One of the game genres that I’ve sorely missed from the Triple-A game industry has been Metroidvania style games. With Konami abandoning their usual Castlevania formula and Nintendo being unable to produce a decent Metroid game in recent years, it’s a genre I’ve wanted to see re-emerge. As if to answer my wishes, the indie development team Endlessfluff has released a game titled Valdis Story: Abyssal City. Originally funded on Kickstarter, the game is an action/platformer in the vein of the Metroidvania style Castlevania games. Sadly, since I’m one of those terrible Mac users, I may have to wait for a port to play a copy of the game. The game’s soundtrack by Zack Parrish has been turning a few heads, often receiving special mention in reviews of the game. While I may not be able to play through the game yet, I will certainly offer up my critique of the game’s soundtrack.
Valdis Story: Abyssal City has been praised for it’s polish and engaging gameplay. It’s a well crafted game and the soundtrack is no different. From the very beginning, the music helps build up a sense of mystery and grand scale in the game’s world. Parrish utilizes elements of orchestral, rock, and synth genres to create something original yet familiar. Though a bulk of the music is built from an orchestral library, electric guitar and synth elements are present in almost every track. The rock elements become especially more prominent during the battle music, but are still built on top of an already intense orchestral score. Throughout the album you can hear a fair amount of inspiration from the Castlevania and Metroid soundtracks, in least in terms of style and arrangement. The battle themes in particular draw on a similar spirit of fast paced and energetic music similar to that heard in the Castlevania series. The more relaxed pieces in contrast maintain a tranquil and mysterious quality, similar to music from the Metroid series. This shouldn’t be that surprising, considering Valdis Story‘s gameplay is very reminiscent of those titles. This is not a comparison that I make lightly. Whether he was directly inspired or not, Parrish has done an excellent job of creating original music that emulates the sound and spirit of a Metroidvania game. (more…)
