Aliascent's blog

Darkest Dungeon, released in January 2016, is a indie-dev fairy tell, from its successful crowdfunding campaign to its apparition of Steam, the creation of a solid fan-base, and its ultimate success. I have to say, this game deserves it. The concept was simple : a turn-based dungeon crawler with RPG elements, but most things were done right: the visuals were striking, the music sublime, the lore was rich, well developed and given little by little, so you'd get to know the truth by the end of your play-through. And it's absolutely terrifying. But what made Darkest Dungeon stand out and become the addictive game it was it's difficulty and the combat. The difficulty because everything was stacked against you. Nothing could protect you from a critical hit, failure to stop the bleeding  or to cure poisoning meant a slow death. Failure to bring adequate supplies such as food, medicinal herbs, bandages, shovels means losing a few -if not all- of your well-trained and belove...

I asked my readers what I should cover next, and they chose something energetic and groovy. So here it is. Back in 2008, Left For Dead took the world by storm and quickly became one of the most played and loved game of this decade. It had simple but effective core mechanics : you and three other survivors had to get from A to B as fast as possible and you had to mow down dozens of zombies on the way, while providing cover for your teammates and keeping an eye on the special infecteds, who could quickly end your game if your team wasn't strong enough or didn't cooperate enough. Then, just one year later, came L4D2. It was the same game at the core, but better: more guns, new characters,new special events, more special infecteds, and so on. Basically Left For Dead + . As often, music and audio cues play a big role in this kind of games, to let you know what's about to happen, when you're safe, what's approaching, the usual. It does the job, but there...

Let's be honest: as far as I'm concerned, the first Medievil, released in 1998 and developed by SCEE is a masterpiece and is perfect. If I were to name a single game as a standard for all to follow, this would be it. Everything was well thought and beautifully crafted with the utmost care, from the simple gameplay that gradually evolves into something more intricate, levels that were neither too short nor too long, to a clever design that never holds your hand and lets you put all the pieces together, making every puzzle solved, every quest completed feel like a victory. That alone would be enough to make a hell of a game, but there was more: the plot was simple (You went down in history as a hero, but, in truth, you died in the very first seconds of a battle against your arch-enemy. Your army, however, managed to rout him and victory was yours. Now, some time later, this villain comes back, raises an army of zombies and mind-control the living, but also resurrects you...

While this is my blog, I've decided that once in a while, I'll have guests. Not out of laziness or lack of inspiration (I still have over 100 tracks to write about) , but because I thought it'd be interesting to see what others like, what they used to play, and what they have to tell. Because I firmly believe that no matter which kind of gamer you are, as long as you've played at least one game, you'll have memories. And it's very likely that some of those memories will be linked to that game's soundtrack. Long story short, my first guest is  B.Dandelion , and she will be driving the bus today. I'll see you all at the end of the month. Also, I'd like to ask all of you, my dear readers, for feedback. Just tell me in the comments (or at aliascent@gmail.com) your thoughts, comments, what do you enjoy the most, what was your favorite post, what should I improve, etc. Feedback. -Aliascent Alia asked me if I’d like to write an article for his bl...

It's been a while since the last post, but we're finally live again. New theme, new font, new background, everything is now nice and shiny, as it ought to be. And I thought I'd get things started again by telling you about a game I've spent 400h playing: Nuclear Throne. Back in june 2015, I bought this little game for the low price of 12,99€. And boy, that was money well spent. This game is crazy, fast-paced, unfair as hell and extremely hard, but also very rewarding and satisfying. But I somehow couldn't stop playing it; its simple yet addictive game play (grab a weapon, dodge bullets, shoot back, die because why not, and restart asap) was enough to keep me interested. But what would a game with good game play and lovely graphics be without a good soundtrack to back it up ? The answer is : nothing. And Nuclear Throne sure isn't lacking in the "awesome tunes" department. Sometimes creepy, sometimes sad, but always enjoyable, NT's soundtr...

A few months late, but here his the 10th post. On a sidenote, since I restarted this blog, I managed to reach almost 400 views. It's not much but still way more than I expected. About 400 times more. Back on music. Today's piece comes from an old strategy game, first released on Amiga and Atari, and later on NES. The game is called "Supremacy: Your Will Be Done " which,-let's be honest- is an awful title, and "Overlord" in the US.Yes, they basically managed to sum up the whole thing in one word. Why did they not think about it earlier ? I don't know. Anyways, in 1993 the game was ported on the NES, and this version is known for not having lots of music, mainly the main title. But god, what a main title it is. Carried by a deep, powerful bassline (I know, this always comes back in this black. But I love poweful basslines.), that only a NES could produce, with a wavy, sweet melody on top of it, conveying an immense sadness, or maybe a kind of nosta...

It's been a while since the last update, almost 2 months. Life kept me pretty busy, but here is for you: a shinny new post. And today we're going to have some Medal of Honor. This series started back in 1999-2000, on the PSX. It was one of the few FPS on the PSX, and due to its incredible ambiance and the "realism" of the AI, it became a renowned game. Circa 2002, MoH:Allied Assault definitely made the series incredibly popular and praised for being awesome. Although the latest entries destroyed the series ( modern stuffs ? in my Medal of honor ? WHY ?), in 2007, Medal of Honor Airborne was released. Even if it suffered from the same defect as most of the MoH games between Allied Assault and the reboot, being ok-ish games but not unforgettable, Airborne kept an essential point of the MoH series: its soundtrack. For those who have read this blog before, you'll know that orchestral soundtracks are really common, and are the easiest way to give a...

Released in 1995 by Epic Megames ( which later released an obscure game called Unreal Tournament), Tyrian was a really fun shoot'em up. Not only fun, but also well made in every aspect, from graphics to music. It featured everything: Funny gameplay, cool customizable ships,tons of weapons, eye-candy explosions, humor everywhere and some trolls by the developpers were also built in. Yep, really. And in this perfection, there is something that got carved in the brain of evryone who played it. The buy and sell music. Although Tyrian is quite a light-hearted game, this music has dark undertones on it, and it fits quite well, because it's in this menu that you'll get to read the datas you've gathered. And some of those datas are far from being funny (go play the game, it's free). So basically, this tune is the perfect representation of Tyrian: it's fun, yet scratch the surface and find the gloomy stuffs. Needless to say, everybody who played it had it stuck in ...

Just a clarification on the title: this post shoud have been n°5, but I actually published the n°6 before. So this one becomes n°7. Logic, I don't have it. Those who follow me since the beginning will have notice that so far, orchestral soundtracks have dominated this blog. So let's have a little break from that and have some metal. Released in 1996, Red Alert has been a huge success and quickly became one of the most well known RTS franchise. And there is this particular song. For the younger readers of this blog, there was a time when soundtrack weren't all  dubstep or grandiloquent orchestral pieces done by orchestras from eastern Europe (Because hey, it's cheap). Just a single groovy bass line, some melody to go with it and drums, and there you go, you had your soundtrack. And the Hell march is one of those sountracks. Starting out with some bass, followed by roaring guitars, it's a pretty good soundtrack for a game dealing with a communist invasion...

We're in september, people are going back to work, others are going back to school, and overall, it's depressing. So here is something to give you a little boost. Released in 2001, Return to Castle Wolfenstein ( from now I'll write RtCW. The whole thing is too damn long) is close of being FPS' excellence. It features a decent story-line, humour, neat graphics (at least for 2001), and a fast, skilled, unforgiving gameplay. Oh, you have probably guessed by now, it also has an excellent OST.(yep, there's a reason of talking about this game on this blog), an OST made, like most WWII shooters, of grandiloquent orchestral pieces. But then , there is this particuliar piece, simply called "action." And well, I couldn't see a better name for it. You'll mostly hear it ingame when you just failed to be subtle / something big is coming at you. And you hear it, you know  you have to move on. The massive string ensemble, the fantastic drums plowing your hea...

After being delayed for almost a month ( thanks to being quite busy), the new post is finally here. And today, we'll have some Castle Crashers OST. Released in 2008, Caste Crasher is a mix of Beat em All and RPG. Starting in the depths of Indie gaming, it finally rose to the rank of an hailed and praised title. Although the game in itself is a jewel of humour,fun and totally kicks asses, there is no doubt that its OST had a major role in this game success. Full of energy, mixing metal with techno, while still having the orchestral tracks you would expect from a medieval, heroic fantasy themed game. And then I heard Space Pirates. I was seriously thinking all video games now were bound to have some orchestral, grandiloquent music ; till this one started. A few high-picthed keyboard notes, followed by a groovy bass and groovy drums. Nothing more, nothing less. And by being so simple, this particuliar song directly echoes to the 90's games, when most of the music was made ...

Let's get started. As I told in the previous post, I'll start talking about VGMs ( for those who don't know yet, VGM stands for Video Game Music) . And the first one i'll pick is a music from one of my favourite game series ever: Ace Combat. Back in 1994, the first Ace Combat game ( initially called Air Combat in europe, the name changed with the second episode) was basically the missing link between PC flight simulations and arcade games, by providing immediate fun to the player while still being set in a realistic context. Fast travel to 2006, and the release of Ace Combat (Zero): Belkan War. This game is a part of of what players  tend to call "trilogy",composed of AC: Squadron Leader, AC: Distant Thunder, and of course , AC: Belkan War. And the music I picked is no less than the final boss theme of this game. Throughout the game, a whole story of friendship, honor and ideals is built up, leading to a Warning: spoiler ahead:  final fierce battle betwe...