's selling point wasnt it being "hard". Its how the game isnt forgiving. Its pacing etc. all come together even in its shit areas to make the game fun and worth crawling through. FS's latr games doubling down on the difficulty enters the annoying tier of shit being hard for the sake of it like with how shit the ER dlc is. This is coupled to how bossfights became a selling point when the level design of both DeS and DS1 are what makes the game good.

>>725075737
>do people praise the music in his films more than indiana jones
Yes. No one is ever going to listen to a john williams score on their way to work. John carpenter is a touring musician.
Now stop being an argumentative bitch.

>>725056290 (OP)
>t's nothing but generic, forgettable "le epic orchestra" tracks.
Its soundtrack is filled with a lot more somber slow pieces compared to future games, and those stick with people far more than the bellowing orchestras of future games. I think it's disingenuous to say DaS is filled with "le epic orchestra" when it has less than its sequels by a wide margin.