I remember the early days of pikmin 4 being out having to scroll through hundreds of individual music tracks and individually seperate enemy tracks to find specific songs, really put into perspective the size of the musical scope in it
Scruffy! My dude! My guy! My man! You can't just TEASE us with the hypothetical of all 80+ Enemy themes playing at the same time and NOT give us a mockup of what that would sound like! Don't be so cruel!
My favorite part of the music in Pikmin 4 was easily the Engulfed Castle. It's almost dead silent when you first arrive save for a few ambient notes, but the further that invisible timer starts ticking down, the more and more parts of the original Submerged Castle music start playing, until finally just before he drops, you have the entire original theme playing undisturbed. Masterful work.
Oh yeah that was really fun going in blind. Like that name (and the blue only requirement) sure was suspicious, and then I slowly hear the music come in…
@@JuneNafziger i was suspicious when i saw a hole's entrance completely underwater, the name was a dead give away, and then if you read the description and look at the image you have confirmation. 11/10 hole. Pikmin 4 was an absolute delight to play through blind.
@@jasonreed7522 the thing was I was coming in with only a glancing knowledge of Pikmin 2 at the time, so some of the more specific details didn’t set off alarms, though the name sure did because I thought it was the same name (again, only a passing knowledge of 2 at the time)
I've played every Pikmin game so I knew what I was in for, but it was funny at the time playing 2 player with my brother and being like WAIT STOP TALKING FOR A SECOND because I heard the wailing very, very quietly
Although I love Pikmin 4’s music (and have gained a better appreciation for it now!) I also would add the caveat that the base layer has to be quite small and ambient to allow for the extra layers to be added on. One benefit of Pikmin 3’s system is it has that adaptability, without having to sacrifice so much of its musical complexity.
What 4 did is impressive and I would not deny the effort they clearly put into what was done, but I honestly dislike the base region themes in 4 compared to the previous 3 games Other than the 6th area, I've never been able to remember any of the themes terribly well because it felt like they were barely there due to being more... in the background
Even Pikmin 3 was a bit of a downgrade from the music of the first two games in ways. Although I personally also prefer it in some way just due to how beautiful it is.
@@OriginalGameteer Yeah, most of P4's main base tracks are kind of...forgettable, but I did quite enjoy the main game Hero's Hideaway and Giant's Hearth music. HOWEVER. The music in Olimar's Shipwreck Tale is 🤌🤌🤌. It's beautiful. I listen to the Blossoming Arcadia theme from that all the time, it's so good! Definitely wish the main game had some more melody-driven music, but there are some banging overworld tracks in other parts, so I personally don't find the ost too disappointing.
I think it's really lovely that in Pikmin 4 each enemy sorta has their own "voice", it adds to the general ambience of the game like a distant bird song while giving it an air of playfulness Personally I think I'll perfer the way Pikmin 3 goes about music but I wont understate the amount of work that went into Pikmin 4's
I just wish that enemies would respawn after some time so you could hear their music again--the overworld areas feel kind of empty and lonely with just the background chord track
I found out each enemy had adaptive music AFTER beating 4 so I replayed the game afterwards just to hear it and it was so noticeable but also so natural that I dont even blame myself for not noticing since it blends so well with the gameplay
Pikmin 4's music felt so ambient I didn't even pick up on the fact different enemies mixed in different tunes. I much prefer Pikmin 3's approach to handling music, as the more potent themes were more memorable, and made areas feel more distinct in my opinion.
i also didn't realize until it was pointed out to me that pikmin 4 had adaptive music, but after noticing it i had so much appreciation and respect for the sound team and the level designers. they both did amazing work to make sure that the individual tunes for each enemy would not only work with the base track for the areas, but be distinct and notable once you're made aware that they're there. it's subtle, don't get me wrong, but it's certainly impressive. though i am a bit disappointed that the spectralid track isn't a base part of the blossoming acadia music
Yea, I didn't care for the different enemy mixes in 4. The music in 3 was perfect, highlighting working, carrying, combat, etc... And the area themes in 3 were genuinely pleasant to listen to.
I think a neat combo would be assigning traits to music. Like: These enemies skitter, these enemies stomp, these enemies trundle, etc. It isnt enemy specific, but it still adds a unique feel to each category of enemies.
You've got big brass for the lumbering, a kind of swing-ish tune for one's who trundle along, and a little bit of light percussion or woodwind for a little guy
I always wondered about how they avoided desync in the P3 soundtrack, using multiple audio channels for it makes a lot of sense! How neat to learn about!
That's the one part of the video that I question, actually. As long as the lengths and sample rates are the same, there shouldn't be any difference between encoding every channel in the same file vs different files, at least in terms of synchronisation (having them in one file _is_ more efficient in other ways, though, and it also might have been marginally easier since multichannel audio already existed for stereo tracks). But for syncing, the key is just that the layers played at the same time and faded in/out as needed, not that all the layers are in one file.
@@Meatball132i suspect having all the layers in 1 file helps ensure that you don't have any weirdness or delay with loading/playing multiple files at once. (Even if its on the order of milliseconds) Regardless it is very elegant to just make an 8 channel stereo file and fade them in and out.
@@jasonreed7522 Yeah, that's one of the "efficient in other ways" I alluded to: loading times. On the GC/Wii especially though, where Nintendo most often used this technique, it's actually pretty important, because the file doesn't tend to be loaded all at once i.e. it's usually streamed from the disc as-needed, and that's too slow to do from multiple files at once (the audio will skip because the laser can't keep up).
I’m barely into the video, and WOW just…let’s appreciate the editing. The visuals and music are all perfect, it all fits together so well. Scruffy’s always had god-tier editing, but the fact that it just keeps getting better with every video is mind-boggling Easily one of the best TH-camrs, we’re eating good tonight with this What I Love!
I absolutely LOVE the Pikmin music, not just how they sound, but also how adaptive they are. It makes the abandoned Earth seem so much more alive and really makes you feel like there’s something new with every moment/action!
Pikmin music is genuinely another aspect of the UI giving you a constant feed of information about the game state, you just have to learn to hear it. And aside from that, its music is always beautiful or atleast perfectly thematic to the level in all the variations. Its amazing to me that in 4 games they don't have a single track that i genuinely dislike, not even the submerged castle's associated trauma can ruin that erie masterpiece.
I would absolutely love it if Scruffy somehow made a melody video that showcased every enemy track one by one with visuals similar to 6:04 for each enemy, like how Scruffy interprets each sound lol
Also some enemies that feature battle phases or different moves feature extra soundtracks; for example. The burrowing snagret has a muffled music while underground, the bug-eyed crawmad has a different track when vulnerable, and the bearded amprat's music gets faster and more vivid when his static electricity is active
When listening to Pikmin 4, i never noticed how much i *felt* the music rather than notice it. While fighting a bulborb or any enemy and hearing those instruments, I never *really noticed* it that's impeccable audio design
What a treat this was to see pop up on my notifications after a day of work, I adore pikmin and getting to learn how 3 and 4 designed their music is utterly amazing! Also can I just heavily praise the 3D models here?? Their stunning and the animations are so smooth, well done sir!
oh man your videos are art themselves, they are getting better and better, this one has been so visually interesting, love it, and can't even wonder how much did it take to edit
I love Pikmin Enemies small themes so much that i actually remixed one of them for MuffinSnakes (yes the artist (yes the one who makes the computer wall papers (yes the one who loves Magolor))) It’s very cool and amazing how they were able to perfectly fit every theme for each small enemy they fr cooked with the ost for 4
8:19 I feel like the adaptive music system wouldn't have worked in olimar's shipwreck tale. the music is far more complex and apparent than its subtle base tracks (and maybe even more so than it is in previous games), the adaptive tracks might have been omitted to keep the full focus on the already complex music
The audio format the wii and wii u (and I guess sometimes switch) uses has always been really cool to me specialized ADPCM audio archives with special parameters for loop points in audio, and support for as many channels as you need! Many first-party nintendo games and software starting from the Wii and even a few cases, on the Gamecube I've checked out uses the multiple channel setup for adaptive music using this very format, even introducing things like music which has some parts playing on the TV and some parts playing on the Gamepad for the Wii U. The format has quite the flexibility, and given the nature of the DSP-ADPCM format, the file sizes are not usually too bad at all! Couldn't be more fitting for games! It's really awesome seeing a video that explores it a bit, a well made one at that! Well done!
I love how Pikmin music often matches what triggers each layer. "Combat" music often heavily features snare drums, as if emulating marching footsteps, or military drummers rallying troops to battle. "Pikmin working nearby" versions of songs often have percussion that sounds like it could be the sounds of their work. Pikmin 4's adaptive music is a brilliant example of this, what with the enemy tracks seeming to fit the enemies themselves. And of course, the Groovy Long Legs theme is the most notable example. The boss's stomps are always in time with the music, sounding almost like an extra layer of percussion, and the music itself actively reacts to the boss's actions - it speeds up and slows down to match the pace of its stomps, it briefly pauses when it stops to shake off Pikmin, and it has unique tracks for when it gets stunned, incorporating the series's main leitmotif!
For a while I’ve been confused about why the Pikmin 4 developers chose to tailor the music towards the enemies rather than the Pikmin, but I just came up with a loose theory that might explain the direction they chose. In the second of the three Pikmin 4 developer interviews, Yuji Kando mentions that before they came up with Oatchi, they had ideas of having “the player control a Bulborb”, and even “letting the player ride and control various creatures in the story”. It isn’t specified how players were to tame the local fauna, but given some unused color values applying to a scrapped green “Bean Pikmin” (which sounds similar to Pikmin 3’s concept art for a parasitic Pikmin), as well as unused values for something called “genseicontrol”, it’s highly likely that controlling enemies through “Hermikmin” (an elusive Pikmin type that inhabits the rock in Rock Pikmin, the ice in Ice Pikmin, and likely the Bulborb in Bulbmin) was going to be a central mechanic in Pikmin 4 and have the game designed around it. While considering the effects that this era of Pikmin 4’s development had on the final game, it dawned on me that Pikmin 4’s sparse and enemy-focused music may have been a holdover from it. My threadbare theory is that earlier in development, players were intended to flesh out the music of an area/cave themselves by using Hermikmin on a wide variety of enemies, ranging from some light notes in the beginning to a symphony of beasts by the end. When it was decided to split off the Hermikmin’s mechanic into multiple more intuitive mechanics (i.e. Oatchi, Glow Pikmin, etc), they must have kept the enemy focused music because they thought it was interesting/different, even though the final Pikmin 4 that we got doesn’t have a strong focus on enemies (with the lack of respawning and whatnot).
Aaaa this video was so nice! its lovely seeing you adopt more 3D visuals, they work really well. as im writing this i also noticed how you morphed Today's Results into the What I Love jingle, a wonderful touch :)
I gotta say, I absolutely adore the care you put into each video you make. The soundtrack and sound effects, the eloquently worded script, and the phenomenal videos all blend together to create such a wonderful little experience. Thank you for attention to detail!
Always a good day when Scruffy makes a video covering Pikmin music. I'm so glad vids like these exist because these soundtracks use so many cool tricks and ideas that are a little difficult to appreciate while playing the game but are so much better when you learn how they work. And I think you did a great job explaining this as always (plus I love all the little visuals and effects you draw to go along with the explanations).
Awesome video! Must've been a real challenge for the composers and the developers to come up with a reliable system for such a MASSIVE scope for Pikmin 4.
The music shift when someone has their last item in bingo battle really adds to that mode, if you hear the chanting you can scramble to try stop your opponent
Things like this makes me respect game devs more and more, they put in so much work into every single aspect of a game to make it come to life :) Lovely video as always, Scruffy!
FINALLY!!! :D Scruffy, you are my favorite creator on this platform out of my like 400 subscriptions. I take so much inspiration from you in all of my projects because of just how fricking good you are. Also, every since you played through Pikmin 4 (I watched through almost every video, even if it would spoil me, I just wanted to see you in videos more), I have been so exited for you to make the adaptive audio stuff into a video, but you also covered Pikmin 3 as well, which i am super happy for. All in all, you are the best creator on this platform, and I always smile when I get a notification from you.
The game Copy Kitty uses a system similar to Pikmin 3’s, but it also crossfades the main track into different versions as you progress through a world.
Yoo another pikmin music video. Love these. Not sure if it would be enough for an entire video, but I would love to see a video about how each of the pikmin main themes build on the previous ones!
I love how peaceful Pikmin 4's music is, and it has some of my favorite pieces of music in the series, like the title screen theme, but I would absolutely like to see a return to the more playful music of Pikmin 1 & 2, or even the musical style of 3, alongside this adaptive music system. Those first two games produced a lot of memorable themes, and I don't think we've seen that quite as much with 3 & 4.
One small thing I noticed when watching a Pikmin 4 Speedrun is, that when your character is underwater will the music be muffled, just like when you're really underwater. Another small detail you can count towards adaptive music.
Fantastic Video! I loved its presentation and I found all the music analysis really interesting! Its hard to think I never noticed any of this when I was playing through these games myself. Keep making great videos!
ever since i got pikmin 4 on launch day i found the fact that each enemy had its own unique little song jingle so interesting that everytime i found a new enemy i would pause the game and turn the volune up to max to listen to it TOP 3 3 BULBEAR 2 WADDLEQUAFF 1 BULBORB (when its awake)
I didn't knew that Pikmin 3's area songs were contained in one file with 8 channels. That is pretty amazing, and I think that the battle theme of both Zelda BotW and TotK do that too or so I've heard. It is great how Pikmin 4 gives each enemy its own identity by basically making them play the background music.
Pikmin music is always great, and the adaptive nature is incredibly helpful once you are aware of it and pay attention to it because its always so detailed. My favorite is probably pikmin 2's, i know people dislike midi tones, but as an electrical engineer who uas done a bunch if Fourier math by hand i love the concept of them, and i love the idea of the game composing its music on the fly. (Well technically its already been composed and the game is just scheduling notes, but it lets it change immediately instead of letting a file finish and enables the syncopation in the Louie versions of the tracks without having to record separate files) Pikmin 3's 8 channel stereo files with a live orchestra are also incredibly clever and elegant. And finally Pikmin 4's music is just so incredibly detailed with every enemy adding its own theme to the soundtrack. And its very flexible because theoretically any trigger could add another layer as desired.
Always excited to see you cover Pikmin again! Pikmin 4's soundtrack really is a technical marvel, even if, in my opinion, it never reaches the highs of Pikmin 3 because of how preoccupied it was with its massive amount of layering. That said, with my work on the Distant Planet, Pikmin 3's model is, has been, and will remain the golden standard - it's just such an elegant solution! Great work on this video, as always!
If I had to say, my biggest gripes with Pikmin 4's music is what it had to sacrifice compared to previous games. Pikmin 2 and 3 both had a music layer for carrying objects. And this makes sense, this is one of the core and most important gameplay elements of the game, so it feel right to have it be reflected in the music. And also, with having sucha a complex music system, the base tracks have to be much, much more simpler. So there are basically no distinc melodies or leitmotifs in most of the area themes. And the thing is, this isn't really a problem of the system itself. Carrying objecs could have been its own music file like the other enemies, and Here's Hideaway does have a more complex base music.
I genuinley think Scruffy has some of the best video editing I've seen, just in general, like the visuals he displays and what he represents is just insane levels of skill and talent.
What a wonderful, unique look for these videos. It's so nice to see how your style has evolved over the years, and yet has remained so charming and effective.
Every new game that comes out gets more and more interest, from both AAA games and indie games. I love it when games put in niche yet atmospheric building elements and use it to their full extent, and I really hope that more games as we go use these techniques too
There’s something fascinating about adaptive music where the instruments are added and dropped on the fly. I don’t know if it’s like that, but one game with some form of adaptive music I’ve quite enjoyed is Invisible Inc., where every few turns a new instrument is added to increase the tension as the challenge increases
What an interesting comparison. I think Pikmin 4's adaptive music is so interesting and cool that if you are really engaged in the game's soundscape its quite magical. However it does make it heavily reliant on being within the game for it to be appreciated. Its not a bad thing nessesarily, but it means it might lack some of the lasting power of other soundtracks, which ultimately are mostly listened to on their own.
![ILLSLICK - KILLSHOT REMIX [FULL VERSION]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RIK8RrqIAzE/mqdefault.jpg)
I remember the early days of pikmin 4 being out having to scroll through hundreds of individual music tracks and individually seperate enemy tracks to find specific songs, really put into perspective the size of the musical scope in it
Y’know there’s a video with every single enemy them right?
@@gboogie3257 *early* days
soo like, eight months ago
I know EXACTLY what you're talking about
Yes
Scruffy! My dude! My guy! My man!
You can't just TEASE us with the hypothetical of all 80+ Enemy themes playing at the same time and NOT give us a mockup of what that would sound like! Don't be so cruel!
I wouldnt imagine having 12 enemies in 1 spot and getting constantly bombarded with attacks
I want to hear it scruffy
Scruffy please we need it
PLEASE
Yes plaeas
My favorite part of the music in Pikmin 4 was easily the Engulfed Castle. It's almost dead silent when you first arrive save for a few ambient notes, but the further that invisible timer starts ticking down, the more and more parts of the original Submerged Castle music start playing, until finally just before he drops, you have the entire original theme playing undisturbed. Masterful work.
Oh yeah that was really fun going in blind. Like that name (and the blue only requirement) sure was suspicious, and then I slowly hear the music come in…
@@JuneNafziger i was suspicious when i saw a hole's entrance completely underwater, the name was a dead give away, and then if you read the description and look at the image you have confirmation. 11/10 hole.
Pikmin 4 was an absolute delight to play through blind.
@@jasonreed7522 the thing was I was coming in with only a glancing knowledge of Pikmin 2 at the time, so some of the more specific details didn’t set off alarms, though the name sure did because I thought it was the same name (again, only a passing knowledge of 2 at the time)
I've played every Pikmin game so I knew what I was in for, but it was funny at the time playing 2 player with my brother and being like WAIT STOP TALKING FOR A SECOND because I heard the wailing very, very quietly
Although I love Pikmin 4’s music (and have gained a better appreciation for it now!) I also would add the caveat that the base layer has to be quite small and ambient to allow for the extra layers to be added on. One benefit of Pikmin 3’s system is it has that adaptability, without having to sacrifice so much of its musical complexity.
What 4 did is impressive and I would not deny the effort they clearly put into what was done, but I honestly dislike the base region themes in 4 compared to the previous 3 games
Other than the 6th area, I've never been able to remember any of the themes terribly well because it felt like they were barely there due to being more... in the background
Now here’s a hot take:
Hey! Pikmin’s ost is better than any other Pikmin games ost
Even Pikmin 3 was a bit of a downgrade from the music of the first two games in ways. Although I personally also prefer it in some way just due to how beautiful it is.
@@OriginalGameteer Yeah, most of P4's main base tracks are kind of...forgettable, but I did quite enjoy the main game Hero's Hideaway and Giant's Hearth music. HOWEVER. The music in Olimar's Shipwreck Tale is 🤌🤌🤌. It's beautiful. I listen to the Blossoming Arcadia theme from that all the time, it's so good! Definitely wish the main game had some more melody-driven music, but there are some banging overworld tracks in other parts, so I personally don't find the ost too disappointing.
@@gboogie3257 Honestly, Hey! Pikmin's OST is probably the best part of the game. There's so many bangers.
I think it's really lovely that in Pikmin 4 each enemy sorta has their own "voice", it adds to the general ambience of the game like a distant bird song while giving it an air of playfulness
Personally I think I'll perfer the way Pikmin 3 goes about music but I wont understate the amount of work that went into Pikmin 4's
I just wish that enemies would respawn after some time so you could hear their music again--the overworld areas feel kind of empty and lonely with just the background chord track
I found out each enemy had adaptive music AFTER beating 4 so I replayed the game afterwards just to hear it and it was so noticeable but also so natural that I dont even blame myself for not noticing since it blends so well with the gameplay
I’m just now learning about the adaptive music. I’m surprised I didn’t notice when I played
That's one of the only things I didn't like about Pikmin 4, the enemies never respawn
Pikmin 4's music felt so ambient I didn't even pick up on the fact different enemies mixed in different tunes. I much prefer Pikmin 3's approach to handling music, as the more potent themes were more memorable, and made areas feel more distinct in my opinion.
Yes, I didn't even know that 4 had adaptive music. I was even upset because I thought it didn't!
i also didn't realize until it was pointed out to me that pikmin 4 had adaptive music, but after noticing it i had so much appreciation and respect for the sound team and the level designers. they both did amazing work to make sure that the individual tunes for each enemy would not only work with the base track for the areas, but be distinct and notable once you're made aware that they're there. it's subtle, don't get me wrong, but it's certainly impressive. though i am a bit disappointed that the spectralid track isn't a base part of the blossoming acadia music
Yea, I didn't care for the different enemy mixes in 4. The music in 3 was perfect, highlighting working, carrying, combat, etc... And the area themes in 3 were genuinely pleasant to listen to.
Honestly, same. Only the boss music was noticeable.
Yeah the music in the main modes of Pikmin 4 is so subdued as to barely even be considered music, and I'm really not a fan of that choice.
Man I missed these music documentation videos, i love them so much
Have they done one on Lethal company?
@@igualdad5505 no
BABE GET UP NEW SCRUFFY PIKMIN VIDEO
woooooo
WHAT I LOVE 🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥‼️‼️‼️💯💯💯
I think a neat combo would be assigning traits to music. Like:
These enemies skitter, these enemies stomp, these enemies trundle, etc. It isnt enemy specific, but it still adds a unique feel to each category of enemies.
You've got big brass for the lumbering, a kind of swing-ish tune for one's who trundle along, and a little bit of light percussion or woodwind for a little guy
It's a fine day for Pikmin content
Louie
I always wondered about how they avoided desync in the P3 soundtrack, using multiple audio channels for it makes a lot of sense! How neat to learn about!
That's the one part of the video that I question, actually. As long as the lengths and sample rates are the same, there shouldn't be any difference between encoding every channel in the same file vs different files, at least in terms of synchronisation (having them in one file _is_ more efficient in other ways, though, and it also might have been marginally easier since multichannel audio already existed for stereo tracks). But for syncing, the key is just that the layers played at the same time and faded in/out as needed, not that all the layers are in one file.
@@Meatball132i suspect having all the layers in 1 file helps ensure that you don't have any weirdness or delay with loading/playing multiple files at once. (Even if its on the order of milliseconds)
Regardless it is very elegant to just make an 8 channel stereo file and fade them in and out.
@@jasonreed7522 Yeah, that's one of the "efficient in other ways" I alluded to: loading times. On the GC/Wii especially though, where Nintendo most often used this technique, it's actually pretty important, because the file doesn't tend to be loaded all at once i.e. it's usually streamed from the disc as-needed, and that's too slow to do from multiple files at once (the audio will skip because the laser can't keep up).
I’m barely into the video, and WOW just…let’s appreciate the editing. The visuals and music are all perfect, it all fits together so well. Scruffy’s always had god-tier editing, but the fact that it just keeps getting better with every video is mind-boggling
Easily one of the best TH-camrs, we’re eating good tonight with this What I Love!
My goodness Scruffy, the animation polish is absurd! Work well done indeed.
I love the "clean mess" stuff you use for visuals, like, there's no unneeded empty space but it's not cluttered, it's the perfect amount of stuff
I absolutely LOVE the Pikmin music, not just how they sound, but also how adaptive they are. It makes the abandoned Earth seem so much more alive and really makes you feel like there’s something new with every moment/action!
Pikmin music is genuinely another aspect of the UI giving you a constant feed of information about the game state, you just have to learn to hear it.
And aside from that, its music is always beautiful or atleast perfectly thematic to the level in all the variations. Its amazing to me that in 4 games they don't have a single track that i genuinely dislike, not even the submerged castle's associated trauma can ruin that erie masterpiece.
Oh yeah. It’s pikmin time.
I would absolutely love it if Scruffy somehow made a melody video that showcased every enemy track one by one with visuals similar to 6:04 for each enemy, like how Scruffy interprets each sound lol
Also some enemies that feature battle phases or different moves feature extra soundtracks; for example. The burrowing snagret has a muffled music while underground, the bug-eyed crawmad has a different track when vulnerable, and the bearded amprat's music gets faster and more vivid when his static electricity is active
When listening to Pikmin 4, i never noticed how much i *felt* the music rather than notice it. While fighting a bulborb or any enemy and hearing those instruments, I never *really noticed* it
that's impeccable audio design
When scruffy uploads i gain another year of life i think
The visual quality is incredible I love the improvement
What a treat this was to see pop up on my notifications after a day of work, I adore pikmin and getting to learn how 3 and 4 designed their music is utterly amazing! Also can I just heavily praise the 3D models here?? Their stunning and the animations are so smooth, well done sir!
The visuals are just SO GOOD! All
Your vids on the music in the games made me realize it soo much more and made an appreciate it!
oh man your videos are art themselves, they are getting better and better, this one has been so visually interesting, love it, and can't even wonder how much did it take to edit
I love Pikmin Enemies small themes so much that i actually remixed one of them for MuffinSnakes (yes the artist (yes the one who makes the computer wall papers (yes the one who loves Magolor)))
It’s very cool and amazing how they were able to perfectly fit every theme for each small enemy they fr cooked with the ost for 4
8:19 I feel like the adaptive music system wouldn't have worked in olimar's shipwreck tale. the music is far more complex and apparent than its subtle base tracks (and maybe even more so than it is in previous games), the adaptive tracks might have been omitted to keep the full focus on the already complex music
The audio format the wii and wii u (and I guess sometimes switch) uses has always been really cool to me
specialized ADPCM audio archives with special parameters for loop points in audio, and support for as many channels as you need! Many first-party nintendo games and software starting from the Wii and even a few cases, on the Gamecube I've checked out uses the multiple channel setup for adaptive music using this very format, even introducing things like music which has some parts playing on the TV and some parts playing on the Gamepad for the Wii U. The format has quite the flexibility, and given the nature of the DSP-ADPCM format, the file sizes are not usually too bad at all! Couldn't be more fitting for games!
It's really awesome seeing a video that explores it a bit, a well made one at that! Well done!
Me, breaking throw walls and chain link fences as soon as a new Scruffy video is uploaded:
I love how Pikmin music often matches what triggers each layer. "Combat" music often heavily features snare drums, as if emulating marching footsteps, or military drummers rallying troops to battle. "Pikmin working nearby" versions of songs often have percussion that sounds like it could be the sounds of their work.
Pikmin 4's adaptive music is a brilliant example of this, what with the enemy tracks seeming to fit the enemies themselves.
And of course, the Groovy Long Legs theme is the most notable example. The boss's stomps are always in time with the music, sounding almost like an extra layer of percussion, and the music itself actively reacts to the boss's actions - it speeds up and slows down to match the pace of its stomps, it briefly pauses when it stops to shake off Pikmin, and it has unique tracks for when it gets stunned, incorporating the series's main leitmotif!
It's this kind of superb-level editing and charisma that makes it worth the wait. Thanks Scruffy, love your content
For a while I’ve been confused about why the Pikmin 4 developers chose to tailor the music towards the enemies rather than the Pikmin, but I just came up with a loose theory that might explain the direction they chose.
In the second of the three Pikmin 4 developer interviews, Yuji Kando mentions that before they came up with Oatchi, they had ideas of having “the player control a Bulborb”, and even “letting the player ride and control various creatures in the story”. It isn’t specified how players were to tame the local fauna, but given some unused color values applying to a scrapped green “Bean Pikmin” (which sounds similar to Pikmin 3’s concept art for a parasitic Pikmin), as well as unused values for something called “genseicontrol”, it’s highly likely that controlling enemies through “Hermikmin” (an elusive Pikmin type that inhabits the rock in Rock Pikmin, the ice in Ice Pikmin, and likely the Bulborb in Bulbmin) was going to be a central mechanic in Pikmin 4 and have the game designed around it.
While considering the effects that this era of Pikmin 4’s development had on the final game, it dawned on me that Pikmin 4’s sparse and enemy-focused music may have been a holdover from it. My threadbare theory is that earlier in development, players were intended to flesh out the music of an area/cave themselves by using Hermikmin on a wide variety of enemies, ranging from some light notes in the beginning to a symphony of beasts by the end. When it was decided to split off the Hermikmin’s mechanic into multiple more intuitive mechanics (i.e. Oatchi, Glow Pikmin, etc), they must have kept the enemy focused music because they thought it was interesting/different, even though the final Pikmin 4 that we got doesn’t have a strong focus on enemies (with the lack of respawning and whatnot).
Scruffy you promised us a fully voice - acted readout of the entire Pikmin 4's Piklopedia & Treasure catalog
It's been months now.
I honestly didn't expect the Pikmin planet map at the end, that caught me WAY off-guard.
YES NEW SCRUFFY PIKMIN MUSIC ANALYSIS
Aaaa this video was so nice! its lovely seeing you adopt more 3D visuals, they work really well. as im writing this i also noticed how you morphed Today's Results into the What I Love jingle, a wonderful touch :)
These visuals are absolutely crazy! Great work as always, love it!
I gotta say, I absolutely adore the care you put into each video you make. The soundtrack and sound effects, the eloquently worded script, and the phenomenal videos all blend together to create such a wonderful little experience. Thank you for attention to detail!
I'm continuously amazed at just how much further ahead the polish of your videos are than anything else I've seen on TH-cam.
I have been eagerly awaiting the day that you would make a video about Pikmin 4's adaptive audio techniques!
Always a good day when Scruffy makes a video covering Pikmin music. I'm so glad vids like these exist because these soundtracks use so many cool tricks and ideas that are a little difficult to appreciate while playing the game but are so much better when you learn how they work. And I think you did a great job explaining this as always (plus I love all the little visuals and effects you draw to go along with the explanations).
Incredible visuals with this one, great work!!
Awesome video! Must've been a real challenge for the composers and the developers to come up with a reliable system for such a MASSIVE scope for Pikmin 4.
Learning about the concepts of adaptive music for someone's favorite game series will always be intriguing! Keep up the good work as always Scruffy.
I missed What I Love. I really enjoy hearing you talk about sound design it's so inspiring and insightful.
NEW SCRUFFY VIDEO DROPPED ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️
The music shift when someone has their last item in bingo battle really adds to that mode, if you hear the chanting you can scramble to try stop your opponent
the production level is through the dang ATMOSPHERE!!! amazing as always scruffy
Things like this makes me respect game devs more and more, they put in so much work into every single aspect of a game to make it come to life :) Lovely video as always, Scruffy!
That outro was so creative!
FINALLY!!! :D Scruffy, you are my favorite creator on this platform out of my like 400 subscriptions. I take so much inspiration from you in all of my projects because of just how fricking good you are. Also, every since you played through Pikmin 4 (I watched through almost every video, even if it would spoil me, I just wanted to see you in videos more), I have been so exited for you to make the adaptive audio stuff into a video, but you also covered Pikmin 3 as well, which i am super happy for. All in all, you are the best creator on this platform, and I always smile when I get a notification from you.
I LOVE so much that simple little 'hello'
This video came out 6 days ago yet youtube neither sent me a notification nor put it on my home screen despite the fact I’m subscribed with notifs on
VG music will never cease to amaze me. It should practically be considered a separate art form, due to both its limitations and possibilities.
i loved all of the 3d art you made in this one!!! excellent work as always, scruffy!!!!
The game Copy Kitty uses a system similar to Pikmin 3’s, but it also crossfades the main track into different versions as you progress through a world.
Yoo another pikmin music video. Love these. Not sure if it would be enough for an entire video, but I would love to see a video about how each of the pikmin main themes build on the previous ones!
I freaked out when I saw that there was a new scruffy video
I love how peaceful Pikmin 4's music is, and it has some of my favorite pieces of music in the series, like the title screen theme, but I would absolutely like to see a return to the more playful music of Pikmin 1 & 2, or even the musical style of 3, alongside this adaptive music system. Those first two games produced a lot of memorable themes, and I don't think we've seen that quite as much with 3 & 4.
The presentation of this video, with all its models, is downright gorgeous. I'm so happy to be a Pikmin fan, getting to experience all this.
Wooo! More Scruffy pikmin videos!!!
I love your channel. I love your passion and the art that comes with it!
The visual of using solar panels as a visualizer for the sound was beautiful and genius.
Such a great video, it's obvious how much effort you put into these vids
Scruffy yet again bringing me new light to one of my favorite franchises, showing me again how much I love Pikmin in its entirety
I've been looking forward to this video ever since Pikmin 4 even got revealed
The production value in this one is crazy! All the 3D models are so talented!!!!
I love your work Scruffy.
Untitled Goose Game also has adaptive music!
Guess it's a matter of Pikking the right scope
One small thing I noticed when watching a Pikmin 4 Speedrun is, that when your character is underwater will the music be muffled, just like when you're really underwater. Another small detail you can count towards adaptive music.
I am four days late, but really excited to check this one out!
Great pikmin video one again. Your voice is always pleasant to listen to while learning some neat pikmin music quirks (:
Fantastic Video! I loved its presentation and I found all the music analysis really interesting! Its hard to think I never noticed any of this when I was playing through these games myself. Keep making great videos!
I really want one of those "kudos" scruffy pins.
ever since i got pikmin 4 on launch day i found the fact that each enemy had its own unique little song jingle so interesting that everytime i found a new enemy i would pause the game and turn the volune up to max to listen to it
TOP 3
3 BULBEAR
2 WADDLEQUAFF
1 BULBORB (when its awake)
I didn't knew that Pikmin 3's area songs were contained in one file with 8 channels. That is pretty amazing, and I think that the battle theme of both Zelda BotW and TotK do that too or so I've heard.
It is great how Pikmin 4 gives each enemy its own identity by basically making them play the background music.
Pikmin music is always great, and the adaptive nature is incredibly helpful once you are aware of it and pay attention to it because its always so detailed.
My favorite is probably pikmin 2's, i know people dislike midi tones, but as an electrical engineer who uas done a bunch if Fourier math by hand i love the concept of them, and i love the idea of the game composing its music on the fly. (Well technically its already been composed and the game is just scheduling notes, but it lets it change immediately instead of letting a file finish and enables the syncopation in the Louie versions of the tracks without having to record separate files)
Pikmin 3's 8 channel stereo files with a live orchestra are also incredibly clever and elegant.
And finally Pikmin 4's music is just so incredibly detailed with every enemy adding its own theme to the soundtrack. And its very flexible because theoretically any trigger could add another layer as desired.
NEW VIDEO!!!!! I love pikmin and i love music … this stuff is so cool to see !!!!
Man, I'm so glad Scruffy's back at it again with Pikmin's music. It's what inspired me to continue pursuing music into uni and going into game dev!
Always excited to see you cover Pikmin again! Pikmin 4's soundtrack really is a technical marvel, even if, in my opinion, it never reaches the highs of Pikmin 3 because of how preoccupied it was with its massive amount of layering. That said, with my work on the Distant Planet, Pikmin 3's model is, has been, and will remain the golden standard - it's just such an elegant solution!
Great work on this video, as always!
Its always a treat seeing a scruffy video, let alone pikmin. the lil models used in the video they look gorgeous
man the 3D in the video is just beautiful
3:58 this is actually really cute. Everyday I find a new reason to love the little guys.
New Scruffy uploaded :)
If I had to say, my biggest gripes with Pikmin 4's music is what it had to sacrifice compared to previous games.
Pikmin 2 and 3 both had a music layer for carrying objects. And this makes sense, this is one of the core and most important gameplay elements of the game, so it feel right to have it be reflected in the music.
And also, with having sucha a complex music system, the base tracks have to be much, much more simpler. So there are basically no distinc melodies or leitmotifs in most of the area themes.
And the thing is, this isn't really a problem of the system itself. Carrying objecs could have been its own music file like the other enemies, and Here's Hideaway does have a more complex base music.
I genuinley think Scruffy has some of the best video editing I've seen, just in general, like the visuals he displays and what he represents is just insane levels of skill and talent.
I have appreciation for the craftsmanship that goes into your videos. This was so delightful to look at.
Dude, I’m not gay but you have the perfect voice for videos like these
SCRUFFYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII~ Thank you so much, your videos always make me happy when they appear in my feed!
The amount of work in this episode it's just fenomenal
The "what I love" in the pikmin soundfont at the end was so nice. Great video :)
possibly the best produced video I've ever seen on this platform
Every Pikmin video by Scruffy makes me grow at least one new leaf
What a wonderful, unique look for these videos. It's so nice to see how your style has evolved over the years, and yet has remained so charming and effective.
Wow the production value of this video blows me away.
Every new game that comes out gets more and more interest, from both AAA games and indie games. I love it when games put in niche yet atmospheric building elements and use it to their full extent, and I really hope that more games as we go use these techniques too
There’s something fascinating about adaptive music where the instruments are added and dropped on the fly.
I don’t know if it’s like that, but one game with some form of adaptive music I’ve quite enjoyed is Invisible Inc., where every few turns a new instrument is added to increase the tension as the challenge increases
What an interesting comparison. I think Pikmin 4's adaptive music is so interesting and cool that if you are really engaged in the game's soundscape its quite magical. However it does make it heavily reliant on being within the game for it to be appreciated. Its not a bad thing nessesarily, but it means it might lack some of the lasting power of other soundtracks, which ultimately are mostly listened to on their own.
Holy crap. Is Scruffy the best video essayist on youtube?