Music to my Ears (Castle Levels!)

Right chumps, it's time for another theme. This time... what's the best final area or level theme?

First off - this isn't final boss themes. That's for another week. Think less Ganon, more Hyrule Castle. Speaking of which...



My first example is Hyrule Castle from Breath of the Wild, both its outdoors and its indoor variants. It's one of my favourite tracks in the whole game, which is unsurprising considering how it meshes some old Zelda themes with a bombastic orchestral theme. The outdoors version is absolutely cracking background music for your initial infiltration of the castle, be it gliding in from on high, sneaking in through waterfalls and climbing or a full frontal assault on the castle's gates. The indoors version is a little more melancholy and subdued as you dart from room to room, venturing through the destroyed castle. Great stuff all round.



I'm also going to highlight the certified banger that is Streets of Rage's final stage theme. One of the best soundtracks in games and a perfect example of the cracking Mega Drive sound boards.



CHARLOTTE JONATHAN CHARLOTTE JONATHAN CHARLOTTE JONATH- *repeat ad nauseam*

(I know this isn't technically the last area, but the Throne Room is literally just a staircase so bugger that. Plus, Gaze Up at the Darkness is far better than whatever plays in the Throne Room.)

Over to you, peeps!

Did somebody say Final Area Themes, aka The Best Theme Archetype In All Existence!?!  I'd be here all day if I listed all of the ones I liked, so I'll just stick to a couple  


And yes, Hyrule Castle from BotW is a great one, probably one of the best in recent times.  The outdoors version makes you feel like a god while you run around parrying Guardians to death and toying with Lynels, simply marvellous.  Never played Castlevania but that theme's on point too.


First up is The Place Where Souls Return from a little known PSP RPG Ys Seven by Falcom (fact: Falcom make banging ost's).  Aside from the fact this theme has massive nostalgia for me it just has everything a final area theme should.  That underlying sense of destiny, a looming final showdown, a final test of the heroes.  At the same time it sticks with me for that absolutely beautiful old school style.  Also bells, god I wish more themes would use bells.  Bells and pianos, those two used in any "epic" sort of theme are basically my catnip when it comes to music.  

Next up is Beat of Destruction, another Falcom piece.  Perfectly suited for its location, a den of evil harbouring the most foul of demons and abominations, the electric guitar only adds to the sense of evilness of the place.  



Coming in third I head back to Nintendo-land with Ganondorf's Tower.  Everybody who's played this game (so, everybody with a soul) knows this moment.  The moment you enter the heart of Ganodorf's castle, a organ version of Ganondorf's theme playing very faintly in the background.  As you climb, duelling some of the worst monsters the villain has to offer, the theme gets slowly louder and louder.  Your sense of dread increases with the theme, until you reach the top of the tower, the music now at full volume.  You enter the final door, your heart thudding in your chest from anticipation, to a grand scene.  Princess Zelda held captive in a floating crystal in the air, below which sits an ornate and massive organ and a man with flaming red hair playing the towers theme.  

You know your villain's a badass when he calmly sits atop his tower playing his own damn theme-tune on an organ while waiting for the hero to arrive.  



Finally I close my selection out with Ascend Into the True Faith from Valkyrie Profile 2.  Motoi Sakuraba, for some he's known for his of-late very boring Tales Of soundtracks which in recent times are more written-in and by-the-books than the games themselves, for others he's known for contributing to the Dark Souls series, and for yet others he's known for his Star Oceans soundtracks.  But for me he'll always be first and foremost the composer of Valkyrie Profile and Valkyrie Profile 2, partly because of them being my first exposure to his work, but also partly due to vp2's impact on me when I was younger.  An epic tale wrought with tragedy and sorrow, of gods and mortals and the worlds they reside in.  

This one's on the slower side, however it plays up the divine nature of the setting very nicely.  Lovely orchestral work help bring out the various emotions that I, at least, was feeling upon reaching this area.  Two months of sometimes very hard gameplay, a gigantic and epic story, and a giant final dungeon with no less than four areas with their own variant of the same theme, ending with a theme fitting for the end of a epic journey that has escalated from a mortal realm to that of the gods.  There's a sense of finality and conclusion underlying the theme that just strings my heart along, while I'm sure it won't have nearly the effect on others it does myself I've always found it an incredibly evocative theme.  


Funnily enough sitting down and actually pondering the archetype I realise so often the "true" final area often goes for some sort of slow minimalist thing, and the penultimate areas are the ones where the real awesomesauce occurs.  Not that it doesn't make sense, often it's the only breather between the final area and the final boss.

You weren't kidding about Falcom... those Ys tracks were absolute crackers! I'm definitely more into final area themes that get you pumped for the final fight ahead over more atmospheric and mood-setting themes, but that's not to say that your latter two tracks aren't good either. In fact, I was thinking about including one of the other Ganon's Castle themes - I'd probably have plumped for Wind Waker's take on Ganon's Castle had it not been for the wailing man that decides to invade the song just before the two minute mark.

I will admit that I tend to remember final bosses and encounters more than the areas that precede them. That said, there are always exceptions and at least one track springs to mind. That is, of course, the

Suicide Mission
Mass Effect 2


Mass Effect 2 is all about the final mission. The whole game is spent learning about, equipping and recruiting for, and generally preparing for the Suicide Mission at the end. The game builds it up phenomenally, and even though the dull brown meteor isn't the coolest final area and the boss is dumb and tacked-on, the mission itself is gold. Then there's the music. Just the most exciting thing ever, a constant in my gym playlist.
Obviously I can't share Suicide Mission without mentioning how similar I Am The Doctor sounds.

Warthog Run
Halo 3

Most of the Halo games end with a climactic vehicular chase, but Halo 3's is something else. The culmination of the Human/ Covenant war that has defined the series up to this point, bombing along the Ark as it is destroyed, stopping the threats of both the Halo and the Covenant at once, felt cool. Add in an epic reorchestration of the ubiquitous and magnificent Spartan Action Music/ Halo Theme and you have some of the most exciting endgame action a Nontendo machine can produce.
Here's a top piano cover.
I'll also give a shoutout to Halo 5's The Trials which expertly mixes in some of the key tracks and styles of the second trilogy, particularly the Master Chief Theme.

Indigo Plateau
Pokémon Red/ Blue

Simple, but forever effective. The first game I ever persevered with enough to beat, Pokémon Blue will always mean the world to me. The drama, the importance of this moment is equalled only by the dread. With the simple Game Boy sound system, this track captures all the emotion  of meeting the Pokémon League's best and proving myself once and for all.
You can bust this one out in the club!

JayMoyles wrote:

My first example is Hyrule Castle from Breath of the Wild, both its outdoors and its indoor variants.

The Castle Music is just phenomenal. Heroic and dramatic, while still being dangerous, it does the job it was set better than anyone had any right to expect. Just outstanding, particularly when the outside version kicks in during a dramatic castle-storming moment.

Quote :

I'm also going to highlight the certified banger that is Streets of Rage's final stage theme. One of the best soundtracks in games and a perfect example of the cracking Mega Drive sound boards.

The Streets of Rage soundtrack is too chill.

Quote :

CHARLOTTE JONATHAN CHARLOTTE JONATHAN CHARLOTTE JONATH- *repeat ad nauseam*

Man, I love those classic DS Castlevanias, and these grand gothic tunes are a big part of that. Hopefully that'll be captured in Bloodstained.

Athrun888 wrote:

First up is The Place Where Souls Return from a little known PSP RPG Ys Seven by Falcom (fact: Falcom make banging ost's).
Next up is Beat of Destruction, another Falcom piece.  Perfectly suited for its location, a den of evil harbouring the most foul of demons and abominations, the electric guitar only adds to the sense of evilness of the place.

Can't add much to what Jay said. Particularly that first one: a great tune, without knowing the first thing about the game! 

Quote :

Coming in third I head back to Nintendo-land with Ganondorf's Tower.  Everybody who's played this game (so, everybody with a soul) knows this moment.  The moment you enter the heart of Ganodorf's castle, a organ version of Ganondorf's theme playing very faintly in the background.

You know your villain's a badass when he calmly sits atop his tower playing his own damn theme-tune on an organ while waiting for the hero to arrive.

The music, like everything about Ocarina of Time, is let down by A) being on N64 and B) being followed up by such masterpieces. There's no denying the impact of that initial tower climb though, even today.

Quote :

Finally I close my selection out with Ascend Into the True Faith from Valkyrie Profile 2.

This is very good, in a different way to most of what's been shared in this thread so far.

Quote :

Funnily enough sitting down and actually pondering the archetype I realise so often the "true" final area often goes for some sort of slow minimalist thing, and the penultimate areas are the ones where the real awesomesauce occurs.  Not that it doesn't make sense, often it's the only breather between the final area and the final boss.

This is very true, but I think can be quietly ignored if it's convenient for the thread.

JayMoyles wrote:

My first example is Hyrule Castle from Breath of the Wild, both its outdoors and its indoor variants.

THIS IS SUCH A GREAT PIECE OF MUSIC I LOVE THIS I LOVE YOU

Seriously, this is up there with the greats.  Would not be surprised if it's in my top five ultimate areas of all time.

JayMoyles wrote:

I'm also going to highlight the certified banger that is Streets of Rage's final stage theme.

Not bad, for a chiptune.

JayMoyles wrote:

CHARLOTTE JONATHAN CHARLOTTE JONATHAN CHARLOTTE JONATH- *repeat ad nauseam*

Great though epic final area themes are, there's plenty to be said for quicker ones.

Athrun888 wrote:

First up is The Place Where Souls Return from a little known PSP RPG Ys Seven by Falcom (fact: Falcom make banging ost's).

I know of them precisely because of you Athers. You're not wrong though, another good speedy one.  Dubious choir, mind.

Athrun888 wrote:

Next up is Beat of Destruction, another Falcom piece.  Perfectly suited for its location, a den of evil harbouring the most foul of demons and abominations...

4chan!?

Obvious jokes aside, this doesn't do it for me as much as the others.  I feel it's a little generic-epic, without having much unique character.

Athrun888 wrote:

Coming in third I head back to Nintendo-land with Ganondorf's Tower.

A classic.  Nobody's allowed to not like this one, on pain of being trapped in time banned for seven years seconds.  I actually think it's one of the weaker Zelda final stage the- (is banned)

(is back)

Athrun888 wrote:

Finally I close my selection out with Ascend Into the True Faith from Valkyrie Profile 2.

Bit too slow for me, this one.  Can appreciate why others might like it, but it's not my cup of tea.

JayMoyles wrote:

I'd probably have plumped for Wind Waker's take on Ganon's Castle had it not been for the wailing man that decides to invade the song just before the two minute mark.

That sounds like an erhu to me, which makes this theme certified ace.

Drunkalilly wrote:

Suicide Mission
Mass Effect 2

I like it.  Nice and sinister to start, then it really builds.  Good stuff.

Drunkalilly wrote:

Warthog Run
Halo 3

More of the same, really, without the sinister beginning.  Sounds like summat out of Pirates of the Caribbean.  Still good, not as good.

Drunkalilly wrote:

Indigo Plateau
Pokémon Red/ Blue

The soundset does for this one in my ears, I'm afraid.  Great at the time, not so great in retrospect.  Or, er, retroaudio?


My own picks, coming soon!

Too soon perhaps... shorter this time!  Not that many actually spring to my mind, oddly.  

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

I feel like I'm missing something... can always come back to it later I suppose.

Psst, you put the picture URL instead of the music one for your Super Mario Galaxy track.
EDIT: And the Lorule one!

Fixed.

Drunkalilly wrote:

Suicide Mission

I hear this and the Normandy ship music from the original Mass Effect whenever I think of the trilogy.

Drunkalilly wrote:

Warthog Run

I wonder who gave you the idea to include this one...  

Drunkalilly wrote:

Indigo Plateau

I'm not big on the Indigo Plateau theme - maybe it's just a bit too simplistic for my tastes. Thinking about final area themes from Pokémon has reminded me of N's Castle from Pokémon Black and White. It sounds like something out of Castlevania and that's totally fine by me!

Balladeer wrote:

It just can't match up to the Galaxy equivalent.  Like so many tunes from SMG, this is just pure gold.

Great choice - Galaxy really does have an amazing OST.

Balladeer wrote:

Meanwhile, TP's equivalent starts off really haunting.  It's beautiful, in its melancholy rain-filled way.  It too builds up nicely as you approach G-dorf.  I think I actually prefer TP's Hyrule Castle, for ambience anyway, to BotW's?  Music's not as good, natch.

Whilst I couldn't remember ALBW's end area theme, I did remember these two! I still maintain that like most of Twilight Princess's soundtrack, it's really held by the MIDI format.

Balladeer wrote:

]OH GOSH I LOVE FFIII'S ENDGAME MUSIC SO MUCH.  Shame about the short loop, but Sylx Tower's theme is brilliant!  It does fall victim to shoddy synth choir syndrome, but it's still brilliant.  To cheat ever so slightly, Eureka, its secret dungeon, which could be considered the real final area, likewise has chuffing brilliant music.

Yes to all of these! I finished FFIII relatively recently and I was surprised by its soundtrack. Good picks!

\"Balladeer wrote:

Careful about image searching 'Final Destination' eh? Anyway, Brawl's is my favourite, but Mêlée's is also grand.

That's not SSBM's actual Final Destination theme though - this is. I prefer Brawl's, regardless.

I think it actually plays during Event Match 51, and as an alternate track on Final Destination? But not sure.

JayMoyles wrote:

Whilst I couldn't remember ALBW's end area theme, I did remember these two! I still maintain that like most of Twilight Princess's soundtrack, it's really held by the MIDI format.

Of course! Question, though: why does MIDI bother you while chiptunes don't? The latter are much older, after all. Is it a sort of 'uncanny valley for instruments' kind of thing?

I might be pushing it with this one as a final area theme

Balladeer wrote:

Question, though: why does MIDI bother you while chiptunes don't?  The latter are much older, after all.  Is it a sort of 'uncanny valley for instruments' kind of thing?

I think you've probably hit the nail on the head there. MIDI is obviously trying to imitate real instruments and don't quite get there in doing so, where as chiptune tracks are more distinc and their own "thing". I suppose it's why you see chiptune bands and musicians as it's really its own distinct sound, but you wouldn't see a band that only uses MIDI sounds as you could use the real thing instead.

masofdas wrote:

I might be pushing it with this one as a final area theme

I think you're probably pushing it, I'd say! I'd say this would class as the game's last area theme.

Yeah that is the last playable beat that isn't a boss fight but seeing the game is 90% cutscenes, i thought I would go for the last place in the game.

I'm trying to think of another adjective than "really cool!" to describe this thread, but it's quite early in the morning.

Some of my faves so far:

JayMoyles wrote:

My first example is Hyrule Castle from Breath of the Wild, both its outdoors and its indoor variants. It's one of my favourite tracks in the whole game, which is unsurprising considering how it meshes some old Zelda themes with a bombastic orchestral theme. The outdoors version is absolutely cracking background music for your initial infiltration of the castle, be it gliding in from on high, sneaking in through waterfalls and climbing or a full frontal assault on the castle's gates. The indoors version is a little more melancholy and subdued as you dart from room to room, venturing through the destroyed castle. Great stuff all round.

I haven't done the "top bit" yet, but having spent at least a couple of hours lolloping round the castle, this definitely gets stuck in my head. "We're not playing games" it says, even though - literally - we are.

JayMoyles wrote:

CHARLOTTE JONATHAN CHARLOTTE JONATHAN CHARLOTTE JONATH- *repeat ad nauseam*

(I know this isn't technically the last area, but the Throne Room is literally just a staircase so bugger that. Plus, Gaze Up at the Darkness is far better than whatever plays in the Throne Room.)

Castlevania music is like its own genre!

Athrun888 wrote:

First up is The Place Where Souls Return from a little known PSP RPG Ys Seven by Falcom (fact: Falcom make banging ost's).  Aside from the fact this theme has massive nostalgia for me it just has everything a final area theme should.  That underlying sense of destiny, a looming final showdown, a final test of the heroes.  At the same time it sticks with me for that absolutely beautiful old school style.  Also bells, god I wish more themes would use bells.  Bells and pianos, those two used in any "epic" sort of theme are basically my catnip when it comes to music.

Ah, forget that last comment - it's not just Castlevania. Let's call it "Japanese Medieval Adventure Rock". Either way, I loves it.

Quote :

Coming in third I head back to Nintendo-land with Ganondorf's Tower.  Everybody who's played this game (so, everybody with a soul) knows this moment.  The moment you enter the heart of Ganodorf's castle, a organ version of Ganondorf's theme playing very faintly in the background.  As you climb, duelling some of the worst monsters the villain has to offer, the theme gets slowly louder and louder.  Your sense of dread increases with the theme, until you reach the top of the tower, the music now at full volume.  You enter the final door, your heart thudding in your chest from anticipation, to a grand scene.  Princess Zelda held captive in a floating crystal in the air, below which sits an ornate and massive organ and a man with flaming red hair playing the towers theme.  

You know your villain's a badass when he calmly sits atop his tower playing his own damn theme-tune on an organ while waiting for the hero to arrive.

YES! This. If I was Ganon, I'd accidentally hit the drum machine button halfway through.

Drunkalilly wrote:

Indigo Plateau
Pokémon Red/ Blue
Simple, but forever effective. The first game I ever persevered with enough to beat, Pokémon Blue will always mean the world to me. The drama, the importance of this moment is equalled only by the dread. With the simple Game Boy sound system, this track captures all the emotion  of meeting the Pokémon League's best and proving myself once and for all.
You can bust this one out in the club!

This one I remember blaring out of my sister's GBA, for quite long periods at a time... #PokemonNostalgia #IStillHaventGotThatFar

Balladeer wrote:

Spoiler:

But this is the winner. The 3D Bowser last levels are amazing.

Balladeer wrote:

Spoiler:

It's called a road, it's called a rainbow road, it is a road where you go... (etc.)




Ah, I better contribute:

Immediately Cheating::

This is harder than Ganon's Castle::

Not as good as the ones you posted::

This is even more cheaty::

Ah, glad to see some classical in the thread, even if it is in a game by that man.  My favourite of the other ones you've posted is the Meat Circus, it's really fun/creepy - but the unreached Megalopolis theme also sounds pretty good to me.

Jimbob wrote:

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - Final Palace
It's a scarier version of the normal castle music. This is probably the worst dungeon in Zelda history.

I think the normal temple music blows this out of the water, to be honest. And your second statement is incredibly true, what a pile of shit that place was!

Another week passes by... and things are heating up!

This week: what are the best lava area/level themes?

Again, it's up to you whether you want to go for tracks that do well in evoking a volcanic environment or if you just want to highlight a banger or two.



My first pick is a remix of Super Metroid's Lower Norfair - it's Metroid Prime's Magmoor Caverns. Whilst I remember little about the area beyond being some sort of bizarre hub area leading to different parts of the world, the track itself is a cracker. The daunting chanting and the drumbeat that sounds a lot like a ticking clock. Apt, I suppose, if you wandered into here without the Varia Suit as you won't have long to live!



My second pick is Harth from MH4U. It's not foreboding and menacing like Magmoor Caverns as Harth is one of the game's village areas, but there's plenty of industrial clangin' and bangin' coupled with a surprisingly chirpy track for a village built on magma.



Look, no other track will be able to sound more like a volcano than this. Give up now.

Over to you!

Rattling through these quick Jay, not going to give us time to talk about the topic the week before, utter bobbins.

I did say I would cycle this up every week Mas, you've nobody to blame but yourself for not reading the opening post.

Besides, the previous week's posts don't delete themselves after we've done, you can still comment on them.

No, Jay, this is unacceptable. You posted week 2 at 3:35 pm on Wednesday the third but week 3 at 4:16 on Wednesday tenth. That is a full 45 minutes late, and Mas is therefore quite reasonable in assuming you were waiting for a further week. I think we can see from the Metal Gear month in the Nontendo music thread that a week does not mean a week in this context.

You cuck.

You low-testosterone beta male.

You jizz lizard.

That's where the "or so..." part of my opening post comes into play, my man. No cuckoldry here.

On another note, please post some lava tunes people, please!

ANYWAY

JayMoyles wrote:

My first pick is a remix of Super Metroid's Lower Norfair - it's Metroid Prime's Magmoor Caverns.

I'd completely forgotten this. Is good.

JayMoyles wrote:

My second pick is Harth from MH4U.

An actually happy lava theme! More of this sort of thing.

JayMoyles wrote:

Look, no other track will be able to sound more like a volcano than this. Give up now.

We could either use this to launch an interesting debate as to what does and doesn't constitute music... or I could just you.

My own efforts coming tomorrow, probably.

Balladeer wrote:

JayMoyles wrote:

Look, no other track will be able to sound more like a volcano than this. Give up now.

We could either use this to launch an interesting debate as to what does and doesn't constitute music... or I could just you.

Try and find a track that's better at giving you the atmosphere of an active volcano. You can't. It's lava in musical form.

I'm struggling to think of specific lava themes from games just now, I'm sure I'll have a few once I've had time to think.
To cheat for a second though, here are the tracks that come to my mind when I think lava:

Battle of the Heroes

Great music for the scene which almost justified the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

It's over. Goodbye.

No, I'm not crying. My eyes are just watering from spending so long staring at a screen to bring you hot content.

The Empyrean Suite

This one would take a lot of explaining.

MTMTE:

There you go: my picks from two films and a comicbook. Ideas are starting to form about videogame tunes I might select, so I will do a proper reply at some point.