Xenoblade (and former Xeno-series games) have always had strong Christian symbolism, so emulating western styles centered around churches, religious ceremonies, and the resonance of big church spaces was really important in the context of the game. Xenoblade 2 in particular has a large church at the center of its world's culture and you get to visit their capital during the game. I believe Mitsuda also used Xenoblade as an excuse to work with a particular Irish choir (ANÚNA) that he had heard many years prior. I don't know if they sang this particular piece, but they did sing on several also choral pieces in Xenoblade 2 (Shadow of the Lowlands, We Are the Chosen Ones). Rumor has it he is working with them again so perhaps Xenoblade 3 will give us some more music in this same vein. I'm so glad that Xenoblade as a series often tries to find exactly the right sound for a moment, even if it would normally not work in a game or in that genre. Mitsuda and ACE have a knack for creating the perfect mood with their music.
ANÚNA only sang on the two (four with day/night variants) town themes. The rest of the choir vocals on the soundtrack were done by the Bratislava Symphony Choir.
Also, Mitsuda has confirmed in a blog post that he's working with ANÚNA again on Xenoblade 3. We don't know to what extent yet but late last year he posted photos of a couple remote recording sessions with some members of the choir, including Michael, Aisling, and Lauren McGlynn and Sara Weeda, and Simmons from YoVideoGames pointed out that the vocal track in the latest trailer for Xenoblade 3 sounds like Sara Weeda.
It’s always hilarious knowing how Xeno loosely connects Fortnite to the Bible. Ryu is in Fortnite and Smash, Shulk, Pyra, and Mythra are in Smash and Xenoblade, Kos-mos in Xenosaga and Xenoblade 2 (and they’re loosely connected anyway) Jesus in Xenosaga.
This song plays during some of THE MOST fucked up moments in the game. I think that the holy vibes of this song played over sad and very violent moments leads to a really impactful atmosphere to what's going on onscreen
SPOILER Amalthus suffocating a baby then throwing said baby off a cliff, after killing a murderer that he unknowingly healed at a refugee camp who then went to murder and pillage a single mother and about to murder the child as well was an extremely dark look at what made one of the main antagonists this way, a religious man doing acts of sin knowing his god barely gives a shit about the way their people are going. Never would I think a baby killing scene would have such a bop of a choir lmao.
Yeah I don't really think he killed a baby, but at the same time I absolutely consider Amalthus capable of it, and afterwards blaming it on his own 'humanity' or whatever. Perhaps considering it an act of mercy, not having to grow up without its parents, in the world he considers the way he does. I don't think he could do it without sorrow/pain, mind you, but. I hope he didn't though.
@@areallymeanperson The baby is alive at the end of the cutscene in the base game, then in the Torna DLC when Minoth shows up minutes later, amalthus is in the same spot the first cutscene left off, and the baby is dead. But amalthus lies to Minoth and claims the one bandaged guy killed the baby. So……yeah, he killed it. It makes sense why he did too. He sees himself in the baby. The exact same thing happened to him when he was a child. His mother was killed by thieves while trying to protect him. And ever since that day, Amalthus’ one desire is to be reunited with his mother. He kills the baby as a “mercy killing” because in his mind, it would be better for the child to die rather than grow up an orphan like he did.
At first I did not recognize the name, but then the song started playing. Yeah, this is totally Amalthus theme. Then i have trealized thst it is this song and I immediately got a feeling that something really messed up is about to happen as this song does play over some of the most messed up events in the xenoblade chronicles series. Also, i am fairly sure that the song 'Acting God' was made with this piece in mind. Amalthus is a character that tried his best to make the world a better place even after many horrible things happening, but he grew to hate and resent it after seening how no matter what he does, there is no change. Ironically, he became someone that is afraid of change due to believing that if he changes, he is going to loose everything. That itself is pretty sad as the kind person that wanted to make the world a better place was already gone. Lost. I guess that in a way this song represents the kind Amalthus from past while 'Acting God' represents the cruel Amalthus that gave up on the world.
But, to an extent, it sort of laments that kind version of him, as it gives this inevitability that the Acting God would always come, always replace the man who tried, it has a finality to it that, to be honest, fits Amalthus' character perfectly
There's also two choral songs in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 sung by the Irish choir ANÚNA. I definitely recommend those as well. They are called Our Eternal Land and Shadows of the Lowland. They both have a day and night version, so it's actually four different songs!
Xenoblade has to have one of the most diverse soundtrack. They tackle on so many genres and do them so well. When this song plays in the game, it sticks out like a sore thumb because it's just a classical choir music, but it gives a sense of unease, but you don't really know why until much later in the story. It's brilliant.
"Oh Architect, is this the world you had intended!?" This piece is played when a certain character is recalling a past memory, one that had made him who he is. It's the memory of the moment when he realized that no matter how hard he tried to make the world a better place, it would just turn around and stab him in the back. Nothing would change, humanity was doomed to remain the same. So, he resolved to go forth and find the Architect, the one who had created the very world itself, and ask him: "Why?". But when the man arrived at Elysium, the place where the Architect was said to reside, he found it empty and fell into despair. From that day forwards, he longed for the world to end. While Xenoblade Chronicles 2 featured a lot more tracks with vocal elements and Choral music, than the previous games, it really does fit into the series. Xenoblade, and the Xeno series as a whole, often like to play with themes revolving around religion, specifically Orthodoxy if I'm remembering right, so these sorts of tracks that feel similar to something you might hear in a cathedral or church really do belong in their own way.
I don't know whether you realized during listening but it is the same theme as "Acting God" which you reacted to in another video but just slower and with choir.
This song was the moment I knew that Amalthus was the catalyst. I feel like I should state that I’m a dancer/choreographer so my experience of music in video games is little different and really tactile. I heard this and thought “zealot”. The a cappella told me he was single minded and for himself which is the opposite of what a man in his position should be. In seconds of hearing this song in game I knew this man was rigid in thought, not to be trusted, that there was an ugly undercurrent to his story that would not change. I knew there would be no redemption arc for him. With a game that has so many redemption arcs, this was letting you know “not this time, not him”.
Can't wait for you to listen to Xenoblade Chronicles 3's music. The music just from the recent Xenoblade 3 Direct was amazing. Keep making these videos
this song fit so perfectly in game and I absolutely love the entire OST, but especially the choir music. It's just... so haunting, in a way I only really get from Xenoblade
Always down for Xenoblade music thanks! Another piece from this game I think you'd find fascinating and I hope some other people have recommended it, "Shadow of the Lowlands" from a professional Irish choral ensemble called Anúna which they hired for the game.
My favorite piece from XC2! Thank you for doing a reaction to it. The music of this game, especially the more sad/heavy tunes, will always hit me in a special way, as my mom passed away when I was playing it.
as an experienced choir singer it brings me such joy to hear how xenoblade’s always excelled at their choral music! this song just gets better as it goes along, oh to be able to sing it one day! think my favorite part is the one that starts at 2:45! it also sounds a bit like the choir music we get in the nier series which is always welcome in my book!
I am currently working through this game, and I have yet to encounter this piece, but I can offer an answer as to why I think such a piece is in this game. This is very much the sort of piece that the Xeno games, all the way back to Xenosaga 1, will use for lore/backstory scenes or when the main antagonist is enacting a devastating aspect of their plan. I'm 35 hours into this game. Looking forward to seeing if what I suspect lines up with how it's used.
The Xeno franchise has had a wild and long journey. We had Xenogears in '98, Xenosaga Episode 1-3 '02-'06, and now the Xenoblade series that I believe was more popular (correct we if I was wrong). Wish I could afford a Switch so I could play the later games. Anyway where my rambling was going to is, while so much has changed between these entrees the one thing that is consistent is some beautiful music. This track reminds of the church theme from Xenogears. I know it is not the same, but it just takes me on a journey back to the game that started it all and I'm all the happier for it.
Such a great track. If you're interested, Xenosaga Episode 1 has a few similar choral tracks written by the same composer. My favourites are 'Ormus' and 'The Resurrection'.
To this very day i have yet to find a videogame theme that is more EPIC than "the greatest jubilee" from Bayonetta. Many have tried, some have come close, none has exceeded.
Beauty in the shape of sound. Impossible for me to think it outside the game context though. It has heavy religion influence mixed with moments of mystery, reflection and burden. The power of past sadness, dark knowledge, and hidden intentions.
The Xeno games have many religious references, namely Christian and Jewish. The stories often have characters and plot points that refer to either things or people from the Bible, or during the times of Catholicism. So stereotypical choir chants in Latin and even english are meant to replicate that era from 2000 BC to around 1200 AD. Not to treat religion lightly, I am Christian, but that's just what it is, basic, kinda typical latin and english from that time. But I am absolutely into it. However, it is more than that. The tone replicates the struggles of the modern times in XC2, but also the ominous nature of the Praetorium where the XC2 version of a pope resides. Amalthus, aforementioned pope, is to blame for this current state of the world, so the mood is kind of foreshadowed.
I love how the biggest vibe I get from this piece is "mournful". It's very appropriate on two fronts: It represents Amalthus' contempt and regret for the state of the world and the fact this is essentially his theme invokes an idea that he sees the evils of the world everywhere. But secondly, I think it also represents the world mourning amalthus, specifically mourning the loss if his innocence and hope for humanity. This song plays in moments that show SOME fleeting good still in amalthus, or at least some bit of hope. By the time it gets to the end of the game, "the acting god" has become his theme. A full bombastic realization of his nihilism. "Past from far distance" still contains some light and hope in it, but it's a mournful hope. One that foreshadows that it will not last long and is doomed to disappear from amalthus completely
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned it, but the song from the same game "Our Eternal Land" has a similar well composed choral piece that differentiates itself from other video game chorus songs with its language choice. It's beautiful and ethereal, and I very much recommend it.
My pitch hearing is far from authoritative, but common for earlier (Xenogears, Xenosaga) soundtracks by Mitsuda is a descending scale - an informal "Xeno theme" - that at some point does... something around a diminished fifth. Or a natural sixth from the starting key functionally becoming a minor fifth because art? (F# minor 7 (b5) to B in Xenogears, simplified score from Xenosaga looks like an F# major harmony moving through a minor faking you out by becoming f# minor 7 (b5) before resolving to G major in the third inversion. Both tracks over a persistent E in the base, key of G/e. Which is why all ye *special* nerds should buy the scores.) I can't tell how that might relate to the dissonances you heard here, but it would be my kind of fan service if that was the intent.
One thing you might enjoy: There's a track that was recorded for the Doom soundtrack called Kar En Tuk. It's literally just a room full of heavy metal vocalists singing as a choir. It rules.
@@MarcoMeatball Just so you're aware, there's a version out there that shows up at the top of the search results for "Kar En Tuk" by 'Galajarq', which seems to be a fan arrangement. That's not the version I wanted to recommend. The original version seems to have disappeared, but has been reuploaded here and there, like the one uploaded by 'cool yoshi'. It fully centers the vocalists. Just wanted to make that known, in case you go looking for it 👌
This song exists because Yasunori Mitsuda always wanted to work with Irish choral group Anuna. That’s basically it. They did a few other songs in the game too.
Shadow of the Lowlands is another great choral song in Xenoblade 2, although that one is sung in English. It also has a music video that goes along with it
This song to me represents a religious man in turmoil about his faith and the world. He sees something so disturbing to his character that he ends up rejecting religion, rejecting his humanity, and rejecting the world.
Xenoblade 1 and 2 have some of the best soundtracks in gaming history. For more choir/vocal goodness, I recommend checking out Indol's main theme "We Are the Chosen Ones" or the daytime version "Our Eternal Land."
I'm sure I'm not the first commentor to bring this up, but as long as we're on the topic of choral music in Xenoblade, you should check out "A Tragic Decision" from XC1
I'm surprised you haven't reacted to Shadow of the Lowlands - Xenoblade Chronicles 2. There were a lot of choral tracks in this one, which makes sense given how religion plays a role in XC2.
It is very worth noting that the opening of this song plays in at least two other tracks. There's very clear intent by the composers to link this song, but that's up to you how much you want to look into that if you haven't already.
@@MarcoMeatball Ah, so you did! It's hard to remember sometimes with multiple people having this style of content, but that's a pretty good problem to have.
I always link this song to a certain character, someone that is trying to follow the law of god and help to make the world a better place for everyone but no matter how much he and the others do, evil will always exist, life is not fair and so he starts questioning why god doesn't put a end to this world full of sin and how he can become god's inquisitor.
Xenoblade 1 et 2 are a critical interpretation of the monotheistic religions inspired by the Valentinianism, a gnostic (gnosticism) christian movement . In Xeno 2, the english and other international translations hide important references : lots of references in monotheist religions in Japanese became references in (ancient) polytheistic religious or folk legends. For exemple : Rakuen (Eden) -> Elysium , Ten no seihai (Heavenly Holy Grail) -> Aegis , Sāpento (snake) -> Ophion , Sōsei no kami (God of creation) -> The Architect , Kami (dieu) -> The Architect ... , the blade's names... , the city names ( city are named orginally with latin words of the deadly sins ). I think this choice in the international translations of Xenoblade 2 explains why the meaning of this game isn't easy. In Xeno 1, the translate keept the monotheistic gnostic references, except when the translator didn't know it was a gnostic reference.
To me it just feels so very church-like. Which I guess makes sense with the church. But I also think it's a call back to Xenogears, which had similar songs.
If I can make a recomendation kill la kill has amazing music and I believe you would enjoy them. So let's start with a big one and react to Ragyo Kiryuin's theme hands down one of the best themes in the show. Its called Blumenkranz
This sounds like the hero at a low point in their journey where they have a come to Jesus moment and are about to pick themselves up and go do heroics.
I don't know if you've heard it, but I highly suggest you listen to "Con Lentitud Poderosa" from "Risk of Rain 2." it does move a bit away from a more classical composition, but I feel it's perfect for your analysis and I'd love to see what you think of it
Bruh... he's already moved away from classical when he listened to a song from Metal Gear Rising: Revengence. Which all it's tracks are more heavy metal. So i'm sure he'll look into it at some point.
Great video! By the way, i took another look at it, and could you put “Kings” from Project Wingman, an ace combat copy that has been accepted into the entire community on your list? Oh boy that mission was a trip.
"Why is this kind of music in Xenoblade 2?" I mean... if you ever played a JRPG with a major focus on religion it pretty much speaks for itself. And there's tons of them.
You should try reacting to another Silent Hill song called Waiting for You :) Also there's this old RPG franchise called Valkyrie Profile, whose soundtrack is beautiful. Try listening Epic Poem to Sacred Death
Hi Marco! I know you probably get tons of requests on what to listen to, but i would love to see/hear you reacting to "Il mare eterno nella mia anima" from jojos bizarre adventure! :D
Why is this sort of music in the game? Imagine going to the board that is to finance your videogame project and pitching to them like this: "Hey, I want to make a videogame for children, that is inspired by Christian mythology, Nietzschian Philosophy of Beyond Good and Evil, and Jungian Psychology" - Only in Japan. Friedrich Nietzsche and Carl Gustav Jung both understood in their own ways that humans are inherently religious creatures, whether we want that to be true or not. We have seen enough of that in how the more radical atheists behave and act, as well political camps about their ideologies, whether Christian or Socialist/Communist or something else. The latter is worth mentioning as Nietzsche pointed it out as the very drive for the unfathomable bloodshed that would be the last century. Nihilism and egoistic selfishness disguised as godless compassion, that automatically filled the religious void the enlightenment wrought without understanding the need for a replacement. Amalphus is that representation of nihilism shrouded in false compassion. A false prophet so to say. A prophet who does not understand the world, because it is so filled with mindless, pointless cruelty, that he himself became that in order to fulfill his plan, his quest to meet his maker and ask him why - and in order to do so becomes what he falsely believes he has to become, make himself, his maker wants him to be, in his misunderstanding of the world. The thought is simply: Even if there is no religion named as such, people will act in religious fashion and their comprehension of the world - as well as, if not more so, due to their lack of comprehension of the world. When unbelievable, incomprehensible things happen, we seek meaning for them. That is the void that seeks filling, like a black hole. There will be religion, whatever it calls itself, including anti-religion, and regardless of whether it interprets anything right or not, or is honest about itself or anything or not. And so... the choir sings. Today, tomorrow, yesterday, centuries ago and millennia into the future and on other planets. A choir will sing. Of what God or tenet, what virtue or sin, what other world or the pains and sufferings of the here and now, does not matter. Some choir will sing.
I am going to humbly request you listen to Between Heaven and Earth (Inferno) and A Funeral of Flowers (inferno) from Fire Emblem Three Hopes. They got better.
@@MarcoMeatball come on. It s worth. However i have to say. It is one of the most time- consuming games i ever played. Yet also one of the most emotionally binding.
Xenoblade (and former Xeno-series games) have always had strong Christian symbolism, so emulating western styles centered around churches, religious ceremonies, and the resonance of big church spaces was really important in the context of the game. Xenoblade 2 in particular has a large church at the center of its world's culture and you get to visit their capital during the game. I believe Mitsuda also used Xenoblade as an excuse to work with a particular Irish choir (ANÚNA) that he had heard many years prior. I don't know if they sang this particular piece, but they did sing on several also choral pieces in Xenoblade 2 (Shadow of the Lowlands, We Are the Chosen Ones). Rumor has it he is working with them again so perhaps Xenoblade 3 will give us some more music in this same vein. I'm so glad that Xenoblade as a series often tries to find exactly the right sound for a moment, even if it would normally not work in a game or in that genre. Mitsuda and ACE have a knack for creating the perfect mood with their music.
ANÚNA only sang on the two (four with day/night variants) town themes. The rest of the choir vocals on the soundtrack were done by the Bratislava Symphony Choir.
@@ItsMisterMarbles Good info!
Also, Mitsuda has confirmed in a blog post that he's working with ANÚNA again on Xenoblade 3. We don't know to what extent yet but late last year he posted photos of a couple remote recording sessions with some members of the choir, including Michael, Aisling, and Lauren McGlynn and Sara Weeda, and Simmons from YoVideoGames pointed out that the vocal track in the latest trailer for Xenoblade 3 sounds like Sara Weeda.
Indol is basically a take on the Catholic church
It’s always hilarious knowing how Xeno loosely connects Fortnite to the Bible. Ryu is in Fortnite and Smash, Shulk, Pyra, and Mythra are in Smash and Xenoblade, Kos-mos in Xenosaga and Xenoblade 2 (and they’re loosely connected anyway) Jesus in Xenosaga.
This song plays during some of THE MOST fucked up moments in the game. I think that the holy vibes of this song played over sad and very violent moments leads to a really impactful atmosphere to what's going on onscreen
SPOILER
Amalthus suffocating a baby then throwing said baby off a cliff, after killing a murderer that he unknowingly healed at a refugee camp who then went to murder and pillage a single mother and about to murder the child as well was an extremely dark look at what made one of the main antagonists this way, a religious man doing acts of sin knowing his god barely gives a shit about the way their people are going.
Never would I think a baby killing scene would have such a bop of a choir lmao.
@@ThatFedoraGuyyy did he kill the baby? I thought he was just calming it down
Yeah I don't really think he killed a baby, but at the same time I absolutely consider Amalthus capable of it, and afterwards blaming it on his own 'humanity' or whatever. Perhaps considering it an act of mercy, not having to grow up without its parents, in the world he considers the way he does. I don't think he could do it without sorrow/pain, mind you, but. I hope he didn't though.
@@areallymeanperson The baby is alive at the end of the cutscene in the base game, then in the Torna DLC when Minoth shows up minutes later, amalthus is in the same spot the first cutscene left off, and the baby is dead. But amalthus lies to Minoth and claims the one bandaged guy killed the baby. So……yeah, he killed it.
It makes sense why he did too. He sees himself in the baby. The exact same thing happened to him when he was a child. His mother was killed by thieves while trying to protect him. And ever since that day, Amalthus’ one desire is to be reunited with his mother. He kills the baby as a “mercy killing” because in his mind, it would be better for the child to die rather than grow up an orphan like he did.
@@spiderdude2099 I’m definitely gonna have to rewatch those cutscenes, jesus.
The scene this plays in is very powerful and you were spot with the analysis. Amalthus is indeed reflecting to say the very least
Love the Xeno series. This makes me sooo exited to play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 mainly for the OST
honestly i have been playing jrpg for 25 years or so, and the music is 50% of the reason i love the games (the other 50 is the storytelling)
At first I did not recognize the name, but then the song started playing.
Yeah, this is totally Amalthus theme.
Then i have trealized thst it is this song and I immediately got a feeling that something really messed up is about to happen as this song does play over some of the most messed up events in the xenoblade chronicles series.
Also, i am fairly sure that the song 'Acting God' was made with this piece in mind.
Amalthus is a character that tried his best to make the world a better place even after many horrible things happening, but he grew to hate and resent it after seening how no matter what he does, there is no change.
Ironically, he became someone that is afraid of change due to believing that if he changes, he is going to loose everything.
That itself is pretty sad as the kind person that wanted to make the world a better place was already gone. Lost.
I guess that in a way this song represents the kind Amalthus from past while 'Acting God' represents the cruel Amalthus that gave up on the world.
But, to an extent, it sort of laments that kind version of him, as it gives this inevitability that the Acting God would always come, always replace the man who tried, it has a finality to it that, to be honest, fits Amalthus' character perfectly
There's also two choral songs in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 sung by the Irish choir ANÚNA. I definitely recommend those as well. They are called Our Eternal Land and Shadows of the Lowland. They both have a day and night version, so it's actually four different songs!
Xenoblade has to have one of the most diverse soundtrack. They tackle on so many genres and do them so well. When this song plays in the game, it sticks out like a sore thumb because it's just a classical choir music, but it gives a sense of unease, but you don't really know why until much later in the story. It's brilliant.
"Oh Architect, is this the world you had intended!?"
This piece is played when a certain character is recalling a past memory, one that had made him who he is. It's the memory of the moment when he realized that no matter how hard he tried to make the world a better place, it would just turn around and stab him in the back. Nothing would change, humanity was doomed to remain the same. So, he resolved to go forth and find the Architect, the one who had created the very world itself, and ask him: "Why?". But when the man arrived at Elysium, the place where the Architect was said to reside, he found it empty and fell into despair. From that day forwards, he longed for the world to end.
While Xenoblade Chronicles 2 featured a lot more tracks with vocal elements and Choral music, than the previous games, it really does fit into the series. Xenoblade, and the Xeno series as a whole, often like to play with themes revolving around religion, specifically Orthodoxy if I'm remembering right, so these sorts of tracks that feel similar to something you might hear in a cathedral or church really do belong in their own way.
I don't know whether you realized during listening but it is the same theme as "Acting God" which you reacted to in another video but just slower and with choir.
Oh, lmfao. Hi Virgil!
This song was the moment I knew that Amalthus was the catalyst. I feel like I should state that I’m a dancer/choreographer so my experience of music in video games is little different and really tactile. I heard this and thought “zealot”. The a cappella told me he was single minded and for himself which is the opposite of what a man in his position should be. In seconds of hearing this song in game I knew this man was rigid in thought, not to be trusted, that there was an ugly undercurrent to his story that would not change. I knew there would be no redemption arc for him. With a game that has so many redemption arcs, this was letting you know “not this time, not him”.
Can't wait for you to listen to Xenoblade Chronicles 3's music. The music just from the recent Xenoblade 3 Direct was amazing. Keep making these videos
ya!!!!!! Def before it releases!!!
We have some segment of game ost. Maybe a video of a Weight of life (second trailer) or the them of the first trailer could be possible
this song fit so perfectly in game and I absolutely love the entire OST, but especially the choir music. It's just... so haunting, in a way I only really get from Xenoblade
2:08 always forgetting us altos huh ;-;
I am just jesting though, I have just discovered your channel and am loving your videos!
The Who? 😉🫣
Always down for Xenoblade music thanks! Another piece from this game I think you'd find fascinating and I hope some other people have recommended it, "Shadow of the Lowlands" from a professional Irish choral ensemble called Anúna which they hired for the game.
My favorite piece from XC2! Thank you for doing a reaction to it. The music of this game, especially the more sad/heavy tunes, will always hit me in a special way, as my mom passed away when I was playing it.
as an experienced choir singer it brings me such joy to hear how xenoblade’s always excelled at their choral music! this song just gets better as it goes along, oh to be able to sing it one day! think my favorite part is the one that starts at 2:45!
it also sounds a bit like the choir music we get in the nier series which is always welcome in my book!
It definitely does!!!
I am currently working through this game, and I have yet to encounter this piece, but I can offer an answer as to why I think such a piece is in this game.
This is very much the sort of piece that the Xeno games, all the way back to Xenosaga 1, will use for lore/backstory scenes or when the main antagonist is enacting a devastating aspect of their plan.
I'm 35 hours into this game. Looking forward to seeing if what I suspect lines up with how it's used.
Xenogears did this too. A pretty long running tradition.
The Xeno franchise has had a wild and long journey. We had Xenogears in '98, Xenosaga Episode 1-3 '02-'06, and now the Xenoblade series that I believe was more popular (correct we if I was wrong). Wish I could afford a Switch so I could play the later games. Anyway where my rambling was going to is, while so much has changed between these entrees the one thing that is consistent is some beautiful music. This track reminds of the church theme from Xenogears. I know it is not the same, but it just takes me on a journey back to the game that started it all and I'm all the happier for it.
the music is just one of many reasons amalthus is my fave antagonist just wow. always amazing to listen to it
Such a great track. If you're interested, Xenosaga Episode 1 has a few similar choral tracks written by the same composer. My favourites are 'Ormus' and 'The Resurrection'.
I'd love to see your thoughts on Xenoblade 2's Shadows of the Lowlands.
It even has an official music video.
I'll have to add it to my list down the road!
@@Rirawl1 Although to be fair, the official music video is shorter than the full length of the song.
To this very day i have yet to find a videogame theme that is more EPIC than "the greatest jubilee" from Bayonetta. Many have tried, some have come close, none has exceeded.
Beauty in the shape of sound. Impossible for me to think it outside the game context though. It has heavy religion influence mixed with moments of mystery, reflection and burden. The power of past sadness, dark knowledge, and hidden intentions.
It does evoke some sort of sacredness. Dare I say, it would be more at place in church than half the stuff we sing there nowadays.
You should really play Xenoblade 1 & 2. Like this music, it is a deep, rich and expectation-subverting experience.
The Xeno games have many religious references, namely Christian and Jewish. The stories often have characters and plot points that refer to either things or people from the Bible, or during the times of Catholicism. So stereotypical choir chants in Latin and even english are meant to replicate that era from 2000 BC to around 1200 AD. Not to treat religion lightly, I am Christian, but that's just what it is, basic, kinda typical latin and english from that time. But I am absolutely into it. However, it is more than that. The tone replicates the struggles of the modern times in XC2, but also the ominous nature of the Praetorium where the XC2 version of a pope resides. Amalthus, aforementioned pope, is to blame for this current state of the world, so the mood is kind of foreshadowed.
I love how the biggest vibe I get from this piece is "mournful". It's very appropriate on two fronts:
It represents Amalthus' contempt and regret for the state of the world and the fact this is essentially his theme invokes an idea that he sees the evils of the world everywhere.
But secondly, I think it also represents the world mourning amalthus, specifically mourning the loss if his innocence and hope for humanity. This song plays in moments that show SOME fleeting good still in amalthus, or at least some bit of hope. By the time it gets to the end of the game, "the acting god" has become his theme. A full bombastic realization of his nihilism. "Past from far distance" still contains some light and hope in it, but it's a mournful hope. One that foreshadows that it will not last long and is doomed to disappear from amalthus completely
When you said Madrigal ... my mind went somewhere else for a second.
Def liked this song, I've never played any of the X-Chronicles games myself.
The scene with the baby that has this playing during it is such a chilling scene, in no small part due to the music....
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned it, but the song from the same game "Our Eternal Land" has a similar well composed choral piece that differentiates itself from other video game chorus songs with its language choice. It's beautiful and ethereal, and I very much recommend it.
Before watching the video, reading the title itself gave me an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and sadness. Maybe I am missing something in my life.
My pitch hearing is far from authoritative, but common for earlier (Xenogears, Xenosaga) soundtracks by Mitsuda is a descending scale - an informal "Xeno theme" - that at some point does... something around a diminished fifth. Or a natural sixth from the starting key functionally becoming a minor fifth because art? (F# minor 7 (b5) to B in Xenogears, simplified score from Xenosaga looks like an F# major harmony moving through a minor faking you out by becoming f# minor 7 (b5) before resolving to G major in the third inversion. Both tracks over a persistent E in the base, key of G/e. Which is why all ye *special* nerds should buy the scores.) I can't tell how that might relate to the dissonances you heard here, but it would be my kind of fan service if that was the intent.
One thing you might enjoy: There's a track that was recorded for the Doom soundtrack called Kar En Tuk. It's literally just a room full of heavy metal vocalists singing as a choir. It rules.
OH YES
@@MarcoMeatball Just so you're aware, there's a version out there that shows up at the top of the search results for "Kar En Tuk" by 'Galajarq', which seems to be a fan arrangement. That's not the version I wanted to recommend.
The original version seems to have disappeared, but has been reuploaded here and there, like the one uploaded by 'cool yoshi'. It fully centers the vocalists.
Just wanted to make that known, in case you go looking for it 👌
@@Flweem I’m planning on it - okay noted
This song exists because Yasunori Mitsuda always wanted to work with Irish choral group Anuna. That’s basically it. They did a few other songs in the game too.
Shadow of the Lowlands is another great choral song in Xenoblade 2, although that one is sung in English. It also has a music video that goes along with it
This song to me represents a religious man in turmoil about his faith and the world. He sees something so disturbing to his character that he ends up rejecting religion, rejecting his humanity, and rejecting the world.
Xenoblade 1 and 2 have some of the best soundtracks in gaming history. For more choir/vocal goodness, I recommend checking out Indol's main theme "We Are the Chosen Ones" or the daytime version "Our Eternal Land."
Is very comun in xeno games including gear and saga to have goepelly music
I'm sure I'm not the first commentor to bring this up, but as long as we're on the topic of choral music in Xenoblade, you should check out "A Tragic Decision" from XC1
I'm surprised you haven't reacted to Shadow of the Lowlands - Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
There were a lot of choral tracks in this one, which makes sense given how religion plays a role in XC2.
Cold Steel Coffin from Nier Replicant has a very sombre tone as well
It is very worth noting that the opening of this song plays in at least two other tracks. There's very clear intent by the composers to link this song, but that's up to you how much you want to look into that if you haven't already.
Apparently I already included one of them in a video I reacted to 😂❤️😭
@@MarcoMeatball Ah, so you did! It's hard to remember sometimes with multiple people having this style of content, but that's a pretty good problem to have.
I always link this song to a certain character, someone that is trying to follow the law of god and help to make the world a better place for everyone but no matter how much he and the others do, evil will always exist, life is not fair and so he starts questioning why god doesn't put a end to this world full of sin and how he can become god's inquisitor.
There are a lot of great soundtracks from videogames, for me it is clear, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has the best music ever in a videogame.
You should listen to the themes of Tantal and Indol if you like that. They are some of the best themes in the game.
Tantal is coming
@@MarcoMeatball Awesome! Thank you :)
@@ChrisGrump 😌😌
Xenoblade 1 et 2 are a critical interpretation of the monotheistic religions inspired by the Valentinianism, a gnostic (gnosticism) christian movement .
In Xeno 2, the english and other international translations hide important references : lots of references in monotheist religions in Japanese became references in (ancient) polytheistic religious or folk legends. For exemple : Rakuen (Eden) -> Elysium , Ten no seihai (Heavenly Holy Grail) -> Aegis , Sāpento (snake) -> Ophion , Sōsei no kami (God of creation) -> The Architect , Kami (dieu) -> The Architect ... , the blade's names... , the city names ( city are named orginally with latin words of the deadly sins ).
I think this choice in the international translations of Xenoblade 2 explains why the meaning of this game isn't easy.
In Xeno 1, the translate keept the monotheistic gnostic references, except when the translator didn't know it was a gnostic reference.
Speed this up to 2x speed on TH-cam and you get acting god
To me it just feels so very church-like. Which I guess makes sense with the church. But I also think it's a call back to Xenogears, which had similar songs.
Yeah, I immediately I had this flashback to some of the songs from Xenosaga Episode 1.
If I can make a recomendation kill la kill has amazing music and I believe you would enjoy them. So let's start with a big one and react to Ragyo Kiryuin's theme hands down one of the best themes in the show. Its called Blumenkranz
This sounds like the hero at a low point in their journey where they have a come to Jesus moment and are about to pick themselves up and go do heroics.
I don't know if you've heard it, but I highly suggest you listen to "Con Lentitud Poderosa" from "Risk of Rain 2." it does move a bit away from a more classical composition, but I feel it's perfect for your analysis and I'd love to see what you think of it
Bruh... he's already moved away from classical when he listened to a song from Metal Gear Rising: Revengence. Which all it's tracks are more heavy metal. So i'm sure he'll look into it at some point.
Great video!
By the way, i took another look at it, and could you put “Kings” from Project Wingman, an ace combat copy that has been accepted into the entire community on your list? Oh boy that mission was a trip.
Planning on it!
if you like this kind of classical choral i would recomend the song lilium from the show
elfen lied
"Why is this kind of music in Xenoblade 2?"
I mean... if you ever played a JRPG with a major focus on religion it pretty much speaks for itself. And there's tons of them.
I was being rhetorical 😂
You should try reacting to another Silent Hill song called Waiting for You :)
Also there's this old RPG franchise called Valkyrie Profile, whose soundtrack is beautiful. Try listening Epic Poem to Sacred Death
im very hyped with ff 16!
Me toooo
To be honest I much prefer this track as the boss ost instead of the other one .
It would have held a heavier weight
Hi Marco! I know you probably get tons of requests on what to listen to, but i would love to see/hear you reacting to "Il mare eterno nella mia anima" from jojos bizarre adventure! :D
Yes but not in the way you think. 🤔
Why is this sort of music in the game?
Imagine going to the board that is to finance your videogame project and pitching to them like this: "Hey, I want to make a videogame for children, that is inspired by Christian mythology, Nietzschian Philosophy of Beyond Good and Evil, and Jungian Psychology" - Only in Japan.
Friedrich Nietzsche and Carl Gustav Jung both understood in their own ways that humans are inherently religious creatures, whether we want that to be true or not. We have seen enough of that in how the more radical atheists behave and act, as well political camps about their ideologies, whether Christian or Socialist/Communist or something else. The latter is worth mentioning as Nietzsche pointed it out as the very drive for the unfathomable bloodshed that would be the last century. Nihilism and egoistic selfishness disguised as godless compassion, that automatically filled the religious void the enlightenment wrought without understanding the need for a replacement.
Amalphus is that representation of nihilism shrouded in false compassion. A false prophet so to say. A prophet who does not understand the world, because it is so filled with mindless, pointless cruelty, that he himself became that in order to fulfill his plan, his quest to meet his maker and ask him why - and in order to do so becomes what he falsely believes he has to become, make himself, his maker wants him to be, in his misunderstanding of the world.
The thought is simply: Even if there is no religion named as such, people will act in religious fashion and their comprehension of the world - as well as, if not more so, due to their lack of comprehension of the world. When unbelievable, incomprehensible things happen, we seek meaning for them. That is the void that seeks filling, like a black hole. There will be religion, whatever it calls itself, including anti-religion, and regardless of whether it interprets anything right or not, or is honest about itself or anything or not.
And so... the choir sings. Today, tomorrow, yesterday, centuries ago and millennia into the future and on other planets. A choir will sing. Of what God or tenet, what virtue or sin, what other world or the pains and sufferings of the here and now, does not matter. Some choir will sing.
Just asking would do you think about Xenoblade Chronicles 3 songs
Check back soon :) I like what Ive heard!!!
Great video, can you please react to Zanza the devine and God slaying sword from the first Xenoblade game next?
I am going to humbly request you listen to Between Heaven and Earth (Inferno) and A Funeral of Flowers (inferno) from Fire Emblem Three Hopes. They got better.
Inferno? From the new game??
would highly suggest a reaction from Hiroyuki Sawano / Project【emU】 “Attack on Titan” suite its amazing!
Why don't you broadcast Genshin impact live? I want to see you go to the snowy mountain map🤣
W h o o p s am 2 days late, the power of the holiday season.
Anyway
Also
Day forty-three of recommending Stay Gold from the Arknights OST
Maybe you need to finish the game first in order to truly understand the piece.
with what time :(
@@MarcoMeatball come on. It s worth. However i have to say. It is one of the most time- consuming games i ever played. Yet also one of the most emotionally binding.