Topic: "The Dragon Returns" - Castlevania Lords of Shadow Sequel (HERE BE SPOILER INFO)

[Ahasverus]

Music sounds as generic and lifeless as ever. Give Castlevania to Platinum games.

Yeah terrible. In other news, one of the most important soundtracks publications just reviewed the LoS Ultimate Score.http://tracksounds.com/reviews/castlevania_lords_shadow_ultimate_oscar_araujo.htm

10/10

[EstebanT]

10/10

I still can only remember like 5 tracks from the whole soundtrack.

[Ahasverus]

I still can only remember like 5 tracks from the whole soundtrack.

Read the review. They address fan criticism and how it was criticized for being "Holliwood epic".Their parameters don't adress catchyness but cohessiveness and catharsis, e g. You may not remember the melodic line but when the track wants to reflect sorrow it does mangnificently. It's another point of view more musician oriented, you may not like the /style/ but in its style its wonderful.

[EstebanT]

Read the review. They address fan criticism and how it was criticized for being "Holliwood epic".Their parameters don't adress catchyness but cohessiveness and catharsis, e g. You may not remember the melodic line but when the track wants to reflect sorrow it does mangnificently. It's another point of view more musician oriented, you may not like the /style/ but in its style its wonderful.

I'm usually the one defending Lords of Shadow, but I just can't when it comes to the musical aspects. It doesn't even have anything to do with the music of past Castlevanias.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atM3ZhF8MVs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os1rCl64PNI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j8iEnZB7K4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI6Tinpwtlk

It sounds very generic. Sure, it fits the game very well.... but its not very memorable. Keep in mind I don't think "generic" means Oscar Araujo isn't talented or that the soundtrack isn't good, but 10/10?

e g. You may not remember the melodic line but when the track wants to reflect sorrow it does mangnificently.

So Oscar can write a sad song... I would hope so... Since he writes music...

[e105beta]

I still can only remember like 5 tracks from the whole soundtrack.

Catchyness is not the ultimate measure of quality

[DarkPrinceAlucard]

geez Ahasverus lol.

You don't have to defend every aspect of LOS at every turn, even the most avid LOS fan can admit that one thing CVLOS lacks is a memorable score.

Most of it is easily forgettable for the most part save for a few tracks.

[cerebralbore]

 The music created by Oscar for the first LoS is impeccable. The memorable that can be a ost is relative for everyone; for example, I love the ost of Matrix, my mother would never love anything like this.

[Slit_Zurifa]

Indeed. Music is just a matter of taste. You like it or you don't like it. But this doesn't make Music good in an objective manner. If you want to define Music as objectively good you need to review it like in that article.

[DarkPrinceAlucard]

Just to clarify, there is a difference in music being "good" and "memorable".

I think CVLOS music sounds good.

But do I think its memorable?

no.

Especially in comparison to the old castlevania series from the NES days all the way up to playstation 2.

I think they do to much to make it sound like a hollywood score which is their thing I guess, its just not a score I thought would fit well with the castlevania series which is known for its catchy music.

[EstebanT]

Catchyness is not the ultimate measure of quality

I agree 100%
Listen to Belmont theme, Draculs theme, Carmilla, Final confrontation, waterfalls of agharta... Not particularly catchy. But very memorable in my opinion...

Now listen to the rest of the album without falling asleep.

I'm not just saying it to be a dick. I bet adding electronic like they promised will make it stand out more.

[Belmontoya]

The important thing about the soundtrack of LOS is that it does what they set out to do with it. It creates an atmosphere that morphs to match the mood of the player. Sometimes it doesn't always line up, but this was an experimental type of score to do for a video game and I think a kink here and there can be forgiven.

If Oscar had been trying to make another SOTN score or somethig like that, then we could call it a failure.

Complaining bout the LOS score because it doesn't have catchy songs like previous cv titles is like complaining about a submarine because it can't fly. You have to understand what the purpose of the LOS score is to appreciate it.

I think it's a great body of work. I don't usually choose to listen to it on it's own, but I remember being blown away by it while I was playing the game.

MOF on the other failed at this in my opinion.

[Dremn]

I like Mirror of Fate's soundtrack way more than LoS's, something about it just struck a better chord with me.

I'm especially fond of the Dracula Battle theme and how it cleverly mixes "Dark Lord of the Vampires" and "Final Confrontation" into it. DL theme can be heard at 3:10, FC at 4:50.

Castlevania Lords of Shadow ~ Mirror of Fate OST: Final Fight

Dark Lord of the Vampires: Castlevania Lords of Shadow

Castlevania Lords of Shadow Music - Final Confrontation

And then some of MoF's own original tracks were pretty great, they sounded more "Castlevania" than most of LoS's score.

Lament - Castlevania Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate Expanded Soundtrack

Castlevania Lords of Shadow ~ Mirror of Fate OST: Night Watchman

Castlevania Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate OST - Library

[DarkPrinceAlucard]

Complaining bout the LOS score because it doesn't have catchy songs like previous cv titles is like complaining about a submarine because it can't fly. You have to understand what the purpose of the LOS score is to appreciate it.

Lol, I know exactly what their purpose was and what they set out to do.

They explained that perfectly well during the development of LOS1.

But does not mean that everyone is going to like and appreciate it?

No.

Its all subjective really, but if LOS was its own thing with a soundtrack like that I wouldn't mind it as much, but its a Castlevania title, granted that it is a reboot.

And who the hell would expect a submarine to fly?

Your comparison is a bit off there considering its understandable for a fan to expect a catchy soundtrack out of a CV title considering its history said series has had with music.

[e105beta]

I agree 100%
Listen to Belmont theme, Draculs theme, Carmilla, Final confrontation, waterfalls of agharta... Not particularly catchy. But very memorable in my opinion...

Now listen to the rest of the album without falling asleep.

I'm not just saying it to be a dick. I bet adding electronic like they promised will make it stand out more.

Don't forget Hunting Path. That's like the go-to theme.

I guess I'd have to say I agree, but the biggest issue with LoS music (at least for me) isn't memorability, because all of the big cues and songs are memorable for me. I hear a song, I'm like "YEAH, THAT'S THE SONG THAT WAS PLAYING WHEN I BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF CORNELL!". My issue is that while 70% of the soundtrack is really memorable, 30% isn't and that's the stuff that they actually play the most.

That, and that the soundtrack was a bit limited, or at least if felt limited because you kept hearing the same tunes.

For me, if a soundtrack enhances the game/movie experience, it's achieved its goal. It doesn't necessarily need to be something I go and listen to in my downtime to be good. For example, there are only a few songs from MoF that I actively go back and listen to, Reaver or Clocktower or Theatre or Dracula Battle, but that doesn't mean that while I was playing the game I didn't find the other more somber, atmospheric themes absolutely stellar at getting the right feel.

I don't know, I guess that's just me. I don't mind if other people are looking for something different in a soundtrack, but you aren't going to get me to admit that the soundtrack was anything less than phenomenal at accomplishing what it set out to do.

[Belmontoya]

I didn't say everyone had to like it. I said complaining about it for not having catchy songs is complaining about the wrong thing. If you want to criticize it objectively, then criticize it for what it is. For example, complaining that the moods don't always match up, or that the vibe was wrong. They did not intend to put catchy upbeat music in LOS. If you don't like that, that's fine, but that doesn't mean that the score was a failure, or a low point in the series. It means that you just don't like the angle they took. Many long time fans like myself appreciate that they did something different with LOS.

Let me make another analogy. It's like complaining about a circle for it not having sharp edges. I don't think I can make that any clearer. Lol

Anyways, to me MOF tried to do the same thing, but the execution was off. I found that atmospherical music in a side scroller game was a bad fit, and maybe that's why the score came off as boring to me. But it could have been just uninspired compositions. I'm inclined to believe the latter.

Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion. My opinion is that many people listened for the wrong things with the LOS soundtrack and found themselves dissapointed because of it.

I don't understand how anyone who knew what the score of LOS was about could make a complaint that the songs weren't catchy. What were you expecting? Bloody tears to break or something?