Personally, I find the tracks very moody and fitting for the game atmosphere, but I can't help but feel they went in a completely different direction with it.
IMO the tracks are perfect for the locations, but they just don't go that well with the massacre you're doing. If this was a survival game where you controlled a weak character that is supposed to hide and evade the demons/zombies, these themes would fit much better, in my opinion. It just sounds too ambiental and discreet, when you're in fact ripping up hordes of hellspawn/undead non-stop.
The tristram theme from d1/2 ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obsFxm4fj7g ) really makes its presence felt and is in my opinion more fitting to what you're doing in the actual game.
Don't take this as a rant, because it's not.. I'd say it was just my observation, and I'd like to hear opinions on this.
It's good, no doubt, but I haven't heard anything quite like D2 music. Background ambient music isn't gonna stir up nostalgic emotions 10 years down the road, unfortunately.
I think the music is perfect for what we're actually doing in the game now. Take into account that the caves music from D2 was ambient too. I would actually compare the two on the fact that, while there isn't anything really interesting going on in terms of instrumentals, there is a lot of sonic cues that allow them to create an atmosphere. That's where Diablo's music excels.
Now, not every Diablo track needs an acoustic guitar to play a somber song. Every Diablo track, however, needs the correct ambiance to complete the package. That's why I love the music and don't feel at all disappointed by a lack of an acoustic guitar track.
The "Fields of Misery" sounds very miserable. There are a lot things that make it just fit and I would have no problem listening to it with the rest of my Diablo tracks. There are sounds at around the 9:00 timestamp that just make my heart jump into my throat. That's all I need to be satisfied.
Edit: Here's my guide to music appreciation:
1. Turn off the lights and turn off your monitor.
2. Sit back and close your eyes. This will direct your brain to pay more attention to your other senses since sight has been temporarily blocked.
3. Listen to the track. Listen for all the little nuances within the track.
I've been playing Diablo since I was 6 or 7. Trust me, the original Tristram theme is plenty nostalgic for me. However, I have no desire for anything like the Tristram theme in Diablo III. Certain songs work for certain situations and what is happening in Diablo III is too epic for little acoustic tracks. You don't need acoustic guitars to create nostalgia.
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I hate the way you cling to ignorance and pass it off as innocence
Your guide to music appreciation sounds more like a guide for tripping on mushrooms. This is video game music, not meditation music.
I wouldn't call Tristram theme a "little acoustic track".
Music that invokes emotional nostalgia isn't about the type of instrument you use; it's how the music feels. My favorite examples that compare to the Tristram theme:
Well... the massacre you're doing will provide the soundtrack for the massacre you're doing. Don't just picture the carnage with only the nice ambient music in your head. Hear all the splats, cuts, screams, grunts, armor clanks, corpse explosions, and demonic spells going off. The music seems just tense enough to keep you on edge in the small pauses between battles.
Your guide to music appreciation sounds more like a guide for tripping on mushrooms.
It is.
This is video game music, not meditation music.
I never said it was.
I wouldn't call Tristram theme a "little acoustic track."
The Tristram theme is a little acoustic track.
Music that invokes emotional nostalgia isn't about the type of instrument you use; it's how the music feels.
That verbatim what I said.
And the Dungeon Siege theme is a brilliant piece of music. I remember playing that game when I was 10 or so.
Certainly, nostalgia isn't something that you can expect. You can't just listen to a track and say, "oh, that's not going to be nostalgic." That's the message I was trying to convey. I was trying to lead people away from the belief that just because it doesn't sound like the Tristram doesn't mean that it's not going to have the same effect on you down the road. Imagine showing this game to your child some odd years down the road and hearing the music again. Can you say that you're not going to be affected? No, you can't because the future hasn't happened yet and, for all I care, you haven't even played the game yet.
I just want people to approach this with an open mind before shoving it aside in the name of nostalgia.
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I hate the way you cling to ignorance and pass it off as innocence
I agree with Ardikus, the music in the 3rd game is too much in the background. While it does invoke emotion, it's not nearly as memorable as the D2 soundtrack (at least what we've heard so far).
I'm a guitar player so I miss the riffs from the older diablo games. This new ambiance stuff is completely computer generated and kind of boring when you listen to them next to each other in comparison.
That said I'll have to play through the game and see how the ambiance works through the whole mood of the game. It's one thing to compare two pieces of music and another to compare how the compliment the video games themselves.
I know one of the things the dev's were trying to hype up was that the players "feel" more powerful because skill sound is much more forefront than before in many cases. The music wasn't designed to carry the story, it was designed to carry the mood. I don't want to make any excuses for it and I don't want to cut it down yet, I'm going to buy diablo either way so only time well tell unfortunately.
Well the answer is it's not Matt Uelman (reason it felt it went on a different direction). I'm not saying that Russel Brower is bad, he's good but his music is usually done with symphony and Uelmen's D2 music wasn't that time. He did change though to symphony recording in LoD but was still good. Even in Torchlight 2 he went completely symphony recording and the intro sounds epic. I'll link it below both by Matt Uelmen.
I love all loot fest kind of game! I will be playing all of them for the next few years. Loot fest games I'm looking forward to: LotR: War in the North,Torchlight 2,Borderlands 2 and of course Diablo 3.
The music isn't supposed to be iconic; it's supposed to fit the situation.
I say that, if the music fits, everything will work out the way it's supposed to. I didn't anticipate the music to be anything better than the scores of previous Diablo games, but I did expect something that belonged in the game just as well as the Tristram theme belonged in Diablo I.
This game is a separate entity altogether. Why don't you write a letter to Matt Uelmen and ask him how he thinks of the Diablo III music? Maybe you can benefit from hearing it from an artist's perspective.
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I hate the way you cling to ignorance and pass it off as innocence
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I was looking at the gameplay videos while listening to this particular song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Zy_Bo1NSs
Personally, I find the tracks very moody and fitting for the game atmosphere, but I can't help but feel they went in a completely different direction with it.
IMO the tracks are perfect for the locations, but they just don't go that well with the massacre you're doing. If this was a survival game where you controlled a weak character that is supposed to hide and evade the demons/zombies, these themes would fit much better, in my opinion. It just sounds too ambiental and discreet, when you're in fact ripping up hordes of hellspawn/undead non-stop.
The tristram theme from d1/2 ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obsFxm4fj7g ) really makes its presence felt and is in my opinion more fitting to what you're doing in the actual game.
Don't take this as a rant, because it's not.. I'd say it was just my observation, and I'd like to hear opinions on this.
When tearing up hordes of zombies and demons, something like this might fit better :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF2WJwSOz-k
Now, not every Diablo track needs an acoustic guitar to play a somber song. Every Diablo track, however, needs the correct ambiance to complete the package. That's why I love the music and don't feel at all disappointed by a lack of an acoustic guitar track.
The "Fields of Misery" sounds very miserable. There are a lot things that make it just fit and I would have no problem listening to it with the rest of my Diablo tracks. There are sounds at around the 9:00 timestamp that just make my heart jump into my throat. That's all I need to be satisfied.
Edit: Here's my guide to music appreciation:
1. Turn off the lights and turn off your monitor.
2. Sit back and close your eyes. This will direct your brain to pay more attention to your other senses since sight has been temporarily blocked.
3. Listen to the track. Listen for all the little nuances within the track.
I've been playing Diablo since I was 6 or 7. Trust me, the original Tristram theme is plenty nostalgic for me. However, I have no desire for anything like the Tristram theme in Diablo III. Certain songs work for certain situations and what is happening in Diablo III is too epic for little acoustic tracks. You don't need acoustic guitars to create nostalgia.
I hate the way you cling to ignorance and pass it off as innocence
I wouldn't call Tristram theme a "little acoustic track".
Music that invokes emotional nostalgia isn't about the type of instrument you use; it's how the music feels. My favorite examples that compare to the Tristram theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWuNf4gxwuM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RatCbHudjgM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsK4FZCGums
It is.
I never said it was.
The Tristram theme is a little acoustic track.
That verbatim what I said.
And the Dungeon Siege theme is a brilliant piece of music. I remember playing that game when I was 10 or so.
Certainly, nostalgia isn't something that you can expect. You can't just listen to a track and say, "oh, that's not going to be nostalgic." That's the message I was trying to convey. I was trying to lead people away from the belief that just because it doesn't sound like the Tristram doesn't mean that it's not going to have the same effect on you down the road. Imagine showing this game to your child some odd years down the road and hearing the music again. Can you say that you're not going to be affected? No, you can't because the future hasn't happened yet and, for all I care, you haven't even played the game yet.
I just want people to approach this with an open mind before shoving it aside in the name of nostalgia.
I hate the way you cling to ignorance and pass it off as innocence
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Thank you for the updated songs, Prosthesy.
That said I'll have to play through the game and see how the ambiance works through the whole mood of the game. It's one thing to compare two pieces of music and another to compare how the compliment the video games themselves.
I know one of the things the dev's were trying to hype up was that the players "feel" more powerful because skill sound is much more forefront than before in many cases. The music wasn't designed to carry the story, it was designed to carry the mood. I don't want to make any excuses for it and I don't want to cut it down yet, I'm going to buy diablo either way so only time well tell unfortunately.
Torchlight 2 Main theme another nice job on theme by Uelmen
Torchlight 2 sample ambiance music after you hear this you'll understand why D3 went to the same direction
I say that, if the music fits, everything will work out the way it's supposed to. I didn't anticipate the music to be anything better than the scores of previous Diablo games, but I did expect something that belonged in the game just as well as the Tristram theme belonged in Diablo I.
This game is a separate entity altogether. Why don't you write a letter to Matt Uelmen and ask him how he thinks of the Diablo III music? Maybe you can benefit from hearing it from an artist's perspective.
I hate the way you cling to ignorance and pass it off as innocence