Musical Storytelling in Xenoblade Chronicles 3
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ค. 2024
- The music of the Xenoblade Chronicles series has always been one of its standout aspects and the same absolutely goes for Xenoblade Chronicles 3. But Xenoblade 3 goes a step beyond by directly interlinking its soundtrack and contextualizing the music of the game directly with the story itself.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Xenoblade Music is GOATED
1:35 How Xenoblade 3 Contextualizes its Music
7:22 Spoilers
10:45 Outro
Noah and Mio Art by Lone - / inkopolis
SOCIALS:
Twitch: / ramenbomber_
Twitter: / ramenbomber
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#xenoblade #xenobladechronicles3 #nintendoswitch #videoessay - เกม
![fellow fellow - Proud [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9uZF7BlUQPE/mqdefault.jpg)
Xenoblade won the only award that mattered, the Pedro Eustache Award.
So true
A real life off-seer
Fr as much as i felt disappointed in it not winning best ost this made up for it. Bro went hard on that part and felt like he was really being an offseer.
It took me a second to realize you were talking about Flute Guy, yeah that man did more respect for Xeno 3 than the rest of the VGAs LOL
My man _dual-wielded_ woodwinds!
Can we talk about how this game didn't win Best Score at the Game Awards, like Geoff did you play with the sound off my guy
Ragnarok winning is a crime, this transgression will he remembered for generations and retribution will be received
JRPGs will rarely win any awards in western media. They are to long and ask for to much investment for ur majority of reviewers these days. It always comes down to "i didnt play it/have time" GoW can be beaten in a day or 2, so people just upvote that game.
I'm convinced no one who gets to decide who wins played xenoblade 3. They were just told it had a good soundtrack and added it to the list of nominees.
He didn't play at all lmao. It's very obvious from his spliced promo video for the TGA showing barely a second worth of Xenoblade 3, and most of it was the opening cutscene that someone posted on TH-cam, not even his own footage.
Geoff didn’t even play it lmao. He’s made it well known over his career that he doesn’t like Japanese developers, the only exception being Kojima.
A detail i absolutely adore it's how the first area before Colony 9 has this recurring ticking sound to it, like the Flame Clock itself over your shoulders
Plus if you listen closely, it's not a "tick tock" sound but a "tick tick" like it's the same second playing over and over and over again
Yes I loved that so much. Probably annoyed everyone on my FB feed posting it several times
Interlinking the music I see what u did there
I couldn't help myself LOL
This game really did get snubbed with best OST. The reason the music is so good is the same reason Ocarina of Time is regarded as one of the best OSTs as well. Incorporating an instrument with the main character uses another one of your 5 senses to bond you to the game even stronger. When you hear that flute play, you see Noah, see mio. Same with the title theme of OoT. When that ocarina plays, you think of link. It’s amazing
It's not only that, it's also that Monolith cared for awesome little details like that Noah's & Mio's fingers even MOVE correctly along the flute whenever they play it, or that the composers even created those flutes in real life so they could have exactly the sound they wanted.
Sheik's theme primarily uses the harp, for equally good reason. Similarly, Lon Lon Ranch uses (the best the N64 for do) a vocal rendition of Epona's Song, because Malon is literally singing it. (I'm pretty sure the vocal track cuts out when talking to her too.) I'm pretty sure in this case, it's using MIDI rather than actual recordings, so while the composer limited himself to the five notes that can be played for the main motifs, the actual instrument could be easily swapped out depending on the situation.
The warp songs all seem to be duets between the ocarina and the harp, since Sheik's the one that teaches you each one.
A small thing I really like is that the offseer theme that is played at any moment makes sense, as in Noah plays the Kevesi offseer theme, Mio plays the Agnian offseer theme, and in 'Eclipse Homecoming' the Agnian offseer theme is played. Just those little details add so much polish and shows just how much care was put into this game
Then it is swapped for Noah and Mio after they exchange flutes
This soundtrack deserved the goty award, not only is it banger after banger, but it's so revolutionary with the hand-made flutes to match the in-game flutes and they're used to accompany so many tracks and are literally the leitmotif of the game, which I like to refer to it as "the Weight of Life" (not the song, but the narrative meaning of the phrase). When everything reaches the climax, and we have an absolutely beautiful scene in Eclipse Homecoming, and N throws Noah's flute... Ugh I get chills every time.
They sound out of tune to me
@@JohnJohn-ss5vj i mean it's not your traditional flute you'd typically see in a more western orchestra or wind ensemble, since they're japanese shinobue made of bamboo so the timbre and sound is gonna be very different from what you're used to hearing. that's not even mentioning how depending on what kind of shinobue flute you're playing it may not necessarily follow the western music notation system we're used to hearing and has what we in western theory call 'microtones,' which may be what your ears are picking up on as 'out of tune'.
I just love how much the flute is used and how well it was used throughout the game. I never thought that the flute would work so well in a video game soundtrack, let alone Xenoblade, but it works
An other story spoiler I like:
During phase 1 of the fight against M, the flute goes wild to the point of being nearly too out of tune as Mio is essentially learning how to be a meobius.
However, phase 2 of Ms theme has the flute follow a lot closer to the normal meobius battle theme as Mio gets a better in playing the part of a meobius.
That's SUCH a cool intrepretation of that.
SPOILERS FOR XC3
I absolutely love the foreshadowing with the music in the battle against M, one of the coolest examples of using music to tell the story I've seen. I'm a bit surprised that you didn't mention the track Noah and N, which is my favourite battle theme in the game. The way it starts as the Moebius theme, but then incorporates the Ouroboros theme and THEN switches to A Life sent on is truly incredible. In general the use of leitmotifs in this game is immaculate, both its own and the reincorporated ones from previous game. I don't know if I'm the only one that hears it, but the end of the Agnian off seeing tune is very similar to a part from the track War of the Aegis (think that's the title) from 2. Wonder if the Kevesi one calls back to a theme from XC1. Great video!
Yeah, i distinctly remember hearing Ms theme and then going "This is different, and awesome"
Bit sad it only plays that one area.. but theres a damned good reason for that afterall.
Another fun detail about the soundtrack is that it has 3 different main motifs. A life sent on, moebius and ouroboros, of which moebius and ouroboros are based on a life sent on. You can hear the moebius motif in plenty of cutscenes, but the most recognizable version of it is in cutscene track "moebius", sung by Lauren McGlynn from Anuna. The ouroboros motif you can hear in the cutscene track "Ouroboros awakening" being sung by Aisling Mcglynn, who is the sister to Lauren from before. These motifs are also used in plenty of other tracks, but my favorite has to be: (spoilers ahead)
The track "Noah and N", which uses in the first phase the moebius motif except in 6/8 instead of 4/4. In the second phase it uses the Ouroboros motif again in 6/8, but it plays each section of the motif in backwards order. Then at the end it plays the life sent on motif for the climax of the track. I just think this is one of the best uses of leitmotifs I've heard in any soundtrack.
Great discussion! And this isn’t even everything the devs did for the music. Sure, there’s the classic irl flute trivia, but one tidbit I love just as much is that the Moebius and Ouroboros themes are sung by sisters, representing their similarity and interconnection! Furthermore, the actual songs/motifs of the two are very similar, with the main difference being how the Ouroboros flows more varyingly (for lack of a better word-I am unfortunately not the most musically-versed) whereas Moebius is more confined, constant, etc.
one of my personal favorite moments is in "eclipse homecoming" the first time the flutes play the agnian off-seeing melody. the underlying notes within those chords make it sound dissonant compared to the other times we've heard it throughout the soundtrack and make it sound almost a little terrifying when you know what's about to happen in the next five minutes.
I love the cute Noah and Mio drawings from inkopolis. She does fantastic work. And I'm also impressed by how high quality your videos are for such a low number of subs. Keep it up!
Mitsuda is a master
Incredibly said,may the algorithm ever be in your favor.(Still addicted to 2 though)
Leaving a comment for the algorithm, good stuff.
I know I'm relatively early but where your views at ?? Damn. Underrated.
And still God of Lame took the award
Xenoblade 3 inspired me to learn the flute, it’s THAT good!
⚠️ Massive Spoiler warning for anyone that is still going through the first game up until you encounter Seven.
The first time I really noticed the musical storytelling was when someone in another comment section mentioned a case in the fallen arm area in XC1. The music here is telling the story of Shulk and Fiora's reunion with the instruments. The first instrument, which is an oboe, starts out alone, and then is eventually followed by a violin with the same motif. Eventually, both instruments began playing together. They're also directly in between the Mechonis and Bionis, and at this point in the story, Shulk represents one and Fiora represents the other. It's actually beautiful when you notice it.
(Found the person. Their name is Spiderdude2099 on one of the videos for the track)
Also watching this video again loved how you put in noah and mio portraits and how they changed depending on how hard the song went
4:58
I’m glad for a video like this showing how deep the music is ingrained with the game. It’s really unfortunate that it lost best score because it deserved it 100% imo.
I don't know if it was an intentional callback, but the use of flutes specifically reminds me a lot of Xenogears, especially the frequent use of fast enclosures and trills
While i do prefer Xenoblade 2 music myself, Xenoblade 3 feels like it completes the series in its own, perfect way and i appreciate that a lot.
my man comes up with a BANGER video, great job
fantastic video! this kind of stuff makes me love and appreciate these games so much more. you did a fantastic job with the editing and explaining everything simply but in-depth, i couldn't have asked for a better video on the topic.
Spoilers for Post Game Music
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I love how drifting soul was used in XB2 as a theme associated with Nia and her insecurities dealing with identity and now it comes back in XB3 as a super bombastic tune. It's a perfect musical representation of the progress she made from the start of XB2 to the end of XB2 to now. Not only that but its arguably just an overall sign of the dying, prejudiced world of Alrest dying and being reborn as something even better.
Love your videos
This is an instant like and subscribe for me. I've been looking for a video like this since the very first time I heard Mio and Noah toot their flute together.
Keep up the great work Ramen Bomber!
I recommend not skipping to 10:45 to avoid spoilers. That skips to one of the spoilers.
you're right, what's up with that?
Phenomenal video, thats all that can really be said on my part
Beautifully explained video. Xenoblade soundtracks are always amazing and adding a flute was a surprising move. Yet it works astonishingly well. One of my favourite soundtracks of all time.
Great video
Now THIS is the kind of content i love to see. [Xenoblade AND music?!?]
The spoiler timestamp jumps to literally seconds before Mio dissolves...
For non-spoilery stuff, one of my favourite musical portions has to be the background of 4:43. The way the shared flute & guitar notes stagger downwards before shooting back upward to deliver the song’s climax is beautifully satisfying.
Okay spoilers for things from here on out.
Two themes I want to give attention to that weren’t quite covered here are Ultimate Enemy and late-game Keves Battle. I just really like how the intro to Ultimate Enemy is timed in the cutscene that introduces Seraphic Ceratinia. As for Keves Battle, there’s something special about hearing it in Captocorn Peak. Story wise you haven’t really heard this theme since you entered the Urayan Tunnels way back in chapter 3, and hearing it again there just brings a sense of joy or nostalgia that only really happens in chapter 6.
I’d also like to talk about the Agnus battle theme. It’s not as significant as the other songs talked about in the video, but there’s one side quest that really gives it the spotlight and let’s it shine while fittingly re-contextualizing it. In one of the final Colony Mu quests, Colony Mu’s Resolve, the main party engages in a special training drill with the colony’s people in which they must “capture” the colony by defeating numerous enemy teams around the colony. This quest shows the battle theme in a whole new light; after seeing everything the colony and its people go through, witnessing their struggles and them working & growing together you get to test your skills against their own. As you do you have the Agnus battle theme playing throughout-even outside of actual combat-acting as an empowering, victorious montage for the climax of Colony Mu’s character arc.
I'm shocked I didn't notice that bit in the M and N fight! My jaw dropped when you said it lol
Admittedly, the Moebius theme is arguably even better than the final boss theme.
This soundtrack dunks on Ragnarok in every regard.
First time I came across music being so linked to story was Lunar: Silver Star Story / Lunar: The Silver Star (Depending on if you have the Sega Cd or the PSX version).
I've _never_ run into a game that did this that I didn't fall in love with.
I love the music in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. It's just a pleasure for the ears and the immersive way of connecting the soundtrack to the whole plot of the world is magnificent.
I’m gonna be honest, I watched the video purely for the Mio and Noah art
What I adore about Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s music is that it feels like the culmination of the themes from previous games, like in Erythia Sea where the first half takes the takes the floaty feeling from the leftherian archipelago, but later adopts the melancholy tone of eryth sea
Mio's rematch is my single favourite boss theme in the game. (Its main competition for favourite battle theme in general is, amusing, her mom.) We already had an awesome _rock opera_ boss theme for the Moebius, and then the team just _had_ to add the absolutely _majestic_ flute to the mix.
I also may or may not enjoy whistling along the music. Naturally I try to follow the flute part as best I can when doing so.
My favorite track is Words That Never Reached You. I works so well for the moment in Chapter 6, man.
I'm convinced Xenoblade 3 was an experiment in whether or not it was possible to make grown adults cry, simply at the sound of a flute.
Every single track in the entire game - a full series of tracks that is well over 12 hours long - is a phenomenal, masterful piece of music in its own right, and the use of leitmotif that and construction that pushes forward the narrative of the game itself in such a fantastic way. It's something I've only seen done as well in one other series, and even then the strong focus on music in XC3 might actually push it above that level. When your only qualm with a game is that you wish you had more, then it's a damn good game, and both the game itself and the soundtrack did a phenomenal job of tying that lingering theme in. You want more from the game. You don't want it to end. Some of the songs leave you wanting more, to not leave the area or end the fight so you can have it longer. The same thing Moebius wanted so badly - for things to just stand still.
Spoilers here - the composers and writers clearly knew this feeling well. Why else would it be the Moebius theme that plays when the groups of both sides have their moment of second guessing? Realizing that desire of wanting everything to stay the same, they try so hard to grasp at it before they lose it, not knowing if they'll ever get it back. The Moebius theme reaches its strongest peak throughout the game in that moment, whereas before it was mostly understated, then ends when the two groups are finally separated, only able to leave a promise they don't know if they can keep.
That bittersweet feeling is so thematically appropriate, so final, and so beautifully cathartic. I know why some people might not like it, but in my opinion, it's one of the greatest endings to any piece of media ever. It would honestly be a shame if anything ruined it, as much as I want them to meet again.
Wonderful video! XC3 was undoubtedly robbed of the OST award at TGA, but at least we got the “flute guy” meme out of it.
I also payed really close attention to the two fights Noah and Mio had, and The one in the beginning and the one with the body swap. Mio is confirmed to fight with a rhythm, in the first battle you can actually see this outside of Noah's help with the counting, but in the second battle when M is in Mio's body, there is no rhythm.
Obviously 🤦♂️
Homeboy went deaf for this
I feel the need to shout out the two cutscenes in Captocorn where the music builds up perfectly to the characters playing the flute in-game. Those were two of the most incredible moments in the game for me.
First: th-cam.com/video/UnuRO8WfZWc/w-d-xo.html
Second: th-cam.com/video/UnuRO8WfZWc/w-d-xo.html
Here's the song used in those cutscenes (warning: higher volume). You can really feel the cutscenes again just from the music: th-cam.com/video/uOLxSDUS7Zo/w-d-xo.html
It also plays at the beginning of chapter 6, but without an actual flute involved.
as the guy who bitched about you leaving out the music discussion in your initial xb3 review i am here to say: great video yet again, that kind of analysis was exactly what i was hoping for in the first place. btw are you willing to share which soundtrack is your favourite ?
Another cool example is how initially, it may seem like “A Step Away” is sung from the perspective of Noah, but in actuality, it’s sung from the perspective of N.
He said interlinking in the first 2 minutes
you can also press CTRL+ RIGHTARROW to skip the spoiler chapter if that's easier.
No talk about Oroborus Awakens?
Came for the memes
Stayed for the soundtrack analysis
The "leit" in "leitmotif" is pronounced like "light" :)
There's a _lot_ of hints towards the M twist. Not just the music, but if you listen carefully after the swap you can hear some... interesting pronoun usage mixed in there that hints towards the truth as well.
Xenoblade 3 was robbed for score of the year at the gameawards
This game is like a concert. But hey Nintendo didn’t sponsored enough and got ghosted. Really one of the best games in the last years, never seen something like that on switch
Video like that telling how great the is ost is a better reward than god of war would ever have.
This video made me appreciate the game’s music even more than I already did. And now I am even MORE FLABBERGASTED as to why Xenoblade 3 didn’t win Best Music at TGA!!!
BROO!!! how does the M and N fight is a spoiler but mio diying and you saying she is not diying not? all the end part of this video is spoiler you should clarify!
Spoiler
Just hearing the music from Mio's homecoming makes me wanna cry
And you didnt even mention Myiabi????
Crys wasn't mentioned either as both had a role in shaping who Noah and Mio are as people
@@Nelsito99 i was talking about the use of the music for more than just "music"
Initially I felt a bit disappointed with the music from Xenoblade 3 coming from xc2 they are very different. 160 hours later I think it's in my top 3 osts of all time. It's more understated and brooding than previous soundtracks, I only really appreciated it when I cracked on some headphones and really listened to it. I think having the option to disable the menu music would help people appreciate it.
Also, nice observation about the M/N music