Non-Gamers Hear Video Game Music FOR THE FIRST TIME

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Recipient of The Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, Christopher Allen is featured in Opera News as “one of the fastest-rising podium stars in North America.” He has led acclaimed performances with the Atlanta Symphony, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Philadelphia, English National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Washington National Opera, Detroit Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Atlanta Opera, North Carolina Opera, Daegu Opera House in South Korea and China National Opera Orchestra and Chorus. As The John L. Magro Resident Conductor for Cincinnati Opera, Maestro Allen has joined the company for three consecutive seasons, in addition to leading the Cincinnati Symphony in the annual Washington Park Concert each summer.
GRAMMY® nominated baritone and director, Johnathan McCullough, recently premiered his production of David T. Little’s Soldier Songs produced by Opera Philadelphia which was nominated by the Recording Academy for Best of Recording, an International Opera Award nomination, and won the Artistic Creation Prize at the inaugural Opera America Awards for Digital Excellence. He recently made his Canadian directing debut this season with the Atelier lyrique of Opéra de Montréal with a program entitled “Emily” centered around works written by Emily Dickinson, which he co-created with conductor and pianist Christopher Allen. Other recent appearances include singing the baritone soloist in Britten’s “War Requiem” at Walt Disney Concert Hall and recital with pianist Carol Wongs as part of the Carnegie Hall Citywide Series.
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0:00 Meet John and Christopher
0:33 Kirby's Dreamland
1:24 Reactions - Sound Medicine
2:40 Guild of Guardians Spot
4:13 Pictionary
5:33 Reactions - That didn't loop!
7:18 Final Fantasy IX - Gizamaluke's Grotto
8:28 Reactions - Reinvented
10:44 Bloodborne - Ludwig The Holy Blade
14:23 Reactions - Subliminal is Powerful
19:46 Hearts of Iron IV - Bella Ciao
22:50 Reactions - Communal Experience of Live Music
25:24 Ace Combat 5 - Unsung War
27:58 Reactions - Build All The Way to This Moment
30:00 Arknights - Zwillingsturme Im Herbst
31:45 Reactions - Recontextualizing Classical Music
33:23 Octopath Traveler 2 - Main Theme
34:59 Reactions - Building Energy
35:47 Baldur's Gate 3 - Main Theme
38:51 Reactions - Ancient and Timeless
38:48 VisceraFest - Title Screen
41:11 Reactions - Engaging Like a Drug
42:00 Final Fantasy XIV - Close In The Distance
44:21 Reactions - Repetitive Without Connection
45:40 Genshin Impact - Die Mittsommernacht Fantasie
48:16 Reactions - People Should Listen to Baroque Music
49:29 Metaphor: Refantazio - Battle Theme
52:27 Reactions - Esperanto! Isn't that nuts?
54:40 Wrapping up - It all Feels Very Epic

[@MarcoMeatball]

Download Guild of Guardians today! gsght.com/c/yzgidj Also no second video on @moremarcomeatball - full length videos here with minimal cuts from now on.

[@mohamadakkel2246]

why ? =(

[@caseylp7121]

Loved the video!

[@rustybucket164]

Marco is the tour guide to the foreign country called video game music.

[@Unholy69original]

Truly. Guide them here. Imagine if they created music for games.

[@Aegis8836]

I'm playing games. It's Greek to me XD

[@wahr-agathyos3531]

Christopher being this expressionless guy but when Ludwig ost hits he cracked that little smile. It's just perfect

[@MakooWallinen]

Metal is often acociated with anger, but I would say that sometimes it is a misunderstanding of "Focus" and sometimes "drive". Metal often focuses on a theme, a time, an emotion, or an event or an action, and just drags you through it.

[@rudelwolf1591]

kinda, yeah. Metal, or at least good metal, is in my mind the absolute height of emotion through music. It focuses on an emotion - anger, love, hate, resolve, fear, depression - and pulls it to its extremes.

[@Sorae90]

Yes, Metal for me is the art of compressing an emotion to such a high level that it just bursts.

[@ChincerDante]

"we just need something for the main theme of pictionary, nothing serious" tim follin: "hold my synthesizer"

[@firefoxelle]

My local orchestra went bankrupt and people are fighting to get it re-established... :(

[@yotambraunshtein9786]

Orchestras all over are getting bankrupt music got to pricy to make

[@HollowGolem]

@@yotambraunshtein9786 Our local orchestra went on strike because the musicians weren't getting enough of the take for the amount of time they were being asked to put in (as in, so many practices that they couldn't give lessons, which was their supplemental income), so the local "orchestra" brought in foreign scabs who are willing to be exploited, so our actual orchestra has reformed as a musician-owned outfit who have been locked out of the major performance halls and are now selling tickets to shows at local churches.

[@drakkiusgaming]

​@@yotambraunshtein9786Now, is it too pricey to make, or is life too expensive for the average person to afford tickets to see them these days?

[@Kaltsit-]

@@drakkiusgaminghonestly both

[@Teuwufel]

@@drakkiusgaming it's too expensive for musicians to pay for the place also

[@Mrinsecure]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the Pictionary theme has no right to go as hard as it does.

[@thelaughingdragon32]

Oh, so you're that guy!

[@SyxxPunk]

It's just Pictionary, Tim!

[@_black_bird]

Why is it so fire?!?! What happened?!??!?!

[@aketsuuu]

​@@_black_birdTim motherfucking Follin happened. He's a treasure to the game industry we don't deserve.

[@TheParaxore]

That guy cooked

[@Clockwonk]

I think a detail about the Ludwig ost that you forget to mention is that the change half way through the song doesn't actually happen unless the player gets to the half way point of the fight. The player has to work to actually hear the whole song which is something that you don't get when just listening to music. Video game music as an art form is completely unique because it can be made to adapt and change according to the players actions.

[@gamergirl209]

Reminds me of the DMC series for the exact same reason. The better you fight, the more dramatic the song gets

[@imo098765]

One of the craziest parts of that Genshin song, its a throwaway song. The content for it released, stayed for 40 days and went away and now it can not be played again. Its been years and its never returned in-game(from my knowledge)

[@pimpdaddyffm]

that is correct there is right now to way to play it ingame again

[@RangeCMYK]

Yup, it was never seen again. Not even a spin crystal.

[@lollal22]

Been listening a lot to the Arknights OST lately(never touched game) and must say they got such a large variety of genres that still surprise me is from a gacha game. So whenever i see 塞壬唱片-MSR upload a new track I can never predict what kind of song it will be, and I love it. Another thing, "Zwillingsturme Im Herbst" is the name of the event, the song name is "Der Hexenkönig"

[@planetary-rendez-vous]

It's great that they're doing like Genshin where they have different regions that imitate different real life countries and it's a great excuse to make different musical expressions depending on the countries' theme, what's funny is the angel country is EDM as hell.

[@grabelli]

@@planetary-rendez-vous they've done it earlier than Genshin. and their events are more various and genres of ost is much more diverse

[@planetary-rendez-vous]

@@grabelli I know. I play arknights.

[@iagowanderleyperim3245]

Love the progression of video game music towards the years. Like, you have kirby simple melody at the beggining, then Genshin and Bloodborne blowing our minds coming in later. Absolutely loved it. Thanks for the video marco.

[@IvoryMadness.]

2 guests in 1 video? That was great! Amazing selection as well, I didn't knew some these music

[@proudlarry8225]

28:00 when you show video game music to people who are not familiar with it, I like it when you bring up the motifs. Video games are perhaps the best medium for leitmotif because of how the process of experiencing them builds on itself and layers your own interaction with the medium.

[@fogheta]

Love the view on recontextualising classics with the Zwillingstrume piece, I imagine that's touchy with some puritans but their take felt very nuanced, especially with the historic similarities. My knowledge on classics would be next to none if it wasn't for AK (and Marco ofc ;))

[@natenelson9809]

Good pick with Bella Ciao, truly a beautiful piece. It's crazy that the HoI4 devs do a game expansion with their soundtrack releases.

[@gedox6523]

We had a concert in the Elbphilharmonie in germany were a gamer played 2 short story games with his own comentary and a life orchestra to make the game sound. I highly, highly recommand it for everyone who can get over a language barrier, they made wing-flapping from a bird with a salad-dryer and it worked like a charm in this huge hall. This made me realize how good videogame music is, because we dont have to worry about space and how sound evolves in a room. We always, 100% get what was intendet to be there, not like in a concert where empty rooms, a wrong microphone adjustment,can make any sound or feeling that was suposed to be there,gone. Huge probs to every sound engineer or sound technician out there who make a concert into a good sounding memory ^^

[@TURBOGABBA]

Was für ein Konzert war das? Wollte schon immer Mal in die Elphi

[@gedox6523]

@@TURBOGABBA Das war von Staiy, sehr based'er Streamer der politischen Kontent macht und halt Gamer ist ^^

[@TURBOGABBA]

@@gedox6523 ach was das war sein Projekt! Ich hab Stayi erst so vor zwei Monaten entdeckt, er hat es Mal angesprochen das er was in der Elphi gemacht hat, hat aber zu dem Zeitpunkt nicht wirklich mein Interesse geweckt. Ich schaue eher politische content creators aus dem amerikanischen Raum und Stayi war ein guter Einstieg, für mich, in den deutschen Bereich.

[@Risankun]

​@@TURBOGABBA dann kann ich dir empfehlen mal Dekarldent im Auge zu behalten. Ist für mich die natürliche Entwicklung wenn man Staiy ne Weile geschaut hat. Ist btw auch Staiys bester Freund und haben auch nen gemeinsamen Podcast (Alman Arabica)

[@bananeeek8376]

I wasn't expecting Zwillingstrume im Herbst so soon! It was interesting to hear your insights on it!

[@Chetverikov]

When Die Erlkonig hits the club.

[@Rannulfus]

It's amazing to me how Christopher was able to capture the feel of Baldur's Gate just off the main theme. Just goes to show how amazing the composer of the game is. Ancient and renaissance and modern and futuristic all in one. The illithid definitely feel like a futuristic alien race, the way the people in the game behave is definitely something we in the modern era can understand and relate to, the city of Baldur's Gate does have that renaissance feel to it, and ancient is just a given. The game really is a mish-mash of concepts and themes that come together to create a whole package that feels complete and harmonious.

[@The_Viscount]

I'm an inconsistent viewer, but whenever I watch your stuff I love it. I've said it before, but you're fighting the stereotypes about classical music being for rich posh or old people, and video game music being low brow. As someone who loves classical music and video game music, and hates the elitist hostility of some music cultures, I really appreciate this. Thank you as always. If you're ever in Minneapolis, I'd happy buy you a beer.

[@TarundiMC]

Hello from a fellow Minneapolis (area) VGM enjoyer!

[@epic_f_sauce1365]

always nice to hear ludwig the holy blade again

[@FatalisReigns]

i totally understand Allen's perspective on Close in the Distance as that piece was definitely a love letter to the fans and without that context, it really doesnt do anything different or unique than what someone like him would be used to hearing on a day to day basis, unlike everything else im sure has been very out there and foreign to him lol But my god, as a fan of ff14 that piece gives me chills and tears to my eyes every time.

[@kingjade]

While Christophers reaction to "Close in the Distance" was not sacreligious, the choice of that particular song to represent the music of FFXIV kind of was. We have absolute bangers that can go toe to toe with some of the best movie scores of our time, Dragonsong, Shadowbringers, Your Answer, just to name a few. He was right to say that Close in the Distance was very one dimensional from an objective point of view.

[@Puzzlesocks]

I personally am not a fan of much of the FFXIV specific music. The best music in that game are remix's of music from previous titles. Maybe I'm just too hipster, but some of the best game music in recent times is all coming from smaller producers. I'm thinking stuff like Carlos Viola in Blasphemous 2, Supergiant Games in all of their games (though Hades 2 probably a little less so), Chris Cristodolou in Risk of Rain 2, and obviously Christopher Larkin in Hollow Knight. I don't know if I have the words to describe the difference, but a lot of music in modern FF ends up feeling very samey or too... unremarkable maybe? It could be the influence of Zen style where the best music would be music you don't even notice while playing because it fits so well that it feels natural. Even outside of that I think of stuff like A Tergo Lupi doing mind blowing Nordic Rock in their Hide album. Jesse Cook producing some fantastic Flamenco in his "Love in the time of Covid" album. Teddy Swims producing some just amazing soul (though he is quickly gaining popularity). MEUTE doing some awesome "marching band" style covers of songs. We're really living in a golden age for music, there is simply way more stuff available to try and sift through. I could write dozens of recommendations off the top of my head at this point.

[@Manuel1112221]

I hope Marco invites the two of them over again and shows them some more FFXIV and Arknights stuff. I liked their analysis a lot and it seemed like they were genuinely wanting to listen to mkre.

[@XMAlek]

@@Puzzlesocks Lots of the specific songs are good too, but they usually aren't the one everyone talks about. I'm with the team that "close in the distance" is average, borderline bad. (and i played FFXIV !) For me themes of lots of maps are great too mixing music with environnement themes (for example : Garlemald) Thing is, FFXIV music is too rich / lengthy for its own good. As you describe "short experience" are often more impactful as they have less "time" to impact. I will take Ori and the blind forest as an example, All music is resolving around ONE leitmotiv yet it's really impactful because there is no "slowdown", no "putting thing in places". Ace combat for me is the same. if i take ace combat 7 for example one mission = one track so they just have to "laser focus" on that one mission feeling.

[@Puzzlesocks]

​@@XMAlek I'm a bit confused by your response, and also not sure where you got "short experience" from. I know I have different taste in music than many people who visit these channels and from creators like Marco, but I'm lost on how you landed on this response for what I wrote. I've played through most of the MSQ and levelled a few jobs up to max. I don't think the problem with FFXIV has anything to do with it being too rich/lengthy. I think it has more to do with overproduction, repetition, and the mismatch of game experience with theme. There is something I can't quite get to either that I think comes from extended experience with an artist. Like when I read Stephen King and can tell that he wasn't really feeling part of the story, or that he wants to really get across something himself that is hard to put into words. Nobuo Uematsu is a big shadow to live under with a lot of foundational work, and was special enough that his replacements work comes off a bit shallow. It sounds like I am talking a lot of crap, and maybe I am. But I want to clarify that the difference I am talking about is relatively small. Like the difference of having a perfectly jammy soft boiled egg in your ramen vs just having a hard boiled egg in the same ramen.

[@XMAlek]

@@Puzzlesocks I may not be clear either :) But I feel like your Stephen King analogy is kinda good. You can feel in his Book that sometimes he is filling his book with useless stuff that lessen the overall quality but “add pages” so he get to the minimum amount of pages to be published. FFXiv has for me the same problem that there is really good music but lost in tons of averages ones. While shorter experience like Hades has Way less to “fill” and can keep the experience to a minimum amount of music and then being more “impactful”. Creating 400h of music for an expansion that are All impressive is a feat that even Nobuo can’t do. For your second point, Soken has his own style and it’s the best when he don’t try to take Nobuo style. For example “athena, the tireless one” shines because he goes all out and tries other style for ffxiv.

[@Narlaw1199]

I adore Close in the Distance... But I'm also 100% certain that without the context and *especiall* the slow build up of the muted versions adding more until the full lyrical and emotional release, I would find it too cheesy, and also frankly repetitive. So I totally get the reaction. To me, that repetitiveness is an echo of a very small beat of hope getting louder... and louder, and Louder, and LOUDER!

[@j.r.cilliangreen4083]

I suppose...but it seems they got the chorus and notnwhat comes before? I don't know...I am not sure this was the best a) song and b) portion of said song to introduce someone to...but it also is a bit of 'this means a lot to me...' experience where someone isn't reacting the same way...makes it hard to decipher

[@koramar]

@@j.r.cilliangreen4083 I agree, the portion shown without what comes before feels very flat. Also the live performance is a bit lacking compared to the studio version. That being said, they mention it evokes a feeling of nostalgia, which I think is very on point for the piece.

[@JoannEcureuil]

It's too bad Enshin Impact ended. Oh well, at least we'll always have Genshin Impact.

[@sneg_9310]

My Genshin has been totally impacted

[@lorddie107]

you noticed too the Enshin Impact😅🤣

[@moisesezequielgutierrez]

Henshin Impact

[@dergrive88]

​@@moisesezequielgutierrez Hell yeah! Time to Henshin!

[@ocean037]

I love the idea of having sections! It also could be like having a list of concepts/sections and letting the guest to pick one(or more) that calls their attention. That along side the songs you've picked for them ofc. Nice video as always.

[@Darkcool123X]

The Kirby song made me think of a fun exercise of seeing how the same melody develops throughout all the games of said series. That Kirby melody has so many versions including some very recent modern ones and they are all worth listening to.

[@CodeNameX001]

My favorite is when I play classic 8 and 16-bit music, then show them modern fully orchestrated versions of the same song. Showing both where we came from, how far we've come, and what I describe as "what the player is really hearing".

[@Lord__Soul]

Exactly what I was hoping to see. Was thinking about it this morning. Marco you the man!!!

[@tomsthefish2002]

I would love to see these two again in more videos.

[@fugitiveunknown7806]

Never heard that rendition of Bella Ciao before. Absolutely amazing.

[@majorasmask5523]

This is great. Have you thought about showing guests ‘The Brilliance that Rules the Everstream - Tremor’? It’s Kulve Taroth’s third and final theme. The “Long Live the Goddess/Queen” song. I love that theme so much.

[@Vaeltis]

Let's go Lappy! So glad you showed off his rendition, it's by far one of my favorite arknights songs atm.

[@danielr5817]

Man I really like these guys. I enjoyed listening to their perspectives and also many of these songs chosen would be one that I could listen to many times in my playlists.

[@Arkouchie]

I love when you go over the history. I think that melody-driven style is important to know and remember. I hope you do that more often, the orchestral stuff is cool and important, but stuff like the Kirby music is so unique to video game music as a Medium.

[@oxenfree117]

Love these 2 guests. Glad they had a good time.

[@heisjohnny]

what a great video; my two favorite guests so far (altho they're all good)

[@WolfGamers100]

On Re:Phantazio Shoji Meguro has already worked with classical soundscape on Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey, and the first part on the Battle Theme of Phantazio is a Buddhist Monk saying chants, now whether the chants or the Latin like that comes after is Esperanto I don’t know, I think it's second part.

[@MizuNoDoukeshi]

holy shit did they bring in an actual monk or just chants they learnt from one?

[@WolfGamers100]

@@MizuNoDoukeshi first option, as far as I remember.

[@MizuNoDoukeshi]

@@WolfGamers100 damn thats so cool!

[@zetta8277]

I love these vids and am looking forward to more of them. I will say though that I think it would be cool to include a GG Strive theme in them to open your friends eyes/ears.

[@silver-te4iq]

Music is a huge part of games and how we remember them, and I think this particular series that you do is really important in terms of bringing in people that are classically trained to look at this music without the lens of nostalgia that most gamers would have. Love your videos!

[@Plasmacat1]

Kirby had his own orchestra for his 30th anniversary and it went super hard, I don’t know if you ever heard some of it.

[@danielr5817]

Awesome awesome awesome video. This is one of my favorites for this series. Though I'm still waiting for a Legend of Spyro song to be shown to one of these! Hahahaha

[@In-Midnight-Clad]

Loved this!

[@SlyI42]

45:47 after getting Jenshin Impact in the game awards, now we have enshin impact. But seriously, how was Marco able to read the title of that song?? I am surprised to not see Warframe in this video.

[@EK24z]

It's German for "The Midsummer Night Fantasia"

[@Dante1282]

@@EK24z indeed it even more suprising they only used this for one event ....

[@unknown9126]

Always nice seeing more people listen to game music. If you want some more opera and other types, try an old space game called homeworld or its sequels/prequels. Think you and others would like it.

[@robinvuorinen9402]

These guys have really insightful and clearly nuanced perspectives when it comes to music. It was awesome to hear their thoughts. Would've loved to see Christophers take on DS3 main theme.

[@deletedflame8424]

Oof at NFT involvement of the sponsor. Usually I don't really care about creators taking slightly dodgy mobile game sponsors but I draw the line at any involvement of NFTs (not crypto in general, just NFTs). To be clear, NFTs and Web 3 aren't scary to me or whatever, it's just that the entire space is blighted and their connection to games doesn't usually add anything. In the best cases, they are optional and don't add or detract anything because anything you can do with an NFT, games could already facilitate before. In the worst cases Even if there weren't the issues of NFT bros often just invading the gaming space to sell halfbaked products with a hundred new ways to monetize them or in a lot of cases stealing art or scamming people, minting an nft is also incredibly bad for the environment even if they are on the most environmentally friendly blockchains. I will never willingly support anything NFT related, even if it is optional.

[@kitchengun1175]

I think the NFTs might be the final straw for me honestly for the last 2 years I've been disappointedly watching this guy mindlessly shill pay-to-win and gooner bait games and now with NFT sponsorships it's just sad to watch what a miserable way to introduce people to video game music by shoving gambling mechanics and softcore p0rn in their faces and talking about NFTs

[@joost1120]

I don't support NFTs either, or anything involved with them, but I think it's fine if youtubers take such sponsors. Making money on youtube is hard without sponsors, so they're free to take any sponsor they can in my opinion. Most sponsors are obvious shit anyway.

[@Questpeace]

I can't wait for oldies part 2 where Donkey Kong, Zelda, Mega Man, and Chrono Trigger are examined! I love these videos!

[@ohnoZomBri]

29:16 Great advice by John! Exceptionally enjoyable reaction thank you

[@mininabs]

Thank you for including Close in the Distance, it's one of my favorites in all of ff14. It's a meditative, nostalgic like song that signals the end of this years long journey and always makes me tear up a bit. It's also a fantastic song to just sing as a tenor, with long vowels and in a comfortable range.

[@diosyntaxa]

As for game music being orchestrated... Been to a couple of video game music performances by local symphony orchestras and man it's powerful! Especially the things you know have a lot of work behind them for the old hardware and you then hear them just explode musically with all the instruments and the choirs... Tina's/Terra's Theme comes to mind. The original version is beautiful but the orchestrated version is... magic! Something I have to add is that back in the day, back before the oldies you played (man I feel old! :D ) a lot of video game music was old music re-arranged, for several reasons, time constraints and it being available without licensing being two reasons, but it led to a lot of people hearing old pieces without knowing it... One thing that comes to mind is The Flight of the Valkyries in Black Hawk on C64, or Korobeiniki in Tetris, or how about the inspiration for the theme music in the game Iron Lord? It's an amazing piece and it sticks with me to this day.

[@vitinhocrux]

These guys are amazing!!!

[@rorynurnberg7216]

You can tell Chris is really professional too, taking notes as he is listening to it all, I hope doing video's like this inspire new musics in the future

[@krundjust_krund8664]

Can I just say I love this series. As a long time nerd, music was always just background noise to me. But as I gain a perspective on the art and hear professionals discuss it, I've gone back to listen to some of the classics I ignored before. I mean, Command and Conquer Red Alert, Full Throttle any number of FPS games. Your series has really helped me discover a interest in the music of video games.

[@Tounushi]

Green Greens is a great one to start with. I always get in a joyful mood when I hear it.

[@PatrickGann]

So glad you included Octopath Traveler II for these. Fun fact: That main theme and the character themes were recorded in Nashville at Ocean Way studio!

[@acefofficial]

Always here for the Ace Combat OST reactions!

[@OlevE2010]

I love these video's! If i could however say one thing: i would love it if you'd pop in a league of legends champion theme in these video's, just cuz of the great quality of the music. Keep it up Marco

[@glaucousgrey990]

I really hope the next one of these videos has some more outer wilds music tbh, maybe it's just the emotional attachment to it but that's still way up on top of video game music for me. Right up there with hollow vessel.

[@gabrielstephens4377]

The Outer Wilds score is something else, as is hollow knight

[@FieryVigil]

It's crazy to me, even being pretty engrossed in video games most of my life, the variety of music that you can find. There is just so much that it's probably kind of hard to decide what to play for these little experiments. The pieces that you can pull are just endless.

[@RenatoRamonda]

Not sure if they're as interesting to you, because they're less orchestral, but I'd love you to check out some more Darren Korb, especially his collaborations with Ashley Barret, for Supergiant Games. I know you reacted to It's in the Blood already, but really... the "triphop Americana" of Bastion, the elegant mix of heartfelt female vocals and electronic music of Transistor... all golden. And the rest of Hades' soundtrack ("Out of Tartarus" has a striking rhythm... thanks to its time signature, but again it's all interesting in its mix of mediterranean string instruments and electronic stuff), and the newly released Hades II (in Early Access) that again goes different places (there's a couple of hard rock/metal songs, but also one long OST track with an amazing sax part, and another with a REALLY sick flute solo... 6 minutes in :-D )

[@blackbird-sleeper]

I for one can say that I didn't actually know about the musical history behind Der Hexenkonig (from arknights) until I watched your channel. I thought it was good, really good! But then I also learned it was *clever*, too. Plus, the way it's clever fits very well with the narrative, with it being the boss theme for an evil king who is a composer of magic that is also music. It's possibly the only route I could imagine for creating something that speaks to the character of, again, an evil composer-king. It's genius, and it's fun to listen to. I'm glad I learned about another dimension of it.

[@jamesh2321]

I absolutely love these and to answer the gentleman's question, YES, we (gamers) do know the source material, sometimes after the fact, and YES, we would pack a house to hear these things live. I've been waiting to see the Final Fantasy concert because Nobuo Uematsu is a Genius and his music helped define my childhood. That said, have you (Marco) ever heard the "Metal" remix of John Williams' famous "imperial march" from the rather obscure star wars title "Force Commander"? Yes, it's straightforward and it does nothing new, but seeing as how it's the ONE thing people remember from that otherwise forgettable game, it's worth a listen IMO. Also- I see you lean toward a lot of the classical/anime games and that's awesome, but shoutout to all the Warhammer 40k soundtracks and the Stellaris Soundtrack. Underrated gems in hugely popular game-scapes.

[@freeflare6338]

Close in the Distance still gets tears out of me from time to time. It's such a wonderful song, and the symphony version is fantastic. I think it's a good song with or without context, but since I will never be free of knowing every little bit of the song, holding those tales of loss and fire and faith close, I suppose I'll never be able to look it at objectively. I do sort of wonder what they would have thought of the community version with 1000+ singers, though.

[@TriXJester]

You know Marco, if you ever branch out into anime music soundtracks Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood has a VERY operatic soundtrack, it's also considered in the anime community to be one of the best soundtracks for a show along with a few others. Most of the tracks a very short (used multiple times in the show) so you could probably get through a lot in a stream.

[@NinJoo117]

I don't know how much work would go into it, but to comment on the whole "needing a guide" to jump into something new, I'd love to get maybe like a spreadsheet of popular videogame soundtracks (and maybe some underrated ones too!) with suggestions on classical music very similar to those pieces. Kinda like a "Classical music for Dummies" thing but from a VGM perspective... I think that could be really cool to help people like us get out of our comfort zone so to speak, without it being too jarring.

[@rogamu7531]

Hearts of Iron IV also made a bunch of other great renditions of significant cultural songs across the world. My personal favourite, due to obvious bias being Finnish myself, is their rendition of Säkkijärven Polkka, highly suggest you check that out, maybe even showcase it in some of these videos. Great content as always Marco, keep it up!

[@yorutaichou]

I think it actually is very interesting to take nostalgia pieces like close the distance and expose it to people who don't have any context to that nostalgia. I would like to see more of those but paired with something of the same series or ost even to just try and contextualize that nostalgia.

[@procrastinatordave]

Wasn't expecting to see Viscerafest in this video, it was a pleasant surprise.

[@psilocyberspace]

If you have these two on again or even just want to recommend it I think 'Answers' from FFXIV always blows people away.

[@ArgentLeftovers]

Simply putting together a From Software night would make SO much money Years ago I went to the first Distant Worlds concert here in Houston. Seeing season ticket holders in their formal attire eyeing up the cosplayers was fun, but EVERYONE coming to Intermission and talking excitedly as a whole, both older gentlemen and 20 year old cosplay girls just giddy. It was fantastic.

[@GrimMeowning]

Can you check boss-battle themes "Guillotina Tristeza" or "O Deive"from Tree of Saviour? SFA and SoundTeMP were already amazing in Ragnarok Online, but in ToS they became even better. Main their thing is mixing Classic music or Opera with electronics, rock or metal, or play it on weird (usually Folk) instruments. They deserve that more people know about them!

[@GrimMeowning]

Also, other boss songs are nice too (more power metal-ish): "Dienos Advento", or "Deives Veliava". Or without lyrics: "Mas Rapido". Or more classics-like like "D Lejano" (I think this one is most famous from game) or just "Main Theme". Or ambient in uncomfortable zone (with mechanism) like "Hypodynamia". As DLC to game - they are only selling music, and there already dozen of concerts. They know the best part of the game (well, also visuals). Hehe.

[@vasilyfamilienko4318]

Yeah, great MMO with amazing music and visuals, but IMC made so many wrong descisions and added greedy monetisation - so game just died and now there only 1000 players divided between 5 servers...

[@CubeMasterTV]

First time I've heard that metaphor battle track, and holy shit what was that, that was epic! Defo need to look at the game

[@thewinterprince1731]

I really want to see you and others react to Kill God from Silent Hill 3. It's one of the most "shit's fucked up and nothing is righteous" songs I have ever heard. I'd also love to hear you react to Dance of Pearls from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It's one of my favorite waltzes of all time, video games or no.

[@Syolaar]

Final Fantasy has been doing world tours of their music in concert since 2002. It's a wonderful experience.

[@Hahejo]

Kinda a bummer cause Nier or Castlevania or TESV didn’t make it in the video but there are so much music out there. But the confusion the guys were experiencing towards the end there didn’t happen in those games, they were all well resolved.

[@GertHuber]

Bloodborne reminds me of the Final Fantasy VII Sephiroth boss theme. Yeah, I really would love to know how the audience reacts to some things like that thrown in. ;) Similar to Ace Combat 5 'Child of Light' builds as well the Audio and then the accumulation of the song so awesome! Can recommend that one too. For me it's a pity that Arknights didn't get a second showing too. ;) Final Fantasy XIV I too didn't get the emotions, since didn't play myself. With the Genshin music at first thought it be from "Lunar 2: Eternal Blue" Jean's Theme (cannot recommend this one) but then it's its own and missrembered it. Oh loved the entire OST of Lunar 2. Also for me the Genshin one, the two 'parts' seperate are good, however, didn't do as good for me together. Thanks for the awesome music and great reactions!

[@Darkrai110]

Really wish you would have shown them Fatalis' theme from World. Freaking amazing

[@benpurcell4935]

27:22 This is a variation of the missing man formation. It’s a fly by that when passing over spectators has one aircraft leave formation.

[@CrimsonSali]

If your choice was going to be Close in the Distance no matter what, may I suggest if you want to show it to anyone else to show them the buildup of the song? The same way it builds through the Zone. We have an emotional attachment to this song because we heard it build over time as we played, and just hearing the finished song won't ever strike the same emotions as that.

[@gr3yvengeance597]

I can't help but notice Metaphor: Refantazio's battle theme shares a great number of elements with AoT's YouSeeBIGGIRL/T:T, primarily Attack D, it took me a few minutes to get that brain itch out, but I found it. It's kind of fun to find and hear recurring themes reimagined pop up all over in music from different artists. From what I can tell, it also feels like it shares a bit with Fire Emblem games as well, though I'm not familiar enough with those OST's to point at a particular theme. I really love music, and am constantly finding new reasons to fall in love all over again.

[@connnnnnnnnnnnorrrrr]

I'm just some random guy Marco, but I really love these videos. I hope we get to keep seeing them!

[@itsnotpan.]

FFXIV's Close In The Distance always brings me back memories from when I last played the story back when Endwalker was released. So beautiful...

[@thewinterprince1731]

I didn't expect the Final Fantasy singer to be a Hell's Angel with a cowboy hat and sick beard.

[@chaost4544]

Picked some excellent tracks. The HOI4 track I have not heard until now and it blew me away. HOI4 devs always bring it with the music.

[@iceneko9170]

its interesting looking back... i recalled a video essay by another channel, was it called lite motifs? it was something along the lines of a 'familiar chord progression strung together throughout an ost', subtly or not, for the player to latch onto as they go through the experience. I have to wonder how much the lack of familiarity with those 'motifs' would affect the ratings by these composers. especially when they point out how the pieces dont do anything special. edit: please excuse the jumbled mess that is the top of this comment. I noticed it while rereading and gave up on fixing it. Too much effort.

[@Feraget1]

Never thought I would hear Marco speak the name Lappy!

[@YankeesWin20]

i LOVE the Unsung War comparison to Mozart, makes me so proud to be a massive ace combat fan!

[@MultiMelodia]

Ahh, it begins... Marco finally gets a taste of the wild rabbit hole that is music written by Tim and Geoff Follin. looking forward to him reacting to solstice and plok some day.

[@bradbot]

38, played games all my life. Never dipped into the Ace Combat series. You choose a piece almost every episode and I never know there is such a cool story behind it. The story combined with the music and gameplay must take the player on such a journey. I have got to try it.

[@MarcoMeatball]

You owe it to yourself Brad

[@narius_jaden215]

I feel like nowhere more than video games can you attach emotion to music so easily. Sure, you can find beauty in any art. But video games are stories you interact with and control. It's beautiful because you become attached so quickly to the world and the people in it. Because of that, everything to do that world becomes even more ingrained in your mind, in your heart.

[@oneclevername]

Oh my God, I had forgotten about the Pictionary music. That sent me back to being a kid playing it. 😮

[@bootbootmcboot8529]

You have got to play the opening track for the game Solstice!

[@FrostedVanity]

Metaphor is going to be so good! 3 more months!

[@austinyun]

That pictionary theme is a bop

[@YourRyeBread]

It's unfortunate most the games you share music from I'm fully ignorant to (never played or watched) or disinterested in (uninterested in playing or watching) oh wow we got a few in this one actually! of what you shared this video I’m interested in kirby, bd3, and genshin. I thought it'd just be the one!

[@reifananaqi5132]

LAPPY MENTIONEDDDDD GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH 🗣🗣🗣🔥

[@andrewgreenwood9068]

the hoi4 rendition of bella ciao is incredible.

[@LotionSoronarr]

Have you listened to the main theme of Civilization VI - Sogno Di Volare? You'd love it.

[@_Uptilt]

I'm with them on Close In The Distance. I do have some emotional attachment to it because of what was going on in the story, and the way the song was building up in layers was a really cool concept, but I could never appreciate it properly as a musical piece. It's one of my least favourite songs in a game soundtrack that's otherwise full of so much interesting music from every genre imaginable. I'm glad a lot of people like it but to me it really just sounds like repeated sentimental droning.

[@JoannEcureuil]

Yep, and I agree from the perspective of someone liking it. It won't have an impact on its own if its someone's first time hearing it. It needs the experience as its context and companion alongside it.

[@NothingXemnas]

Honestly, many Final Fantasy songs are like that. It reminds me of Suteki Da Ne (FFX). It is REALLY GOOD, but compared to a lot of songs already existing at the time, it is just a ballad. Still, contextually, it is near impossible not to feel emotional about it. Not a game, but it is also similar to I Really Want to Stay At Your House, used in Cyberpunk Edgerunners. It is nothing outstanding, but by the time it plays in the anime, you are bawling your eyes out, and everything you listen to it, the memories just keep coming back; emotional association is a crazy phenomenon.

[@zjack018]

Ditto, I don't think the song would hit any where as hard without the context and experience that come with it. I can't hear it without popping back into the area, and the meaning it hold for us the player. It is like a seasoning; not much on its own, but pairing with the perfect dish, and I can't stop the tear duct from draining.

[@Alex.Holland]

Many game's music, 14 is like this especially, are relatively simple or boring to music people, but there's a whole other layer of complexity attached that's transparent to people who haven't played the game itself, and that is that the music is built grammatically from parts over tens or dozens or hundreds of hours, from themes and motifs tied to zones, characters, bosses, plot points, cultures, factions, etc etc and the player has time to learn these bits like learning a language. Some songs in 14, hearing them for the first time, with zero context, I may instantly know which characters the song references, what factions are represented, what time period its referencing, etc. The talent and complexity involved in making even mediocre music that can do that is wild to me, and its a shame (although understandable) this seems lost on so many people.

[@xGoodOldSmurfehx]

The Unsung War alone earned you my thumbs up :D