Aural Evolution OR The Changing Sound of RPG Music

by Temporalrift

Here I am. One of the few remaining "Oldschool RPG'ers" and my world is in ruin. Why? A simple law of my RPG existence was broken, a very simple law indeed. RPG Music doesn't need a full orchestra and real instruments to be good. For several years I had conformed to this law with abandon. Sure a few bits of the XA MPEG encoded tunes in FFVII were nice but Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger were the ultimate. They could not be beat. When it came to instruments all the PS RPGS were better than their SNES counterparts but that good ol' 1993 Sony MIDI chip was still the best in my book for creating tunes.

And then of course it happened. I found "The Game." That one title with music that even surpassed the great Final Fantasy VI and was nearly passing Chrono Trigger in its musical beauty. What was this excellent title you may ask? Well I'm sure most of you have figured it out by now but for those still in the dark it was that great game that some love and some loathe. It was Chrono Cross.

I had purchased this game with many doubts. How could anything live up to the saga of Chrono Trigger? And when I saw my beloved RPGamer give it the Best Music Award of 2000 I knew I had to play it.

I placed disk one in my tried and true Playstation and was instantly captivated by the opening FMV. Sure the visuals were nice but visuals are a dime a dozen these days and they didn't captivate me immensely. What did? The opening theme of course, Scars Of Time. As I played through and eventually beat this visual and aural masterpiece finally completely blown away by the ending theme Radical Dreamers I knew my laws were breaking down. The face of RPG's was changing and hopefully for the better.

Back when I started my Squaresoft addiction at the young age of ten I barely paid attention to themusic of the games I devoured and left slaughtered by my already experienced RPG abilities. I was just playing through, enjoying the challenge and the stories barely penetrated my young and unknowledgeable mind. But as I got older and the years passed I found myself understanding the nuances of the plots, the complete stories. And coming from a family of a musical background I noticed those wonderful melodies and let them burn themselves into my memory.

I hadn't thought RPG music could improve much aurally. The limited SNES sound chip allowed for imagination to expand the melodies to their intended fullness. The newer games gave you everything. There was nothing to expand apon and certainly the music wasn't nearly as memorable.

But as I played through the great musical experience that was CC I understood finally what this new technology could allow. The musical freedom of a CD and MPEG based audio system let the music developers have complete control. They could finally craft music with full vocals, instrumental counterpoints and nuances. They could fully create any music they wanted, with any instruments they wanted. And the grasp of this new technology showed in CC.

I found the music in its simplicity and emotionality beautiful. I found myself crying during the credits due to that magnificent song Radical Dreamers.

It was then I realized the future. Music was to play an integral part in mood setting now. It would be one of the final steps in making RPG's an accepted artform. Music is as big a part of RPG's now as the characters and story are. With musical abilities like this music cannot be skimped on. Music may in future be the difference between an RPG's acceptance and downfall.