I recently purchased the soundtracks Castlevania LoI and CoD and while I enjoy a lot of the area and boss themes, I found myself pretty put off by the pieces used for the various cut scenes (I'm not talking about opening/ending themes). I've played both games so I know how/when they are used and they're not bad in the least but it made me think, do these pieces usually garner as much attention as the rest of the tracks on any given album? I don't tend to listen to these tracks as much as others... this doesn't really come into play with older pre-PSX scores.

I guess the best example would be FFIX... if I bought the soundtrack I could honestly live without the additional cut scenes disc, but that's just me.

Anyway, I was just wondering what the general thought on such tracks is...

I know what you mean, but as long as its good music I'm all for it.

I tend to usually lean towards the school of thought that goes: "Give me the full album/selection and let me have the choice of listening to what I want/when I want."

Sometimes I skip tracks on discs like what you're talking about. At least I have that choice.

Completists want everything, and when you want a cutscene track, it's a pain when they're not released on disc--if you can rip the audio from the cutscene file itself, you're going to get all the sound effects and vocals, too.

Like Omni, I'd rather have everything and then skip/delete tracks as I please. Even little jingles are worth having for those times you decide they'd make a great ringtone.

I agree with that statement, as long as it doesn't compromise the integrity of the other music on the album. I think it sucks when songs are cut short because they needed to squeeze cut-scene music on the same disc. Although some cut-scene (and ending theme) music is good, a lot of the time it's just filler on the discs. I really enjoy the Tekken 4 and 5/DR cut-scene music, although the tracktimes on the Tekken 5/DR discs are short because the ending themes are all on there. Bittersweet, I guess. That being said, I guess the cut-scene tracks have to be something really special for me to take personal interest in them, seeing as how I don't care for most short mood-and-scene setting tracks.

Cut scene musical cues are admittingly not my favorite tracks to listen to all the time, but for the most part I do admire them because it shows an amazing progression for how far game soundtracks have come.  Heck, 20 years ago composers wouldn't have dreamed of concocting cues for games, but now that we're in an era of movie-style games, it's intriguing to see games taking a "movie score" style path.

-Jon T.

Unless it effects the length or inclusion of other music, I don't care.  There might come a time when you actually really like it in a game, plus I always rip my CDs, so I can just a burn a disc sans the tracks I don't like.

This would be the one "exception" I'd cite as well, but then at that rate: Just make it a 3 or 4 CD (or however many as necessary) to get the job done right.

When someone buys an OST they pretty much want everything they can muster from the game on the disc - that's a pretty basic fact and is definately acceptable, but like Zane said if it infringes on the length or amount of other songs there are then that's no good. I guess I just feel a little guilty when I skip over these tracks or choose not to have them in my music library/on my HD because I favor the various stage/level/battle themes from said disc.

I think it depends on the score. With DoC, the cutscene tracks are some of the best. With others (like the latter two Zelda games), they're just irritating and mostly short.

Nay..."Incidental" music is the exact reason I have yet to take any sort of interest in film music and I seriously, honestly can't think of a single incidental VGM cue that I'd want to the listen to out of context that isn't an opening or an ending.

I say include the music in the releases if space permits to keep people happy as long as it doesn't compromise the main sections (level themes, battle themes, openings, endings, etc)...I can always not rip the tracks I don't want (or delete them).

That's not saying much.

The soundtrack to Digital Devil Saga 1 was the first time I wanted to listen to "music specifically composed for particular cutscenes" outside of the game. I'd wager that some of those cutscene themes are among the best in the game, such as "Wolf's Pride" and "Watermark" - however short they may be. However, I can’t say the same for DDS2, so this was possibly a fluke of composition.

I definitely prefer the old way of video game cutscene music, with strong, looped themes not tied down to cues. No way that’s going to progress the genre though; so perhaps what we will see in the future as games become more and more open ended is that a composer will arrange that same theme in multiple ways to match the theme with the mood created by the player. An interactive leitmotif, perhaps?

There's definitely potential here and some games do it (the Parappa games do and even the early Super Mario Brothers and Street Fighter II games do, once the timer gets low). I just hope it isn't applied in an atmospheric sense, which is what I'm envisioning happening (have a standard ambient theme, add drums as you engage in battle or add lighter textures as you get to a more calm area).

You mean like a more varied version of the approach taken in Deus Ex and Kingdom Hearts?  I don't mind the notion of incidental music being used that way in games.  People need to realize that games aren't movies and that even the music should be tailored to work effectively in a non-linear enviroment.  The music and the gameplay should work hand in hand.  Going in the direction of cutscene music is not the way to "improve" music in games.

I don't know...how else would it be applied?  Even in SMB the music getting faster is an indication of what is happening in an atmospheric sense.  I'm thinking that there's no other way to do it outside of sticking to the traditional VGM approach (which FFXII stuck to), but that there should be more arrangement than just adding drums and such.  Still, even what you're talking about works well for me.  I liked it in Banjo Kazooie, for example.  Just that those themes weren't standard ambient to begin with.  They were stronger melodic themes that became a bit more ambient and such depending on the situation.  So perhaps having a strong melodic track to work with from the beginning would be more acceptable for you?  I myself love the addition of ambient elements as long as they don't overpower the melodic direction of a particular track.

I was heartbroken when the cutscene pieces for Final Fantasy IX didn't make it on to the initial OST release.  To me, they were a natural extension to the overall score, since IX was so thematic-driven, and most of the cues followed in the same vein.  Thank goodness for "Plus." ;)

I meant it as a compliment because the in-game tracks are so gorgeous, like a perfect pearl.

I think Zane was just breaking some balls... still, don't even get Zane started on CoD's music... for some reason I really like it and I'm pretty sure he understands why I do, but he isn't a fan himself and I can honestly see why he or anyone else wouldn't be. I think CoD's music caters to a very preferred taste if anything, it really far from a by-the-numbers/book Castlevania soundtrack.

I really like CoD's main music...It's been the best compromise of "classic" CV melodies with more advanced sound systems (both rock-based and more orchestral elements) that I've heard. The shorter, incidental tracks were (again) disposable, but the main level themes and especially the boss themes were right on for an action game like it. "Abandoned Castle ~ Curse of Darkness" is one of my favorites from the series. Then again, I had no expectations for it, since I usually dislike Yamane's work (Lament of Innocence and Suikoden III were abysmal entries in their respective series...OZ, Gungage and SOTN were okay at best), so maybe that played into it.

(Of course, it'd be nice if the asshole I ordered my official copy from 6 months ago would actually send it to me, but that's beside the point...)

I won't say an opinionated thing about DoC (probably for the best), but I really couldn't tell which tracks were incidental and which ones weren't...

I picked up the LoI when got CoD and I originally liked LoI more but now that I'm actually listening to them outside the game quite a bit I'm starting to like CoD a lot more. CoD just seems a hell of a lot more consistent than LoI could ever hope to be. I thought there are some good tracks in LoI but not enough to keep it afloat to make it anykind of a classic.

I feel bad for Hamauzu because he always seems to get the crappy games to score. In the case of DoC,  most of the music was written for the in-game cutscenes (which were about as flaccid and undramatic as you can get). While the DoC OST is uneven, I'm surprised he was able to write *anything* of quality considering how awful the game is. And that goes for everything he works on (aside from FFX). Here's hoping that FFXIII fares better.

Wanderer, I think goldfish meant to write CoD (Curse of Darkness) instead of DoC (Derge of Cerberus) because Hamauzu has never touched the Castlevania series...

but yeah, Hamauzu seems to get handed a lot of the "can't waste are aces" here jobs. Still, Hamauzu scores are probably the best parts of those games (SaGa Frontier II and Unlimited SaGa for sure).

I think it was intentional, as Wanderer and Zane were talking about DoC before.

No, I meant DoC because it was mentioned earlier as well as CoD. And I just realized CoD = DoC backwards, so now I'm paranoid I may have confused the two abbreviations in the past...LOL.

I have to say though, he does rise to the occasion...FFX is still my favorite Hamauzu work by a considerable margin. FFXIII could be scary if he really is holding back due to the crappy nature of the games he's been stuck scoring...

oh, ok... but I agree it be easy to write one abb. when you mean the other

We can only hope that Hamauzu gets a breakthrough title to go with his music.  Luck always plays a role in that sort of thing.  He needs his own Chrono Trigger so that he might reach a bigger crowd.  Maybe FFXIII will do the trick, though I'm personally not too interested in the game.

It's going to take more than FFXIII to get me to buy a PS3.

I'm both a fan of videogame music and movie soundtracks just about equally (which is probably why I like Xenosaga 1 much more than most people do). So, I especially do enjoy cut-scene music. The only problem is that most cutscenes are too short and thus the cut scene music ends up usually being only about 1 minute long tracks.

I like when themes and interwoven and you can imagine action going on in your head instead of just a generic overall theme for a specific location or a continous feeling. (I do like both equally - this is just a reason why I like them).

If I have a favorite them in a game, I like the arrangements that usually are derived from having the themes go to a specific scene -- such as the introduction movie to FF6 for PSX with how Tina's Theme was incorperated (and I wish they would someday release the movie tracks officially from FF4-6 PSX so I can listen to them without SFX)

Blessings,
~Andy

I'm in the camp that says, "if it's in the game, I want it on the OST -- period."  Granted, if they have to cut stuff, I'd rather non-value added cutscene stuff take a hike than melodic level or town themes.  On the other hand, you have no idea how pissed I was that the F-Zero GX OST didn't have the cutscene music.  I was SO hoping for "He's a hero... F-Zero!"

I'd say SaGa Frontier II was his.