With lockdown going on, I finally got around to playing Bioshock Infinite. I may be many years late to the party, but I was really impressed with the game. That story got its hooks into me, and that ending, I sort of knew what was coming because of online spoilers, but there were so many minor details and subtle nuances that the final twists still felt profound. Great stuff.
Long time readers of this blog might remember my previous reviews of Miracle of Sound, a musician who used to post completely original music he wrote, mostly about video games on the escapist, and now on youtube. My favorite track of his was “Dream of the Sky” a song about Bioshock Infinite.
https://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.com/2013/06/miracle-of-sound-dream-of-sky.html
Some stranger commented on that post, that does not happen very often, so I took that as a sign to revisit this emerging sub-genre.
With lockdown going on, I finally got around to finishing the Witcher 3. According to Steam it took me just over two-hundred hours to complete the game in full. This is unsurprising, I tend to apply my work effort to my hobbies, so I was rather thorough at exploring the world; and what a world. Fantasy world building can be executed so well in an interactive medium like video games, and I know the Witcher is a book series first, but I wonder how many small details were fleshed out during these three games; guess I have to read the books to find out.
Like many massively popular video games, The Witcher 3, has a deeply passionate fanbase, so naturally this brave new world of original video game music has spawned a few gems for the Witcher.
I believe I discovered Beyond Repair during the “Get Hyped!” phase of Games of Thrones, as they had an incredibly fun song about Cleganebowl. From this interaction I soon thereafter discovered the song “Yen or Triss” which was before I played any of the Witcher games; so when I finally got around to playing the Witcher series, I knew unlike real life to expect romantic choices.
What I initially liked about “Yen or Triss” was simply this, it was a very catchy pop rock song, and I knew enough in passing to know that there was a good component of humor at play. My opinion has not changed dramatically since finishing The Witcher 3. It was evident even without knowledge and insight on the subject matter, that a lot of effort was put into the creation of this song. The charm of nerds making a song this good about a video game is enough for me to appreciate, but once the hurdle is crossed where I too am a fan of the subject matter, that does enhance the experience.
Now that I get the humour completely in “Yen or Triss” the song is all the more entertaining. I am no fool, I understood the comical absurdity of taking this in game serious choice and making it into a playful pop song about a love triangle was a deliberate clash of styles and mood, ultimately understanding the subject matter more allowed me to enjoy everything about the song more.
“Yen or Triss” is a tough question. Both sorceresses are amazing. Who should we choose, Yen or Triss? Maybe I need to read the books, to gain a greater appreciate of Yennifer and her relationship with Geralt, but Triss seems like the obvious winner to me. Call me old fashion, but I prefer women who are nice to me once and a while. It would be exhausting dealing with Yennifer’s antagonism every day, and I like Yennifer a lot, but still. So given those two option, I vote for Triss, but it is something of a trick question, because you have options in the Witcher, and if I were Geralt, and I related a lot to him, I think I would go with Shani. She is a field medic, not a sorceress, which is I guess less impressive as she is less fantastical, however Shani possesses the courage to wander into a monster infested cave with you which I think is all the more impressive. The Heart of Stone expansion was worth it just for the scene where Geralt is Shani’s guest for a wedding with the unfortunate timing with Geralt is possessed by a ghost.
If you like the Witcher, you should enjoy “Yen or Triss” as much as I do, but it might also be a solid starting point to dig into this video game music genre. Beyond Repair have another Witcher 3 song about the in game card game Gwent, which is very fun, both the song and the card game.
Gwent
Between this music in review and my previous Miracle of Sound reviews, you can see a glimpse into the central theme of this review; there are a lot now writing and releasing into the internet music about topics the mainstream would never dare. It is all so niche, and I love it. People are geniuses
- King of Braves
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