#i want to ask my friends to proofread this for legibility before posting but lets be real thats not happening. it wont be legible

[dabidagoose]

What's your fave video game sountrack(s)? =^o

Ok that is a very loaded question so this is gonna be a long ass response, I hope you're prepared for what you've done.

(ok there's a tl;dr at the end if you want it sorry for this lmao)

FIRST POINT my immediate thought was the Ikenfell soundtrack (actually my immediate thought is I can't fuckin' choose they're all amazing but. then ikenfell). On the personal side, I was pretty much obsessed with the game for like three months straight, and i fuckin' love aivi and surasshu's music. I am also a simp for chiptune so jot that down. Moving past what may very well just be personal preference there are some incredibly interesting musical choices and impeccable choices story-wise that hit just. SO fuckin hard. Like emotionally. I won't elaborate on to the context and why the song works so well but the final battle theme is absolutely SPECTACULAR. (I could elaborate though so. ask if you will and i'll write another spiel on why it breaks my heart and soul). But also to reference a less-plot relevant piece I'm gonna bring up Alchemy is for Everyone. The squish bass sounds at the beginning are SUCH a fun environmental sound, it is really just NOT a sound I hear often which makes the track really stand out. And it fits SO perfectly for all the slimes and just. It's so WET. I love it. Makes me wanna wriggle. Which ok is probably also personal preference on reflection because my friend hates a wet song that I love but. Ok it's GOOD. Anyways continuing to the melody the fuckin PITCH bends. This is digital music at it's peak. We get the fun sounds. We get the fuckin pitch bends. Which are so fun because having slightly out of tune notes is such a fun feeling. It's a little off kilter, it's a little different. It's just SO funky and sounds so awesome to bend those pitches just a little bit, take full advantage of the medium and play around with it. Now I'm gonna talk a bit about why I love aivi & surasshu's music so much which. Ok so I believe(?) they coined the term "digital fusion" where you're mixing all these fun fresh digital sounds with real instruments/more traditional sounds and it can work SO fuckin well (for extra musical literature on this subject I'd like to suggest Yoann Turpin and specifically Chip Ship). Which we already get a taste of that where the pitch bends are playing on piano but it really kicks in when the violin takes over the melody and it's SUCH a graceful instrument in comparison to all this funky/awkward stuff we've had. The dichotomy is fuckin awesome. The violin is like a graceful victorian socialite ballroom dancing in after these pitch bends just pinned their arms to their sides and wiggled their hips around. We then get a third spacey instrument (I. have no idea what it is.) and it is. SUCH a switch. We have moved from awkward and stilted to almost too perfect and graceful (I forgot to write before but the high piano at the violin adds so much) to a moment of awe and discovery. We are now exploring the universe, the world of science and alchemy, and it is fantastic. The song almost seems to have it's own little narrative, and this is just a backing track for exploring one of the buildings!!!! This is within the first couple hours of gameplay, it is incredibly non-plot-relevant but SUCH a piece of art. I am absolutely in a slime ball watching amazing science happen so precisely and it is. so fuckin cool. And I could probably go off about every single other song, but in the interest of keeping away spoilers and finishing this post before 2 am, I will not. (Addendums because I can: this is less wet than the one my friend hates, and also this song is MOIST. I would also like to mention It's Showtime and Between the Lines as other song favorites but if I went into them I would never sleep.)

Okokokok. So. So SECOND point (I'm. so sorry.) I looked at my video game music soundtrack (I have two main soundtracks one for just every music but I didn't want to overwhelm it with VG music so I made one just for that that has ENTIRE soundtracks from almost every game I've played which. oops.) and I found two other contenders based mostly on I Really Liked The Games. The Oneshot soundtrack and the Night in the Woods soundtrack. Ok I'm gonna talk about Night in the Woods first cause HOLY shit. holy shit. The fucking astral songs. Those are fucking masterpieces. Such a simple ensemble but it creates such an INTENSE atmosphere. I really love instrumental music can you tell. I specifically want you listening to Astral Train for this one (played it for my senior recital and even though I had to play the violin part on clarinet I maintain it was one of the best choices I've ever made), but we the way the layers blend together is a fucking masterpiece. Since this song had to be designed so that any layer could play alone and each one could join in any order, each part of the quartet has to be interesting, but they still all must blend together and so they each get melody moments but the harmony/bass lines have to be interesting as well and. They ARE. This is such a hard task and it's accomplished SO. INCREDIBLY. WELL. (Side note: also makes for a good ensemble piece for, say, your and your friends' senior recitals, so everyone gets fun parts, a chance in the limelight, and a chance to rest, haha totally irrelevant note right there definitely no connection to my real life). With Astral Train we really get this cool ghostly train feel and through all the Astral pieces we REALLY feel the absolute intensity of Mae's dreams and the music creates such an immaculate vibe. It is unmatched. The rest of the soundtrack contains plenty of bops in a variety of genres too, where the bass songs have to be both playable and fun (Die Anywhere Else my beloved), and we get nostalgic and mischievous music fit for this ragtag team. This is the feeling I've had hanging out with my teenage friends at 10 PM in a parking lot. It is absolutely perfect for this video game. The music is SUCH a bop and really emotionally connects to me cause the game is such a bop of a plot. It is truly fantastic. (Addendum: Ok listening to Gregg rn and. Holy shit bop. I love him. I love this)

Ok now onto Oneshot, which, admittedly, does not have as strong a holding on the podium as these other two do, but curse me for having been emotionally destroyed by the video game because now I am emotionally attached to the music too. But, again, ATMOSPHERE. I am once again gonna be speaking in the interest of spoilers here, so I hope anyone who's finished the game will forgive what I'm not saying, but the entire landscape of this desolate planet is just SO much. The world is so simple and empty, and yet awe is often mixed with this feeling of despair. This is incredibly fitting for Niko, for the hopeful little pal they are, and creates an incredible effect. (I included specific song reccs for the last but I don't quite for this - so I'll just say now that I'm listening to On Little Cat Feet). The visuals are fairly simple, the map small, and just looking at the game the world feels incredibly small. But the music makes it all seem so vast. We really get put into Niko's shoes (or their little cat feet I suppose), and get to see this world for the vast, terrifying, but incredible place it is. The music makes you feel like that child seeing a new world for the first time, (this isn't spoilers past the first chapter but I'm warning you anyways) even though you are meant to be a god, you are still made to feel small and the world still large. The music does so much of this work, and it's incredible. Throughout the soundtrack the underlying angst, the despair, remains present, and the game has so much more impact for the music. No game is incomplete without it's music, and Nightmargin does a fantastic job creating this music for Oneshot. I haven't analyzed the actual music instruments/structure so much, but it's those instrumental sounds again tearing at my heart strings again. I would also like to recommend this game beyond the soundtrack, since it is an incredible story, with some puzzling gameplay, and it has made me feel how no other game has. It is a masterpiece of a game, and I implore everyone to play it through. Get hints if you need to, or play alone, just make it to the Ending. You'll know when you're there. (Addendum: I think I'm very repetitive here but I refuse to edit it so you have to live with this. Anyways gonna say it again: Play Oneshot!!)

Now I have chosen three game soundtracks that had a story that incredibly connected with me, and music to bolster that story and those emotions in incredibly meaningful ways. But there are so many others with great music, but that didn't necessarily connect on such an emotional level. Portal and Portal 2 have fantastic soundtracks, Celeste has beautiful music, Underhero has some funky and spectacular beats, Undertale and Deltarune are famously incredible (although I also did emotionally connect with them... but they're already talked about enough. Lancer beloved.), Clam Man is just. Fun., Oxenfree is also incredibly atmospheric and spectacular, Sewer Rave just has nice beats, and Minecraft is nostalgic as all hell. There are so many games to choose from, that from the moment I saw your question I knew I would be writing a far too long Tumblr post to answer you, because it feels an injustice to just answer one without reasoning, or without bringing to light all of the other amazing sounds I've discovered.

To finally answer your question, I think Ikenfell deserves the top spot in my heart. My instinct was right, there's fresh sounds, great musical structure (see: Between the Lines that I didn't elaborate on), incredibly emotional sounds, and fantastic storytelling within the soundtrack. But I love all of these other soundtracks, so I must bring them up. For they also have spots in my heart.

TL;DR - Ikenfell wins but I also love Oneshot and Night in the Woods and many others so I don't know what to say chief (lies i have too much to say)

[mikeycheersquad-blog]

FAQ

What is the final product going to be? The final product will be a compilation in book format. See the Submissions page for details.

Do I need to sign up? Nope! It’s entirely up to you whether you want to participate, and there’s no absolutely no obligation to commit. This is just a fun project to send a little love back to someone who’s been so loving and awesome to us.

Can I send a handwritten letter? Short answer: YES! Long answer: STILL YES. Since everything is compiled digitally, all I ask is that you submit a clean, legible scan of your letter by email.

Don’t have a scanner? Your local library probably does, and I can promise it’ll look better reproduced on a page if it’s a scan rather than a photo.

Remember that it’s gotta be legible at an 8”x10” (20×25 cm) size!!

What dimensions do I need to fit my submission to? The active print dimensions will be 7.25 x 9.25in (18.415 x 23.495cm). If you’re submitting an image, the minimum resolution requirement is 300 dpi. The size of the image itself can be larger or smaller, but smaller images will only be printed at their original size – bigger images will be scaled down to fit the page accordingly. Want a full bleed image that reaches the edge of the page? Make sure it’s 8.125 x 10.25in (20.637 x 26.035cm) and there’s nothing vital on the very edges. Here are the dimension specifics & a handy template you can use to make sure your image will print beautifully. 

Will you edit my submission?

This has two answers.

I will not be changing whatever you choose to submit. Whatever you send me is what will be printed. Your work is your own, and you are responsible for submitting what you think best reflects your thoughts. Please proofread (or have a friend proofread) for errors like spelling/grammar.

I will be checking for resolution & size requirements, and if there’s any red flags I’ll get back to you.

Will you print everything that you receive? Yes. If it doesn’t fit within the allotted 200 pages, we can add a few pages or discuss a Vol. 2.

I missed the deadline by, like, a day. Will you add my submission to the book? Unless we’re short on content, no. (If we are short, the deadline will be extended). You’re more than welcome to submit after the deadline, but everything will be put into a folder marked Vol. 2 and won’t be included in Vol. 1. Why? Deadlines are important -- to you, so you have time to consider what you want to submit and when it needs to be together by; and to me, as the person compiling the book, I need all of the content before this can be completed.

How is Michael going to get this book? Great question. I’d love to hand-deliver this, but sadly I have no plans right now of ever meeting him in person (I live very far away from any of the places that host events that he frequents and have Many Student Loans so travel is sort of a stretch right now), but he did very kindly give us the mailing address of his agency, who forward mail to him. I’ll be verifying the address with him before it’s sent.

I’ve already sent stuff to Michael over Twitter/Instagram. Can I submit it anyway? Yes!!! If you want to immortalize your words or art in a book he can access even when the electricity or wifi cuts out, send it on in!

Will anything submitted here be posted online? I’d love to share anything you send me on this blog -- it’s great for inspiration to see what other people are making -- but that won’t happen unless you give me explicit permission to do so. But does that mean I won’t be able to see the finished product? I’ll be posting a link to a PDF of the final product so that everyone can see their contributions all together. 

How can I help? I would cry and also add you to the This Project Was Made Possible By page if you do.

Things that could be done:

Networking!!! If you know of anyone who might be interested in participating in this project, let them know we exist! Shoutout on the social media platform of your choice!

Funding (see below)

Costs:

You are under no obligation to pay anything to be a part of this project. Participation is free!! This is just full disclosure of what’s going on with the production side of things.

If I had a decent printer, I would print everything and bind the book myself but alas I am no longer in college.

I’ll be using Blurb.com (a print-on-demand service) to print – an 8”x10” (20×25 cm) trade hardcover with imagewrap (no dust jacket), in full colour on 70# paper. If I have time, I can make and construct a dust jacket to put over it, no problem.

Why a trade hardcover instead of a photo book? Price. A good quality photo book is in the range of $80. A trade paperback offers slightly lower quality paper (70# paper is still hecking amazing, btw, I love printing on it), and lowers the cost significantly. It’s also still a very high quality book (I love blurb??? They do an amazing job)

Economy colour at 200 pages: $25.55 (additional pages $0.06)

Standard colour at 200 pages: $49.39 (additional pages $0.15)

(This does not include shipping).

I’m not made of money but I can afford to print a book.

And hey, if everyone who submits also contributes as little as 50c or even $1, this would be covered in no time and if we pool enough money, I’m all for splurging for the photo book, no bother.

If I donate, where will my money go? It’ll go straight into funding this book. If we reach the goal, then I’ll update this page & also make a shoutout post – life is expensive so it’s really not necessary to go over the goal. If the amount goes over, then it’ll go straight to the next volume.

As always, thank you so much!!! This wouldn’t be possible without you.