Dragon Riders
In my games I often use music from games and films. In this series of musical inspirations I wanted to recommend different combinations of games and soundtracks that you might not have come up with yourselves. ;)
In the game Dragon Riders by Lans Macabre (LINK) we play as the Chosen of the Dragon God Aslaug, flying on dragons and saving the world from dangers of every kind: mad wizards (obviously), cataclysms and… gigantic monsters called chimeras. Those are what we’ll focus on today.
Walka z chimerą
The size of chimeras varies: from small ones resembling huge beasts, but still on a human scale, through “medium” ones large enough to cover cities, and ending with truly gargantuan ones capable of destroying entire provinces!
And now the question… what music should you pick so that it matches such an epic scale of challenge? Is there a film or video game where the heroes fight gigantic monsters?
There is! Shadow of the Colossus!
Shadow of the Colossus
The music was composed by Kō Ōtani 大谷 幸, a Japanese composer known for music for Godzilla, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, and of course Shadow of the Colossus.
On the one hand, the music is melancholic, at times even sad. It creates the feeling of a journey through a vast, unexplored land full of mysteries. It also emphasizes a sense of isolation and loneliness (in the game, outside of fights, there is only the hero and his faithful horse).
On the other hand, when it comes to battling the colossi, the music changes dramatically. It becomes monumental and full of pathos. Strings and drums come to the fore, perfectly building tension.
How to combine it?
Each colossus usually has two phases of combat, and the music smoothly transitions from the first phase to the second. While the first phase builds tension and unease at the start of the confrontation, the music in the second phase is full of heroism and hope for victory. It perfectly captures the intensity of the clash and its progression.
Using this soundtrack for battles with chimeras is a bullseye. We can use different tracks for different phases of a chimera fight and everything will feel perfectly cohesive. As the heroes approach it, we play the first phase to build unease and tension. In the second phase we can put on an intense piece, and in the third we finish with a heroic and dramatic crescendo!
Your players are guaranteed to be impressed. I myself got tears in my eyes from emotion while listening to the soundtrack as I was writing this post. :')