Dec 182013
 

Ep60

Look back at 2013 with this slightly spoilery, double sized show featuring Blood Dragon, Remember Me and more.

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0:00:00 – Nilin the Memory Hunter (Remember Me)

0:05:57 – Fragments (Remember Me)

0:08:10 – Neo Paris (Remember Me)

0:12:07 – The Ego Room (Remember Me)

0:19:43 – Library (Mirror of Fate)

0:21:09 – Map Screen (Mirror of Fate)

0:22:32 – Inner Quarters (Mirror of Fate)

0:29:45 – Go West Young Raccoon (Sly 4)

0:33:07 – Getting Stronger (Sly 4)

0:34:45 – I Smell A Rat (Sly 4)

0:45:29 – Theme Reprise (Blood Dragon)

0:48:08 – Power Core (Blood Dragon)

0:50:11 – Love Theme (Blood Dragon)

0:55:33 – Theme 7 (Battleblock Theater)

0:57:13 – Theme 5 (Battleblock Theater)

1:00:08 – Theme 2 (Battleblock Theater)

1:09:31 – The Orchards (Tearaway)

1:13:00 – Memory of Celcetta (Ys: Memories of Celcetta)

1:16:40 – Vanishing Grace (Last of Us)

1:21:46 – Master Plan (Payday 2)

1:25:07 – Razormind (Payday 2)

1:33:21 – Lilith (DmC)

1:38:44 – Poison (DmC)

1:43:30 – Bob Barbas (DmC)

1:53:50 – Lordvessel (Tanooki Suit)

  21 Responses to “VGMpire Episode 60 – 2013 Year in Review”

  1. woohoo! glad you caved to our hostile demands and made another recap. I’m sure I’ll really enjoy this episode.

  2. yay vgmpire

  3. Great show, Brelston! A couple thoughts…

    • That Remember Me soundtrack reminds me a lot of a little known artist I’ve been listening to since about 2005, known as she music or simply she. she is probably my favorite artist overall of all time, and part of what sets, er, him(?) apart is this “intentional glitch” style that you mentioned in the show as sounding so fresh and unique. Well, if you liked that then you should check out some of this music. I posted two (recent) examples, but even the back catalog is good if you can find it (I think “days” and “digital ambient designs” best meets the “Remember Me” vibe)

    http://sheofficial.bandcamp.com/track/make-me-real
    http://sheofficial.bandcamp.com/track/archetype

    • Wow, that Inner Quarters song from Castlevania was really good. Like, unbelievable that it was something produced for a critically-mediocre 3DS game. It honestly reminded a lot of the score from Memento and I could easily picture Chris Nolan using the song for one of his movie trailers.

    • Wow, that Blood Dragon music was really good. I never got into Far Cry 3 because I didn’t have a computer or a console that could run it at the time–and honestly, I loved the first Far Cry but there was something about Far Cry 3 that rubbed me the wrong way from the trailers and press, like it was made for the frat-boy CoD crowd or something. Anyways, I heard good stuff about Blood Dragon but again, because of it’s close association with Far Cry 3 I never bothered. After hearing that music I may end up giving it a fair shake after all.

    • Okay, screw all the haters, I *loved* DmC and could never really “get into” the older Devil May Cry games. In fact, I think those games are generally bad but they got popular because it was a trendsetter in terms of artistic direction and style. That said, the music was probably the only thing out of the new DmC game that I didn’t like. It’s basically the worst music to hear if you’re not feeling well or enduring a hangover. It’s a nauseating cacophony of dubs, wubs, and crunchy trubs. None of it felt memorable to me, either. Just a really forgettable drone or an aggressively offensive guitar rock. For what it’s worth, it never felt out of place and generally fit the vibe of the game. So paradoxically, I liked the game but just not that music.

  4. …Holy crap, save for The Last of Us and DmC, I had played none of these games, but all the songs in this show are fucking amazing and different in their own ways!

    See Mr. Elston, this is exactly why myself and others were sad that you hadn’t done a recap of 2012, and why I am so happy that you did it this time around. It’s not to listen to music we just heard on this year, it’s to get a taste of several stuff from games we may have not touched, and otherwise we would have lived unaware of the awesome music they had to offer.

    For example, I didn’t play nor did I plan to bother with either Remember me, Battle Block Theater, nor TearAway, but I was absolutely fascinated by what I heard from them, and now I plan to hunt those soundtracks down thanks to this one episode.

    So yes, once again, thank you for listening to us, no matter how few people it might seem listen to this, (sadly) please know that those of us who do very much love and appreciate what you do, so thank you again for yet another awesome year in music! happy holidays and see you hopefully on next year! 😀

  5. Hey what the?! I thought I made a big post here hours ago but I can’t see it. Did it get deleted? 🙁

    • Nope! it’s right there! Probably what happened is that it’s the first time you have posted in that account, and with new accounts the first post needs to be given permission by Brett Elston himself in order to be seen, but you should be golden from now on 😀

  6. I know these “Year in Review” episodes must be a pain in the butt to put together, but they’re so dang fantastic. Much appreciated, Brelston. This really helped me get through a crappy day.

  7. Loved the Blood Dragon music. Now I am super pumped to go play it. As always, keep up the good work, this podcast is a treat.

  8. Nice! This is a great selection, can’t wait to listen!

  9. Good selection, would of liked to seen more Last of Us because I loved that soundtrack. Although the music you did pick was super solid. DMC and Blood Dragon were definitely some of the highlights of the year

  10. Shout out to the 80’s film score block! Brelston and friends, I was surprised you didn’t mention late 80’s/early 90’s Hong Kong action flicks like Hard Boiled and the Killer. They do that sound better than anyone.

  11. Oh and I like my avatar. Are those randomly generated?

  12. Blood Dragon’s soundtrack was great. Just the right shade of 80s for it to feel authentic. Nothing can ever beat the entrance of the Rocky IV at the end, though. It’s a shame Remember Me was so…mediocre. I hoped beyond hope that my initial impressions were wrong, that it really was going to be great once we saw it all in action. Too bad there’s never going to be a chance for redemption. At least we got the music.

    Highlights for the year for me were Mighty Switch Force 2, Blood Dragon, and Metal Gear Rising. You guys picked good. Happy Holidays, VGMpire, and see you next year!

  13. […] can also check out the 2013 Year in Review episode on VGMpire itself, which includes jams from Blood Dragon, Remember Me, Battleblock Theater and more. New episodes […]

  14. Highly enjoyable episode. I’m very happy you put this together because… I didn’t play any of these games. Although, I’ve had my eye on Sly 4 for a while and hearing the music makes me want to pick it up. It’s probably super-cheap right now so maybe I’ll get it after Christmas.

    I’m happy you put Lordvessel in this episode. That really is an amazing piece of professionally done fan-music. Even though I’m not as in to Dark Souls as many others, I appreciate a lot about it – the exploration, the sense of piecing together the story as you go, the excitement of discovering a new shortcut so you don’t need to run through the same area again. I’ve played enough of the game to appreciate the lyrics of the song (especially the Solaire reference).

    I look forward to this show every (other) week and try to share it with my fellow video-game-playing friends. Know that your efforts are not unappreciated! This podcast is always a treat!

  15. Also gotta say, that DMC soundtrack is amazing(the noisia half). I love old-school gaming music, but if all new stuff was that good, I wouldn’t care if I never heard another melody-driven song again.

    On another note, I want to say thanks for keeping the podcast PG rated, and I heartily encourage you to keep it so. I often play VGMpire in the car for my kids (ages 2-9), and it’s frustrating when one of your esteemed colleagues lets an F-bomb slip out by mistake. Anyway, thanks for keeping up the standards.

  16. I’m super thankful for this episode. Looking through my gi-normous VGM library on my computer, I realized that I didn’t have a whole lot of 2013 game music, which led me to think “Besides Payday 2, Super Mario 3D World & A Link Between Worlds & AVGN: Adventures, what the heck else came out that had flipping good music?”

    I recall you guys praising the Remember Me soundtrack, and during the small amount of time I spent playing it at PAX East this past year I remember being wowed by the awesome dynamic battle music. The song choices here seal the deal: this soundtrack is incredible and I need this game (and the music). It’s #1 on my Steam wishlist now 😛

    Love the other song choices here. It reminds me that I still have a sealed copy of Mirror of Fate on 3DS to play. Has anyone listened to the trailer music from Lords of Shadow 2? It’s really, really good.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS7NbB7tGvE

    I was taken aback by how good Sly 4’s soundtrack is. “Getting Stronger” is like the ultimate montage music. I do wish I could find the time to finally unseal my 2-year old copy of The Sly HD Collection.

    The tune you picked for Tearaway is pretty amazing too. The song that stuck out the most to me when I played the demo at E3 was “Renaissance Hop (Record Scratching Tune)” which plays at the end of the first level. That song kind of got stuck somewhere in my subconscious and was suddenly reawakened when I listened to “The Orchards.” Listen to the track and suddenly become incredibly happy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKgZHUo3ZMk

    I just realized that this episode made me go and buy Tearaway, Payday 2 & Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. Nuts!

    • Nice! Yeah I was very impressed by Sly and Tearaway. Just had no expectations of quality and was quite pleased. Always good to hear the show convinces people to buy games 🙂

    • Yeah, the Lords of Shadow 2 trailer music is absolutely fantastic. I remember that when the trailer was unveiled in 2012, I played the trailer at least 15 times that day alone just to bask in the awesomeness of the music.

  17. Awesome list. So in love with the Blood Dragon Soundtrack!

    Also, was super impressed by the new Killer Instinct music. The composer Mick Gordon tweeted at me saying “I hope we do an OST…” and was pretty bummed to hear that. Even the SNES versions had soundtracks that were released on disc, right?

  18. Great job on the year review! I forgot how much I loved the music from Blood Dragon.

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