EP 16 | How Video Game Music Shapes Narratives (with MarcoMeatball)

Marina sits down with professional opera singer-turned-voice actor MarcoMeatball to talk all things video game music. We talk about how FFXIV and Granblue Fantasy: Relink blend genres, the sadness in Bloodborne’s soundtrack, how vertical music sequencing is used in Nier Automata, how ambient music is used to shape a narrative, and much more. We also talk about the music in the games we’re currently playing, as well as some of our favourites.   Grab some headphones, and let’s dive in. * * * * * * *  TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Introduction (01:51) Meeting Marco (05:40) Marco’s Recent Games: Granblue Fantasy: Relink, Warframe, Yakuza: Kiwami (09:54) Bloodborne, its brilliant sounds design choices, & how its music sets its narrative tone (15:26) Baldur’s Gate 3 takes us back to medieval times (18:18) Initial thoughts on Nier Music (19:25) Warframe, using music to displace pain, and whether context matters (21:21) There’s so much good video game music out there (22:50) How Enshrouded’s music surprised Marco   (24:05) Nier Automata, Chaos Language, and the game’s use of vertical music sequencing (32:01) FFXIV and blending genres (38:02) Music, storytelling, and how the player feels (43:05) FFXIV and Answers’ narrative misdirect of the century  (46:14) Community question: “How does ambient music help the player understand the tone of the narrative?” (Elden Ring, Bloodborne, World of Warcraft) (52:07) Final thoughts & outro * * * * * * *  SOCIALS: Quest Markers: ⁠https://linktr.ee/questmarkers⁠  Marco’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarcoMeatball  Marco’s socials: https://linktr.ee/marcodmeatball  Marina’s socials: ⁠https://linktr.ee/marinaryan⁠