So I’ve decided to make a triumphant return to Wall of Sound with somewhat of a timely piece (as the third installment in the series hit US store shelves on Sunday) featuring the music of the Professor Layton series. I honestly have had a difficult time qualifying where the series and it’s associated sound fits among it’s musical contemporaries as it manages to blend quite a number of genres and styles in the creation of something oddly compelling. I found myself in such a quandary that I brought in a real expert to give her two cents on the subject, and by expert I actually mean my Sister who has been playing in Symphonic Orchestras for a good 10 years or so.
Professor Layton and the Curious Village Theme (2007)
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Without ever having seen any of the art or games in the series, my Sister’s first impression – an incredibly accurate one at that – was “half deserted bar in mythical steampunk land with a house pianist, violinist and accordion player…It’s kind of mournful, but played by what I’d consider ‘regulars,’ the people are playing in a dusty bar, not skeezy, just not clean, not too active.”
Professor Layton and the Curious Village – Deserted Amusement Park
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After a bit more thought the theme she settled on was that the music wasn’t meant to be placed within genre limits, but instead exist to invoke certain feelings and images, which based one her snap first impression seems like series composer, Tomohito Nishiura, has done his job to perfection.
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box Theme (2007)
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Often times music, as a narrative tool, is met with simple ignorance as most gamers who really like Still Alive (Of Portal fame) and don’t take the time to imagine what a game lacking a soundtrack – not a piece of coincidental credit music – would play and feel like. If you’ve never gone into a game’s options and manually turned the music off, I would liken the experience to learning that 75% of what we perceive as taste actually comes from smell, which when you’re told seems like an absolute crock of shit, but anyone with allergies knows that with a clogged sinus comes the most bland and indifferent tasting meals of your life. As with taste, then, music.
The problem with Layton, and for that matter every puzzle game ever conceived, always seems to be the looping nature of music heard when solving puzzles. It works for Jeopardy because it only happens once per half hour, but in a game which throws you into a puzzle every few minutes, the simple melody of marimba and vibraphones quickly goes from being novel to downright irritating, then to inspiring homicidal urges, and finally to an all out cranial explosion – it is simply the Chinese water torture of music.
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future Theme (2008)
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With each title comes a unique theme, which is, as it should be, the driving musical tone that accompanies the ambient and atmospheric melodies heard throughout the game. Fortunately, with each successive title, these themes have become better and better. It’s my wish that anyone with access to a DS (which at this point is everyone on the planet right?) plays through and experiences at least one Layton title. From it’s setting to the characters and increasingly ludicrous plots, Professor Layton, like any true gentlemen, will never disappoint.
The Wall of Sound Playlist
Professor Layton and the Curious Village Theme
Professor Layton and the Curious Village – Deserted Amusement Park
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box Theme
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future Theme
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