I love the leitmotifs in Portal 2. There are so many throughout the soundtrack. My favorite is probably the "Portal 2 leitmotif" (ie, the main theme of Portal 2). It's prominent in Reconstructing More Science. You might have fun playing through Portal 2 and paying attention to the music.
My personal favorite is the Prelude from final fantasy, decades going on, multiple composers worked with it, present everywhere final fantasy is and still evokes so much emotion, nostalgia and excitement for me that I just get happy by hearing it
Everyone hears the arpeggio, and while a big part of the prelude, it's not the main melody. And it isn't even the "Final Fantasy theme" But it's so deeply connected to the franchise. And the victory fanfare is another big leitmotif.
Leitmotifs are part of the reason why I love the Hollow Knight soundtrack so much. Almost all of the songs are connected through different ones, and that helps tell the story of the game through the music.
The trailers to the lastest 2 Legend of Zelda main games (BOTW and TOTK) are full of Zelda leitmotifs. And its super cool each time I discover another one embedded in them.
My personal favorite lemotif is when you hear part of proof of a hero in the hunt complete theme in monster hunter world, then when you’re fighting fatalis at the end proof of a hero comes in full swing after you hit it with the dragonator
Almost every Monster Hunter game has a Proof of a Hero remix in _some_ hunt, typically a climactic/endgame one. Here are some that I can say firsthand: Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate: - Hitting Jhen Mohran with the Dragonator Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate: - Hitting Dah'ren Mohran with the Dragonator - Hitting Gogmazios with the Demolisher Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate: - Automatic during Ahtal-Ka's final phase Monster Hunter World: - Hitting Zorah Magdaros with Dragonator (optional quest version only) - _(haven't finished Iceborne yet to confirm any)_ Monster Hunter Rise + Sunbreak: - Automatic during an Ibushi rampage - Automatic during Allmother Narwa battle - Automatic during Gaismagorm battle, final phase
Another great thing about leitmotives is the extra value they give to the global experience. Once the context is know, it's hilarious to notice the hidden message found in the music. Sometimes it can even be a huge spoiler or an advance of what should be expected.
One of my favorite ways to sneak in the leitmotif is in Star Wars Episode 3 when the mask comes down on the newly rebuilt Darth Vader. There is that little hint of the imperial march. Just some bass in the background. That is the point where the transition from Anakain Skywalker to Darth Vader is complete. That is the point of no return. From here on this is the theme for his character.
One of my favourites is "Fear not this Night", which plays in the background here and there throughout the core of GW2, representing hope, and two and a half expansions later got inverted and remixed into a dark version to introduce a much-anticipated antagonist whose whole deal is that he can't be beaten.
The one that stands out a lot to me is Inazuma's leitmotif, which is in many soundtracks of the region, Shogun's theme and her battle theme too! Also The Fatui's leitmotif in each fatui battle theme, so iconic
Project Wingman is made of Leitmotifs. Everything from the Crimson/Monarch ostinatos to the Hitman team triplets to the main theme interwoven throughout. A masterclass. And Jose Pavli explains it all, too!
By far, my favorite leitmotifs will always be those that belong to Ace Combat. Ace combat 4,5,6,7 and Zero all had to tell stories during their missions, and the most effective way to communicate that was through their music. The music enhanced the story during these missions, especially with the leitmotif appeared, because it got you to experience the emotion the devs were shooting for. Zero's and 5's motif with The Unsung War and Zero are probably my favorite because, they are in my eyes the exact same. Ace Combat 5 introduces us to the Razgriz's leitmotif, and fleshes it out wonderfully. Storywise, the Belkan War (i.e. the war 15 years ago) is constantly referenced and talked about in 5. And when you play Zero, while you may not hear it throughout the game, the leitmotif reveals itself at the emotional peak of the game, the duel with Pixy. That duel means so much more to me because of the leitmotif being IN Zero. It drives home the connection to 5 that is truthfully hard to underscore. I love the Liberation of Gracemeria, I love Daredevil, I love all of AC4's motif. But nothing - nothing - gets my blood pumping hearing Zero and The Unsung War. Their connection is forged in the strongest of steel because of their leitmotif that they share.
Listening to dearly beloved in 2002 at six years old to absolutely breaking down dang near 20 years later to KH3s version on dearly beloved for 2 loops of the piece. That game and song have changed my life forever
My favorite leitmotif is the one of Minos Prime from ULTRAKILL, especially in ORDER track. It was the very first thing I've learned to play on guitar. And it is still the only thing I can play on guitar now 😁
Foretelling leitmotiv. When there's something you've seen before and is now being seen. Kind of like when the game starts and it comes back when the character has awakened or struggled through their journey. I think it's actually most title theme songs when you open the game and it replays it later in the game. Without Marco telling us what we're experiencing it's becoming more awesome to think about.
"Down, down, down, by the river!" is such a banger and it's used in so many tracks in Baldur's Gate 3, from tender moments, to heavy brass battle music. Frickin awesome.
The first piece I recognised/came to know as Leitmotif was Nikopol from Gurren Lagann, aka Viral's Theme. The scratch kicks in and, after the first encounter, you INSTANTLY know who is about to show up, whether he is on screen or not.
I always have very emotional moments when i hear a Leitmotiv in games. Especially when it is from an older game i grew up with or played many years ago there is always this heavy nostalgia and feeling of joy and excitement.
While all of the Octopath Traveler series’ character themes immediately come to mind as repeated pieces that punctuate the events of each chapter, Agnea’s leitmotif from 2 stands out to me, as the energetic solo fiddle that came to define her across the game makes a reprise unique to her final boss, combining with chaos-type vocals to deliver a surprisingly NieR-esque grand performance.
Shadowbringers in particular makes use of leitmotifs in such a fun way in FFXIV. Ezio's Family is one of my favourite leitmotifs, how it's used across the different Assassin's Creeds. Especially that Lorne Balf version in Revelations, my goodness.
The one I most recently remember having a huge emotional impact on me was Emilie’s theme in CrossCode. She’s the first friend you meet in the game and her theme is so comforting. Through the course of the game you are separated for an extended period and when she reappeared with her theme it made me so emotional I cried. I was legitimately happy to see her again and the music set the whole emotion of the moment off. God I need to replay that game again.
All the various times the "Lea!" leitmotif comes up during key moments, leading up to the big reveal when it chimes in during *that* fight. The biggest "whoa wait, what?" I've ever gotten. Crosscode is amazing.
i'm loving the editing in this one genshin is the video game i'm most familiar with, so i'll cite the fatui theme as my fave video game leitmotif. generally though, i really like leitmotifs in musicals. one i'm particularly in love with is from team starkid, who post their musicals in youtube and is likely one of the most accessible musical productions because of that. in their hatchetfield series, which is basically stories taking place in the town of hatchetfield across different timelines, they use leitmotifs for certain characters. in the guy who didn't like musicals they have a chilling song where a prominent character has a solo. in black friday, the most memorable string of melodies from that song is used as the character's leitmotif. it will likely appear again as his leitmotif if he appears in another hatchetfield title.
Pokemon mystery dungeon: explorers of time/darkness/sky has some of my favorite leitmotifs in games. Listening to the final boss theme from the main story calls back to so many other songs you heard along the journey, its some of the best music in the pokemon franchise
Great to see another video from you, Marco! If you're open for song suggestions right now, I'd like to recommend the Deep Rock Galactic soundtrack. The original composer recently left the DRG team, and made one final song for the game titled "Journey of the Prospector". If you've got the time, I'd love to see you listen to it, along with some of the other songs from the game's OST.
Every time I hear about Leitmotifs, I always think about the NieR series, and how it uses the same lyrics over different melodies to derive a different meaning, sort of like a reverse leitmotif
The Guardian theme in Destiny is definitely one of my favourites. Its so intertwined in the music, popping in through tower music, story moments, boss fights. Every time it makes me go "Oh, I know this one!" and all the emotions hit. More recently, Zelda hit me with one of those through the Boss theme from the Rito in Tears of the Kingdom! Ive never felt more invested in a boss fight like that.
Probably my favourite from a game off the top of my head would be the Elysium motif from Xenoblade 2, it plays in a few songs (including the main title theme) but the one that makes it hit so hard is that it is the last sound in the game at the end of the final song and man… it just hits hard.
Dude this video is so engaging for my middle school general music students! The problem with most even "fun" music education content I see, is that it is SO DRY even for me (a music theory lover). The "hip" youtube editing makes this so enjoyable for them!
call me basic, but the hopes and dreams / main menu leitmotif from undertale will automatically take me back to 2015. it just hits. i’m also very fond of the leitmotifs in sumeru in genshin- particularly the various aranara leitmotifs which also appear in the BGM, nahida’s theme, and more. those ones i especially love because they’re all used in gameplay!!
Having finished the video I realize I couldn't get enough of it!! When I first got really invested in music as a general concept (even as a non-musician) one of the biggest, most impactful moments for me was learning about the transformative nature of a leitmotif. It's just so amazing how one musical idea can be used in metaphorically holding a listener's hand. I feel like in doing so, in accustoming the player in a tune, it adds, in a way, some form of emotional immersion to the game's world. You don't just become a player, you become a part of it. I would love to listen to him talk more about his favorite experiences in a game through leitmotifs. Great video, as always!
YO Marco! this was a Great video, my personal favorite Leitmotif that I know of is the "ID" leitmotif in fire emblem Awakening. this leitmotif is show in the title screen, the first battle music, then all of the variations (ID purpose, ID sorrow, ID serenity, ID beginnings) however the most powerful part is when it comes about in "Don't Speak Her Name" when several leitmotifs of almost the whole cast of the game comes together to show anger grief and despair.
God, I wish this video was longer. I would love to see more examples from games, especially same leitmotifs from different themes side to side. For example, the last one, the TES leitmotif persists through themes of 3 games (Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim) but is represented by different orchestration each time. I urge anyone who watched this video to find a game that interests you and listen to songs with leitmotifs back to back
There's been a lot of songs that had leitmotifs that I've loved. The characters' themes from bravely default 1 being in 'Serpent eating the ground'. Ace Combat 5 theme being in '15 years ago' and 'The Unsung War', and to that extent, the vocals of Unsung War being in 'Zero'. The piano piece of DMC3 'Devils Never Cry' also being used in the 2 minute mark of 'Total Results'. There's just a lot of leitmotifs I love. But one. One, has remained in my head ever since I heard it. For a good two years now, I think. 'Maya's Theme' from Persona 2: Innocent Sin. The first time you hear it, it's like a declaration from the character saying, "Here I am!", just ending whatever song came before it and supplanting itself on the scene now. From then on, it's remains largely unchanged. Always loud yet joyful. It'd be impossible for this song to ever sound sad in any way, and then it goes ahead and proves that wrong. Turning a song of so much life into a quieter one. While it leads with a tinge of sadness, it soon develops into something like... tenderness. Like a weight being lifted off of one's shoulders, a moment of respite from the chaotic world. It's amazing. But then. At the end of the game. A certain theme starts to play. It's the piano section of the opening theme of the game. Every time you booted the game back up, and saw that intro scene, it'd always play an introductory chorus, then a soft piano section in the middle, before blowing up into a rock anthem. (Which itself became a motif used in the opening sequel, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment.) But back to that ending theme. It starts off using the piano section of the opening theme. But instead of going into that rock anthem, it slows down more, uses a 4-note bridge (which is heard in other Persona games), and begins to play Maya's Theme. Now with a more fitting tone to match the scene it's played it. I don't want to say the final theme's name, since it alone is a major spoiler. Also, the opening I referred to is from the PS1/PSX version. They changed the opening when released on the PSP, so no chorus or piano section. I'm sorry I rambled on for a while now. Just that Maya's Theme is so ingrained in my head. Even though I listened to it as much as any other song from Persona 2, I instantly recognized it years later. It's just a nice piece.
Obligatory whenever these games come up: Atlus where's our remaster for P2IS and P2EP; I would very much like to give you money to buy these classics on a modern platform thank you very much.
One of my favorites is Proof of a Hero in Monster Hunter, with it's use throughout the Fatalis fight in Monster Hunter World being one of my favorite instances.
While Savathûn does have a motif, its not the one in the video. It shows up at the beginning and few times throughout Shadowkeep title theme. Also the motif exists within the Destiny universe as a "viral chant that cannot be unheard" called Savathûn's Song and was a very big lore topic for a while
I love the leitmotifs in Persona games, the songs are always connected with the ending theme, and it shows in a brilliant way the path that you follow to the end of the game, and it always make me emotional. The music in the Persona series are so connected with the story they tell, the themes they show to us, you can't hear a song from Persona and not link with a part of the story or a place that you visit a lot throughout the game
Final Fantasy got tons of leitmotif, I would even say Soken have mastered it,the chills everytime a bit from Mortal Instants comes up in the OST and yet it hits everytime
A perfect video for a nerd like me. I love the use of leitmotifs in most of my fav music, as they provides lots of context from just the music alone, and I'm all for that context based powerful/emotional pieces
one of my favorite soundtracks in any game that i think uses leitmotifs better possibly than any other game is super paper mario, the dna of that sound track is so complex and like every song contains the framework of 3 other songs and will be built upon to form 3 more songs, every connection is thematic and connected to the story and it all results in the final boss being a mashup of 3 songs that are each remixes of mashups of remixes that all tie to the most important motifs in the game
Favorite leitmotif is a difficult question to answer but I think it’s either gotta be FFXIV’s Answers or Flow. Endwalker hit me in so many ways and Flow never fails to make me cry in any of its many forms.
You always have really interesting insights into music. It's really been helping me learn music theory. I'd love to see you react to Light of the Seven, even if it's not videogame music
Just like to say, amazing video and editing, you and your editor have truly delivered. Entertaining and informative, I've had quite a few grins. Also this gives voice to the recurring themes I've heard all my life in my favourite games, I just didn't know there was a specific term for it - I assumed it was just a natural thing to have a piece of music attached to a character or place. MC 117 in Halo, Kratos in GOW, Agent 47 in Hitman Contracts, Amicia and Hugo in Plague Tale. Even Darktide has a recurring leitomotif (Immortal Imperium pops up in quite a few places), 40k Mechanicus. Top of my head, and you've provided a list so I won't be repeating others! Great stuff and I hope to see more vides edited in this manner! (Also why the hell is TH-cam showing @names now instead of chosen channel name?? Weird stuff)
Damn Marco, another beautifully said video, well done!! I’ll be the first to put it here I guess - the Leitmotif that sends shivers down the backs of anyone who hears the first measure alone; One Winged Angel.
My favourite leitmotif is in Medal of Honor: Frontline. The theme immediately opens up with it and throughout most soundtracks, that leitmotif is mixed into it.
Can we just appreciate what Marco did with this video. Schools these days struggle to make classical music relevant to younger generations, who might not show the slightest bit of interest in the subject. Most people would fall asleep during the history lesson of "composer xxx in the early years" and just totally gloss over the contributions of their work. But because of how prevalent music is in video games, Marco can recontextualize them to show how classical theory has evolved into what we hear today. Beyond this channel being for entertainment, I think the educational aspect has kept me coming back to this channel over and over.
4:04 as a destiny player this is the best example i can think of and it made me giddy to see that is the example you used. the guardian theme is baked into almost every boss songs.
Company of Heroes 2's menu theme has a battle variant that I've only ever noticed plays during the peak of a skirmish. Hearing it instantly boosts my morale no matter how many troops I'm losing
One of my absolute favorites is the main theme from Killer Instinct 2013 which is present in many of the character themes of not all of them. It’s so present that the sounds in some of the menus plays the theme if you do it at the right tempo
As much as it wounds me that I may never be able to truly impact someone with "The Unsung War", then two years later, "Zero", the greatest individual leitmotif in my opinion, because it carries two whole soundtracks on its back; the music that plays over Mass Effect 1's title screen coming back several times near the end of 3 makes you continue playing the game. Not because of story intrigue, but because it's so heavy, you're compelled by Jupiterian gravity to not pull yourself out of whatever you're sitting on. That one doesn't need the years it got to hit as hard as it does.
Okami. Just the whole game. Could not tell ya which one since there are so many and they are all used so distinctly and effectively. This games art direction and music have a whole conversation under the game play to brilliant effect. Leitmotif is a big part of that.
Best use of leitmotifs I've ever heard in a video game is the end of Xenoblade 2. The song "Parting" transitions directly into "The Tomorrow With You" and they make use of all the game's most emotional themes.
As a recent Star Wars fan and after finishing the final season of the Clone Wars, my most recent favorite leitmotif is Anakin's Dark Deeds, AKA Order 66 theme. That's film leitmotif tho, my fave videogame leitmotif is the Fatui Harbingers' theme for 3 yrs straight now.
If anyone in the comments play D&D, I highly suggest having leitmotives for your villians and important NPCs. Maybe even for areas in general. Associating important parts of your story with certain themes help your players remember those events, characters and get better involved with the story. Also, it is an incredible feeling when before you even fully describe an NPC, or reveal their involvement with something (like the main villian being behind what seemed to be an unreleated event), you see the recognition in your player's eyes, hear them gasp in shock and exclaim: "It's him!"
My favorite is the Time Gear theme from the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers games. It has several variations that play during cutscenes that may be sad, mysterious, hopeful, or some combination of all 3. It gets used in the themes of dungeons in the future, as well as the dungeon themes for Temporal Tower and Temporal Spire. And it appears in Primal Dialga's boss battle theme.
My favorite leitmotif is probably the cabal stomp from Destiny 1/2. The lightfall theme is a close second. For those not playing destiny right now because you never really got into it, you didn't like the gameplay, or anything else, please please please listen to the soundtrack. You will not be disappointed.
Forsaken holds that place in my heart for me. "Shell of What Was" in particular - and it did not escape my notice that it tended to play while the Guardian was dealing with something that was a maddened, or possessed, or quite literally empty shell of something once grand or powerful. (In order: the Warden's Servitor, Shuro Chi, and the heartless corpse of Riven)
@@Landis963 checks out. Shell of what was is indeed a top tier song. In my opinion, every raid final boss's ost hit quite hard for various reasons. Rhulk's for example excels in the menace and sheer power he possesses, while oryx's shows the malice (hehe) he holds for the guardian but mostly focuses on the turbulence of the fight rather than his might. Holy shit I never write/type this much but damn I love music
My favorites Leimotifs are definitelly Xenoblade ones, not because in each of them there are very good leitmotifs (favorite still the Elysium Theme and its 99999999 versions), but because once you played all of the Xenoblade games, you can hear and feel those leitmotifs crossing the dimensions between all of them
I've been taking music at a university for a couple years now but it's been a bit overwhelming sometimes. My love for music stems very much from video games, from destiny, risk of rain 2, hollow knight, and definitely some legend of zelda and music from the "Mario and Luigi" DS games. "Mario and Luigi: Bowser's inside story" has a really sick theme that I think is called "In the finale" which just blew my socks and feet off with how awesome it is for a silly Mario game on the DS. I'm hoping to be a much better and more ambitious composer than I am currently am and hopefully compose for some games. Leitmotifs are really sick and it just makes any song I listen to 10x better.
My favourite leitmotif is in “Return of None” from Honkai Star Rail, the constant off beat background and the randomness of the song perfectly encapsulates the essence of the character which it was Made for, which is the embodiment of Death itself in a land where death should not exist. The creature isn’t supposed to be there and the dissonance in the song goes perfectly with that
Sonic Unleashed is a wonderful example of leitmotifs in action. Sonic is a character who's defined by his adventures, and as such, a key melodic phrase from the game's main theme - The World Adventure - is used as Sonic's leitmotif throughout the entire experience. You hear it *everywhere.* It's in both minor boss themes, multiple cutscenes, the stage results screen, and the Gaia Gates in the Wii / PS2 versions of the game. My favorite application of it is in the game's pre-rendered opening cutscene, showcasing a scuffle between Sonic and Eggman that led to the game's inciting incident. The music for this cutscene is absolutely incredible, bouncing back and forth between Sonic's leitmotif for this game, and Eggman's leitmotif (which was carried over from Sonic 06) whenever one of them gets the upper hand. Tomoya Ohtani went off with the game's soundtrack
My favourite? The Knight Who Seals the Darkness from Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. The song carries the full weight of the Legendary Hero. The name, the sword he bears, the history, all of it hit me incomprehensibly hard when I first heard it in game.
Some of my favorite leitmotifs come from games that were incredibly impactful to play for the first time. Undertale and Final Fantasy 6 are obvious mentions, but I'm going to have to nominate Pokemon Mystery Dungeon to discuss here -- _Explorers of Sky_ and _Super Mystery Dungeon_ specifically. Implicit story spoilers below the cutoff but: In Explorers, when you initially encounter an artifact called a "Time Gear" you hear a theme that opens up with a wondrous, beautiful, mysterious chord progression before introducing an equal melody. Then, halfway through the game when you discover exactly _what_ threatens the world, _why_ you were brought to it and _how_ you need to save it, the melody from this theme becomes THE central leitmotif for the remainder of the game. You hear it when making your way to the final area. You hear it during a final confrontation with the recurring antagonist, when a fellow party member functionally sacrifices himself to clear the way for you to proceed and succeed. You hear it underscoring the music of the Final Dungeon. And -- crucially -- it not just forms the backbone for the music you hear the final boss battle itself, but takes on a new, more somber meaning given the reveal that to save this world involves rewriting the history that brought you there _to_ save it in the first place. In Super Mystery Dungeon, you can probably guess the game's main leitmotif the first time you hear it. You hear it primarily in proximity with your partner, in several different versions depending on scene and context. And like Explorers before it, when you reach the final boss in the final dungeon and receive that one ray of hope that maybe you can _actually do this,_ you hear it prominently in the new battle music that the battle switches to. (I could also mention the leitmotif from Okami used in "The Sun Rises" among other tracks, but you've probably covered that one already. It's a track that just screams "you've got the power to defeat The Final Boss now -- _go use it!")_
It took a bit of consideration to break past the recency bias, but what came to mind was a few motifs from the Mass Effect series. The theme of the Illusive Man, the descending cello in ME2 (which also appears in TIM's theme), and the Vigil theme, just to name the ones which I remembered most clearly.
My favourite leitmotif is whenever your in a hunt or at the end credits, and you can hear even fractions of proof of a hero in the MonHun series Truly, the proof of a heros will
A leitmotif that I've come to enjoy recently is from a newer title called Deceive Inc, a game where you are an agent working for a spy company on various heists. Right from the menu, you are hit with main theme, which has a very specific repeating melody of 14 notes. From then on if you are paying attention, you can hear those same 14 notes played in almost all of the rest of the game's soundtracks, used in different ways to express a different feel and tone. Examples: The pre game lobby, where you and your rival agents are waiting and preparing before the game starts. Its a relaxing, elevator tune version of the LM, like the calm before the storm as you choose your weapons and tools for the mission. The escape phase, where you or a rival has acquired the mission briefcase and are now trying to get to the escape vehicle, where the latter is trying to eliminate and get the case for themselves. It is an epic, jazzy action track that follows you as you try to either get to the extraction zone or intercept the case carrier. Another, faster paced track plays when the escape vehicle has arrived, bringing the tension to an all time high as victory or defeat is just in sight. And again, it plays those 14 notes. The victory screen, after you've escaped with the case. With some slick keyboard and saxophone, you revel in the post game high of a job well done, again with those notes. The motif even sneaks its way into ambient music in the environment, like the sound that plays before a public announcement in the mall map, or the upbeat jingle of a small chain restaurant. It all fits in with the espionage theme, as if the music of the company Deceive Inc has infiltrated the rest of the world. Another example of LM's is in the map exclusive tracks. The background music at the start of the match begins simple and subdued with a small rhythm fitting that map. As the game picks up and heads towards the next phase, more instruments are added to the song, embellishing and mixing with the LM, really awesome stuff. Guess what I'm trying to say is that the Deceive Inc OST is a banger and thankfully a lot easier to find now that the game's composer Simon Cress put it out on youtube. Check it out! Sorry for the essay, just love the game and its music!
This was an entertaining and informative video! My favorite is Gate of Steiner from Steins;Gate. The way it's utilized through the soundtrack with it's sequel/midquel Steins;Gate 0 is probably some of my favorite musical storytelling in any video game ever.
The main theme from The Legend of Zelda is probably my favorite. Every time I hear it used in the series, it evokes so much happiness and excitement in me! Another one that gets to me is the Prelude from the Final Fantasy series. I love how versatile it's been used in each game. Like the beginning of FF16 when you hear it during the battle between Titan and Shiva! (I'm still pretty early in the story, so I have a feeling I'll hear it more, but that's where I'm at right now.)
Serpent Eating The Ground is the final boss theme for the first Bravely Default. The final boss theme for Bravely Default 2 is actually The Ones Who Gather Stars In The Night, which contain even more leitmotifs than the previous one, it retells your whole journey by linking leitmotifs one after another for each important boss fight and mayor event in the story. I really like more the whole experience that is the first Bravely Default than the second, but oh boi, the final boss of the second has really stick with me 'till this day, I basically hear it at least one time each day
I've gotta say, some of my favorite leitmotifs would have to be, in no particular order: Tristram's theme, ESPECIALLY the way those first few notes just always give me chills Song of the Ancients not sure if it counts as a leitmotif, but the way that each version of Never to Return in Pyre borrows instrumentation from the theme of the triumvirate you're up against and WAY too many to count from FF14 so I'm just gonna say Flow/Neath Dark Waters/A Father's Pride/Heavensward/The Maker's Ruin to get something from each of the game's eras. I absolutely love leitmotifs as a way of expressing character, personally, so as someone who also loves playing DnD I LOVE associating music with my characters and eventually creating full playlists to try and both evoke imagery based on what the music's originally from and develop recurring leitmotifs for a given character (like associating the Tomorrow and Tomorrow motif with a Paladin I'm playing). Anyway, not to ramble too long but I love your work as a chronic music enjoyer, and it's great to be able to listen to this kind of deep dive into concepts that I have both passing familiarity with and unending love for.
LOVE ME LEITMOTIFS! Learned about them through what I consider to be a master of them (at least in VGM composer terms): Hitoshi Sakimoto (Ogre Battle, FFT, FFXII, Radiant Silvergun, etc)
So basically it's the song equivalent to "Chekhov's gun" (a trope where sth in the beginning gets payoff later, for example a gun that is placed on a table at the start and fired at the end)? Personal favorite is Helldivers. In the game at the end of a mission you need to hold out for a minute and a half, and the song that plays when that happens is very close to the one used in the main menu.
I remember listening to the entire OST of Stray and noting down in the comments when the main leitmotif appears. Unfortunately, it the main menu theme isn't in the OST for some reason, but it's the first appearance of two leitmotiv. The main leitmotif of Stray is my favourite leitmotif, it's so somber and mysterious...
The Terraria Calamity OST in my opinion has one of the best usages of leitmotifs I've ever seen, and that's coming from someone who's played Undertale Ultrakill and Genshin. It's downright crazy how appropriately DM Dokuro managed to align them to the right themes and places, hell sometimes there are even two at once, one in the main melody and the other in the bassline.
My Favorite Leitmotifs are either the calm but inspiering Destiny 2 Lightfall Motif, or the ARK: Survival Evolved main Motif Gareth Cooker managed to sneak or brazenly put into most of the games music, especially noticable in most of the Genesis Part 2 Soundtracks
To mention a game that uses leitmotifs to great effect that probably won't get said otherwise here: The Wonderful 101 is, well, a wonderful example. The main hero group, The Wonderful 100, have a simple seven note horn fanfare as their leitmotif. And it is everywhere. Sometimes with an extension, sometimes extended into the entire song. Just to list a few examples on how it's used. - It's the main menu theme - It opens every level, getting an extra heroic upgrade later in the game - When a boss is on the ropes, it's the entire song of "Tables Turn" culminating in a victory fanfare - It gets used when you meet a new team member, but played in a different instrument for each - It gets into a fight with the rival team's leitmotif in the final fight with them (which is honestly my favorite way to use leitmotifs in a fight) - When the final-ish boss uses your own powers against you, the music uses a dark variant of YOUR leitmotif. - In final battle, it's your leitmotif at full blast that plays. - For the final QTE in the final cutscene, you get the last repeat of that fanfare with all other sound silent. Draw that W and win! - The upgrade shop has an accordion version of it playing. Because why not? - And, of course, it has a sad version for the Game Over screen. And that's just the main team's leitmotif and I'm sure I missed several times it's used. The game also loves to play a march when you're winning, and of course, the villains and rivals have leitmotifs both in melody and instrumentation, too. It is a weird game to play, though, so I get why people might bounce on it. It controls oddly, but it has to since you're playing as 100 superheroes at the same time in an action game of the Devil May Cry school of thought.
I lost my sh*t at *SCHLOP SCHLOP* and Wagner cussing 😂 I love this video format where there's a bit of humor sprinkled in the vid. Everything I learned in the vid is retained because there's laughs along the way.
EIther prelude, or Final fantasy main theme ( thos quite a bit rarer and not happenning in every final fantasy) i got massive chills when i'm hearing a FF prelude, i know i will go on an epic journey.
Two things I'd like to mention regarding of choice of chosen exaples of leitmotifs: Vergil - instead of Suhilegend combo clip with BTL I think better choice would be the intro of BTL that plays in the main menu of DMC5 (when you recently played Vergil), because part of that melody can be heard in the prologue when getting closer to REDACTED. Fiddlestick - I know it's a memorable as a champion's theme for how unique it is, but is not really used that much in the music itself or the game. However Sylas' or Ekko's theme is a great example as it is reused in Mageseeker or Convergence and quite memorable.
As a big Mechanicus fan, I love hearing the pipe organ swell from Noosphere in the middle of Millenial Rage, reminding me that in the middle of a definitely Necron environment, the Mechanicus is still alive and kicking... for now...
I love this video essay style of video you started doing Marco! The addition of a parody Wagner floored me lol. It is hard to pin down my favorite Leitmotif, there is a couple that I love. The Chrono Trigger main theme and Unsung War from Ace Combat are the main two that come to mind first. Then there is Adagio for Strings that plays a few times in the Homeworld series that has the exact same song played with different story context and invokes such a wide range of emotion. And of course I cant forget the Guardian/Light theme from Destiny.
Hollow Knight and it's use of leitmotifs is why I love it's soundtrack so very much. I never knew the true power of storytelling through music until Hollow Knight.
as an ultrakill nerd who listens to the music in every single waking second of my life, there are leitmotifs in the songs for Minos and Sisyphus Prime. Those parts of the sings where you just go "oh my god" contain melodies taken from the songs Requiem and Sands of Tide its used to reflect on the characters and who they are as a person, Sisyphus' motifs symbolizes him rolling up the boulder Requiem is used to reflect the tragedy in Minos' story Order - th-cam.com/video/cI5V_8RErzI/w-d-xo.html Where the motif comes from - th-cam.com/video/rD3ONF40PYw/w-d-xo.html War - th-cam.com/video/kDqTB3fV3sw/w-d-xo.html Where the motif comes from - th-cam.com/video/57_w7YocZpk/w-d-xo.html (there's also another reference to another song called Unstoppable Force, but I dunno where it is specifically) Another detail is Sisyphus' motif is a lot more in the background, compared to Mino's. It's not the point of the song, It's to give Sisyphus what he wanted, a fair fight to send off his life Minos' motif is VERY obvious once you know about it, it's meant to show you how tragic his character arc was.
One of my favorite leitmotifs of all time is from the cartoon Generator Rex. The show uses quite a few, and a couple major characters have their own musical language for when they need backing scores. My favorite is the main villain, Van Kleiss. It's powerful, relentless. Really just as scene dominating as the character himself usually was. His main theme from the first episode is really easy to find here on TH-cam if you want to give it a listen, and at least there was a point in time where the show's composer had a good selection of the OST on his website. I can't check on the status of that repository just this second, though. And something that I particularly liked about that soundtrack is how the leitmotifs blend. In the track Rex & Van Kleiss Unite, which naturally backs the one time that the protagonist and antagonist fight together, their leitmotifs mix together too. It's really a great musical payoff for such a scene. I love leitmotifs. They really help to augment a character or recurring element by giving them a distinctive sound to associate. They can really help tie a soundtrack together.
Spoilers for bugsnax One of my favorite leitmotif cases is in bugsnax. The "final" theme of the game called "escape from snaxburg" has motifs from a dozen of the other tracks from the game, basically hearing all of the time you have spent with the characters and the game itself, boiling down to a battle to save friends and escape the damned place. I also like the fact that normally the game sound track is chill, colourful and happy, but in "escape from snaxburg" all of the motifs are mixed into a tense track with a hint of despair. It's an absolutely magnificent game when it comes to characters and story, would recommend playing it.
Damn dude I went and listened to it. In 15 seconds it has already convinced me to definitely play the game in the future, the comments probably contained heavy spoilers but they got me even more interested. Even without knowing the leitmotifs beforehand that ost is amazing
Time to learn music theory . Keep teaching me and you are going to somehow revive my dream of being a singer next thing you know youl open and online music school and il end up joining
I think that, at least right now, my favorite leitmotif is from the version of the Halo theme that plays during the warthog run at the end of Halo 3. Along with everything else it conveys, there's also this building sense of urgency as it progresses, increasing the tension and that feeling of "We need to leave, NOW" that you already had going into that part of the game. It's just intensely powerful, and I love it. I'm curious though: could the absence of music not be a leitmotif in and of itself, if done properly? I haven't seen it often myself, but there have definitely been games I've played where after lots of buildup there's just...nothing. complete silence, save for perhaps your character's footsteps. And then you get blindsided with something unbelievably intense like a semi. IIRC, there's an excellent example of that near the end of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, right before you fight Grodus. Just some ambient sounds for where you are before his theme kicks in.
My favourite one from the top of my head is the main theme of FF14 Stormblood. I'm not entirely sure how to word it, but from it's various appearances in the regular StB boss theme, the 4.0 boss theme, it's usage in the Endwalker trailer, it never tends to fail at getting me hyped. Though an easy second is Answers, but that would delve a bit too much into spoilers for FF14.
Aerith's liefmotif in FFVII and the remake. On first playthrough it's kind of hopeful and otherwise gentle, but with a sad undercurrent. It's... let's say, later iteration definitely adds a lot to its featured place in the story. So much so that on subsequent playthroughs, it serves as a looming reminder of what's to come, and the maniacs behind Remake knew that. They tease those three first notes in such a way that it's almost like asking a tentative question, one you're sure you don't want the answer to, but you have to ask, because what if things are, impossibly, different this time?
I cannot tell you how hype I'd be for The Guardian leitmotif to play again in Destiny, in whatever form it'd be, I just want it to play during a moment of going forward. It's literally the first thing people heard when they booted up Destiny 1, and the first directive they got was "Eyes up, Guardian". For as much trouble Destiny 2 has been through, words cannot describe how much I want The Final Shape to be a bombastic adventure full of ups and downs, and as the dust has settled and you're ready for the next adventure, Guardian starts playing as a view of the Last City comes into focus and your ghost says its very first line to you again. Seriously... I can think of so many ways that Leitmotif just fits with the feeling of discovery and mystery, and I don't want Bungie to use their objectively best melody as a cheap way to score points with the Old Guard. and I mean "Objectively". There's been bangers since, most notably Diffracted Truth, which feels like a twisted version of Guardian, just replace "I wonder what's out there!" with ".... I... don't want to know what's out here...", but nothing else can come close to the way I feel when Guardian just... hits.
Leitmotifs in video games: tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Leitmotif/VideoGames
@@HattaTHEZulZILLA86 nope not yet
The easy one is Ultrakill's Requiem leitmotif in Order
I love the leitmotifs in Portal 2. There are so many throughout the soundtrack. My favorite is probably the "Portal 2 leitmotif" (ie, the main theme of Portal 2). It's prominent in Reconstructing More Science. You might have fun playing through Portal 2 and paying attention to the music.
You know Marco is powerful when he manages to go a whole video about leitmotifs in video games without mentioning undertale
And Genshin
ikr
Hahah, if there are three things that Undertale did absolutely right, the soundtrack is _unquestionably_ number 1.
@@Stratelier questionably
@@vibaj16 un*
My personal favorite is the Prelude from final fantasy, decades going on, multiple composers worked with it, present everywhere final fantasy is and still evokes so much emotion, nostalgia and excitement for me that I just get happy by hearing it
Couldn't agree more 😊
Also my favorite, they hide it everywhere in ffxiv.
Everyone hears the arpeggio, and while a big part of the prelude, it's not the main melody. And it isn't even the "Final Fantasy theme" But it's so deeply connected to the franchise. And the victory fanfare is another big leitmotif.
Leitmotifs are part of the reason why I love the Hollow Knight soundtrack so much. Almost all of the songs are connected through different ones, and that helps tell the story of the game through the music.
For me its Project Wingman Calamity at 1;19
The trailers to the lastest 2 Legend of Zelda main games (BOTW and TOTK) are full of Zelda leitmotifs. And its super cool each time I discover another one embedded in them.
My personal favorite lemotif is when you hear part of proof of a hero in the hunt complete theme in monster hunter world, then when you’re fighting fatalis at the end proof of a hero comes in full swing after you hit it with the dragonator
Totally agree with you, Proof of a Hero really gets the adrenaline pumping in end-game boss fights!
Almost every Monster Hunter game has a Proof of a Hero remix in _some_ hunt, typically a climactic/endgame one. Here are some that I can say firsthand:
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate:
- Hitting Jhen Mohran with the Dragonator
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate:
- Hitting Dah'ren Mohran with the Dragonator
- Hitting Gogmazios with the Demolisher
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate:
- Automatic during Ahtal-Ka's final phase
Monster Hunter World:
- Hitting Zorah Magdaros with Dragonator (optional quest version only)
- _(haven't finished Iceborne yet to confirm any)_
Monster Hunter Rise + Sunbreak:
- Automatic during an Ibushi rampage
- Automatic during Allmother Narwa battle
- Automatic during Gaismagorm battle, final phase
Another great thing about leitmotives is the extra value they give to the global experience. Once the context is know, it's hilarious to notice the hidden message found in the music. Sometimes it can even be a huge spoiler or an advance of what should be expected.
One of my favorite ways to sneak in the leitmotif is in Star Wars Episode 3 when the mask comes down on the newly rebuilt Darth Vader. There is that little hint of the imperial march. Just some bass in the background. That is the point where the transition from Anakain Skywalker to Darth Vader is complete. That is the point of no return. From here on this is the theme for his character.
One of my favourites is "Fear not this Night", which plays in the background here and there throughout the core of GW2, representing hope, and two and a half expansions later got inverted and remixed into a dark version to introduce a much-anticipated antagonist whose whole deal is that he can't be beaten.
The one that stands out a lot to me is Inazuma's leitmotif, which is in many soundtracks of the region, Shogun's theme and her battle theme too! Also The Fatui's leitmotif in each fatui battle theme, so iconic
Project Wingman is made of Leitmotifs.
Everything from the Crimson/Monarch ostinatos to the Hitman team triplets to the main theme interwoven throughout.
A masterclass. And Jose Pavli explains it all, too!
Fellow PW fan 🗿
(Love Calamity btw)
By far, my favorite leitmotifs will always be those that belong to Ace Combat. Ace combat 4,5,6,7 and Zero all had to tell stories during their missions, and the most effective way to communicate that was through their music. The music enhanced the story during these missions, especially with the leitmotif appeared, because it got you to experience the emotion the devs were shooting for.
Zero's and 5's motif with The Unsung War and Zero are probably my favorite because, they are in my eyes the exact same. Ace Combat 5 introduces us to the Razgriz's leitmotif, and fleshes it out wonderfully. Storywise, the Belkan War (i.e. the war 15 years ago) is constantly referenced and talked about in 5. And when you play Zero, while you may not hear it throughout the game, the leitmotif reveals itself at the emotional peak of the game, the duel with Pixy.
That duel means so much more to me because of the leitmotif being IN Zero. It drives home the connection to 5 that is truthfully hard to underscore. I love the Liberation of Gracemeria, I love Daredevil, I love all of AC4's motif.
But nothing - nothing - gets my blood pumping hearing Zero and The Unsung War. Their connection is forged in the strongest of steel because of their leitmotif that they share.
Listening to dearly beloved in 2002 at six years old to absolutely breaking down dang near 20 years later to KH3s version on dearly beloved for 2 loops of the piece. That game and song have changed my life forever
I love my leitmotif from Fire Emblem Awakening. The way the main theme of that game is carried out has always blown my mind
My favorite leitmotif is the one of Minos Prime from ULTRAKILL, especially in ORDER track. It was the very first thing I've learned to play on guitar. And it is still the only thing I can play on guitar now 😁
the Glory motif, the best one
@@TimHawk.Sands of Tide leitmotif 💪
Foretelling leitmotiv. When there's something you've seen before and is now being seen. Kind of like when the game starts and it comes back when the character has awakened or struggled through their journey. I think it's actually most title theme songs when you open the game and it replays it later in the game. Without Marco telling us what we're experiencing it's becoming more awesome to think about.
"Down, down, down, by the river!" is such a banger and it's used in so many tracks in Baldur's Gate 3, from tender moments, to heavy brass battle music. Frickin awesome.
The first piece I recognised/came to know as Leitmotif was Nikopol from Gurren Lagann, aka Viral's Theme. The scratch kicks in and, after the first encounter, you INSTANTLY know who is about to show up, whether he is on screen or not.
My favorite song from the whole series, moreso than every variation with the words 'row row fight da powah'.
I always have very emotional moments when i hear a Leitmotiv in games. Especially when it is from an older game i grew up with or played many years ago there is always this heavy nostalgia and feeling of joy and excitement.
My favorite leitmotifs are Raiden Shogun’s leitmotif and Ayaka’s leitmotif. They are perfect!
While all of the Octopath Traveler series’ character themes immediately come to mind as repeated pieces that punctuate the events of each chapter, Agnea’s leitmotif from 2 stands out to me, as the energetic solo fiddle that came to define her across the game makes a reprise unique to her final boss, combining with chaos-type vocals to deliver a surprisingly NieR-esque grand performance.
Shadowbringers in particular makes use of leitmotifs in such a fun way in FFXIV.
Ezio's Family is one of my favourite leitmotifs, how it's used across the different Assassin's Creeds. Especially that Lorne Balf version in Revelations, my goodness.
The one I most recently remember having a huge emotional impact on me was Emilie’s theme in CrossCode. She’s the first friend you meet in the game and her theme is so comforting. Through the course of the game you are separated for an extended period and when she reappeared with her theme it made me so emotional I cried. I was legitimately happy to see her again and the music set the whole emotion of the moment off. God I need to replay that game again.
All the various times the "Lea!" leitmotif comes up during key moments, leading up to the big reveal when it chimes in during *that* fight.
The biggest "whoa wait, what?" I've ever gotten. Crosscode is amazing.
Crosscode in the wild, let’s gooooooooo!
i'm loving the editing in this one
genshin is the video game i'm most familiar with, so i'll cite the fatui theme as my fave video game leitmotif.
generally though, i really like leitmotifs in musicals. one i'm particularly in love with is from team starkid, who post their musicals in youtube and is likely one of the most accessible musical productions because of that. in their hatchetfield series, which is basically stories taking place in the town of hatchetfield across different timelines, they use leitmotifs for certain characters. in the guy who didn't like musicals they have a chilling song where a prominent character has a solo. in black friday, the most memorable string of melodies from that song is used as the character's leitmotif. it will likely appear again as his leitmotif if he appears in another hatchetfield title.
Pokemon mystery dungeon: explorers of time/darkness/sky has some of my favorite leitmotifs in games. Listening to the final boss theme from the main story calls back to so many other songs you heard along the journey, its some of the best music in the pokemon franchise
Time gear appearing in Temporal Tower and Spire and Dialga’s fight to the finish gives me sooo much serotonin.
Great to see another video from you, Marco! If you're open for song suggestions right now, I'd like to recommend the Deep Rock Galactic soundtrack. The original composer recently left the DRG team, and made one final song for the game titled "Journey of the Prospector". If you've got the time, I'd love to see you listen to it, along with some of the other songs from the game's OST.
I love the presidia leitmotif from project wingman.
Every time I hear about Leitmotifs, I always think about the NieR series, and how it uses the same lyrics over different melodies to derive a different meaning, sort of like a reverse leitmotif
The Guardian theme in Destiny is definitely one of my favourites. Its so intertwined in the music, popping in through tower music, story moments, boss fights. Every time it makes me go "Oh, I know this one!" and all the emotions hit.
More recently, Zelda hit me with one of those through the Boss theme from the Rito in Tears of the Kingdom! Ive never felt more invested in a boss fight like that.
Probably my favourite from a game off the top of my head would be the Elysium motif from Xenoblade 2, it plays in a few songs (including the main title theme) but the one that makes it hit so hard is that it is the last sound in the game at the end of the final song and man… it just hits hard.
Dude this video is so engaging for my middle school general music students! The problem with most even "fun" music education content I see, is that it is SO DRY even for me (a music theory lover). The "hip" youtube editing makes this so enjoyable for them!
That’s terrific! Definitely share it with them! Or anyone! That’s why it’s there
call me basic, but the hopes and dreams / main menu leitmotif from undertale will automatically take me back to 2015. it just hits.
i’m also very fond of the leitmotifs in sumeru in genshin- particularly the various aranara leitmotifs which also appear in the BGM, nahida’s theme, and more. those ones i especially love because they’re all used in gameplay!!
Having finished the video I realize I couldn't get enough of it!! When I first got really invested in music as a general concept (even as a non-musician) one of the biggest, most impactful moments for me was learning about the transformative nature of a leitmotif. It's just so amazing how one musical idea can be used in metaphorically holding a listener's hand. I feel like in doing so, in accustoming the player in a tune, it adds, in a way, some form of emotional immersion to the game's world. You don't just become a player, you become a part of it. I would love to listen to him talk more about his favorite experiences in a game through leitmotifs. Great video, as always!
YO Marco! this was a Great video, my personal favorite Leitmotif that I know of is the "ID" leitmotif in fire emblem Awakening. this leitmotif is show in the title screen, the first battle music, then all of the variations (ID purpose, ID sorrow, ID serenity, ID beginnings) however the most powerful part is when it comes about in "Don't Speak Her Name" when several leitmotifs of almost the whole cast of the game comes together to show anger grief and despair.
God, I wish this video was longer. I would love to see more examples from games, especially same leitmotifs from different themes side to side. For example, the last one, the TES leitmotif persists through themes of 3 games (Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim) but is represented by different orchestration each time. I urge anyone who watched this video to find a game that interests you and listen to songs with leitmotifs back to back
There's been a lot of songs that had leitmotifs that I've loved. The characters' themes from bravely default 1 being in 'Serpent eating the ground'. Ace Combat 5 theme being in '15 years ago' and 'The Unsung War', and to that extent, the vocals of Unsung War being in 'Zero'. The piano piece of DMC3 'Devils Never Cry' also being used in the 2 minute mark of 'Total Results'. There's just a lot of leitmotifs I love.
But one. One, has remained in my head ever since I heard it. For a good two years now, I think. 'Maya's Theme' from Persona 2: Innocent Sin. The first time you hear it, it's like a declaration from the character saying, "Here I am!", just ending whatever song came before it and supplanting itself on the scene now.
From then on, it's remains largely unchanged. Always loud yet joyful. It'd be impossible for this song to ever sound sad in any way, and then it goes ahead and proves that wrong. Turning a song of so much life into a quieter one. While it leads with a tinge of sadness, it soon develops into something like... tenderness. Like a weight being lifted off of one's shoulders, a moment of respite from the chaotic world. It's amazing.
But then. At the end of the game. A certain theme starts to play. It's the piano section of the opening theme of the game. Every time you booted the game back up, and saw that intro scene, it'd always play an introductory chorus, then a soft piano section in the middle, before blowing up into a rock anthem. (Which itself became a motif used in the opening sequel, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment.)
But back to that ending theme. It starts off using the piano section of the opening theme. But instead of going into that rock anthem, it slows down more, uses a 4-note bridge (which is heard in other Persona games), and begins to play Maya's Theme. Now with a more fitting tone to match the scene it's played it.
I don't want to say the final theme's name, since it alone is a major spoiler. Also, the opening I referred to is from the PS1/PSX version. They changed the opening when released on the PSP, so no chorus or piano section.
I'm sorry I rambled on for a while now. Just that Maya's Theme is so ingrained in my head. Even though I listened to it as much as any other song from Persona 2, I instantly recognized it years later. It's just a nice piece.
Obligatory whenever these games come up: Atlus where's our remaster for P2IS and P2EP; I would very much like to give you money to buy these classics on a modern platform thank you very much.
How the heck is this the first time I'm seeing this video? I loved it.
This video fell under the radar but is easily one of my favs
Thanks for shining a leit on how some of our most favourite music is made.
One of my favourite leitmotifs
Is requim which is used in songs like glory, order, and... Uhh
One of my favorites is Proof of a Hero in Monster Hunter, with it's use throughout the Fatalis fight in Monster Hunter World being one of my favorite instances.
While Savathûn does have a motif, its not the one in the video.
It shows up at the beginning and few times throughout Shadowkeep title theme.
Also the motif exists within the Destiny universe as a "viral chant that cannot be unheard" called Savathûn's Song and was a very big lore topic for a while
I love the leitmotifs in Persona games, the songs are always connected with the ending theme, and it shows in a brilliant way the path that you follow to the end of the game, and it always make me emotional. The music in the Persona series are so connected with the story they tell, the themes they show to us, you can't hear a song from Persona and not link with a part of the story or a place that you visit a lot throughout the game
My brain is so filled with Genshin music that whenever I see the word leitmotif it's ALWAYS the first thing that comes to mind.
Btw great editing!
PHOTON OF FLUCTUATION
@@skyguysnips Damn straight lol
They might as well refer to photon of fluctuation as "THAT motif"
Final Fantasy got tons of leitmotif, I would even say Soken have mastered it,the chills everytime a bit from Mortal Instants comes up in the OST and yet it hits everytime
A perfect video for a nerd like me.
I love the use of leitmotifs in most of my fav music, as they provides lots of context from just the music alone, and I'm all for that context based powerful/emotional pieces
one of my favorite soundtracks in any game that i think uses leitmotifs better possibly than any other game is super paper mario, the dna of that sound track is so complex and like every song contains the framework of 3 other songs and will be built upon to form 3 more songs, every connection is thematic and connected to the story and it all results in the final boss being a mashup of 3 songs that are each remixes of mashups of remixes that all tie to the most important motifs in the game
Favorite leitmotif is a difficult question to answer but I think it’s either gotta be FFXIV’s Answers or Flow. Endwalker hit me in so many ways and Flow never fails to make me cry in any of its many forms.
You always have really interesting insights into music. It's really been helping me learn music theory. I'd love to see you react to Light of the Seven, even if it's not videogame music
Just like to say, amazing video and editing, you and your editor have truly delivered. Entertaining and informative, I've had quite a few grins.
Also this gives voice to the recurring themes I've heard all my life in my favourite games, I just didn't know there was a specific term for it - I assumed it was just a natural thing to have a piece of music attached to a character or place. MC 117 in Halo, Kratos in GOW, Agent 47 in Hitman Contracts, Amicia and Hugo in Plague Tale. Even Darktide has a recurring leitomotif (Immortal Imperium pops up in quite a few places), 40k Mechanicus.
Top of my head, and you've provided a list so I won't be repeating others! Great stuff and I hope to see more vides edited in this manner!
(Also why the hell is TH-cam showing @names now instead of chosen channel name?? Weird stuff)
Damn Marco, another beautifully said video, well done!! I’ll be the first to put it here I guess - the Leitmotif that sends shivers down the backs of anyone who hears the first measure alone; One Winged Angel.
My favourite leitmotif is in Medal of Honor: Frontline. The theme immediately opens up with it and throughout most soundtracks, that leitmotif is mixed into it.
Can we just appreciate what Marco did with this video.
Schools these days struggle to make classical music relevant to younger generations, who might not show the slightest bit of interest in the subject. Most people would fall asleep during the history lesson of "composer xxx in the early years" and just totally gloss over the contributions of their work. But because of how prevalent music is in video games, Marco can recontextualize them to show how classical theory has evolved into what we hear today. Beyond this channel being for entertainment, I think the educational aspect has kept me coming back to this channel over and over.
4:04 as a destiny player this is the best example i can think of and it made me giddy to see that is the example you used. the guardian theme is baked into almost every boss songs.
AND SAVATHUNS SONG YESSS
Company of Heroes 2's menu theme has a battle variant that I've only ever noticed plays during the peak of a skirmish. Hearing it instantly boosts my morale no matter how many troops I'm losing
One of my absolute favorites is the main theme from Killer Instinct 2013 which is present in many of the character themes of not all of them. It’s so present that the sounds in some of the menus plays the theme if you do it at the right tempo
As much as it wounds me that I may never be able to truly impact someone with "The Unsung War", then two years later, "Zero", the greatest individual leitmotif in my opinion, because it carries two whole soundtracks on its back; the music that plays over Mass Effect 1's title screen coming back several times near the end of 3 makes you continue playing the game. Not because of story intrigue, but because it's so heavy, you're compelled by Jupiterian gravity to not pull yourself out of whatever you're sitting on. That one doesn't need the years it got to hit as hard as it does.
Okami. Just the whole game. Could not tell ya which one since there are so many and they are all used so distinctly and effectively. This games art direction and music have a whole conversation under the game play to brilliant effect. Leitmotif is a big part of that.
Best use of leitmotifs I've ever heard in a video game is the end of Xenoblade 2. The song "Parting" transitions directly into "The Tomorrow With You" and they make use of all the game's most emotional themes.
As a recent Star Wars fan and after finishing the final season of the Clone Wars, my most recent favorite leitmotif is Anakin's Dark Deeds, AKA Order 66 theme. That's film leitmotif tho, my fave videogame leitmotif is the Fatui Harbingers' theme for 3 yrs straight now.
If anyone in the comments play D&D, I highly suggest having leitmotives for your villians and important NPCs. Maybe even for areas in general.
Associating important parts of your story with certain themes help your players remember those events, characters and get better involved with the story.
Also, it is an incredible feeling when before you even fully describe an NPC, or reveal their involvement with something (like the main villian being behind what seemed to be an unreleated event), you see the recognition in your player's eyes, hear them gasp in shock and exclaim: "It's him!"
My favorite is the Time Gear theme from the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers games. It has several variations that play during cutscenes that may be sad, mysterious, hopeful, or some combination of all 3. It gets used in the themes of dungeons in the future, as well as the dungeon themes for Temporal Tower and Temporal Spire. And it appears in Primal Dialga's boss battle theme.
My favorite leitmotif is probably the cabal stomp from Destiny 1/2. The lightfall theme is a close second. For those not playing destiny right now because you never really got into it, you didn't like the gameplay, or anything else, please please please listen to the soundtrack. You will not be disappointed.
Forsaken holds that place in my heart for me. "Shell of What Was" in particular - and it did not escape my notice that it tended to play while the Guardian was dealing with something that was a maddened, or possessed, or quite literally empty shell of something once grand or powerful. (In order: the Warden's Servitor, Shuro Chi, and the heartless corpse of Riven)
@@Landis963 checks out. Shell of what was is indeed a top tier song. In my opinion, every raid final boss's ost hit quite hard for various reasons. Rhulk's for example excels in the menace and sheer power he possesses, while oryx's shows the malice (hehe) he holds for the guardian but mostly focuses on the turbulence of the fight rather than his might. Holy shit I never write/type this much but damn I love music
My favourite leitmotifs are the dont forget leitmotif from deltarune and the requiem motif from ultrakill
My favorites Leimotifs are definitelly Xenoblade ones, not because in each of them there are very good leitmotifs (favorite still the Elysium Theme and its 99999999 versions), but because once you played all of the Xenoblade games, you can hear and feel those leitmotifs crossing the dimensions between all of them
I've been taking music at a university for a couple years now but it's been a bit overwhelming sometimes. My love for music stems very much from video games, from destiny, risk of rain 2, hollow knight, and definitely some legend of zelda and music from the "Mario and Luigi" DS games. "Mario and Luigi: Bowser's inside story" has a really sick theme that I think is called "In the finale" which just blew my socks and feet off with how awesome it is for a silly Mario game on the DS. I'm hoping to be a much better and more ambitious composer than I am currently am and hopefully compose for some games. Leitmotifs are really sick and it just makes any song I listen to 10x better.
My favourite leitmotif is in “Return of None” from Honkai Star Rail, the constant off beat background and the randomness of the song perfectly encapsulates the essence of the character which it was Made for, which is the embodiment of Death itself in a land where death should not exist. The creature isn’t supposed to be there and the dissonance in the song goes perfectly with that
Sonic Unleashed is a wonderful example of leitmotifs in action.
Sonic is a character who's defined by his adventures, and as such, a key melodic phrase from the game's main theme - The World Adventure - is used as Sonic's leitmotif throughout the entire experience. You hear it *everywhere.* It's in both minor boss themes, multiple cutscenes, the stage results screen, and the Gaia Gates in the Wii / PS2 versions of the game.
My favorite application of it is in the game's pre-rendered opening cutscene, showcasing a scuffle between Sonic and Eggman that led to the game's inciting incident. The music for this cutscene is absolutely incredible, bouncing back and forth between Sonic's leitmotif for this game, and Eggman's leitmotif (which was carried over from Sonic 06) whenever one of them gets the upper hand.
Tomoya Ohtani went off with the game's soundtrack
My favourite? The Knight Who Seals the Darkness from Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. The song carries the full weight of the Legendary Hero. The name, the sword he bears, the history, all of it hit me incomprehensibly hard when I first heard it in game.
Some of my favorite leitmotifs come from games that were incredibly impactful to play for the first time. Undertale and Final Fantasy 6 are obvious mentions, but I'm going to have to nominate Pokemon Mystery Dungeon to discuss here -- _Explorers of Sky_ and _Super Mystery Dungeon_ specifically. Implicit story spoilers below the cutoff but:
In Explorers, when you initially encounter an artifact called a "Time Gear" you hear a theme that opens up with a wondrous, beautiful, mysterious chord progression before introducing an equal melody. Then, halfway through the game when you discover exactly _what_ threatens the world, _why_ you were brought to it and _how_ you need to save it, the melody from this theme becomes THE central leitmotif for the remainder of the game. You hear it when making your way to the final area. You hear it during a final confrontation with the recurring antagonist, when a fellow party member functionally sacrifices himself to clear the way for you to proceed and succeed. You hear it underscoring the music of the Final Dungeon. And -- crucially -- it not just forms the backbone for the music you hear the final boss battle itself, but takes on a new, more somber meaning given the reveal that to save this world involves rewriting the history that brought you there _to_ save it in the first place.
In Super Mystery Dungeon, you can probably guess the game's main leitmotif the first time you hear it. You hear it primarily in proximity with your partner, in several different versions depending on scene and context. And like Explorers before it, when you reach the final boss in the final dungeon and receive that one ray of hope that maybe you can _actually do this,_ you hear it prominently in the new battle music that the battle switches to.
(I could also mention the leitmotif from Okami used in "The Sun Rises" among other tracks, but you've probably covered that one already. It's a track that just screams "you've got the power to defeat The Final Boss now -- _go use it!")_
It took a bit of consideration to break past the recency bias, but what came to mind was a few motifs from the Mass Effect series. The theme of the Illusive Man, the descending cello in ME2 (which also appears in TIM's theme), and the Vigil theme, just to name the ones which I remembered most clearly.
My favourite leitmotif is whenever your in a hunt or at the end credits, and you can hear even fractions of proof of a hero in the MonHun series
Truly, the proof of a heros will
One VERY recent one that I’m loving is Harry’s leitmotif in Spider-Man 2
Kraven also has a great one
A leitmotif that I've come to enjoy recently is from a newer title called Deceive Inc, a game where you are an agent working for a spy company on various heists. Right from the menu, you are hit with main theme, which has a very specific repeating melody of 14 notes. From then on if you are paying attention, you can hear those same 14 notes played in almost all of the rest of the game's soundtracks, used in different ways to express a different feel and tone.
Examples: The pre game lobby, where you and your rival agents are waiting and preparing before the game starts. Its a relaxing, elevator tune version of the LM, like the calm before the storm as you choose your weapons and tools for the mission.
The escape phase, where you or a rival has acquired the mission briefcase and are now trying to get to the escape vehicle, where the latter is trying to eliminate and get the case for themselves. It is an epic, jazzy action track that follows you as you try to either get to the extraction zone or intercept the case carrier. Another, faster paced track plays when the escape vehicle has arrived, bringing the tension to an all time high as victory or defeat is just in sight. And again, it plays those 14 notes.
The victory screen, after you've escaped with the case. With some slick keyboard and saxophone, you revel in the post game high of a job well done, again with those notes.
The motif even sneaks its way into ambient music in the environment, like the sound that plays before a public announcement in the mall map, or the upbeat jingle of a small chain restaurant. It all fits in with the espionage theme, as if the music of the company Deceive Inc has infiltrated the rest of the world.
Another example of LM's is in the map exclusive tracks. The background music at the start of the match begins simple and subdued with a small rhythm fitting that map. As the game picks up and heads towards the next phase, more instruments are added to the song, embellishing and mixing with the LM, really awesome stuff.
Guess what I'm trying to say is that the Deceive Inc OST is a banger and thankfully a lot easier to find now that the game's composer Simon Cress put it out on youtube. Check it out! Sorry for the essay, just love the game and its music!
i like that game a lot!
@@MarcoMeatball Cool! Favourite agent? Hans is mine!
@@sawkman2092 the guy with the ability to hack from far away with the watch?
@@MarcoMeatball He's the german supervillain with a shotgun arm. The distance hack is a gadget anyone can use.
This vid taught me leitmotifs as well as Kefka did with Dancing Mad. Marco, however, didn't destroy the world. That is a plus for me.
This was an entertaining and informative video!
My favorite is Gate of Steiner from Steins;Gate. The way it's utilized through the soundtrack with it's sequel/midquel Steins;Gate 0 is probably some of my favorite musical storytelling in any video game ever.
A band i know does leitmotifs, it's awesome
The main theme from The Legend of Zelda is probably my favorite. Every time I hear it used in the series, it evokes so much happiness and excitement in me! Another one that gets to me is the Prelude from the Final Fantasy series. I love how versatile it's been used in each game. Like the beginning of FF16 when you hear it during the battle between Titan and Shiva! (I'm still pretty early in the story, so I have a feeling I'll hear it more, but that's where I'm at right now.)
Serpent Eating The Ground is the final boss theme for the first Bravely Default.
The final boss theme for Bravely Default 2 is actually The Ones Who Gather Stars In The Night, which contain even more leitmotifs than the previous one, it retells your whole journey by linking leitmotifs one after another for each important boss fight and mayor event in the story.
I really like more the whole experience that is the first Bravely Default than the second, but oh boi, the final boss of the second has really stick with me 'till this day, I basically hear it at least one time each day
I've gotta say, some of my favorite leitmotifs would have to be, in no particular order:
Tristram's theme, ESPECIALLY the way those first few notes just always give me chills
Song of the Ancients
not sure if it counts as a leitmotif, but the way that each version of Never to Return in Pyre borrows instrumentation from the theme of the triumvirate you're up against
and WAY too many to count from FF14 so I'm just gonna say Flow/Neath Dark Waters/A Father's Pride/Heavensward/The Maker's Ruin to get something from each of the game's eras.
I absolutely love leitmotifs as a way of expressing character, personally, so as someone who also loves playing DnD I LOVE associating music with my characters and eventually creating full playlists to try and both evoke imagery based on what the music's originally from and develop recurring leitmotifs for a given character (like associating the Tomorrow and Tomorrow motif with a Paladin I'm playing). Anyway, not to ramble too long but I love your work as a chronic music enjoyer, and it's great to be able to listen to this kind of deep dive into concepts that I have both passing familiarity with and unending love for.
one minute in and I can already tell this is an amazing video
LOVE ME LEITMOTIFS! Learned about them through what I consider to be a master of them (at least in VGM composer terms): Hitoshi Sakimoto (Ogre Battle, FFT, FFXII, Radiant Silvergun, etc)
So basically it's the song equivalent to "Chekhov's gun" (a trope where sth in the beginning gets payoff later, for example a gun that is placed on a table at the start and fired at the end)?
Personal favorite is Helldivers.
In the game at the end of a mission you need to hold out for a minute and a half, and the song that plays when that happens is very close to the one used in the main menu.
I remember listening to the entire OST of Stray and noting down in the comments when the main leitmotif appears. Unfortunately, it the main menu theme isn't in the OST for some reason, but it's the first appearance of two leitmotiv.
The main leitmotif of Stray is my favourite leitmotif, it's so somber and mysterious...
The Terraria Calamity OST in my opinion has one of the best usages of leitmotifs I've ever seen, and that's coming from someone who's played Undertale Ultrakill and Genshin. It's downright crazy how appropriately DM Dokuro managed to align them to the right themes and places, hell sometimes there are even two at once, one in the main melody and the other in the bassline.
My Favorite Leitmotifs are either the calm but inspiering Destiny 2 Lightfall Motif, or the ARK: Survival Evolved main Motif Gareth Cooker managed to sneak or brazenly put into most of the games music, especially noticable in most of the Genesis Part 2 Soundtracks
To mention a game that uses leitmotifs to great effect that probably won't get said otherwise here: The Wonderful 101 is, well, a wonderful example.
The main hero group, The Wonderful 100, have a simple seven note horn fanfare as their leitmotif. And it is everywhere. Sometimes with an extension, sometimes extended into the entire song.
Just to list a few examples on how it's used.
- It's the main menu theme
- It opens every level, getting an extra heroic upgrade later in the game
- When a boss is on the ropes, it's the entire song of "Tables Turn" culminating in a victory fanfare
- It gets used when you meet a new team member, but played in a different instrument for each
- It gets into a fight with the rival team's leitmotif in the final fight with them (which is honestly my favorite way to use leitmotifs in a fight)
- When the final-ish boss uses your own powers against you, the music uses a dark variant of YOUR leitmotif.
- In final battle, it's your leitmotif at full blast that plays.
- For the final QTE in the final cutscene, you get the last repeat of that fanfare with all other sound silent. Draw that W and win!
- The upgrade shop has an accordion version of it playing. Because why not?
- And, of course, it has a sad version for the Game Over screen.
And that's just the main team's leitmotif and I'm sure I missed several times it's used. The game also loves to play a march when you're winning, and of course, the villains and rivals have leitmotifs both in melody and instrumentation, too.
It is a weird game to play, though, so I get why people might bounce on it. It controls oddly, but it has to since you're playing as 100 superheroes at the same time in an action game of the Devil May Cry school of thought.
I lost my sh*t at *SCHLOP SCHLOP* and Wagner cussing 😂 I love this video format where there's a bit of humor sprinkled in the vid. Everything I learned in the vid is retained because there's laughs along the way.
:)
EIther prelude, or Final fantasy main theme ( thos quite a bit rarer and not happenning in every final fantasy) i got massive chills when i'm hearing a FF prelude, i know i will go on an epic journey.
My favorite leitmotif, fatui leitmotif, I feel the evil, the confidence, their anger, pure power, that's why i like that leitmotif
Two things I'd like to mention regarding of choice of chosen exaples of leitmotifs:
Vergil - instead of Suhilegend combo clip with BTL I think better choice would be the intro of BTL that plays in the main menu of DMC5 (when you recently played Vergil), because part of that melody can be heard in the prologue when getting closer to REDACTED.
Fiddlestick - I know it's a memorable as a champion's theme for how unique it is, but is not really used that much in the music itself or the game. However Sylas' or Ekko's theme is a great example as it is reused in Mageseeker or Convergence and quite memorable.
As a big Mechanicus fan, I love hearing the pipe organ swell from Noosphere in the middle of Millenial Rage, reminding me that in the middle of a definitely Necron environment, the Mechanicus is still alive and kicking... for now...
I love this video essay style of video you started doing Marco! The addition of a parody Wagner floored me lol. It is hard to pin down my favorite Leitmotif, there is a couple that I love. The Chrono Trigger main theme and Unsung War from Ace Combat are the main two that come to mind first. Then there is Adagio for Strings that plays a few times in the Homeworld series that has the exact same song played with different story context and invokes such a wide range of emotion. And of course I cant forget the Guardian/Light theme from Destiny.
Lmao I'm glad you liked it!!
Hollow Knight and it's use of leitmotifs is why I love it's soundtrack so very much. I never knew the true power of storytelling through music until Hollow Knight.
as an ultrakill nerd who listens to the music in every single waking second of my life, there are leitmotifs in the songs for Minos and Sisyphus Prime.
Those parts of the sings where you just go "oh my god" contain melodies taken from the songs Requiem and Sands of Tide
its used to reflect on the characters and who they are as a person, Sisyphus' motifs symbolizes him rolling up the boulder
Requiem is used to reflect the tragedy in Minos' story
Order - th-cam.com/video/cI5V_8RErzI/w-d-xo.html Where the motif comes from - th-cam.com/video/rD3ONF40PYw/w-d-xo.html
War - th-cam.com/video/kDqTB3fV3sw/w-d-xo.html Where the motif comes from - th-cam.com/video/57_w7YocZpk/w-d-xo.html (there's also another reference to another song called Unstoppable Force, but I dunno where it is specifically)
Another detail is Sisyphus' motif is a lot more in the background, compared to Mino's. It's not the point of the song, It's to give Sisyphus what he wanted, a fair fight to send off his life
Minos' motif is VERY obvious once you know about it, it's meant to show you how tragic his character arc was.
One of my favorite leitmotifs of all time is from the cartoon Generator Rex. The show uses quite a few, and a couple major characters have their own musical language for when they need backing scores. My favorite is the main villain, Van Kleiss. It's powerful, relentless. Really just as scene dominating as the character himself usually was. His main theme from the first episode is really easy to find here on TH-cam if you want to give it a listen, and at least there was a point in time where the show's composer had a good selection of the OST on his website. I can't check on the status of that repository just this second, though. And something that I particularly liked about that soundtrack is how the leitmotifs blend. In the track Rex & Van Kleiss Unite, which naturally backs the one time that the protagonist and antagonist fight together, their leitmotifs mix together too. It's really a great musical payoff for such a scene.
I love leitmotifs. They really help to augment a character or recurring element by giving them a distinctive sound to associate. They can really help tie a soundtrack together.
Spoilers for bugsnax
One of my favorite leitmotif cases is in bugsnax. The "final" theme of the game called "escape from snaxburg" has motifs from a dozen of the other tracks from the game, basically hearing all of the time you have spent with the characters and the game itself, boiling down to a battle to save friends and escape the damned place. I also like the fact that normally the game sound track is chill, colourful and happy, but in "escape from snaxburg" all of the motifs are mixed into a tense track with a hint of despair. It's an absolutely magnificent game when it comes to characters and story, would recommend playing it.
Damn dude I went and listened to it. In 15 seconds it has already convinced me to definitely play the game in the future, the comments probably contained heavy spoilers but they got me even more interested. Even without knowing the leitmotifs beforehand that ost is amazing
@@MilesToGo_ my comment contained a bit of spoilering too, heh. But it's definitely a game worth the money.
Time to learn music theory . Keep teaching me and you are going to somehow revive my dream of being a singer next thing you know youl open and online music school and il end up joining
I think that, at least right now, my favorite leitmotif is from the version of the Halo theme that plays during the warthog run at the end of Halo 3. Along with everything else it conveys, there's also this building sense of urgency as it progresses, increasing the tension and that feeling of "We need to leave, NOW" that you already had going into that part of the game. It's just intensely powerful, and I love it.
I'm curious though: could the absence of music not be a leitmotif in and of itself, if done properly? I haven't seen it often myself, but there have definitely been games I've played where after lots of buildup there's just...nothing. complete silence, save for perhaps your character's footsteps. And then you get blindsided with something unbelievably intense like a semi. IIRC, there's an excellent example of that near the end of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, right before you fight Grodus. Just some ambient sounds for where you are before his theme kicks in.
My favourite one from the top of my head is the main theme of FF14 Stormblood. I'm not entirely sure how to word it, but from it's various appearances in the regular StB boss theme, the 4.0 boss theme, it's usage in the Endwalker trailer, it never tends to fail at getting me hyped.
Though an easy second is Answers, but that would delve a bit too much into spoilers for FF14.
Aerith's liefmotif in FFVII and the remake. On first playthrough it's kind of hopeful and otherwise gentle, but with a sad undercurrent. It's... let's say, later iteration definitely adds a lot to its featured place in the story. So much so that on subsequent playthroughs, it serves as a looming reminder of what's to come, and the maniacs behind Remake knew that. They tease those three first notes in such a way that it's almost like asking a tentative question, one you're sure you don't want the answer to, but you have to ask, because what if things are, impossibly, different this time?
I cannot tell you how hype I'd be for The Guardian leitmotif to play again in Destiny, in whatever form it'd be, I just want it to play during a moment of going forward. It's literally the first thing people heard when they booted up Destiny 1, and the first directive they got was "Eyes up, Guardian".
For as much trouble Destiny 2 has been through, words cannot describe how much I want The Final Shape to be a bombastic adventure full of ups and downs, and as the dust has settled and you're ready for the next adventure, Guardian starts playing as a view of the Last City comes into focus and your ghost says its very first line to you again. Seriously... I can think of so many ways that Leitmotif just fits with the feeling of discovery and mystery, and I don't want Bungie to use their objectively best melody as a cheap way to score points with the Old Guard.
and I mean "Objectively". There's been bangers since, most notably Diffracted Truth, which feels like a twisted version of Guardian, just replace "I wonder what's out there!" with ".... I... don't want to know what's out here...", but nothing else can come close to the way I feel when Guardian just... hits.