Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Musical Emotion, Place, and Event

A fan for a different game series suggested that music for a game could evoke senses of emotions, places, and events, based on what has been contributed to it. While I'm not about to make a comparison of the contributors with those for Pokémon games, as I consider all of them masters in their own regard, I can make a comparison of how those senses are reflected in the music for Pokémon games, which in many respects would be a fairer comparison.

It is perhaps fairly easy to identify event in music, as that is what happens when two Trainers come into contact with each other and subsequently battle as in the main series games. Then there's the Mega Evolution music in Pokémon Shuffle, which for its over-the-top quality does indicate the event very well. The initial pre-battle screen in Pokémon Unite has a pretty distinct musical indicator as well. All the events vary, but the music serves well to represent them.

The identification of place is a little less easy but still workable. Hometowns (and some major cities) in past main series games can be quickly identified by the music alone, and so does the main part of the café in Café Remix no matter what time of year it is. Of course, there is also the Pokémon Center (and in some cases the Poké Mart) music, which become identification for their respective places. The places are "out there" yet are also in the music.

Emotion (or feeling) may be the hardest of the three to identify, as it may not be clearly evident in some cases. Yet some pieces of music for ruinous places - for example the Abandoned Ship in Hoenn - do in a way convey a derelict emotion about them. How Fever Frenzy in Café Remix is adjusted musically according to mode (One-Minute or Slow Cooking) can be considered to convey different emotions as well. It's still a hard thing to say.

Considering that fan's characterization of senses in music pieces for a game, there may be some truth in it - not only for that other game series, but also for Pokémon games too. As hard as it could be to determine if the senses are actually present, there is still the affirmation that music can and do convey different senses, which is in a way important for modern games and has to deserve some consideration and thought in involvement.

Two years ago: Rotating to Objectives
Three years ago: Longing for Team Go Rocket
Five years ago: Choosing Pathways
Six years ago: And Again, I Dream
Seven years ago: We're All Tied to Pokémon

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