Hey Steempress!
If you're unfamiliar with this series, basically I share a soundtrack and my thoughts about it, and I highly recommend listening to the song while reading! đ
Oh man have I been looking forward to this one. I wanted to make #10 extra special so I chose a song from (quite possibly) my favourite game of all time - Ori and the Blind Forest!
I played Ori on Steam quite a while back, in Dec 2015. When they released a Definitive Edition in 2016 I bought and played that too because it was soooo good and I loved the original. If you've played this before you'd know why this is my favourite game. The art, the music, the story, even the gameplay; everything is just so dang amazing!
In case you've never heard of this game before (shame on you đ), Ori and the Blind Forest is a action-adventure 2D side-scrolling platform video game developed by Moon Studios and published by Microsoft. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One in March 2015.
In the game, players assume control of Ori, a white guardian spirit, and Sein, the "light and eyes" of the Forest's Spirit Tree, and the goal is to restore balance to the forest of Nibel, which withered after a disaster. To progress, players have to platform their way through various obstacles and and solve puzzles. Plot-wise, the designers say they were guided by works such as The Lion King and The Iron Giant and that it is a "coming-of-age story", while some of the gameplay elements were inspired by the Rayman and Metroid franchises.
Watch the trailer here:
I'll write more about the game in another post so here's the song for today!
This song plays in Sorrow Pass; one of the final areas in the game before the last dungeon, and is heard after you acquire the very last ability [Charge Jump].
The soundtrack was composed by Gareth Coker, a British composer for film, games, and commercials. His compositional style focuses on memorable, melodically-driven themes and motifs, combined with unique, and unconventional soundscapes. He's also able to apply it in a way that always serves to enhance the story, and Ori is a prime example of this.
In this particular piece, I like that the beginning starts out similar to the previous song, Riding the Wind, with the soft percussion and the flute as it is still a Wind-based level. But from 0:14 onwards there's a dramatic build-up from the cellos and double bass, with a softer harmony from the harpsichord. The climax starts from 0:59 with piano and violins leading the harmony and closing with the flute once again, all the while with the strong bass in background.
It was so difficult to choose 1 particular song for this post because they're all so beautiful! The reason I chose this one is because I saw this specific comment:
I agree with Will on his interpretation, but for me it's not just the flute that gives me that feeling of strength and determination but the piano and the violins, especially at 0:55. That dramatic buildup from 0:14 all the way until the climax represents our entire journey through the whole game up to this point; traversing obstacles and getting more skills, all serving to make Ori stronger until he finally acquires the very last one. By now you're connected to Ori and invested in the story, and 0:55 onwards represents you finally feeling strong enough to face Kuro, whom you've been hiding from this whole time but not anymore. It's time to face her and save the world!
The composer, Gareth Coker, even replied to this comment himself:
I just thought it was so cool that he reads the comments on his own songs. Gareth, the sound directors at Moon Studios and the performers definitely made Ori a masterpiece with this award-winning soundtrack. I admit I cry every time I listen to it because it's so amazingly breathtaking. đ
Here's a behind the scenes look at the making of this fantastic OST:
Thanks for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://tacocat.vornix.blog/2018/07/21/ost-of-the-day-10-ori-and-the-blind-forest-completing-the-circle/
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