Structure as a Theme

I suppose I'll begin with a brief apology for anyone that was initially looking to this blog for immediate updates. I started it up roughly a month ago, but as circumstances would take hold of my time, no grand ideas came to me for topics. However, I think I finally have my bearings about me and will begin to update weekly, on either Saturday or Sunday. I think this will be the format that will work the best for my schedule, and I'll try to keep to it as best as I can.

Freeform: A New Act

As my life proceeds onward, I can put some very distinct categorization on various periods in it. A popular term is beginning a new chapter... though it's not a very elegant one considering how the concept of chapter in a novel has a somewhat limited scope and timeline. An act within a play would likely be a better term for it. But I digress.

The most recent act has been the four years of college. It was mainly a period of time where I focused specifically on what my long-term goal is in life, and gained as much knowledge as possible about it as I could. There was a lot of experimentation, and while that still goes on today, my more recent exploration has been more defined by honing in on a singular voice.

After graduation, there was a year's intermission where I finally got to experience what a freeform life was like. It was a whole year free from schedules and assignments, just focusing on making my way and seeking out freelancing opportunities. While that ultimately didn't work out financially, it was a good experience to have.

The latest act is one where I play the role of full-time employee. The most I can say is that I've entered the video game industry in one of the several entry-level positions out there. While it isn't anything analogous to my ultimate goal of writing music full-time for games, it's a foot in the door of the best kind. I can only hope that as this new portion of my life proceeds, I'll continue to meet great people and more opportunities will open up.

Weekly Gaming: Wrecking Dracula with Math

One of the most unfortunate parts about having a job with a severe NDA is that it limits my blogging rights tremendously. However, what I do in my free time is fair game to the max! (So to speak.)

With the advent of a full-time job, it also means that I'm spending at minimum 2 hours a day in transit where I'm just sitting on a bus either gaming or listening to music. (Potentially reading, but I conquered Book 7 in its release weekend, and have yet to figure out what I might tackle next).

One of the new games to come out that I've been tackling has been Picross DS. For those not familiar with the series, essentially what the game boils down to is sort of an inverse Minesweeper with a purpose, with a bit of Sudoku thrown in for good measure. Instead of uncovering bombs by looking at interior numbers, you're uncovering boxes or pixels that collectively come together to make a picture. On each row and column of the puzzle, various numbers represent the groupings of pixels that exist. For example if a column of 10 pixels had the numbers 4, 2 and 2, that would indicate that somewhere within the column there would be 4 in a row, and two sets of 2 in a row. So take that and apply it to a full 10x10 square, and you have the easiest puzzles in the game. It sounds extremely difficult, and I can say that the later puzzles most definitely are... However, the game thankfully starts you out with very simple endeavors before ramping up to its extreme difficulty.

The other game that I've been picking away at this week has been the recently re-released Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on PS3's Playstation Store. While I do own a CD copy of the game, it has sadly fallen into a massively damaged state. Areas of the game have music that skips or refuses to play, and for me that's a big issue. Thankfully, 10 bucks later, I've got a perfectly refurbished copy that can never get scratched. Though I haven't progressed too far yet, it's such a brilliantly nostalgic journey into my gaming past. The game is still as smooth as it ever was, and reminds me how much time has passed since I originally played it back in my first year of high school. One thing that always strikes my RPG-fan nerve (in a good way) is that random rare drops off of enemies in an action game is such an appreciated layer to the game. There's nothing quite like getting lucky, finding a rapier rather early on in the game, and stabbing things up with its heightened stats (compared to some of the early crap swords) and amusing flurry attack. It only drives me to keep playing and seeing what else I'll come across, even though I've beaten the game twice over.

Weekly Music: Heavenly Daft Souls

Recently, a few coincidences involving friends seeing live Daft Punk concerts and raving about them, and a friend hooking me up with the full collection of their albums, led me to revisit their music in a marathon of album play through's in my bussing adventures. The long and short of my conclusion is that Discovery is still one of the best albums I own, and still the best work that Daft Punk has put out in my personal opinion. While their first album is classic, to me it doesn't have nearly the same amount of character that Discovery does. I also had never bothered checking out their relatively newer album, Human After All. While it certainly contains some cool grooves... The album seems extremely limited and overly simplistic to me. Late to the party on this one, but I was really disappointed to find that nearly every track just contained a generally static groove based around the title of the song. Granted, the play off of "Steam Machine" was pretty neat and made for a trippy atmosphere, and the list poem of Technologic has gained much infamy through internet memes. However, compared to progressive pieces like Harder Better Stronger Faster and songs like One More Time, they just don't hold up beyond being cool grooves.

In the oft-visited realm of Japanese game music, I've been listening to a lot of Folks Soul's (Folklore in the US) neat little soundtrack. The majority of the OST's themes were composed by Kenji Kawai, who is mainly known for his work in film and anime. He's done a few games here and there, but this will likely be his first top-notch game title. Picking up additional composition credits are Shinji Hosoe (known recently for his BGM in Xenosaga Episode II and prior work with Namco on Ridge Racer titles), Hiroto Saitoh, and Ayako Saso. There's even a few Irish folk tunes thrown in for pub music. Overall, the game has an epic orchestral feel to it with a supernatural and dark tone... But in an Elfman sort of way, even though comparisons are drawn to his work far too often. The most enjoyable parts of the soundtrack are definitely the orchestral/choral pieces recorded by Kawai, as they have a really unique style to them. The other pieces are enjoyable, although somewhat roughly mocked up with samples rather than a live orchestra. The additional composers are able to capture Kawai's style accurately, but unfortunately don't put their own spin on it, playing it safe for the most part. A lot of the pieces are very aggressive and brash, which I suppose is for more action-packed aspects of the game... considering that is is an action-RPG after all. However, I don't think the action pieces were handled with as much grace as the original themes and more ambient pieces were. Fortunately, the amazing violin player Yuriko Mukojima comes in for two tracks (four, if you include the two Irish folk songs) filled with emotion and feeling that almost steal the show for me.

As a small addendum to close on that will hopefully be expanded on in the future... I've also been listening, albeit limitedly, to two sampler pieces from the upcoming Heavenly Sword soundtrack by Marc Canham and Nimrod Productions... Based on these two tracks and what I've heard in the demo gameplay, color me extremely impressed so far. It sounds very unlike everything we've been hearing in your typical action game. Coupled with Folklore, Lair and Warhawk, I have to say... One aspect that Sony's 1st and 2nd party studios certainly aren't skimping on lately has been music. Not only are they hiring very talented composers, but they're also funding some extraordinary production. I was able to attend a panel at GDC where a majority was spent talking about Sony's methods of handling music and audio production, and I was certainly very impressed. I would be honored to one day be involved in such a project.