Entry 1498 - Loop Hero

Style: video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: round and round we go... until the boss stops us

Thoughts: Boy do I love this soundtrack. Not only does it work well within the excellent game, the album stands head and shoulders above most video game music that's being released these days. Let me explain.

Loop Hero is a game about walking around a track with different interactions with tiles that get placed along the way. The game play is strategic and requires a lot of planning to get done correctly. It's one of the most unique experiences I've had in gaming for a long time and it's simply excellent.

The music follows suit in every facet of the adventure.  The graphics are pixelated so the music is solidly in the retro chip tune style. The adventure repeats over and over so the music takes the same concept to heart with leitmotifs. There is an air of foreboding around the game. The music follows suit once again and reflects this with both the note selection but also a tinge of reverb on the instrumentation. 

I've been on record many times saying that just because music is good within the context of the game does not make it good on its own. It takes a special album to do just that. Loop Hero is a special album. 

Not only does the music work well within the game itself, the music also makes for an excellent album. The tracks are paced in a way that they blend into each other. The music is allowed to tell its own story within the concept of the records. The way the tracks flow and the various moods that arise is quite frankly masterfully done and arranged. 

On top of all of this the album has one final quality that differentiates it: chip tune ambience. There are multiple tracks on the album that sound like they are off of an ambient album... only the instrumentation is completed with chip tunes. I've never heard anything quite like this before or since. I absolutely love these tracks and I would adore it if an artist explored these concepts further. 

Loop Hero is one of those rare video game album that not only works in the game but on its own as well. Every time I listen to it I'm reminded of why I enjoy it so much. Maybe I should start up another run here sometime, I feel the looping path calling to me.