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Significance of title screen music on 3D Zelda games

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FajitaEataxx

Jan 24, 2013 12:15 pm GMT
I wanted to mention a more abstract and overlooked reason at why Skyward Sword is a weak 3D Zelda game and that would be title music. One of my favorite things to do when playing Zelda is to turn it on and just sit and listen to the wonderful music at the title screen. It's always good dating back to the very first Zelda game, but beyond sounding nice the title music always painted a picture of what theme the game was trying to accomplish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MD__K-nm4Q

Ocarina of Time's title music was soft yet uplifting. It showed us that the franchise was about to enter a new realm of game play with the first 3D installment. The screen showing nothing but Link roaming the vastness of Hyrule field (it was vast at the time) was our first glimpse at how inspired this game truly was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur5n3ZO6H6s

The title screen from Majora's Mask showed a town full of busy people all concerned with the rush of their lives. The urgency of time was a big theme and one could tell by the emphasis on the clock. The music painted a picture of a town full of life, and the looming moon in the end showed the peril that town was in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gpeKL-BkHc

Wind Waker's title music showed us clearly that the game was going to be light hearted and fun. It had a cartoony and spiritual feel to it which captured the essence of the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1CXF5Y-hsQ

Twilight Princess's title screen had many parallels to Ocarina of Time, yet instead of being uplifting it had a melancholy tone to it. The familiar music sounded sad, and the build up at the end shows that something Terrible has happened to Hyrule. This theme really paints the dark and mature theme Twilight Princess attempted to achieve.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW2jQIztHuc

Skyward Swords title theme....I mean I couldn't even find a decent youtube video of it. When I first turned on the game and I saw this screen I felt cheated. It was lazy and unsatisfying, but after finishing the game I think I understand it better. It's shallow because Skyward Sword is a shallow game. The emptiness that's in the sky and on the ground is perfectly captured by the emptiness of the title. Emptiness isn't the best Zelda theme to date, and neither is Skyward Sword by a long shot (Zelda pun).
lukeguy97

Jan 24, 2013 12:56 pm GMT
I don't even think I need to say that the title screen has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of a game (especially a game that proves it isn't cinematically lazy immediately after you open the game for the first time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKjaQBycJgU), everybody already knows that. The most logical explanation for the lack of an opening cinematic playing every time you open the game is probably just that it wants players to be able to jump right back in every time they play. They were already introduced to the game once, no reason to introduce them to it again.

Even so, you can still dig deep into Skyward Sword's title screen if you want to. Before you press any buttons, the background is simply an empty sky with no music backing it up. However, once you press A, the land of Skyloft suddenly appears with the ever-humble Great Fairy music backing it up. This goes well with Skyward Sword's themes of birth and beginning. What was once a quiet sky is suddenly inhabited with a race quickly sent there out of necessity, and that's how everything began. It's more fitting with the tone than seeing Link somberly flying around on his Loftwing or something.
FajitaEataxx

Jan 24, 2013 1:05 pm GMT
lukeguy97 posted...
I don't even think I need to say that the title screen has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of a game (especially a game that proves it isn't cinematically lazy immediately after you open the game for the first time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKjaQBycJgU), everybody already knows that. The most logical explanation for the lack of an opening cinematic playing every time you open the game is probably just that it wants players to be able to jump right back in every time they play. They were already introduced to the game once, no reason to introduce them to it again.

Even so, you can still dig deep into Skyward Sword's title screen if you want to. Before you press any buttons, the background is simply an empty sky with no music backing it up. However, once you press A, the land of Skyloft suddenly appears with the ever-humble Great Fairy music backing it up. This goes well with Skyward Sword's themes of birth and beginning. What was once a quiet sky is suddenly inhabited with a race quickly sent there out of necessity, and that's how everything began. It's more fitting with the tone than seeing Link somberly flying around on his Loftwing or something.

Well obviously this isn't the only thing wrong with SS just a nice foreshadowing of the true problems with the game. And that cinematic is ripped off from WW, so I believe lazy still applies. Also every game has the Great Fairy music that's hardly unique.

How about this: imagine the title screen playing the harp version of SS main theme which slowly builds up to the trumpet version. That would keep me in the menu for at least two minutes it's the best song from the game and it is barely used.
lukeguy97

Jan 24, 2013 1:23 pm GMT
FajitaEataxx posted...
lukeguy97 posted...
I don't even think I need to say that the title screen has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of a game (especially a game that proves it isn't cinematically lazy immediately after you open the game for the first time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKjaQBycJgU), everybody already knows that. The most logical explanation for the lack of an opening cinematic playing every time you open the game is probably just that it wants players to be able to jump right back in every time they play. They were already introduced to the game once, no reason to introduce them to it again.

Even so, you can still dig deep into Skyward Sword's title screen if you want to. Before you press any buttons, the background is simply an empty sky with no music backing it up. However, once you press A, the land of Skyloft suddenly appears with the ever-humble Great Fairy music backing it up. This goes well with Skyward Sword's themes of birth and beginning. What was once a quiet sky is suddenly inhabited with a race quickly sent there out of necessity, and that's how everything began. It's more fitting with the tone than seeing Link somberly flying around on his Loftwing or something.

Well obviously this isn't the only thing wrong with SS just a nice foreshadowing of the true problems with the game. And that cinematic is ripped off from WW, so I believe lazy still applies. Also every game has the Great Fairy music that's hardly unique.

How about this: imagine the title screen playing the harp version of SS main theme which slowly builds up to the trumpet version. That would keep me in the menu for at least two minutes it's the best song from the game and it is barely used.

Reusing a song from the trailer would've been more lazy than using atmospheric wind noises like it actually does. None of the previous Zelda title screens got by on being bombastic, because that wouldn't of been the right tone for kicking off any of them. Twilight Princess's title screen is a subversion Ocarina of Times because that's how the story began: with a familiar world being engulfed in darkness. Majora's Mask began ominously yet frantically because that's what the story was birthed out of: Link being forced into the unknown with death looming over him. With Skyward Sword, however, it all begins with nothing. Just an empty sky. Skyward Sword is the beginning of the entire Zelda saga, and like any other saga, it starts out of a blank page. Once Link truly builds himself into a hero, that's when the triumphant trumpets can play. That's just not how it begins.
FajitaEataxx

Jan 24, 2013 7:42 pm GMT
Ok but that doesn't mean it has to be boring. I'm sure there are plenty of ways to convey birth and beginnings without resorting to...nothing. Wind Waker was about rebirth and blank slates in a way, and I thought its opening captured the feel that it was a new world perfectly.
TheWindWaker333

Jan 24, 2013 11:48 pm GMT
SS had title music? I just remember the wind blowing...
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Juxtaposition7

Jan 26, 2013 7:53 pm GMT
lukeguy97 posted...
FajitaEataxx posted...
lukeguy97 posted...
I don't even think I need to say that the title screen has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of a game (especially a game that proves it isn't cinematically lazy immediately after you open the game for the first time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKjaQBycJgU), everybody already knows that. The most logical explanation for the lack of an opening cinematic playing every time you open the game is probably just that it wants players to be able to jump right back in every time they play. They were already introduced to the game once, no reason to introduce them to it again.

Even so, you can still dig deep into Skyward Sword's title screen if you want to. Before you press any buttons, the background is simply an empty sky with no music backing it up. However, once you press A, the land of Skyloft suddenly appears with the ever-humble Great Fairy music backing it up. This goes well with Skyward Sword's themes of birth and beginning. What was once a quiet sky is suddenly inhabited with a race quickly sent there out of necessity, and that's how everything began. It's more fitting with the tone than seeing Link somberly flying around on his Loftwing or something.

Well obviously this isn't the only thing wrong with SS just a nice foreshadowing of the true problems with the game. And that cinematic is ripped off from WW, so I believe lazy still applies. Also every game has the Great Fairy music that's hardly unique.

How about this: imagine the title screen playing the harp version of SS main theme which slowly builds up to the trumpet version. That would keep me in the menu for at least two minutes it's the best song from the game and it is barely used.

Reusing a song from the trailer would've been more lazy than using atmospheric wind noises like it actually does. None of the previous Zelda title screens got by on being bombastic, because that wouldn't of been the right tone for kicking off any of them. Twilight Princess's title screen is a subversion Ocarina of Times because that's how the story began: with a familiar world being engulfed in darkness. Majora's Mask began ominously yet frantically because that's what the story was birthed out of: Link being forced into the unknown with death looming over him. With Skyward Sword, however, it all begins with nothing. Just an empty sky. Skyward Sword is the beginning of the entire Zelda saga, and like any other saga, it starts out of a blank page. Once Link truly builds himself into a hero, that's when the triumphant trumpets can play. That's just not how it begins.

You can rationalize the title screen and its theme all day, but the fact of the matter is that something is better than nothing. I also wouldn't consider reusing the Ballad of the Goddess as "lazy", given that the piece is unique to the game and, as has been previously stated, is underused.

Otherwise, TC, I find this comparison to be a very insightful analogy, even if I'm not a fan of WW. The title screen music definitely foreshadows the tone for the first four 3D Zeldas, leading the player to adjust their expectations. Maybe for SS it does as well because the tone of its plot is almost absent of urgency, in addition to its art style and music being unremarkable. Emptiness might then best portray the resulting disappointment that many players have felt.
SingingSoul

Jan 26, 2013 8:11 pm GMT
FajitaEataxx posted...
I wanted to mention a more abstract and overlooked reason at why Skyward Sword is a weak 3D Zelda game and that would be title music. One of my favorite things to do when playing Zelda is to turn it on and just sit and listen to the wonderful music at the title screen. It's always good dating back to the very first Zelda game, but beyond sounding nice the title music always painted a picture of what theme the game was trying to accomplish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MD__K-nm4Q

Ocarina of Time's title music was soft yet uplifting. It showed us that the franchise was about to enter a new realm of game play with the first 3D installment. The screen showing nothing but Link roaming the vastness of Hyrule field (it was vast at the time) was our first glimpse at how inspired this game truly was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur5n3ZO6H6s

The title screen from Majora's Mask showed a town full of busy people all concerned with the rush of their lives. The urgency of time was a big theme and one could tell by the emphasis on the clock. The music painted a picture of a town full of life, and the looming moon in the end showed the peril that town was in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gpeKL-BkHc

Wind Waker's title music showed us clearly that the game was going to be light hearted and fun. It had a cartoony and spiritual feel to it which captured the essence of the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1CXF5Y-hsQ

Twilight Princess's title screen had many parallels to Ocarina of Time, yet instead of being uplifting it had a melancholy tone to it. The familiar music sounded sad, and the build up at the end shows that something Terrible has happened to Hyrule. This theme really paints the dark and mature theme Twilight Princess attempted to achieve.

duh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW2jQIztHuc

Skyward Swords title theme....I mean I couldn't even find a decent youtube video of it. When I first turned on the game and I saw this screen I felt cheated. It was lazy and unsatisfying, but after finishing the game I think I understand it better. It's shallow because Skyward Sword is a shallow game. The emptiness that's in the sky and on the ground is perfectly captured by the emptiness of the title. Emptiness isn't the best Zelda theme to date, and neither is Skyward Sword by a long shot (Zelda pun).

u mud
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dinosuar king is the best anime ever
i luv u reese do u loev me?
Czar_Yoshi

Jan 26, 2013 9:55 pm GMT
Because the title screen of E.T.: Extra-Terrestrial was totally indicative of the rest of the quality of the rest of the game. Riiiiiight.

My point is, don't judge a book by its cover. In this case, it worked, but it's likely just a coincidence.

SingingSoul, did you really need to quote all that just to add one meaningless word?
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"it's that game that is so great it makes you want to destroy your Toilet." -Throwback2780
SingingSoul

Jan 26, 2013 10:58 pm GMT
Czar_Yoshi posted...
SingingSoul, did you really need to quote all that just to add one meaningless word?

YEAS I HAD TO its call CONTRASTATION its a tecnic u no

i contrast bajitaseaters lengdy worse aginst mi brif an concise risponse, ligt vs dark yin n yang nihilism n holisticness

THE SEE OF COMUNICATION IS MAID OF DROPS OF CONTAXT U NEED CONTAXT TU UNDERSTAD THE TRU MEANING OF MY WORD

submerge in the see of contaxt buoy swim in it get ure her wet DRINK IT BABY somday u mite understant...
---
dinosuar king is the best anime ever
i luv u reese do u loev me?
Czar_Yoshi

Jan 27, 2013 9:15 pm GMT
Funny to hear you talking about communication when we can hardly understand a word you're saying.

And there's not much contrast in "duh".
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"it's that game that is so great it makes you want to destroy your Toilet." -Throwback2780
iKhanic

Jan 27, 2013 11:53 pm GMT
I agree with most of your analyses, except for WW. WW's not a lighthearted game, it has its share of darkness as well. I believe that WW's title screen portrays a sense of adventure and exporation, showcasing the vast expanse of see, while playing the uplifting "on the sea" themed music

I get the joke you are making with SS, but I don't think it was a shallow game. It had plenty of content, just a lot of it got monotonous. But I do have to give it points for the Intro before the title screen, and the intro after you start a file. It was those two things that got me really excited starting the game, as I thought it would have an interesting and serious plot. Then I played the game and found out that it had a fairly uninteresting story, and a completely whimsical approach to its own story, akin to a Mario RPG, except not funny.
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Not changing this sig until we get a new main series Tales game released on a Nintendo console in the US
FajitaEataxx

Jan 28, 2013 10:21 am GMT
iKhanic posted...
I agree with most of your analyses, except for WW. WW's not a lighthearted game, it has its share of darkness as well. I believe that WW's title screen portrays a sense of adventure and exporation, showcasing the vast expanse of see, while playing the uplifting "on the sea" themed music

I get the joke you are making with SS, but I don't think it was a shallow game. It had plenty of content, just a lot of it got monotonous. But I do have to give it points for the Intro before the title screen, and the intro after you start a file. It was those two things that got me really excited starting the game, as I thought it would have an interesting and serious plot. Then I played the game and found out that it had a fairly uninteresting story, and a completely whimsical approach to its own story, akin to a Mario RPG, except not funny.

WWs theme is whatever you want man that's what's awesome about it. The title screen is rich with sound and image which will speak something to anyone willing to look into it. SS doesn't give us anything to work with is the problem. In five years who is going to listen to the wind blowing and be consumed in nostalgia?

And yea it's not a shallow game I just think its a shallow Zelda game. They put a lot of effort into the motion controls but in my opinion that's all they put effort into. The story was there but it was executed very poorly and the overworld felt empty. Even Skyloft felt empty if you think about it there's more stuff to do in clock town and windfall than Skyloft which is sad because its the only town in the game.
sp3cial3dfr3d

Feb 3, 2013 11:53 pm GMT
Lol to redundent arguing build a game then talk poop about your own game that's about as much diffrence as u make . stiffiling these artist work . u should all be ashamed let's see any of u make something nearly as good as this . last I checked all u here made a poo not a game grow up .1 and only post I will ever make on this childish site of biqoring I will stick to walkthroughs and not opinons lol rant over
blood_blues

Feb 10, 2013 6:04 pm GMT
Czar_Yoshi posted...
Funny to hear you talking about communication when we can hardly understand a word you're saying.

And there's not much contrast in "duh".

It's CONTAXT, don't you know what CONTAXT is?