A Requiem for Video Game Music

I listen to video game music. Religiously, I may add. It’s hard to define exactly what makes it feel so good to listen to. While it draws the ire of many “music purists”, video game soundtracks can instill emotions that normal songs can’t. Just saying “video game music” does offer itself to a very broad generalization of the category, with some games like the Doom series focusing on hard metal while others like Undertale center around chiptunes, so I’ll be limiting this to the one series that excels at its music: The Legend of Zelda. Am I aware that this likely won’t convince any of you to give it a chance? Yes, I am. Are you aware that this post is just an excuse for me to force you to listen to some of my favorite music tracks? Well, now you are. This is my desperate attempt to convince you that video game music has its merits.

Where to start is hard, but I guess there’s always the beginning. The opening title screen is an aspect unique to video games. It’s like making the cover of a book animated and giving it a backing track. These title screens can give insights into the overall motifs and themes of a game, and their music serves to supplement their feelings. The Legend of Zelda Series is a series that capitalizes on this to with great effect. The franchise delves into wildly different tones for its stories, so two games that both star the titular hero, princess, and demon king can be unique from each other. The GameCube Zelda games showcase this point brilliantly, with Wind Waker being a cozy island adventure that hides its dark undertones deep within its story, whereas Twilight Princess has its darkness literally within its title and wears it on its sleeve throughout the game. These sentiments are echoed by their title screens, with soothing strings, rhythmic drumming, and quaint woodwinds that paint the homely, island adventure vibes Wind Waker seeks to portray, contrasted with the slow-building choir and melancholy strings of the darker, grander adventure through a ruined kingdom in Twilight Princess. The title screen is the player’s first gateway into the adventure that awaits them at the start button.

When you start your adventure, the Legend of Zelda series has several towns in its roster that serve as safe spaces for the player, each with its own varying character. Different areas in these games provide completely different feels and truly serve to make the world seem more immersive and lived in. From the homely woodwinds of Twilight Princess' Kakariko Village and the Spanish guitars of Ocarina of Time's Gerudo Valley, all the way to the island vibes of Wind Waker's Dragon Roost Island and the first homely and later doomed Majora's Mask Clock Town. Each area of the world has its feel, and despite the games featuring a common composer, a variety of emotions can be conveyed by the many themes implemented throughout the series.

The characters are some of the most memorable aspects of the Legend of Zelda games, and their fitting themes help bolster their presence. The character themes enlighten the player about the characters' vibes and their place in the story. Whether that be the cursed princess who treats you with disdain but grows to care for the player throughout the game, whose theme comprises of sweeping strings and a solemn oboe. Whether that be the forgotten demon lord who seeks out his master and uses your story actions to further his plan, whose theme is a sinister composition that is reminiscent of a Disney villain. Whether that be a traveling bard who you meet on occasion in your travels around this vast land with his trademark accordian. The themes of the characters in the games help add color to their world and paint them as living beings who stick out in the player's memory long after the adventure is over.

The bad, though not quite the big one yet. Boss themes are some of the best parts of video game soundtracks, being able to score not only your actions and the settings of the fight but also characterize the bosses themselves. It’s as if every boxing match had music playing during the fight. The best part? Games can go in all sorts of directions with their themes for bosses because of their uniqueness, meaning that even within the same game, multiple bosses can have wildly different themes in increasingly different genres. It’s hard to pick my favorite boss themes from the series because there truly are options for everyone. Want an orchestral ballad that builds, and builds, and builds? Koloktos from Skyward Sword. Want an offputting, wayward track befitting a shade? Phantom Ganon from Wind Waker. Want a chilling (pun completely intended) mix of organ and choir? Blizzeta from Twilight Princess. There are so many great options when it comes to boss fights that this list could go on and on, but they are all bite-sized themes that supplement a challenge to the player.

One facet of the Zelda soundtrack unique to the series is the theme of its dungeons. Where all of the action and puzzle solving takes place, these themes can set the mood of an entire area. Even within a singular game, there can be dungeons that completely contrast one other. Within Twilight Princess, the player travels throughout the land of Hyrule, venturing into an ice mansion inhabited by a yeti couple, a lost kingdom in the sky inhabited by an ancient race of birds, and a palace of shadow overtaken by the magic of a cruel tyrant. These three distinct locations are only a few of the places you travel in the adventure, however, they each have a defined character that makes their designs stick out to the player. The Snowpeak Ruins is an ice mansion with a rhythmic melody and the occasional chming of background instruments, which adds to the mysterious, isolating atmosphere. The otherworldly chants of the ancient Oocca, supplemented with the mystical music of the City in the Sky, create the wonderous feeling of exploring a forgotten land from a forgotten time. The many bells and eerie, distorted vocals present in the Twilight Palace amplify the feelings of intrigue and caution present as you explore this dimensionless, cursed kingdom draped in shadow. The backing of these themes is a large part of why these locations are so well remembered by the players who ventured into these unknown, puzzle-filled labryinths.

Now, the great climax. The terror that’s been preventing your progress throughout the journey is now facing you one-on-one, fight. The final boss can be scored in a variety of ways based on the games. The three main routes most developers take are intimidating, encouraging, or closing. “Intimidating” is the most popular route and easily the one most often attributed to the final bosses of games as they characterize the seemingly unfeasible task presented to the player. One of these intimidating tracks is the final theme of Demise, which uses a booming choir and strings to create a theme that epitomizes the feeling of facing this Dark God of Destruction in a one-on-one sword duel for the fate of the world. When it comes to “encouraging” themes, they can serve to push the player on even with the incredible challenge that lies before them. Malladus from Spirit Tracks is a great theme of encouragement, mixing the game’s main theme with a ballad of strings to create a track that pushes the player onwards to confront the challenge that is gatekeeping the happy ending you have fought for. A prime example of “closing” can be seen with the Battle with Dark Beast Ganon from Breath of the Wild, which manages to touch on all three points while maintaining the feeling of finality. There are many reasons a composer may choose to end their game with such a theme, though the main one is that it signals to the player that this is truly the end of the adventure, and all of your trials end here with this last challenge.

All of this is just one series, video games provide a treasure trove of music often overlooked by many. Even if somehow none of the presented music was your thing, just know that there is a world of music out there to explore, and don’t let the music’s source prevent you from hearing some life-changing compositions. 

Or do, I’ll keep listening to it either way.