Eva was playing Zelda as I walked in yesterday

[conuly]

Specifically, she was rescuing Yunobo. That is one catchy tune!

But very noticeable and not entirely like the rest of the atmospheric background music I've heard in this game. As we came around to the gongs* again, I asked "So... what's up with this music?"

Jenn: It's abandoned mine music.
Me: That explains it.
Eva: I love how you're pretending that makes sense.
Me: What are you talking about? I'm not pretending.

Poll #21097

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 21

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What say you?

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Eva's right. The music doesn't scream "abandoned mine".
6 (28.6%)

You're right, it does.
15 (71.4%)

Anyway, then she went and helped build Tarrytown for a while, fetching lots of people (all with names ending in -son...) and wood and organizing a wedding. Because this is the important thing to do. The big boss will just spin his wheels while you do all the petty side quests, right? Definitely won't take over the world until you get there, because he just has to see the look on your face! (Besides, that wouldn't be playing fair, now would it?)

* Bells? Deep chimes? Not sure what to call it, honestly.

Comments

[notasupervillain]

In Mass effect I appreciated how the boss would wait for me to talk to literally every person on a planet. And go dancing in the bar.

[conuly]

Look, you gotta live your life, man!

[zesty_pinto]

If there's one thing you learn that is most important about sandbox games, it's that it's NEVER about doing the main quest, but about dicking around.

For example, every Fallout game since 3 is relatively short... if you do the main quest only. Doing that though basically neglects that there's hundreds of thousands of things to do while you're going from point A to B.

I've had to be careful with my playthrough of Witcher 3 because I got dangerously close to finishing the game, but I still have a bunch of cards to win off of people, a couple more quests denoting my questionable morality, and a few more monster parts to get to max out my hoarder's stash of unique weapons and armor.

I'm actually going through Death Mountain as well. There's a robot lizard throwing fireballs everywhere! My concern? Catching tiny gray lizards.

[zesty_pinto]

This should be the theme song of every sandbox game.

[conuly]

Yes, but it seems weird when you think about it from the perspective of a person actually living in that world. (Also, I guess hardly anybody knows how close they are to collapse?)

[zesty_pinto]

In fairness to BoTW: everyone left alive aside from maybe a handful of people are not aware of the dangers inherent. Everyone else is either:

-worrying about local problems (e.g. robot lizards)
-worrying about REALLY local problems (e.g. that kid whose sheep gets stolen)
-worrying about local gossip

Kind of close to real life these days, in that regard.

I also like to think of that manga I Am A Hero, where there's a zombie epidemic where it makes a bit of a social commentary on how Japanese folks are so polite and jaded by social media that they can't take the infections seriously until long after the fact. I know America's a bit different, but I think reality would follow a somewhat similar tune.

[conuly]

The castle is surrounded by a purpley cloud!

[zesty_pinto]

Yeah, and the moon turns red every so often, but it's okay as long as we still get to farm our lands and some guy can sell us moblin horns and screws belonging to ancient machines, damn it!

[conuly]

At least the food tastes better when we cook it under a randomly occurring blood moon. Even if we were helpless against the monsters that beat us up while we were looking for truffles. (Honestly, the NRA is crap but I still don't get why none of these people pick up arms against the bokoblins that oppress them. They aren't that freaking hard to kill.)

[zesty_pinto]

Only a small handful of people are willing to put the effort for some reason, which amazes me since it takes more stamina to tame a horse. Based on what farm equipment those bokoblins get their grubby hands on, I'd say they would be able to beat them up easily just from that alone.

The rock people are especially impressive though because there's a lava monster camped out on one of their freaking roads. Maybe it doesn't detect them because it's like a Predator and only responds to "cold" things?

[conuly]

And they seem to have endless hearts, given that bokoblins only beat them up and never kill them.

[zesty_pinto]

Must be that all-truffle diet. Truffles do give extra hearts...!

[conuly]

TRUE.

(Also, why can't anybody find fairy fountains around here? Lazy, lazy. Solve your own problems, folks!)

[conuly]

(Though every time we come across a bokoblin camp that isn't actively beating people up, Eva comments that we're really murdering members of an early complex society.)

[zesty_pinto]

I mean, Hylians wouldn't have this problem if they weren't made of delicious meat, am I right?

(I think the reminder text while loading even admits they will pretty much eat anything they can fit in their mouth short of rocks and other hard things).

The lizard people I have no choice, though, as they keep camping next to my shrines. WHY MUST THEY BLOCKADE MY QUEST FOR PROGRESS??

[conuly]

You gotta get the right mask to avoid them.

[zesty_pinto]

Don't have it yet, sadly. The monster fetish guy with the laugh that sounds like it comes from a squeeze toy only has Bokoblin and Moblin flavor. I have le sads about it.

[conuly]

You have to get more divine beasts.

[zesty_pinto]

But that means doing more plot!! Can't I just go Fairy hunting and keep trying to up my robot armor? :(

[conuly]

Not forever.

[rebeccmeister]

So I felt compelled to beat the big boss, and then was disappointed when that caused the game to end. I'd left so many side-quests unquested! Now I am all about the side quests.

[rebeccmeister]

I should note - I appreciated how Earthbound let me continue to roam around after beating the big boss.

But of course that changed a ton of things in the world, and given how much work went into BoTW I can appreciate wanting to not have to transform everything after the defeat of the big boss.

[zesty_pinto]

Did Earthbound allow that? I honestly didn't think it did since you had to leave your meat to put your souls into robots at the end.

Man, speaking of games I wish there were more sequels for.

[rebeccmeister]

It sure does, and there are some fun new things you can do, too!

And yes - what a game. I would love a good sequel, too.

[zesty_pinto]

Man, I'm going to have to get back into it then!

Did you play the emulator for Mother 3? It's sadly the only way to get it over here translated. It's also lost a lot of the "fun" of the original since it's much more serious, but it has a lot of interesting parts about it.

Still waiting to see if that fanmade game ever gets finished. I'm sure it will and at the rate it's going, I'm sure it will give me something to occupy me while my kids tell me I'm too old to drive my hovercar, ha!

[rebeccmeister]

I haven't played the emulator - hmm, I should look for it! And I hadn't followed news about the fangame, either, but I'll be right there with you whilst not driving my hovercar!

[flamingsword]

There is a very staccato element to the music that speaks to close quarters and a danger implied by the parts of the music hissing just above the liminal limit and its minor key tonality. They did pretty well at creating a song that sounds like it's in a mine.

[raino]

oooh, I've been wondering about how do soundtrack composers create these very recognizable locales and moods and wondered if there's a library of sounds with specific meanings we all recognize on some level. (I have no music education.) So it's possible to dissect songs like that! Do you know if these are universally understood the same way or is it cultural?

[flamingsword]

Some of it is cultural, like the staccato thing and the key tonality. Some of it, like the hissing and sound quality and relative volumes, may be universal to humans, but I am not as sure as I could be that the insect/snake in the grass type sounds set off a hunted feeling in us.

[conuly]

There have been studies trying to work out the answer to that, but not far-ranging enough to be 100% conclusive.

[archangelbeth]

...you're both right. Some of the music screams Abandoned Mine, but other chunks, not so much. The chimes are good.

[conuly]

Okay, there's always the compromise position, I guess.

[archangelbeth]

Chimes: Abandoned Mine!
Drums: ...I'm not feeling this as an abandoned mine music thing.

[conuly]

It's an extremely hot, volcanic mine where you can blow up just by going outside without protective gear.

[archangelbeth]

Okay, that makes a bit more sense, then. I was thinking a cold mine.

[conuly]

Though why this should make sense to either one of us, I just don't know.

[archangelbeth]

Chimes are for hollow, echoing things. Drums are for hot things!

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

No, it doesn't scream 'abandoned mine'. It's got way too much motion for that: things popping up, things changing; it's jerky and unfocused. A mine is not like that. A mine is, first of all, deliberately constructed, unlike a natural cave. It doesn't have a natural ecosystem like a natural cave, unless it's been abandoned a really, really long time - in which case it's probably collapsing.

[conuly]

Well, it did collapse and trap Yunobo.

[conuly]

Also, your hat is almost done! And scarf. Actually, I think it's two hats. Where do you want it sent? Them sent.