Listening without playing?

[PSIRockin]

Has anyone ever bought a game soundtrack without playing the game?

[Cedille]

It'd be pretty common among VGM purchasers, but at the same time it could be seen as a pretty unusual behavior, since few listen to VGM, much less buying a soundtrack.

[LiquidAcid]

Yes, I constantly buy soundtracks without knowing the "source" -- that applies to VGM, anime soundtracks and film scores.

[ilef]

Hmm... Happened quite a few times... These are some I remember:

http://vgmdb.net/album/4772
http://vgmdb.net/album/4593
http://vgmdb.net/album/16044
http://vgmdb.net/album/17846

It might be interesting.... I've got into a few games after hearing their soundtracks.

[Hellacia]

I own more soundtracks to games I haven't played than soundtracks to games I have played.

[TerraEpon]

Originally Posted by LiquidAcid

Yes, I constantly buy soundtracks without knowing the "source" -- that applies to VGM, anime soundtracks and film scores.

Me too. Once upon a time I tried to make it my business to own the game for every game soundtrack I had (including Japanese only games) but decided what's the point.

I for one am a fan of music.....it just so happens that games have music I like.

[suicider]

I guess this is the fun part of the game, get it ? I think many collectors also care more about the musicians and the bands behind the music, than for the actual game. At least that's one criterion for me, beside the label.

[Blitz Lunar]

not to dilute the subject matter of the thread too much, but i can say that i listen to soundtracks to all sorts of things without having experienced them in context. probably about 20% or less of VGM i listen to is from games i've played. i don't think i'd pay for something blind these days, though i think i did that a few times when i was younger...

it just so happens that games have music I like.

that's how i feel... not sure why... i guess because i grew up with it, so the classic style and approach deeply appeals to me.

[Jedi QuestMaster]

Does watching a Let's Play count?

[Jodo Kast]

Originally Posted by PSIRockin

Has anyone ever bought a game soundtrack without playing the game?

Many years ago, I decided to play some Falcom games, which typically have incredible music. I tried Sorcerian (PC), Brandish (SNES) and Ys III (SNES). All were horrific, absolutely terrible. I would rate Ys III as complete trash, a definite 0 out of 10.

My first experiment was a complete success, though. Every Final Fantasy game I have played (and completed) was very much worth my time.

I had never played an RPG until after I started seriously listening to video game music. I was already very familiar with action games, platformers, and shooters. My primary goal was to get the soundtracks for Castlevania, Double Dragon, Salamander, etc.

But then...all these reviews about Final Fantasy and Ys music. What is that stuff? I had no idea, honestly, despite many years of gaming.

So my route is a little backwards, since most people probably discover game music through Final Fantasy (or other RPGs), yet I discovered FF through game music.

I would say that it is completely unnecessary to have played a game before buying the soundtrack. As a general rule, Falcom music gets the green light, whether you've played the game or not. I often wonder if Falcom is just a music company. I'd also treat Cave the same way; they are consistently exceptional.

[AcidBeast]

I got into BioShock after buying Sounds Of Rapture because I liked the cover.

[jdkluv]

Originally Posted by Jodo Kast

I would say that it is completely unnecessary to have played a game before buying the soundtrack

Most people are probably the opposite but I'd go further and say I slightly prefer this to buying a soundtrack after playing. Since that way there remains some mystery and intrigue over how a piece of music is used ingame (if not obvious) which, for me, increases the mileage I get out of them.

[TerraEpon]

Onb the other hand sometimes the game disappoints -- take Suikoden 2 with it's amazing track for the battle against Neclord....and it turns out to be a battle one can beat before the first loop even finishes.

[zinger]

I barely know any japanese at all, so I've tried to at least experience the atmosphere of those games that demand knowledge of the language through their soundtracks. I've mostly stopped doing this now though, since knowing a soundtrack beforehand severely alters its in-game impact if you play it afterwards (which I hope to do with many of those games). The best reward for completing a hard boss is another kick-ass stage with kick-ass visuals and kick-ass music, and this reward is of course much more pleasurable if it comes as a complete surprise! So, I'd rather listen to the music as it was intended, in its intermedial state, though I wouldn't drag myself through an unbarable game just because the music is good: if I know I'd never enjoy a game in its intended state but I'm still interested in its music I'd probably just download the soundtrack or watch some videos of it. I do make sure I've at least given it a chance first, so that I'm sure I'm not missing out on an even greater experience than "simply" a good record. I've already "spoiled" countless games this way.

It's different with all games though, I always (subconciously) weigh the aesthetic aspects against the mechanics. Chrono Trigger for instance was really shallow from a game system perspective, but I actually wanted to drag myself through all of those stupid fights just to experience the graphics and music. There are many memorable scenes from that game that I wouldn't want to have experienced without the visual or audial aspect (nor with the "thrown-off" perspective of having heard the music beforehand). All in all that experience was decent, so you could argue that I should have just listened to the soundtrack and enjoy 90% of my time instead of maybe 50%, but the pleasure "peaks" from the soundtrack wouldn't be as high as those that the game provided when consumed as it was intended.

[LiquidAcid]

Originally Posted by zinger

Chrono Trigger for instance was really shallow from a game system perspective

Uhmm, what?! I don't think we've played the same game here...

Chrono Trigger is one of the best RPGs on the Super Nintendo console. It has a very complex story, likable characters, fluid gameplay, a balanced battle system and some of the most awesome music.

I really don't see any aspect where this game should be shallow. Maybe you just don't like turn-based battle systems but that doesn't make the fights stupid.

[Xenofan 29A]

Originally Posted by LiquidAcid

Uhmm, what?! I don't think we've played the same game here...

Chrono Trigger is one of the best RPGs on the Super Nintendo console. It has a very complex story, likable characters, fluid gameplay, a balanced battle system and some of the most awesome music.

I really don't see any aspect where this game should be shallow. Maybe you just don't like turn-based battle systems but that doesn't make the fights stupid.

It's okay to dislike Chrono Trigger, you know. The battling system is relatively shallow compared to modern RPGs. I got through many regular battles simply by mashing attack.

And the story is good, but "very complex"? How so? I don't see it.

[zinger]

It doesn't really matter if we agree about Chrono Trigger or not, I only used that game to illustrate my philosophy, that I rank games depending on the emotional impact they have on me, according to various aspects (system, graphics, sound, story, cover art, whatever). In Chrono Trigger the combined effect of sound, story, graphics, system or cover art (lol) weren't good enough for me to rate it as masterpiece. I did love the music and graphics though, like I explained in my previous post. I won't bore you with my analysis of Chrono Trigger's system, just that I regard those of X-Com, Civilization and Langrisser higher (though I like CT and, for instance Shining Force II, better from a purely aesthetical perspective). Let's stay on topic here.

[LiquidAcid]

@Xenofan:
I think the time-traveling component is one thing that makes it complex. I admit that I love stories involving time-traveling (BTTF ftw!), so it probably is partly a matter of taste. And I also can't avoid to see CT in context with the other Chrono titles (CC and Radical Dreamers). IMO the connections between the three games are kinda fascinating

Originally Posted by Xenofan 29A

The battling system is relatively shallow compared to modern RPGs.

Sure, but we're talking about a RPG that came out in 1995, so more than 15 years ago. That's like saying the original Star Wars IV movie sucks because the CG can't keep up with the technology we've got today.

EDIT:
Another example came to my mind: Radiant Historia
Recent game where the time-traveling component plays an important role. IMO it makes better use of this component than CT, but again: RH is from 2010, also separated by 15 years from the game we're talking about.

EDIT2:
@zinger: I don't think you can really compare the gameplay mechanics of a RPG and the ones from a round-based tactial shooter (X-COM) or a strategy game (Civ).

EDIT3:
I'm outta here, since this looks like it could turn into the context debate

[Jodo Kast]

Originally Posted by zinger

I've mostly stopped doing this now though, since knowing a soundtrack beforehand severely alters its in-game impact if you play it afterwards (which I hope to do with many of those games).

Such a thought could have never entered my mind when I was playing games frequently. There was no way for me to get the soundtracks, nor did I even know about them. These days, it is very easy to spoil things, since there are so many longplays and walkthroughs on youtube (but those are great for learning new things for old games).

[Rhythmroo]

Originally Posted by PSIRockin

Has anyone ever bought a game soundtrack without playing the game?

Did this for the following:

http://vgmdb.net/album/8603
http://vgmdb.net/album/4631


Anime
http://vgmdb.net/album/22024
http://vgmdb.net/album/22025

Being a student of music, I take every chance I get to listen to music of all kinds, especially video game music, so purchasing and listening to music without playing the game is normal to me. :3

I also do this because I don't have time to play games as much as I used to...

[Hellacia]

Originally Posted by zinger

Let's stay on topic here.

Jeez... one post from somebody who has their own opinion and the fanboys go wild. Protip: it's called an opinion for a reason.
EDIT: This is not directed toward zinger. I'm quoting zinger because I couldn't agree with him more.

And staying on topic, I recently bought a couple soundtracks (from Chudah, whom I highly recommend!):

Shizuku ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK
Arc the Lad GENERATION Original Soundtrack

both of which I haven't played the game to. I really like doing this because I can hear the music apart from any bias playing the game might give me. It may sound weird, but I really have noticed that over time, my opinions about certain songs have changed, while my taste in music has stayed mostly the same. That's because I'm not so attached to the relation the song has to the game anymore, because my gaming days have really been over for some years now. Now that I just listen to the music apart from all that, I appreciate it for its musical value over its nostalgia with me. Of course, I'll always have bias for some songs, but I'm learning that getting soundtracks to games I haven't played is actually more enjoyable for me

[PSIRockin]

Yyyeaaahhhh... So anyway, I bought the Super Mario Galaxy 2 soundtrack before I bought the game for $1 plus shipping. I was really pleased with that CD but I broke the hinge on the case. The first SMG was awesome and I completed it twice. So now because I bought the soundtrack I got the game. The end.

[dancey]

I haven't played a console game to completion in ten years, so every soundtrack I buy.

[pepak]

Originally Posted by PSIRockin

Has anyone ever bought a game soundtrack without playing the game?

That's the case with perhaps 75 percent of my collection.

(Still better than with my movie soundtrack collection - it's something like 95 percent there...)

[Despatche]

i do this all the time. i make it a habit to care more about the music out-of-game than in-game; sometimes, if i can, i mute music in-game and leave sfx on. more (all) games need to have "0%~100% volume" options.

(the chrono trigger thing up there started/happened/ended so poorly)

[CaptainCommando]

I have bought soundtracks to games I've never played, but I've begun to limit my purchases due to the expense - and the chance that the soundtrack will be disappointing. Biggest example of this was R-Type Final. I was expecting something more like R-Type 3 or Delta, but the soundtrack was very atmospheric and lacked the pulsing rhythms of the previous games. Needless to say, after dropping $30+ on a single disc that I was disappointed with, I stopped taking risks and started only buying soundtracks if I'd listened to them beforehand.

That said, I've listened to a lot of soundtracks to games I've never played - and I have also played some games because I liked the music (Turrican) or knew the composer had worked on it. Sometimes this is out of curiosity or because I liked the composer (for instance, I own most Yasunori Mitsuda albums, though I have only played two of his games!). However, I'll point to Slightly Dark for expanding my interests in VGM beyond the series and composers I am familiar with.

In fact, it was someone at SD who stated that a serious connoisseur of vgm will listen to soundtracks to games they aren't even familiar with. At that point, they are showing interest in the music above context.

However, I will say that I tend to gravitate towards the familiar. I like to listen to soundtracks where I'm familiar with the context - or rather, the soundtracks I enjoy rather than ones I am unfamiliar with and might not enjoy, and I often end up enjoying a song more because I played the game it appears in. This is because the music will have an emotional context attached to it that can make the piece more compelling and familiar. Perhaps I also like VGM so much because of the repetition, which goes along with familiarity! Ultimately though, I think it comes down to tastes

[Datschge]

I actually barely play anymore, but I usually like to try out games of which I already know I like the music. Great music makes games bearable.

[Lucy]

Well, I did this with some of my albums too. As far as I can tell it depends on the rarity of the OST and if it's worth the money or not. I did this with some of the mega boxsets (Kingdom Hearts, OutRun, Breath of Fire, Rockman Classic), even before I played the games trough.

[v1le]

Now days I guess it's a bit too risky to go for this "buy pig in a bag"-style of buying VGM so I always have to play game first or listen to some previews of soundtrack before buying it. There are some exceptions for a few selected composers which I happen to like, and usually their works do not fail even if you decide to go and buy it blindly.

[PSIRockin]

Originally Posted by Lucy

Well, I did this with some of my albums too. As far as I can tell it depends on the rarity of the OST and if it's worth the money or not. I did this with some of the mega boxsets (Kingdom Hearts, OutRun, Breath of Fire, Rockman Classic), even before I played the games trough.

I saw that Outrun boxset but I really wanted the After Burner one. Now I can't find either anywhere.