A Corner of Memories

Welcome to week 3 of my all-time favorites collection for February! 

Caesar's Soundtrack of the Week

This week's entry: 

Persona 4 Golden

"I am thou... Thou art I...

Thou hast opened thine eyes... The time... is now!"

    Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 is a JRPG made in July 2008, later rereleased as Persona 4 Golden (P4G) in 2012. In this game, you take the role of a high-school student who has moved from the city to the small town of Inaba to live with your uncle for a year. During your stay, you do things a regular high-school student does, hang out with friends, take on part-time jobs, solve a murder... wait what?

    A hilariously great way to describe this game is Scooby-Doo with murder and fighting shadow monsters. Jokes aside, the plot's theme is the pursuit of the truth, seeing through the half-truths and lies to see what you believe. Another tremendous meaning gleaned from the game is "accepting yourself for who you are." I played this game during a very rough time in my life and learned quite a bit from it, which helped greatly to get me out of a bad time in my life. Due to this, Persona 4 Golden has and likely always will stand out as one of, if not, my all-time favorite games.

    Persona 4's soundtrack is one that I would call an absolute masterpiece. The score was primarily composed by Shoji Meguro, who after being given a rough outline of the story, created a score to match the emotions felt by both the player and the characters. This can be seen even in the first few tracks of the soundtrack. There are 2 songs that play as you start up the game. The first of which is the opening to the game (which changes depending on your version of the game), Pursuing My True Self or Shadow World. These songs both welcome you to the game with a bright and happy feel to each of them and even introduce you to the plot of the game. The lyrics to these songs deliver the themes of the game while keeping an upbeat theme. Following the opening music, we get to the title screen where the song Corner of Memories plays. The best way to describe these songs... is the beginning of a long and meaningful journey. These songs, Corner of Memories especially, almost make you feel nostalgia for something you've never experienced.

    Meguro's music has a distinct style to it, typically inspired mostly by Jazz and Hip-Hop while spanning a wide range of genres. From upbeat battle themes like Reach Out to the Truth, to sweet themes like SMILE, and even emotional songs such as Girl of the Empty Forest.

    This game has one of the most compelling stories of any game I've ever played. The relationships you build with the characters of the game each have many lessons to be learned. As you help these characters to grow, you may notice a bit of growth in yourself as a person. It certainly helped me grow and get through a dark time in my life. This game is my top recommendation for a video game to play so I hope you give it a try sometime!

    Persona 4 Golden is now available on Steam, Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo Switch!

Until next time!
- Caesar Salad

So Yes, It Began with a Dream...

Welcome to week 2 of my all-time favorites collection for February! 

Caesar's Soundtrack of the Week

This week's entry: 

Alan Wake

Stephen King once wrote that "Nightmares exist outside of logic, and there's little fun to be had in explanations; they're antithetical to the poetry of fear."
In a horror story, the victim keeps asking "Why?" But there can be no explanation, and there shouldn't be one. The unanswered mystery is what stays with us the longest, and it's what we'll remember in the end.

Alan Wake is a psychological action thriller made on May 18th of 2010. (February 16th of 2012 for PC, which was also my 12th B-day!)

In Alan Wake, you play the titular character, an author of thriller novels who is searching for his wife who has gone missing during their vacation to the fictional town of Bright Falls. Amid his search, Alan comes across scattered pages of his latest novel, which he has not written and has no recollection of writing. Much to Alan's horror, this thriller of his begins to come to life. 

The story takes great inspiration from multiple works of literature, movies, TV shows, and more. Stephen King was a large inspiration in the development of the game, even being quoted during the game's title sequence. Alan Wake also pays homage to other horror works including The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. The game is played in an episodic format, taking place over the course of 6 episodes + 2 DLC episodes. 

Alan Wake's soundtrack is composed of 2 main sections; the score composed by Finnish composer, Petri Alanko, and the 3 songs made by the Finnish rock band, Poets of the Fall. (POTF)
The score of Alan Wake does a brilliant job of matching the story's theme of dreams and nightmares. From start to finish, the score of the game can start in a grandiose fashion of calming pianos and strings, and change into creepy and haunting melodies as you wonder what strange nightmare lies in the darkness. An interesting thing to note is that of the piano in the score, as it is a much "warmer" instrument than the orchestra which it accompanies, it acts almost as a light in the dark within the game's more haunting soundtrack. 

The Poets of the Fall's 3 songs within the game are War, The Poet and the Muse, and Children of the Elder God. Of these 3 songs, War is the only one not written just for the game. War was included in the game as the lyrics of the work link strongly to the storyline. The other two songs are actually written under the name "Children of the Elder God" and are "diegetic music" (this is a term for music. Diegetic music is music that is a part of the fictional setting. AKA the characters within the setting hear this music. This is also referred to as source music.) written by characters in the world. My personal favorite among these three is The Poet and the Muse. This song among the 3 songs is much more somber and haunting almost, which greatly goes along with the game's story and has deep ties to the game's protagonist. 

This game is one that I count among my favorites due to its characters, music, art, and story. Alan Wake carries many great memories for me due to story moments I greatly connected with as I played. Alan Wake was remastered for PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo consoles just two years ago. The game, Control, also takes place in the same world as Alan Wake. I highly recommend getting your hands on this game and trying it out if you get a chance. Especially as the sequel to the game, Alan Wake II, will be coming out later this year!

Until next time!
- Caesar Salad

P.S.
There are also quite a few licensed songs played in the game from various bands including "Space Oddity" by David Bowie, Young Men Dead by The Black Angels, and How Can I Be Sure by Anomie Belle. Though among all of the licensed songs, this one plays the most and is my favorite...

So this is it... Your World...

Preface to introduce this month! This is February which is my birth month! Because of this, February will be the 4 weeks of my all-time video games and their soundtracks! So here we go!

Caesar's Soundtrack of the Week

This week's entry: 

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

(I'm compiling a playlist of all the soundtrack + the unreleased songs missing from the album. I'll edit the post to be that playlist after I finish it.)

Ni No Kuni is a JRPG made by Level-5 and Studio Ghibli. Yes, that Studio Ghibli. This game was released in Japan in November 2011 and in Western regions in January in 2013. The game Ni No Kuni was originally launched in Japan on the Nintendo DS, but this version added double the amount of story as well as more music and a postgame. While Studio Ghibli only joined the project after the basic story had been written and shown to them, they added elements to the game as well as greatly assisted in the art design of the game. 

The music of Ni No Kuni is without a doubt one of the greatest game soundtracks ever created. The two amazing composers of this game are Joe Hisaishi, the composer for all but one of Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli films, and Rei Kondoh, the composer for the Bayonetta series, the 3DS Fire Emblem titles, and Okami to name a few of his works. These two composers joined forces to create one of the best soundtracks I've ever had the pleasure of gracing my ears with. It's an amazing experience just listening to the soundtrack, even without the connection of the story (a standard for any soundtrack that Hisaishi has had his hands on). 

The story is a coming-of-age story as you follow Oliver, a 13-year-old boy living in Motorville in the United States in the 50s/60s. Tragic events happen, which end up with his tears bringing his doll, Mr. Drippy (who has a Welsh accent and I love), to life and telling him of a way to save one he loves by traveling to another world which he is fated to save. This game stands out among my all-time favs as easily having one of the most fun and memorable stories in a game as well as having an extremely compelling story. It's probably the most magical a world has felt to me in a video game, especially as the game sets you up for this starting you in a small 1950s town and then taking you to an entirely new world. It's pretty much at the top of my recommended games list for everyone! This game is available on Steam, PlayStation 3, 4, & 5, Xbox One and Series X/S, and the Nintendo Switch!

This is week 1/4 for the Favs of February so look forward to it! :D

Until Next Time!

- Caesar Salad