By: Nejdana Houshyar, Peak Associate
Soundtracks can completely shape the experience of playing a video game. Whether that be an intense, drum-heavy score during a fight, or a melancholic piano ballad during a character’s death, music is one of the key things that affects our moods and emotions. It allows the player to immerse themselves in these fantastical worlds. This playlist consists of three songs, each varying in genres, that capture the essence of their respective games.
“Promise (Reprise)” by Akira Yamaoka
This bleak, melancholic, and mysterious track highlights the best part of Silent Hill 2: its atmosphere. As a psychological horror game, Silent Hill 2 aims to scare and penetrate the player’s mind, while the song “Promise (Reprise)” creates a suffocating feeling with each strike of the piano. As the main instrument, the piano drives the score’s emotional core, and establishes the game’s themes of melancholy, grief, and trauma. Alongside it, an obscure and haunting buzz haunts over the track — reminiscent of white noise — that elicits unease in the player and listener. When paired with the creatures, the abandoned buildings, and the grey, misty world of Silent Hill 2, “Promise (Reprise)” serves as an eerie reminder that the player is never safe.
“I Really Want to Stay at Your House” by Rosa Walton/Hallie Coggins
A track that feels transported from the future, “I Really Want to Stay at Your House,” elevates the dystopian universe of Cyberpunk 2077. In the game’s vibrant and flashy world, human relationships are largely de-emphasized (compared to other open world games). Walton uses this premise in her track, and by adopting the alter ego “Hallie Coggins,” she uses her perspective of living in that world, creating a heart-wrenching song about abandonment and desire. Lyrics like, “But now you’re gone and leaving nothing but a sign / Another evening, I’ll be sitting reading in-between your lines / Because I miss you all the time,” showcase heartbreak and emotional desertion. The use of synths serves as the primary focus for the song. The instrumental synth not only masks the depressing lyrics but also sets a futuristic tone, and the vocal synth works excellently in the song to subtly represent the game’s usage of human augmentation with cyberware. Listening to this song while driving around the colourful yet chaotic world of Cyberpunk 2077 definitely immerses the player there.
“Simple And Clean” by Hikaru Utada
This song is a burst of energy with its unique electronic production, most notably using sparkle effects in the chorus drops, while upbeat drums and guitar create a dance-pop sound. Although the Kingdom Hearts franchise uses multiple versions of the track throughout the games, my favourite is the original. The synth, sparkle effects, and echoing vocals give it an ethereal essence, and collectively produce a feeling of nostalgia. Throughout the fantastical setting of Kingdom Hearts, the player travels through different Disney worlds, defeating bosses, solving puzzles, and upgrading weapons. “Simple and Clean” has then become the unofficial theme song of the franchise. Through the song’s intimate lyrics contrasting with its electronic sound, it captures the game’s fantasy-based, coming-of-age plotline, blended with a magical, multiverse journey.
