I might be a big fan of esports but I am also a huge nerd when it comes to music. Mind you, that doesn’t mean I know anything beyond the bare basics of music theory, but it’s fair to say I like listening to music more than the average person, especially video game music. The silent worker that adds depth. Because of this, I’m going to start a new segment here where I talk about a song or two and some reasons why I like them once a week.
The first song for this series: Desert After Tears from Ys IX
I’ve played about 20 minutes of the Ys series total, but I know Nihon Falcom from their other critically acclaimed RPG franchise, the Trails series. They make good music and this song is no exception.
They way the song starts quiet and peaceful with the guitar is so cool, its a such a beautiful and build up until 0:29 when the electric guitar comes in and turns this into a fight song. Once the song starts proper, the violin becomes much more prominent, you can even hear two of them at 0:50, almost serving as an echo. The way the violin is used overall is by far my favorite part, and its introduction is just great.
The reintroduction of the acoustic guitar at 1:09 is just so smooth, before going back to the electric guitar and introducing the main melody of the song at its base level. At 1:30 you hear the melody played by the electric guitar alone before it gets taken up by the violin. I don’t know what it is, but when the violin takes over at 1:46, the melody hits harder and emphasizes the drop way more.
At 2:46 I love the back and forth from the guitar and violin until they sync up for the main melody once again, before using it as a departure point to play their own motifs. They weave in and out of sync throughout the song in such an interesting way, being introduced individually so you hear their line, but then being put together to make the music hit hard at the climax, and then breaking apart to hit harder through disrupting your expectations of what they were going to do. 3:08 and 3:20 highlight this so well. I will always rate Falcom for using violins in their fight music because it has such a delicate image, but goes so hard when used properly and this song is an example of that.