Style: Video game music
Primary Emotions/Themes: Immortality vs mortality, vampirism, gods vs men
Thoughts: A sword pierces your chest. Your innards begin to spell onto the ground. You are slain. You are going to die. In your head a singular voice asks you the fateful question: do you want to live?
This is the choice that Kain is given in Blood Omen at the very beginning of the game. A necromancer offers him the choice of life, and he accepts. But in this life, nothing is free.
Kain is turned into a vampire and is cast from the world of mortal men, sunlight, and civilization just by uttering a single phrase: yes. We are witnesses to these events as the players of Blood Omen, and secondarily by listening to this recorded chronicle of the audio accompaniment to said game.
Blood Omen is a fantastic but exceedingly difficult game. It's "old school hard" and it's one that I never beat when I was younger. I had to go back when I was much older to make it through the game completely. Even then it was exceptionally difficult not to fall victim to all those who would try and kill Kain.
There were a few things that stood out in the game for me. The voice acting was well above par for the time. Both Kain and Morbius put on excellent performances. The music also followed suit, matching the dark tone of the game.
This record combines both in a fantastic way. The voice lines are etched into the grooves as the music from either the cut scene or the part of the map plays. It captures the essence of what the game was about in such a simple yet effective manner. I love it when soundtracks do this, and this is no exception. Side B's locked groove is also the victory call that I was looking for throughout the run time of the record.
The best soundtracks make you remember the times playing the games. This record not only does that but pulls in the dialogue from the game as well. This triggered instant nostalgia, and that dear reader is why I listen to video game music from time to time. It brings me back to simpler times.
Written December 6th 2023
No comments:
Post a Comment