ScherzoPrime
Member
Found out in the middle of E3 that I'd become a full-fledged member, so been meaning to post this topic all weekend. Hoping it goes well! (and isn't too specific)
As someone that once considered becoming a composer because of the game OSTs, I have a special place for games who's music really captured my attention. They may not have always been the best games--one of my favorite game series in terms of OSTs, which I'll probably share some other week, hasn't aged particularly well at all-- but they are games where the music was a strong component of its identity.
Ace Combat is one of those series for me, though I'd say in general it matched great music with great gameplay and atmosphere. However, this post isn't about the AC Series in general, but rather it's most... divisive entry:
Mostly derided by fans for its QTE-esqe implementation of 'Dogfight Mode', lack of focus on fighter combat through the inclusions of playable helicopters/bombers/gunships, and the overall replacement of alt-world anime melodrama with real-world, CoD-like 'grittiness'; ACAH's critical failure among the fans and public, despite selling a good portion better than its predecessor, was thought by fans to have killed any chance of another AAA 'Boxed' product. With the announcement of Ace Combat 7 returning to the fictional setting of the Pre-ACAH games, it seemed as if Namco Bandai was exorcising the ghosts of ACAH and repudiating its maligned design decisions.
To be honest, I'm slightly more charitable towards ACAH; I have a fascination with how PA attempted to capture western sensibilities in aesthetics and presentation, and honestly enjoyed the (admittedly very limp) Clancy-esqe technothriller narrative. But there's no denying that a lot of the design decisions heavily disrupted the gamefeel of the campaign, and generally for the worst.
Lost in the derision of the gameplay and CoD-esqe aesthetics, tough, is another aspect; it might actually have the best OST of any Ace Combat game
"Rebirth" From Sandstorm - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUI5hjh6hNw
I may be slightly biased in some regards, as ACAH was the first mainline AC to use live orchestral instruments throughout most of its tracks (Go Shiina's compositions in ACX2 for PSP got the orchestral treatment first, but his tracks only made up about a quarter of the OST). I just really think that getting the timbre of actual instruments uplifts many of the OST's tracks, in particular Keiki Kobayashi's.
That aside, however, there's just a more 'mature' feel to the score, in that there is much less filler than previous AC games. All Ace Combat games have featured standout tracks, but many--especially during the period between AC04 and AH--have had plenty of more generic tracks as well that felt like padding. AC6 was particularly egregious in that regard, as its sound design had to be based around accommodating the fact that missions would often take half an hour or more to complete, and thus had a more 'laid back' style that fit the pacing of the missions but did not create particularly memorable tracks (with several obvious exceptions). For the most part, ACAH avoids this, crafting tracks that both fit the 'feel' of the mission as well as being interesting in their own right.
And of course, there's Rio Hamamoto's tracks:
White Devil - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLqhF2wswYk
Naval Warfare - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6hpReqjTrA
What can I see, I think his Industrial style is a really great fit to Ace Combat, especially with the Aesthetics that ACAH was going for. I'm really glad he's continued to work on AC OSTs since then because the Namco Sound Team that had been working on the AC series had been pretty codified over the years. It was cool to see some fresh blood injected into it..
Shall Defend - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PseSGiek5-M
Anyways, these are just a few of the tracks I thought stood out from the OST; would love to see if there are any other fans of it out there who'd like to post their own favorites. I just think it's cool to show there's something good even in very maligned products.
Scherzo
As someone that once considered becoming a composer because of the game OSTs, I have a special place for games who's music really captured my attention. They may not have always been the best games--one of my favorite game series in terms of OSTs, which I'll probably share some other week, hasn't aged particularly well at all-- but they are games where the music was a strong component of its identity.
Ace Combat is one of those series for me, though I'd say in general it matched great music with great gameplay and atmosphere. However, this post isn't about the AC Series in general, but rather it's most... divisive entry:
Mostly derided by fans for its QTE-esqe implementation of 'Dogfight Mode', lack of focus on fighter combat through the inclusions of playable helicopters/bombers/gunships, and the overall replacement of alt-world anime melodrama with real-world, CoD-like 'grittiness'; ACAH's critical failure among the fans and public, despite selling a good portion better than its predecessor, was thought by fans to have killed any chance of another AAA 'Boxed' product. With the announcement of Ace Combat 7 returning to the fictional setting of the Pre-ACAH games, it seemed as if Namco Bandai was exorcising the ghosts of ACAH and repudiating its maligned design decisions.
To be honest, I'm slightly more charitable towards ACAH; I have a fascination with how PA attempted to capture western sensibilities in aesthetics and presentation, and honestly enjoyed the (admittedly very limp) Clancy-esqe technothriller narrative. But there's no denying that a lot of the design decisions heavily disrupted the gamefeel of the campaign, and generally for the worst.
Lost in the derision of the gameplay and CoD-esqe aesthetics, tough, is another aspect; it might actually have the best OST of any Ace Combat game
"Rebirth" From Sandstorm - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUI5hjh6hNw
I may be slightly biased in some regards, as ACAH was the first mainline AC to use live orchestral instruments throughout most of its tracks (Go Shiina's compositions in ACX2 for PSP got the orchestral treatment first, but his tracks only made up about a quarter of the OST). I just really think that getting the timbre of actual instruments uplifts many of the OST's tracks, in particular Keiki Kobayashi's.
That aside, however, there's just a more 'mature' feel to the score, in that there is much less filler than previous AC games. All Ace Combat games have featured standout tracks, but many--especially during the period between AC04 and AH--have had plenty of more generic tracks as well that felt like padding. AC6 was particularly egregious in that regard, as its sound design had to be based around accommodating the fact that missions would often take half an hour or more to complete, and thus had a more 'laid back' style that fit the pacing of the missions but did not create particularly memorable tracks (with several obvious exceptions). For the most part, ACAH avoids this, crafting tracks that both fit the 'feel' of the mission as well as being interesting in their own right.
And of course, there's Rio Hamamoto's tracks:
White Devil - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLqhF2wswYk
Naval Warfare - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6hpReqjTrA
What can I see, I think his Industrial style is a really great fit to Ace Combat, especially with the Aesthetics that ACAH was going for. I'm really glad he's continued to work on AC OSTs since then because the Namco Sound Team that had been working on the AC series had been pretty codified over the years. It was cool to see some fresh blood injected into it..
Shall Defend - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PseSGiek5-M
Anyways, these are just a few of the tracks I thought stood out from the OST; would love to see if there are any other fans of it out there who'd like to post their own favorites. I just think it's cool to show there's something good even in very maligned products.
Scherzo
