Official Nontendo Music Thread

JayMoyles wrote:

@Jas: Man, I'm not sure about that one. It's just a bit too weird for me - from reading some of the comments, I guess that's the point based on the area you're in, so maybe it works in context of the game itself?

Yeah I'd say it works better in the context of the game, though I couldn't help myself from humming it when I popped out to do some shopping after that post. It's also probably not the best theme in the game but it reminds me of the show Farscape which makes me instantly love it.

masofdas wrote:

So that's it for this week. Next week - Drunka covers MGS3

Yeah, it's totally only been a week... you must be getting confused.


The time has come. Metal Gear Solid 2 can sit on a cliffhanger for a while longer while Kojima takes us back to the 60s. A time before vision cones, where Big Boss was still just Naked Snake. Commencing virtuous mission . . .



5: MGS Theme
As ever, the game contains a version of this iconic tune. For my money, this is actually the best version, but we've seen it before and we'll no doubt see it again. I'm not going to waste your time by going on about it for too long. It remains a banger.
Also worth a listen is this mellow version, which plays in the background of one conversation despite being one of the best tracks in the game.

4: KGBVSGRU

A tense, exciting tune for a fantastic boss fight. Ocelot is one of the most interesting characters in Metal Gear; friend? enemy? Bit part or main player? Canonically, he is the final boss Solid Snake fights, and one of the first Naked Snake enocunters, and certainly the character who appears in the most games. Here he is as a fresh-faced pup who needs taking down in a shootout straight from a Western.


3: Surfing Guitar

So once again, we have a hilarious but excellent little jam accessed only through a novelty radio station. The stamina bar, used to excellent effect for drama and comedy, could be replenished by letting Snake jam to some fly tunes. The man is an obvious music aficionado; look at him collecting radio tapes as if they were pogs in Phantom Pain.

2: The Sorrow

Before PT, before the man on fire and the wolbachia, Metal Gear gave us some of the creepiest moments ever and a chilling reminder of the human cost of war... assuming the player isn't a bleeding heart liberal who plays completely non-lethally. A creepy, haunting track that never quite feels right.

1: Life's End

Tragic, perfectly low key music for the moment which for me not only made the game, but the series. She gave her life, and her honour, for her native land. This is exceptional music, for a moment of exquisite storytelling. I've never wanted to press a button less in my life.
Here's an amazing acoustic guitar cover.

And there you go, the music of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Great stuff, I'm sure you'll agree, from a great game. Next time, your OG whom you shall respect, Mr James Jay Moyles, gives us some MGS4.

Bye bye!

Spoiler:

Life's End

I know, man.

Dude, Life's End never fails to make me sad. What a perfect ending to a game.

Nicely played with the lateness excuse.

Also, you almost had me fooled till your spoiler post. This version should bring memories flooding back to you.

"Uncle Jay... when is the Nontendo Music Thread coming back?"

The Nontendo Music Thread... has been forgotten. So it's been left empty, waiting to get better.

"It's not getting updated?"

No. It's being left alone.

"I wonder if we'll ever see an update again..."

The music thread... has a hard life. It's needed some time to rest.



Huh? What's that noise? Just a box... no. Wait... is it? It is! It's the:

METAL GEAR-A-THON



It's had a hard life, but it's still living. The Metal Gear music marathon continues with the closing chapter of Solid Snake's story: Metal Gear Solid 4. Whilst it was lambasted by your more casual fan for being cutscene heavy, it was a Metal Gear fan's dream - a story rife with fanservice and complete with some of Metal Gear's best setpieces to date. The soundtrack? Well, let's have a listen, shall we?



Old Snake

This track is actually the first track you'll hear upon booting the game up - it's the theme that plays over the menu that shows an old man standing in front of a gravestone before raising a gun to his head. You won't really know who it is at first, but subsequent visits to the menu make you realise that's an aged Solid Snake standing there. You start to feel sad - why is Snake seemingly committing suicide? The melancholic guitar strings really pull you into this before launching into your typical Metal Gear bombast and getting you hyped for the game ahead.



Love Theme

War has changed... This haunting track opens the game proper as Snake tells us about how things have changed on the battlefield. This track to me exemplifies this as being Solid Snake's last ride - it feels like it heralds the end of his tale. It's like the sun setting on him. The guitar that kicks in during the latter half feels like an old gunslinger's last song. Am I pushing this metaphor too far? Ah, who cares. Speaking of old gunslingers...



Guns of the Patriots

Ocelot, you absolute madman. This track plays whilst Ocelot unveils his master plan at the end of Act 3 - turning the private military's guns against them when he's seemingly trapped. It's tense and suitably so - this feels like the "Empire Strikes Back" moment for Snake, as Ocelot turns the tables on him with this plan. But eventually... the Twin Snakes square off for one last fight.



Metal Gear Saga

SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT SNAKE! BROTHERRRRRRRRRRRRRR

I'd happily put this final showdown as my favourite final boss ever. The latter half of this track opens this game's final boss fight, and what a way to do so - it's a banger to say the least and gets you absolutely pumped up for the showdown ahead.

That's yer lot for this week.

Next time - Mas covers your lesser-known Metal Gears and shares some tracks from Portable Ops and Acid.

MGS4's music had me tearing up more than 3, I'd say. I haven't played it for a long while, and it was such a ride. I don't think you went too far in describing it at all; it perfectly captures the emotions you described, and I think they were all intentional.

I think anyone playing the series now needs to think long and hard about the order they play them in, because no matter what this game has to come last, right? What perfect bookending of the series this and MGS make, even now with all the Big Boss stuff.

Great to see this up Jay with some great tracks, I'll see you all in about a months time

Drunkalilly wrote:

I think anyone playing the series now needs to think long and hard about the order they play them in, because no matter what this game has to come last, right? What perfect bookending of the series this and MGS make, even now with all the Big Boss stuff.

Oh, absolutely. MGSV isn't an ending to the series but it was never designed as such - it's the bridge between Big Boss's story and Solid Snake's story. MGS4 is the series's proper ending.

Mas:

Dancer. Had this song in my head for about a week, completely forgot what game it was from, and EUREKA!

masofdas wrote:

Great to see this up Jay with some great tracks, I'll see you all in about a months time

JayMoyles wrote:

Mas:

Not a month after the last one but a day early if this was meant to be a weekly thing and mainly due to it being fresh in my memory

I bring to you
THE OTHER METAL GEARS-A-THON

I'm starting of with Canon Metal Gear games

Portable Ops from the PSP is set between Snake Eater and Peace Walker, MPO remains stuck on the PSP and the VITA's PSN also the game got a sequel called Portable Ops+ which focused on Multiplayer that it's not Canon

I give you the track Calling to the Night

The second of the Canon Metal Gear games taking place after Guns of the Patriots from Platinum games, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

I give you the track Dark Skies

That's it for Canon Metal Gear games, so let's move onto the Non-Canon games

I start with Metal Gear 2, No we've not had it before as that was the true MG2 Solid Snake which did remain stuck on the MSX2 in Japan for 16 years where we got in the west for the NES Snake's Revenge

I give you the track Big Boss

Moving on a few years now to the PS1 where we get Special Missions

I give you the track from the Main Menu

It's time to go back to the handhelds with Ghost Babel which is just Metal Gear Solid in the west, is sort of alternate version of MGS as it does take place after the Metal Gear games but nowhere else and there has been no games that follow on after this. This like a lot of the other Metal Gear games remains on it's original system in this case the GameBoy Color

I give you the track Metal Gear

Now we come to maybe one of the strangest Metal Gear games with AC!D which uses cards to play the game, the game also got a sequel

I give you from AC!D End Title and from AC!D 2 Venus

Now there is a few more Metal Gear games there's Mobile which takes place between MGS & MGS2 but isn't canon, Metal Gear Online / Arcade which uses soundtracks from other games.

The only other games are treading the same ground again with Touch which is a port of MGS4, The Graphic Novel from the PSP which retells MGS & MGS2 and the most well known one


I end this week with Next Generation Classic

Next week Drunka will being to you Peace Walker

That's a banger Cappa. I wouldn't expect that from Ridge Racer either, but then again, I've barely touched the series.

Here's the reason I'm now convinced I need to main Rashid in Street Fighter V: RASHIDOOOOOOOO

Mas: Posted this just as I was about to leave a sarcastic comment about our marathon.

Some thoughts:

I had to look up where I'd heard Calling to the Night before - it's the first track available for the iPod in MGS4.

Metal Gear Rising's entire soundtrack could be put up on this list. It'd be a crime to not mention Rules of Nature or another of my favourites, Collective Consciousness.

That Acid 2 track is gorgeous. Good picks all round, Mas.

I think it's myself doing Peace Walker though, and then you and Drunka are tag-teaming MGSV, right?

I thought all 3 of us was doing the MGSV Saga, some great tunes to there add Jay.

Calling to the Night is excellent IMO and the main reason why I wanted to do these other Metal Gear games, I was surprised how many there were in the end also how many there are stuck on the PSP or from the system.

Double Post and not MGS but Final Fantasy with this theme tune from Florence and the Machine which is quite good.

Nintendo?  Nontendo?  Not sure it matters.  Champion sans wants to battle!

Also really liked this comment:

EDIT: Oh gracious.

Whilst the Diamond Dogs are figuring out which one of them, is actually doing Peace Walker! I'm going to bring you some tunes from a game that's now wildly available and I've wanted to do for some time as part of the series of tunes Jay was doing before MGS weeks.  



I'm actually going to give you guys two covers along with two OST of the best numbered Final Fantasy, starting with

The Place I'll Return to Someday and this other cover of Melodies of Life

Now some OST with Garnet's Theme and Zidane & Dagger theme



I've left the best to last, You Are Not Alone

Now FFIX is on smart-devices and steam, even the most die hard Nintendo or Xbox only gamer, who likes a JRPG should have a gander at this title.

Balladeer wrote:

EDIT: Oh gracious.

Massive thumbs up.

Mas: FFIX is one I really ought to go back and play at some point. It's regarded as one of the best in the series, so I suppose I should get round to it at some point.

So... is it myself doing Peace Walker then?

PLAY. IT. JAY

And yes, you are doing Peace Walker.

Right. It's coming tomorrow. I've been too wrapped in Dark Souls III, but I've beaten it now so Peace Walker shall be covered tomorrow.

Before Peace Walker goes ahead I like to share with you two songs that debut on Prince Interactive from 1994.

Ah IX.  It had all the ingredients to be a classic, but that battle system was beyond words.  Take the already incredibly poorly thought out ATB system and make it run slower than paint drying, now add in several second long loading screens at the start and end for every.  Single.  Battle.  

I was actually going insane by disc 2, no joke.  It was pretty darn good in every other aspect, but, well, a jrpg is still a game and there's only so much leeway I can give one.  A good game, shame about the gameplay.


Hang on a sec, the PC port of IX is out? Didn't they remove the slowdown of the battles in that version? Might have to give the game another look if they sorted that.

What your mad Athrun IX is the best numbered FF game, as decide on Pod of War also maybe on SONM Final Fantasy vote if results ever go up.

Loading times were pain but the PS1 was 6 years old at the time, FFIX was pushing the hardware to the limit. Yeah STEAM version is up but the sale has just ended on it, I'm hoping it comes to PS4 like FFVII.

What a time to be alive if it does with that FFXV, Persona 5, Star Ocean 5, DQXI (Yeah right mas this is coming out in 2016), I Am Setsuna, Nier Automata etc

Welcome to yet another edition of MSF - the Metal Gear-a-thon Sans Forum Posts! In this edition, you'll be waiting another few months for an update. So that's your lot for this time, so-... huh?



The Boss is back, and this time, he's building an army.

IT'S THE METAL GEAR-A-THON... AT LAST



Peace Walker is a bit of a departure from the norm for mainline Metal Gear titles (and it is absolutely a mainline title considering how much it feeds into MGSV). It's mission based, being focused around portable play. The story is told through comic book cutscenes. There's an oddly captivating base building system that's integral for kitting out Big Boss in better gear. And the music... well, not really discussed! Let's see what it's got to offer.



Fearless is one of this game's "searching themes". The enemy isn't on you yet, but they know you're around somewhere. Dripping with tension and oddly reminiscent of MGS3 (perhaps purposefully so, considering it was the Boss's last major mission), this is perfect sneaking music. Nothing overly memorable, sure, but it fits the bill to a T.



Little Brother plays when Chico is rescued by Big Boss and is recruited into MSF. Boss at this stage isn't a bad man, but he's certainly flawed. Recruiting child soldiers is something I didn't expect MSF to do, and whilst Chico has been fighting with the resistance troops, Boss is taking on a new persona. He's almost like the Messiah to MSF. And his words to Chico are inspiring but a little telling of the path Boss is going down: "You're Hombre Nuevo. A new man. Now give that life to me. Fight with me little soldier. Show me how strong you really are.". Music wise, it's sombre whilst still retaining that Latin flavour unique to Peace Walker. And there's a little bit of another track that'll be featured later on at the end of this one...



Heaven's Divide follows the long Metal Gear tradition of having a kick-ass vocal track feature at some point in the game. Usually, it's over the credits. In Peace Walker, it throws over a fucking battle with a helicopter, mid mission. It gave the fight a properly climatic feel, and it's not even the final boss! In my playthrough, it was fitting as Big Boss was kitted out in full battle gear, gunning down bad dudes before squaring off against the helicopter. Cracking stuff, as per usual.

(yes I know that's from a different chopper battle, hush)

And that's it from me this week! Not too much to pick from MGS: PW.

Next time - Drunka and Mas team up to take on MGSV - both Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain.

We sure are me and Big Boss.

Great choices of tracks Jay, Heaven's Divide is a banger.

Other than Heaven's Divide, the two that stuck with me are the two recurring pieces of diegetic music Sing, which is playing in the background of the tape with the Boss' voice, and the creepy song the robots sing.

masofdas wrote:

Heaven's Divide is a banger.

Can't argue with that! I might even like it better than Snake Eater.