Rarely, a game will leave a mental imprint on me that lasts well beyond when I finish the game. Most of these games are classics, but there’s not always a perfect correlation between the quality of a game, whether it’ll leave an imprint and how strong that imprint becomes. I’m not going to delve deeply into the subject, but I wanted to briefly pose the question: what makes a game leave an imprint?
I’ll spare you all the long-winded monologue and instead I’ll focus on one highly subjective point: it’s in the music. The games that leave the strongest impressions on me almost always have a great soundtrack. Shadow Complex was probably a technically better game than Trine, but the latter is the one that left an imprint. I burned through both games, but I continue to play Trine through the music - the soundtrack contains the essence of the game. I can listen to it after I’ve played the game and I can observe how my memories are mapped to the individual tracks. Each song is linked to different experiences.
Normally, my memories are fleeting - they’re attached to any of dozens of simultaneously moving thoughts and they slip through my mind before I can get a solid grip on a particular thread. But the sounds of the game bring clarity to even the smallest details. Most of the games that have made an impression on me fit this bill, ranging from classics like Betrayal at Krondor and Xenogears to modern recent obscurities like Spirit Engine 2. In some cases, this extends beyond the soundtrack and to the effects and ambient noise in games like X-Com.
I have yet to play an MMO that evokes the same reaction, but the genre doesn’t give music the same role for obvious reasons. I can’t help but wonder what kind of MMO will leave an imprint on me.
Have you played Guild Wars? I absolutely love the music in it, and it’s the first time I actively noticed the music and realized how great it was.
I can hear Shadow Complex’s melancholy opening strains in my head even now; I thought it was a great, atypical example of game music setting a mood. Instead of pounding intensity it’s a sad, betrayed kind of feeling suited for the larger story they’re telling, even though that story isn’t particularly well delivered by the moment-to-moment game experience.
David: I played Guild Wars extensively, but I spent most of my time in PvP. Playing with music at normal volume levels in PvP is a disadvantage because there were so many audio cues that I needed to catch. Jeremy Soule is a great composer though, so I’m not surprised that it’d get mentioned.
John: I loved Shadow Complex and burned through it in 2-3 days (played way too much). It’s just that as I got past the early stages, it didn’t retain that feeling that was necessary to make it leave a strong imprint. If some of the latter segments felt closer to the beginning then it might have done so. I still plan to play through it again, but I don’t remember the game nearly as well as I remember Trine.
I totally agree, it’s the music that brings in the memories. For me, the game that totally does that is Street Fighter 2. I even got that special soundtrack they made where various composers give their treat to the original tunes. I listen to that pretty often even in the car. Even now I think that the music from Ken stage totally rocks
SF2 has a memorable soundtrack.
What about PotBS? I thought the soundtrack was pretty good. I have played only a few MMOs but it’s the only one I can even remember some tunes. I played WoW for a longer time, but I can’t recall a single track…
It’s a bit different when you work on a game. I’m generally driven insane and need to turn the music off because I hear the same tune so much. Especially when you consider how much you’re in game when there are only a couple songs.