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Music is perhaps the rawest form of art in its ability to evoke emotion, and it’s very clear that composer Lorien Testard and the team behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 understood this all too well. While this game’s soundtrack is amazingly lengthy and varied, it also manages to remain extraordinarily cohesive, with a deliberate and consistent sound across every step of the journey to slay the ever-looming Paintress. From the soul-wrenching opening scene of the Gommage to its heartrending conclusion, the music helps define so many of Clair Obscur’s best moments. Lorien Testard’s composition and use of instruments is outstanding across the board: heavy cellos, frantic violins, dizzyingly emotional piano flourishes, techno break beats, haunting and echoey bells, or even unidentifiable custom instruments.
Outside of the instrumental tracks, the presence of singer Alice Duport-Percier must be lauded as well, as she combines flawless technique with a remarkable degree of versatility. The mournful and foreboding “Lights of the Past” has her quietly and eerily crooning, while in “Une vie à t’aimer” she and Victor Borba powerfully emanate and amplify the anguish of all-consuming grief in a back-and-forth vocal duel, perfectly punctuating a major climax of the story. “Une vie à t’aimer” and many other tracks also benefit from superbly layered songwriting, with the story and themes deftly and masterfully interwoven into the lyrics. If that wasn’t enough, the actual structure of the soundtrack is astonishing as well. There are some incredibly deep-cutting and poignant uses of petite reprises and leitmotif throughout, and to bring it all together, three of the game’s premier boss themes, “Une vie à t’aimer,” “Une vie à peindre,” and “Une vie à rêver,” each run for exactly 11 minutes, adding up to 33. Bravo.
Like its predecessors, Octopath Traveler 0 comes with charming HD-2D graphics, engaging turn-based gameplay, and an overarching narrative sublimated by captivating music. And once again, the pieces composed by Yasunori Nishiki help engrave in players’ memories the dungeons and towns visited during their adventure. The music also ably serves to complement one of the game’s strongest assets: its antagonists. The symphonic music conveys the threat posed by a hero corrupted by power, the cruelty guiding a gorgeous figure blinded by wealth, and the treacherous nature of an artist constantly chasing fame. During the player’s stay on the continent of Orsterra, Octopath Traveler 0′s music is a faithful companion that invigorates through challenges, treats tragedies with solemnity, and celebrates each triumph.
What is most impressive with Rift of the Necrodancer‘s soundtrack is its scope. There are tracks that span disco, electro, metal, and trance, and those are just the high-level genres. Featuring piano, violin, guitars, synth beats, and blending them with a variety of tones from upbeat to gothic, the game contains dozens of tracks that keep players bopping along as they conquer each stage. It is naturally expected that a rhythm RPG is full of good music, but Rift of the NecroDancer exceeds those expectations. This is a full soundtrack that embodies the feelings of losing oneself entirely and fully surrendering to the beat dozens of times over.
by Jordan McClain, Mohamed Lamine Coulibaly, and Ryan Costa
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