Disappointment with the music in certain ways...

B

Brandon Howard

Joined
Aug 22, 2019
Dont het me wrong the series has always had a beautiful soundtrack, however I definitely had my disappointment with the soundtrack with this third title.

I know a lot of it was budget so tracks had to be re-used but even with that they didn't even re-use some of the best ones.

The "nightfall" track from the first game should have found it's way into the game somehow.

And what about Earth and Sea? Maybe even a remix of it to be used during the (very few and disappointing) boss fights.

Like the Red snakes boss, technically the only real boss in the game if memory serves me right just had the same music as the dojo arena fights. Like seriously who was in charge of that? Fight should have had way more epic music. I think the music that was used during the long bridge fight at the castle was ok, but could have better too.

And of course the battle with Lan Di, which we all know wasnt even a real boss battle music was lame too. Would have been a perfect time for Earth and Sea to be used. All my opinion of course. Anyone else dissatisfied with the use of music and lack of epic tracks in the game?
 
Music wise the only thing that bugged me was the looping issue and the reuse of tracks for themes to areas that had been a theme to a major area in a previous game. There were a couple reuses that really bugged. Other than that I was pleased with what they did. The music that play in that shopping district place near the casino in Niaowu that's like a smooth reworking of The Spot really hit.....the spot.
 
Music selection needed some serious improvement, some scenes require perfect music to set the emotional tone of the player.... can you imagine the ending to Shenmue II just replaying the Chow wan sign theme again? That would of been unforgivable
 
Machsi said:
Music selection needed some serious improvement, some scenes require perfect music to set the emotional tone of the player.... can you imagine the ending to Shenmue II just replaying the Chow wan sign theme again? That would of been unforgivable
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The lack of epic music during the last scene (why didn't they let the Journey Continues song play out?) coupled by the lack of the Shenmue theme during the end credits broke my heart.

Talk about ending not with a bang like S2.... but with a whimper.

Hey at least the Tomato Convenience Mart theme didn't play over the credits.....

Many of the tracks in S3 felt like temp music... re-used from the previous games as a placeholder until the real music could be put in. They needed Ryuiji to come in and score the game properly.
 
My question is; if they were willing to reuse older tracks from the previous games, why skip out on using Earth & Sea battle theme? Thats like one of the most recognizable and loved themes of the series. whu happn?
 
My biggest disappointment is the way the music is integrated. The music itself is great.
 
The fade in/out when entering shops was really jarring. The re-use of old tracks stopped being nostalgic because of how haphazardly it was done. There was no need for the track to change when entering an open door cafe or market. Bailu should have had 2 or 3 themes, tops.

Then scenes such as the Bell Tower that re-used some Guilin tracks appropriately were foiled by the frequent fades to black, and then the track would just re-start. Why they couldn't stitch together one 60 second scene instead of six 10 second scenes with cuts to black in between was baffling.

Chawan Sign credits theme after that dud of an ending was an epic fail. Could there have been licensing issues with some of the main OST?
 
I think they didn’t have a music director so they probably let someone inexperienced handle it.
 
My main problem with the music was the excessive reuse from the former titles.
As a fan of S1&2 many of the songs are strongly connected to a certain area or moment of the first two games in your brain and it is kind of weird that for example during some master training cutscene you suddenly hear the music that "belongs" to Aberdeen harbor.
Is it really so expensive to create more new music?
 
The music was definitely a disappointment. Not even gonna go onto detail about how it loops and cuts out. I was happy to hear old music. It helped keep it feeling shenmue. How the music was implemented was a mess though. Half the songs that were used for specific events/ characters were simply tacked on.

The main fight music was tolerable. I actually loved the theme at the beginning of the castle siege battle(the same theme you hear in S2 when Ren and Ryo run into Yuan while handcuffed). It was damn near a perfect song to beat some ass to. Of course, it's not as iconic as Earth and Sea which I would've loved to have heard. I would've thought if they were gonna throw on some random Wan Chai music, they could've put Earth and Sea in there, like for the Lan Di fight.

My favorite new music would have to be the night and day theme while inside shenhua house. It was perfect while talking to shenhua.
 
The Castle Finale music was totally boss as was the music during the Niao Sun reveal. I liked all the last act music tbh. I liked the Rose Garden theme as well, especially when it hits the bridge. Sounded like it could've come from Virtua Fighter.
 
Imagine if you only would have heard Shenmue 1 songs in Shenmue 2. The game would have had far less of its own identity.
From the new songs I prefer the one from hermits nest.
 
My gripes with the music

- I wish there was more "80s" themed music like you have in Shenmue 1. With the synth pads and such
- Along those lines I loved how in Shenmue 1 the music changed (the mood) as the story progressed. As in Dobuita would have a different "theme" when a different part of the the story was happening (happy/sad/pensive/etc). It wasn't always the same music
-The main st in Niao Wu has this pensive/unsettling music theme that really makes exploration a chore. Contrast that to the music that plays in Granmaster Bei's area which is CLASSIC Shenmue music, but also a new track. More of this stuff. Hell hire me to be the music supervisor. I will work for very little. (I am a music technology professor for the last 4 years so I do have experience lol!)
-Some of the reuses of the music make zero sense (darts music, etc)

Things I love about the game
+some of the music is spot on, as I said previously the music in the docks where Grandmaster bei is is SPOT on
+Bailu music is generally perfect
+The music that plays in new paradise (the synthy 80s sounding thing) is as good as the tomato convenience store theme. Delicious.
 
I cant stand that area music that the old woman is humming the tune to. First couple of listens it was okay but after its looped 10 times it just grates my brain. Is there anyway to mod the tracks ? If you could swap out that track it would make a big difference for me
 
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