Dragon Age... in a rap song?

Dragon Age Origins is one of my all-time favorite games. After playing (and loving) games like NWN and NWN 2, Origins felt like a grown-up version of those RPGs. Although I missed the character creation options of D&D-style games, the game made up for it by offering an absolutely amazing, immersive, epic story with truly heart-wrenching player choices. (Not all of them were equally heart-wrenching, though - I very much enjoyed punching Isolde in the face in my first playthrough of the game.) All in all, for me it was the perfect mixture of humor, tragedy, camaradery, mystery... and swooping.

I've heard it said that the soundtrack, composed by Inon Zur, is a bit of a hit and miss. If I regard the soundtrack as a standalone collection, I'd say this is true in part - while there are many absolutely beautiful pieces such as the main theme, Battle of Lothering Village, and Lake Calenhad Docks among others, the battle tracks can sound a little bit dragged. Furthermore, I feel that the best music gets very little listening time in-game, and many have wondered, for instance, why the aforementioned Battle of Lothering Village only plays to killing a few bandits and wild animals in a small area at an early part of the game. (There is no way to know, but perhaps the developers initially thought they would include the actual battle of defending Lothering from the darkspawn, and the track was composed along those lines?) On the other hand, many pieces accompany the game very well, and Zur is very good at conveying emotion.

Dragon Age Rap

A few years ago, I made an instrumental tribute piece to this game, but I always felt that it deserved more. So, when a friend of mine, Radek (who is a rapper) and I began talking about doing a collaboration, it was pretty clear that it should be tributed to Origins, seeing as it was a favorite of the both of us. The problem for me, though, was creating a background track that suited rapping vocals but still channeled enough of the spirit of Dragon Age to be recognizable. So, I decided to take the melody and chords from the game's soundtrack but add a modern beat with some modern instruments to accompany the strings and brass (it kind of is my style anyway). See if you can spot these themes in the track:

0:00 Main Theme / Ferelden at War (melody)
0:26 In Uthenera (ostinato)
0:32 Party Camp / Character Creation Theme (chords)
0:48 Battle of Lothering Village (chords and short french horn passage)
1:36 In Uthenera (melody and chords)

Vocals

I knew I bit off quite a big chunk by attempting to do vocals originally sung by the amazing Aubrey Ashburn. I know I'm not a Great Singer and my voice is not necessarily suitable for such work - it's "cool" with a straight tone, and very different from Aubrey's rich, classical sound. But doing only instrumentals gets boring and I still like to challenge myself to get better at singing, as well. I'm actually quite proud of managing the beginning part as well as I did, even though I'm well aware that it is not perfectly executed. Besides, I absolutely LOVE composing and singing harmonies. This one has a four part harmony at the end.

Radek, of course, did amazing work as usual, creating a set of lyrics that convey the game's most important aspects, and then delivering them with such precision - I could not speak that fast even in my native language! If you're interested in rap covers and video game themed raps, make sure you check out Radek's YouTube channel!

A Word About the Future

In addition to this Dragon Age tribute, I have also been working on two more songs and one instrumental piece. Unfortunately, I have been suffering from a cold which has played havoc with my voice, preventing me from both practising and recording vocals for a track that is otherwise ready to go. In any case, I'm still hoping to upload a song tributed to Robin Hobb's amazing fantasy tetralogy, the Rain Wilds Chronicles before the end of the year. (More) dragons, how exciting!

An Ode to the Game with a Silly Name

Ah, Neverwinter Nights 2. My memories of this Obsidian game and its first expansion, Mask of the Betrayer, are both warm and painful. The original campaign (OC) I loved because I had never felt so personally involved in a story — and hated because some of the elements felt (and, in fact, were) incomplete. Strangely, though, the missing bits really inspired me to fill them in by writing fan fiction, which I haven't done before or since.

Although I liked the OC's warm atmosphere, I really did not mind the shift to a darker mood in Mask of the Betrayer, in fact I very much enjoyed it. The part of me that is into disturbing stuff really got a kick out of meeting Gulk'aush. And if I felt that my character had been dealt an unfair hand in the original campaign, then... well, multiply that by ten, and you'll have Mask of the Betrayer. A plus in my book ;)

My only gripe with the expansion was a certain mechanic implemented in it that made me feel like I had to rush through the game. While in principle I think it was awesome, in reality it made me feel like an important part of playing the game — the exploration — was really hampered by the feeling of having a time bomb ticking inside. That, and changing Bishop's voice. I know it was only a few lines, but still, *spoiler alert* if I had to watch my almost-lover being dissolved into a living wall of tormented souls, at least let him do it with his usual... wolfiness. Blech.*end of spoiler alert*

Poor Bishop. *sob*

The Music

I don't make tributes to games that I feel do not have great music - and I really liked the music of NWN2. Of course, some of it was reused tracks from the first game, composed by the awesome Jeremy Soule. The original tracks, at least so the internet tells me, were composed by David Fraser and Neil Goldberg, and some of it was truly, tear-jerkingly good.

The music in Mask, on the other hand, was the handiwork of none other than Alexander Brandon, with whom I had my first experience in elementary school when I was playing Jazz Jackrabbit (Tubelectric really made a lasting impression on my younger self and, I suspect, played a part in my obsession with ostinatos... or perhaps it's the other way around). While the music in the OC was pretty much the usual fare of fantasy RPGs, the music in Mask took a more creative approach at times. I suppose with a story that takes you an a multi-planar journey involving gods (both alive and dead), you don't have to limit yourself to the ordinary when composing, either. The music really works in setting the mood and several pieces on the soundtrack have become my all time favorites.

Death God's Vault

You might be wondering, why is she only talking about the OC and Mask? Doesn't she know there are two more expansions to the game? Well, yes. And Storms of Zehir actually has some really awesome music, as well. But the sad truth is, I simply did not feel that the story of SoZ had enough pull to make me want to play more than a few hours. And Mysteries of Westgate I never even played. More importantly, though, unlike the subsequent expansions, the first one was a continuation of the story of the original campaign and makes for a better, more cohesive tribute piece.

My NWN2 Tribute: Before the Wall

So, my tribute is to the story of the Spirit Eater — hence the title — but of course there would be no Spirit Eater without the Knight-Captain of Crossroad Keep. Therefore I have included themes from both the OC and MotB. I did my best to replicate some of the sounds (e.g. the bowed cymbal) and the atmosphere in Brandon's work but for the most part, I just took the melody and ran with it :p On a technical note, I think I'm slowly learning how to portray power without having all the instruments playing at the same time.

See if you can spot these themes in the tribute:
0:00 Death God's Vault (NWN2: MotB)
0:41 Immil Vale Combat (NWN2: MotB)
1:35 Ruins (NWN2:OC Main Theme)
& Githyanki Theme (NWN2:OC)

I did plan to do vocals for this and even wrote a full set of lyrics. I found out the hard way that I had not left enough space for vocals in the track, though, so I left it as an instrumental. I'm sure most of you prefer a nice viola section over my singing voice, anyway ;) (I might do a version with a simpler background track to accommodate for vocals, as I think it might suit the lyrics better, as well. So, more on that later!)

In the meantime, though, I'm working on a few projects - another Dragon Age themed song that's going to be a little different, and something inspired by literature rather than video games.

The Lord of Terror Gets His Own Tribute

Diablo 2 was one of the first games I bought for myself.

Back then (2002?), I was such a newbie that I actually had to look up one of those "Top 10 RPGs" lists to find interesting games to try and play. Lo and behold, Diablo 2 appeared on it (even though its status as a true "RPG" is debatable), and to my delight, there was a free demo available. Boy, was I creeped out the first time I delved into the Den of Evil! The pitch black cave, the oppressive soundtrack, and the sounds of demons and undead groaning and scuttling in the dark, ready to tear my barbarian into pieces, really made me not want to go any further. But I did. And apparently had so much fun I bought the full game. (A textbook example of how games were marketed back then. No YouTube videos to show how a game looked and played.)

Evil Den is Evil

I remember being perplexed by the soundtrack at first. I was used to the orchestral scores usually associated with fantasy-themed games, so it felt odd to suddenly hear an electric guitar playing in the background. My confusion did not last for long, however, because I quickly realized how perfectly Uelmen's work complimented the gritty, unsettling world filled with corruption, sadistic demons and mindless undead. The soundtrack as a whole is filled with gems but I especially love the Wilderness track (below). It has drive, and it is the perfect accompaniment to hacking down zombies in the... well, wilderness. Some of my other favorites are the tracks that play in Tristram and in the Harem, which should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the game.

Wilderness by Matt Uelmen, from the soundtrack of Diablo 2

Diablo 3

Of course, Diablo 3 has a reputation of not living up to its predecessors in certain aspects. There is no doubt that it is a very polished game with good gameplay. I, for one, have both the original version and the expansion on both PC and PS4, which should tell you how much I like it! However, the atmosphere is simply not the same. Why? I believe it boils down to a couple of things.

Firstly, in the previous games you felt you were truly alone in your hunt for the Greater Evils. Sure, in town there were people who helped you, but when you went out, you were alone (apart from the henchmen in D2 - but they were silent, offering no solace. Plus, they died easily.). The spectral forms of the villains did not appear before you along the way to taunt you with pitiful attempts to arouse terror, nor did your character reply with words exuding, shall we say Nephalic, confidence. No. In Diablo 2 you wandered the dark, seemingly endless dungeons of the Monastery until you accidentally came upon a lair filled with enemies and a huge, half-naked demoness who, by the way, did not first give a minute-long speech before pouncing on you. (I will admit, the first time I went to kill Andariel, I went into a panic and died. In fact, I did that a lot.)

Music from Act I in Diablo 3, by Russell Brower

Secondly, and I think this is even more important than people realize, the soundtracks of the first two Diablo games had a huge part in establishing the atmosphere. I am not saying this to bash those who composed for Diablo 3. I think they are excellent professionals, and I have enjoyed their work on both Diablo and other games. However, Uelmen's music in Diablo and the original Diablo 2 had mood, and drive. It was sometimes even disharmonic, and therefore difficult to listen to; the music itself sounded evil. What we have in Diablo 3 is a very different style. It is atmospheric, but instead of driving you forward with forceful percussions, it blends into the background. And instead of disturbing you with notes sliding into disharmony, blending with screams, it is mostly very easy to listen to. (The only exception to this are the boss fights, which tend to have more prominent music playing in the background.) It could very well be because that was the brief given to the composers - the developers might not have wanted the music to be so noticeable that people would grow tired of it after roaming the dungeons for hours. I do not think that would have been a problem, however - good music is good, even after hours of playing, and if anyone grew tired of it (I never do, unless it's REALLY bad), they would turn it off in any case.

My Tribute to Diablo

Ironically, the tribute piece I composed borrows mostly from the third game's soundtrack. I cannot truly say why - perhaps the tracks I borrowed from were easier to break down and convert into something with a melody. Nevertheless, I picked my favorites. The tribute begins with a nod to the soundtrack version of Bastion's Keep. I think it has excellent mood, and why they did not have it play in-game in its entirety is beyond me.

Prophecy, a Tribute to Diablo

The quiet part beginning at 1:30 mixes two often-heard themes in the first two games. You can hear them in the caves and catacombs of the first game, in the already mentioned Wilderness track from D2, and various other tracks, as well. 2:00 starts the culmination, which was heavily influenced by the main theme of the Reaper of Souls expansion and the beginning of the Blood Marsh compilation published before the release of the expansion. Finally, the tribute ends with a theme that plays in New Tristram.

The lyrics are a jumbled version of the Prophecy of the End Days, with a few lines omitted, changed and added. They are as follows:

At the End of Days
Wisdom will be lost
As Justice falls upon the world of men
And, at the End of Days
A sign shall appear in the Heavens
Justice shall fall upon the world of men

The Heavens shall tremble, the armies of Light
and Shadow shall clash on the fields of Eternity
Hope will be swallowed whole by Despair
and Death's shadow shall spread its wings over all

Betrayed by blood,
devoured by Terror
Her soul shall be lost
forever

And what am I going to do next? Well, I am currently working on a tribute to Neverwinter Nights 2, or more precisely, its expansion Mask of the Betrayer, one of my all-time favorites.

Smoke and Rain

I have a confession to make. A few years back I was a little hesitant to try out a Bioware RPG called Mass Effect. I had played and loved Dragon Age: Origins by the same developer, and I had heard a lot of good things about their sci-fi franchise. But I also knew that it was a shooter, and Maker knows I suck at anything that requires me to aim. It wasn't until I had listened to a track called Suicide Mission (uh, thanks for spoiling that for me, btw) from ME2's soundtrack that I decided to finally pick it up.

Yes, I chose to play a game because of its soundtrack. It might sound odd, but just have a listen to this, and perhaps you'll understand why (you might have to turn up your volume a bit, as it's a bit quiet):

This particular piece was composed by Jack Wall, and it instantly made him one of my favorite composers. I love the mix of synthetic and orchestral sounds, and how the theme conveys both desperation and hopefulness. It grows more and more epic towards the end, and what's more, it fits its purpose perfectly. Or do you think that this isn't the perfect theme for a suicide mission? There are, of course, other great tracks as well; I especially enjoyed Uncharted Worlds by Sam Hulick from ME, the theme for Samara by Jimmy Hinson and Reflections by Jack Wall (both from ME2) and the Rannoch theme by Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan, from the ME3 soundtrack.

Of course, the games were good, as well! I loved the story, the characters, and how I was able to create and play my own character. (Although, Bioware did move away from that a bit, especially in the third game. The massive amount of auto-dialogue and lack of choice in certain responses was, at times, immersion-breaking for me.) Unfortunately, the ending of Mass Effect 3 left me feeling so deflated and empty that I haven't really played the series since. I did play through the Extended Cut (to record the footage you'll see in the following video) but, apparently, for me the damage had already been done.

So, I admit I was a little butthurt when I wrote the lyrics for this:

While the piece doesn't directly quote any of the themes from the soundtracks of any of the games, I hope that at least the sounds bear some resemblance to their inspiration. I know the mix is pretty bad - I have started from absolute zero when it comes to making music, and I admittedly do have some trouble with creating mixes that have clarity, depth and warmth at the same time. Not to mention that my mic is probably the cheapest money can buy (no point in dishing out a lot of cash for quality equipment until I'm a bit better at what I do.)

The lyrics go as follows:

Our world is burning
Broken lives everywhere I can see
I hear them calling
Time to stand our ground and be free

There's no turning back, no compromising
I take the plunge into the storm

Smoke and rain
Take up arms, they're moving to feed on our
Blood and pain
Look at everything we're fighting for
Smoke and rain
We're fighting together in vain

The world is burning
Our banner lying trampled in mud
The line is breaking
It's getting harder to fight back the flood

No hope, no choice, only broken promises
A sacrifice not worth the cost

Smoke and rain
I raise my burning eyes, there is nothing but
Blood and pain
The broken sky comes crashing down on me
Smoke and rain
We're dying together in vain

(Yeah, just a bit angsty...)