A score can transform a game from just another mindless activity to an immersive experience. A score that reflects the dynamism that video games provide compared to movies is not easily done. As such, we wanted to award the developers who went the extra mile to produce something truly memorable. To produce a score that transplanted us, that stuck with us. A score that made us feel something as we played and that made it impossible to press the mute button. These are our winners for Best Score. Be sure to check out our sister award for Best Technical Audio.
Winner: Demon’s Souls from Bluepoint Games
It was with trepidation that I approached the Demon’s Souls soundtrack. After all the original is perhaps the best score of the decade. The haunting, melodic tones of the soundtrack rise to brash climaxes before returning to melancholy. The score is like a lullaby that lures the player in. It is the opposite of a typical gaming soundtrack which tries to get the player’s blood pumping harder and harder and harder. The studio at Bluepoint remixed many of the classic tracks to varying degrees of success, but let it not be said that they did not try to put their own stake in the game.
In my opinion, the perfect theme is that of the Maiden Astraea. It is my single favorite piece of music from any score and I have listened to it more or less every week for the last decade. I approached my first listen to the remix with great trepidation. It does not contain the boldness of the original’s piano notes, but instead softens them and cloaks them in an overriding melody. It does what the rest of the game does, takes a magical original game and changes just enough that you feel the familiarity, but can also exalt in the new. Well done, Bluepoint on winning the Golden Lance for Best Score.
Runner Up: Ori and the Will of the Wisps from Moon Studios
Have you ever been able to listen to a soundtrack and feel the emotions each melody is attempting to portray? For Ori and the Will of the Wisps, composer Gareth Coker once again achieves a smashing success. It puts him in the ranks of the best composers across mediums such as Hans Zimmer, John Williams and others. Gareth Coker achieves it this time around by not sticking to well worn patterns. He does not limit himself to his tell tale drum beats. Yet he still is able to leave his signature all over this soundtrack.
For Ori, the music works fantastic as you play through the game. Each time there is a turn for the mood, the music helped engage the emotional changes necessary. The melodies also help set the pace. Faster compositions indicate areas needing to be traversed quickly. Small subtle melodies are there for when the pace is slower. And, of course, heart tugging melodies give the player feelings of tragedy. If you were a fan of the music from Ori and the Blind Forest, Ark: Survival Evolved or Darksiders Genesis, you will be sure to fall in love with the melodies of Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
Runner Up: Ghost of Tsushima from Sucker Punch
There is something to say about simplicity at its finest that describes the score of Ghost of Tsushima. It is not overly crowded with instruments, nor is it in your face loud, but the soft wooden flute, the melody of the strings and the beat of the drums makes the score my favorite out of the games this year. Each instrument tells a story that evolves into pieces that pull emotion to the surface.
The instruments are simple. Big base drums, hard and soft strings, and wooden flutes appear in every piece of music but the stories they tell are different. Take Jin Sakai and Khotun Khan’s themes for instance. Both are the same instruments but the tone is so separate, they could come from entirely different games. You can hear the feeling of dread coming together in Khotun Khan’s theme, but you feel the harmony and balance of the samurai in Jin’s.
Not even to mention Kurosawa mode. There is something about the score, compressed and filtered in a way that flashes me back to the first time I ever watched Seven Samurai in high school. It pulls away the flashy visuals and puts the sound on display front and center. In that way, I do not know of any other game that takes the sound to the front of the game in a way that Ghost of Tsushima did this year. Doom Eternal may be close to my heart, but Ghost of Tsushima is the score that pulls my head out of today. It transports me away into the world Sucker Punch created. Bravo, Ilan Eshkeri, bravo.
