We’re well past the days of Guitar Hero and Rock Band and their plastic instruments. There are still a lot of band’s worth that I have lying around, some of them relics from a specific era. My favorite gaming memory is going to a Game shop and nailing one the most difficult Guitar Hero tracks in front a crowd. It was also a proud moment for my dad, funny enough.
However, these games have been out of fashion for a variety of reasons: cost, environment, and fashion. Harmonix, creator of Guitar Hero, announced that Fuser, its latest game, would be offline. It will not be played with a physical instrument but it will still adhere to the same philosophy as Guitar Hero: easy music-making.
Ubisoft Rocksmith, a game that shows you how to use a guitar, is also available. Rocksmith+, the latest edition, was released in September. This version promises to teach technique and include over 5,000 songs. Perhaps you will consider writing your very own book after reading this.
However, music games have advanced since those Guitar Hero days. Developers have moved beyond mimicking instruments to incorporating music into games.
A plethora music-inspired games have emerged this year. They can be broken down into three broad categories: rhythm games (genre mixing), storytelling, and storytelling. These are the future of music video gaming.
Although I prefer rhythm games, Trombone Champ, a viral sensation, is more anti-rhythm. It’s simple to understand – slide your mouse to match notes and match them – but it is extremely difficult to master. This is all intentional, it’s just a matter of comedy.
Dan Vecchitto founder of Holy Wow told me, “I had the notion that the notes that came at you were all swirlling and flowing lines.” “And I imagined you trying to match those lines, but failing most of the time. You could then hear how wrong you were. It sounds terrible, it was my imagination. You’re trying to match the sound because it’s so difficult.
With its slide and sound, the trombone was the ideal instrument to complement that image.
Vecchitto stated, “I don’t think it’s silly to call it that, but it’s one that’s ripe with comedy.” “I don’t know if it’s the shape, its name, or the sounds it produces. Some things are inherently more funnier than others, or just naturally more fun. The trombone seems to be up there.
Vecchitto is a huge fan of Dance Dance Revolution, as well as Japanese arcade games. These inspired Trombone Champ’s aesthetics with loud music and colorful menus. Trombone Champ was actually an arcade cabinet that had a trombone controller. But there was a twist.
Vecchitto said, “I thought it would be funny if the rubber made it flop around as you try to use it,” though it is impossible to imagine it being practical.
Vecchitto still found humor in the game’s difficulties.
He said, “One of the fundamental ideas behind the game’s design is that you are not supposed to play it well.” The more you fail, the more fun it will be. That allows for a few more ways to enjoy the game.
“I don’t expect or want the player do well. Because I could add songs that are difficult to play, it frees up level design. This makes it even more enjoyable. The William Tell Overture is a popular part of the game. Although it is almost impossible to get a perfect score, people enjoy it the most because it is the easiest to make mistakes on.
Although songs were selected for their comic potential, the selection of mostly classical music was made because they are royalty-free. To fit in the rich history of music-making games, original electronic tracks were also composed. Vecchitto said that more songs are in the pipeline.
The game quickly became a viral hit as players competed to see how well they could play, or even develop real trombone controllers. Vecchitto wasn’t expecting the game and its humor to be so popular among players.
He stated that he had expected negative feedback and that many people would not be able to get the message. “Gamers take gaming seriously sometimes. They want to achieve the highest score possible on each level. It was a little concerning that people might react negatively to the game because of some levels that are almost impossible to reach.
Vecchitto described players’ reactions as “overwhelming”. With clear enthusiasm, he stated that “We were blown off” We didn’t expect this. The concept was amusing to me. It was memeable, I knew that. But, I wasn’t sure that it would make the game more popular.
Developers are adding musical elements to rhythm games. Crypt of the Necrodancer has fused rhythm with dungeon crawling. No Straight Roads is a platformer that moves to a beat. Soundfall, a top down shooter, gave new meanings for pulse rifles earlier in the year. Rytmos and Rhythm Tower Defense Game Rytmos will be available next year.
Metal: Hellsinger was perhaps the most popular of all these games this year. This is not the first time that a first-person shooter was combined with rhythmic gameplay. However, this game exudes pure metal from its thundering drums and demonic visuals imitating album cover art.
David Goldfarb, the game’s creator, told me that he was inspired to create Doom 2016 after listening to other music. “I felt it was rewarding so I fired on the beat. “I think I liked the shots paired up with the song,” said he, explaining that the sinister plot was later.
He said, “The nature of first-person shooters is that there’s a flow to playing any good shooter and being great. It’s rhythmic. I don’t know what that would mean, but it’s possible to get into a certain level of play if you are playing at a high enough level. You’re not thinking about anything and just doing the thing.
Many rhythm games are great at getting you in a flow state. That’s the beauty of rhythm games. You get the feeling that you’re doing something that you couldn’t do.
“So I was very curious about how it would feel if those two things were combined. Shooters have flow because you have freedom to move and can do whatever you like. Then what if you added that to this? It’s a rhythmic requirement but also allows for player action improvisation.
“My hope it would feel better than giving people total freedom to move, because… you have different relationships to the music and to the way you play when those things have been in effect.”
Although the player can freely move about, actions like firing, dodging, and reloading must follow a specific beat in order to keep power and combo scores high. Goldfarb and his group managed to create a strong prototype. From there, level design was completed and music composition was done simultaneously. It was difficult because audio is often added at the end of game design.
“I believe the levels were built around the story, but then we would look at music and think about the narrative. We’d be like, ‘okay it’s going be this vibe, that means the tune is probably going be like this,'” said Goldfarb.
“[The composers] Then we would work on individual parts of the song and see how it felt. Then we would put it into a level and see how it fits with the geometry. We had to work out that stuff.
It was also difficult to balance the game’s difficulty. Goldfarb explains the back-and-forth between the playtesters as well as the development team.
Original music was used partly to avoid copyright violation, particularly for streamers. It was also to create synergy between music and gameplay.
“[Licensed songs] It would have drastically changed the gameplay experience, as it wouldn’t be dynamic. It would have been like playing on a static track,” Goldfarb said.
This meant that Goldfarb had to work with well-known metal artists such as System of a Down, Trivium, and Lamb of God. These artists give the game its authenticity which also extends to its overall aesthetic.
Goldfarb said, “We did what we had to.” We were determined to treat metal with respect. We tried to give a proper tribute to this genre.
Some music games focus less on the player performing and more on music as a narrative tool. The Artful Escape, last year’s title, had just one button for a guitar solo. However, this allows the player to truly get into the mind of its teenage musical prodigy protagonist. He is free from the glum folk songs his father has taught him and can embrace the psychedelic exuberance that glam rock offers.
Released this year, Riley and Rochelle challenges players to discover the relationships between its protagonist characters – both musicians. Written notes, audio interviews and sometimes music can be used to help you piece together the stories. You will find great tunes that are 90s inspired, as well as clues about dates and lyrics by searching through the virtual vinyl box.
We Are OFK tells the story through interactive music videos and visual novels about a fictional Los Angeles group. The songs have been released, and the virtual band has become real. This is not a game. It’s an introduction.
Teddy Dief, We Are OFK’s creator and lead singer said that you were saying that games use music in different forms. “And it almost feels like we’re using video games, if that’s what I mean. It’s not like we’re creating a videogame haphazardly. Although it took us four and a 1/2 years to create the game, it serves a different purpose.
The story is the most important aspect of game design. The game is divided into five episodes that each focus on a particular character and include a music video. After the structure was established, Dief collaborated with Thom Powers and Luna Shadows (of The Naked and Famous), to create the songs.
Dief explained that they are not trying to create musical theatre. They’re not singing about their experiences. It’s meant to match emotionally and tonally. You may be able to make some allusions about how these people might feel.
Dief sang the songs using an “intentionally breathey” vocal, which gives the music a dreamy and ethereal quality. They stated that it was a lot of fun for them because they were learning to sing on microphones. “I’m originally from theatre and musicals, so the microphone technique is a different beast. I also learned how to use my breath to emote.
Why not create a videogame as an EP rather than a separate music release? Dief felt it was important to share the story of making a record to show vulnerability.
They said, “The moment that you even think about fucking with art or music is the moment you start looking at these incredibly daunting works.” “The goal of this project was to be human-sized. To be like, “Look, this is difficult.” We’re going to tell them a story, but it won’t take their from rags into riches. They’re only going to get the EP. They don’t win, and they don’t make any money from that EP. They just released it.
It was logical for Dief and his team to tell this story in a videogame with the skills and tools they had, but video games allow for a different kind of storytelling.
Dief said, “Making the interactive gives us an opportunity to get people in the heads of our characters.” “And there’s another type of storytelling: putting yourself in their shoes, allowing you to make choices and seeing the things they could say. We didn’t write all the dialogue choices to control whether this character would become kind or a slut, but rather to show that this character is flawed.
All the developers I spoke to had an interest music. Vecchitto can play a variety of instruments, although ironically, not the trombone. Goldfarb is a longtime fan of punk, metal and alternative music. Before moving into video gaming, Dief was a singer. However, working on We Are OFK enabled them to combine music and gaming in a new way.
They stated that “it has been an opportunity for me to pivot myself from being a singer-game maker, which I have been to many people for a while,” to become a musician who makes music.
“And to continue playing them off one another, because I’ve always thought it was really fascinating how many game developers adore music as a medium. Many musicians believe video games are the future for creativity. They constantly shout at one another about how excited they get about each other. It’s fun to be there in both.
We Are OFK can therefore be used as a launchpad for virtual bands. This is not just a story-based video game with music. But it also serves to demonstrate how gaming can help real musicians get started. Dief’s next goal is to perform live.
“What’s next? We are working on new songs and trying to figure how to start playing shows because it’s music project,” stated Dief, who clearly cares about the project’s future and future. “We are still there. Music isn’t a marketing trick. We told the story. We also have a group so we’ll keep doing it.”
A virtual band would be slowing down because video games can take several years to develop. We Are OFK shows that the future music industry may be influenced by the future music games.
