SOUNDTEST is a website devoted to the appreciation, analysis and advancement of the unique art of video game music. As keen video game music enthusiasts, we're excited to share our love of video game music with you, and we're looking forward to interacting with fellow video game music fans! The content for SOUNDTEST can be divided into the following categories:
Soundtrack Reviews: A member of our team will share his or her thoughts regarding a particular game's music, ranking it according to our scoring system (described below).
Feature Articles: These posts are meant to take an analytical look at one aspect of video game music. Because of their academic nature, they may be more technical than the average post.
Miscellaneous Content: In short, everything else: video game concert reviews, discussions about video game music in the news, links to cool remixes of video game songs, and anything else video game music related we'd like to share.
About Our Scoring System
As with any form of media, "quality" in video game soundtracks is very subjective, shaped as much by personal preferences and experiences as by hard facts. Nonetheless, we believe there are a few attributes that play a large role in what makes a video game soundtrack click:
Creativity: There is a lot of video game music. Given that most video game composers are quite competent, you might even say that there's a lot of good video game music. So how well does this soundtrack distinguish itself from the legions of other soundtracks vying for attention? Our basic stylistic, expressive, and technical critiques will be presented here, as will other features that help the soundtrack stand apart amid the hours of other video game music.
Implementation: Like in film, music in video games plays an important role in the supporting the on-screen narrative. Unlike films, however, video games are dynamic, adding a crucial extra dimension of complexity. It's one thing to write great music, but for that music to work well in the context of a game is another thing entirely. In this category, we examine how well music -- or the lack thereof -- is used to express and enhance the static and dynamic aspects of gameplay.
Replay Value: Perhaps the most succinct summary for this category is "how likely is music from this game to end up on your iPod?" The world of video game music is full of creative, well-presented scores, but how much of that music do you actually revisit after putting down the controller? We like to think there's something special about those soundtracks that are beautiful, powerful, or catchy enough to transcend the context of the video game.
Notable Tracks: While this is not technically factored into our score, we'd like to share some of our favorite pieces from each soundtrack we review.
Final Score: After considering the aforementioned attributes, we'll provide a final score for the game. Note that this is not merely an average of the category scores. While those are certainly taken into account, the final score is a separate number that summarizes our overall opinion of the soundtrack.
Review Queue
The current queue for soundtrack reviews is as listed below. While not absolute, this list represents the titles that the authors are interested in reviewing in the future and their approximate order.
1. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F
2. Tales of Xillia
