Brentunes #2: Game Edition

Ah, here were are again with another edition of Brentunes! I think it’s time we get right to the truth of the matter: I LOVE video games. I love them so much that I own some of their music on CD. Yeah – game soundtracks. Let’s roll.

Final Fantasy VIII – The Extreme (Black Mages Ver.) [PS1]

This is the one that instigated this particular post. I was looking up tour dates for Video Games Live, then YouTubing some of their past performances when I came across some live Black Mages stuff. Man, they rock it out. I own their first two CDs, so I hadn’t heard any other tracks of theirs. Until this one! I’m actually replaying FF VIII now, so it made this even better!

Final Fantasy X – Via Purifico (Piano Ver.) [PS2]

Okay, so technically this is NOT the original song, but from the FFX Piano Collection CD. It’s so beautiful! I listen to this track quite a bit at work to just generally keep calm around a bunch of idiots. 🙂

Final Fantasy Legend 2  – Save the World [Game Boy]

Final boss music doesn’t “work” for me unless it has a certain feel. I can’t describe it any better than “no second chances, if we fail now everyone we know will die.” That particular emotional connect with me happens in the first 10 seconds of this track. It’s from a friggin’ Game Boy, too! I mean, damn.

Lost Odyssey – Dark Saint [Xbox 360]

Dear Mistwalker – Please make another game that isn’t Blue Dragon-related. See how amazing Odyssey turned out? WANT MOAR!

Let’s end on an emotional note. If you’ve never played MGS4, you may want to play the ENTIRE DAMN SERIES so it’ll make sense. This song is the culmination of 20 years of suspense and cliffhangers for me. Literally – 20 years. Metal Gear came out when I was wee lil’ gamer.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots – Love Theme [PS3]

There’s got to be a word for this punch-in-the-gut feeling this song gives me. It’s sad, but on a level I can’t really describe. This might be – and probably is – because I’m directly connecting it with the moment in the game where the song is played (arguably one of the greatest gaming moments ever). This track makes me think “we’re going to fail, things are going to get bad for those left behind, now they’re on their own.” It’s strange how I can’t connect music to emotions – I have to connect them to fictional events that I make in my head. Perhaps that’s due to how emotionally and structurally complex music can be. It can’t be easily simplified.

I just realized that Nobuo Uematsu was three of my choices. Must be good, right?

– Brent