Arranged vs original (game soundtracks)

[Ronnie]

So when it comes to video game remasters/remakes, there's usually an arranged soundtrack that goes along with it. Do you usually like the arranged pieces or do you prefer the original tracks?

I personally prefer FFX's arranged soundtrack over its original while I like ORAS's soundtrack just as much as the original RSE soundtrack.

[Magical Glace]

It really depends on the track, I can't bring myself to say I prefer one or the other all the time, though I'd say I generally prefer the arranged versions, I suppose.

[Baron the Shining Blade]

I often enjoy what an arranged soundtrack does. Adding new (and sometimes better-fitting) instruments and new verses akin to what a remix would do, sometimes putting a new take on it (like a change in tempo and/or genre). Works especially well for 8-bit, 16-bit, and other retro game soundtracks. (Re)arrangements* are just a joy to listen to.

*Say, uh... is there a difference between arranged and rearranged soundtracks?

[Refa]

Original.  Arranging video game tunes is walking on a tight rope.  You have to keep what made the original worked while also adding to it in some meaningful way (e.g. better instrumentation, adding sections, changing the genre entirely, warping the original song so it fits better in its new context, etc.).  When it works, it really works and can elevate the original piece to even greater heights.  More often than not though, it feels like the person arranging the track didn't really get what made the original so great in the first place.

 

[Shadow Mir]

It generally depends on the track, as I see it. I'd find it hard to say I prefer one or the other all the time. (That being said, I'd generally prefer the arrangements)

Edited July 28, 2017 by Levant Mir Celestia

[Jedi]

4 hours ago, Refa said:

Original.  Arranging video game tunes is walking on a tight rope.  You have to keep what made the original worked while also adding to it in some meaningful way (e.g. better instrumentation, adding sections, changing the genre entirely, warping the original song so it fits better in its new context, etc.).  When it works, it really works and can elevate the original piece to even greater heights.  More often than not though, it feels like the person arranging the track didn't really get what made the original so great in the first place.

 

I pretty much agree with this sentiment, examples of good remixes would stem from like say Sonic Generations, and bad would be something like Trails in the Sky EVO which misses the mark to the point that Falcom put the original version of the Sky trilogies OSTs as free DLC. 

[henrymidfields]

I would almost always go for the remixes/arrangements. For example:

Legend of Zelda: Being a series that has its stories gone more epic with the recent titles, I would almost always prefer a full orchestral rendition, such as the main Zelda theme played in the main menu of Hyrule Warriors. The 8-bit music version from the original NES Zelda Game just would not cut it at all. Similarly with Zelda's Lullaby, my very first preference would be the Skyward Sword rendition which also employed a live orchestra, instead of the earlier Ocarina of Time or A Link to the Past version.

Fire Emblem: While I enjoyed some of the music from Binding Blade and Sacred Stones, as with Zelda, they seemed to age terribly compared to how Awakening and Fates' music sound like (or even are actually performed with) live orchestral instruments.

Pokémon: Again, I would prefer to listen to the newer versions as well (HGSS vs GSC), as they sound more atmospheric.

Edited July 28, 2017 by henrymidfields

[Darros]

Depends on the track and the original medium. Yes, there's a lot of great 8-bit music out there but there's a lot of 8-bit junk too and some really old games did make BGM which was a tune enough to be reworkable, but certainly not enough to carry itself. I mean just look at FE1. The music is good and fine but certainly some notes are janky. Plus - there's only so much you can do with 5 tracks. Both the SNES and DS remakes improved upon the music FE1 had without changing it overdramatically.

[Interdimensional Observer]

Etrian Odyssey Untold and Untold 2 gives you both the original synth and arranged orchestrations with the ability to swap them on the fly outside of battle (new tracks like the ones for Gladsheim also get synth versions too). Sometimes the arrangement falls short (overuse of electric guitar for instance), other times they match up well or have equally likable differences (the 3rd Stratum in EOU2 I recall as an example of this). I generally like swapping between the two versions in EOU2 to give my ears a rest from repetitiveness.

I've spent a few times here on SF sampling the various Fire Emblem Theme renditions, and on Youtube listening to "demakes" of things like Xenoblade Chronicles music, so I like both arrangements and originals and it depends on the individual track to determine which is better.

[Refa]

4 hours ago, Umbran Darros said:

Depends on the track and the original medium. Yes, there's a lot of great 8-bit music out there but there's a lot of 8-bit junk too and some really old games did make BGM which was a tune enough to be reworkable, but certainly not enough to carry itself. I mean just look at FE1. The music is good and fine but certainly some notes are janky. Plus - there's only so much you can do with 5 tracks. Both the SNES and DS remakes improved upon the music FE1 had without changing it overdramatically.

Agree on SNES being a universal improvement, but some of the DS remakes were uh...not good.  The main map theme of FE1 and Gotoh's theme immediately come to mind.  This is coming from someone who likes FE11's soundtrack overall, mind.

[maybe]

56 minutes ago, Refa said:

Agree on SNES being a universal improvement, but some of the DS remakes were uh...not good.  The main map theme of FE1 and Gotoh's theme immediately come to mind.  This is coming from someone who likes FE11's soundtrack overall, mind.

isnt the fe11 map theme based on fe3's? i know there's a really short bit of it from fe1, but the only remade map theme I remember from fe11 is the one from fe3

[Refa]

25 minutes ago, unique said:

isnt the fe11 map theme based on fe3's? i know there's a really short bit of it from fe1, but the only remade map theme I remember from fe11 is the one from fe3

oh yeah they are, i just forgot whoops

i probably still like it better in fe3 though just because it hasn't been etched into my skull and it's a lot jauntier