I also love how the Area Zero theme doesn't change its instrumentation, but the deeper you get in Area Zero, read the journals and converse with Sada/Turo, the theme starts to feel more eerie and unsettling. Not quite otherworldly, but there's something unnatural about this Zone. It makes Area Zero one of my favourite locations in the franchise along with Temporal Tower from Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky.
It's interesting that you thought the Treasures of Ruin theme sounds regal, the lore behind that quartet is that they were gifts brought to a king from a faraway, arguably Eastern region. I guess this means that the theme was spot on for the quartet!
But the gifts were cursed, and the king’s greed unleashed the curse in the forms of these four Pokémon wreaking havoc and destruction upon his kingdom.
It's a hard Eurobeat techno version of the Team Star metal rock theme. Considering its in game lore composer (Giacomo) is a DJ hearing a modulated Galarian accent when talking to the Big Boss, makes sense tbh...
Fun fact: Penny's theme has bits of the galarian gym leader theme in it, which (spoilers down below). Fits her lore. She moved to galar for a while due to team-star related things... Also I love watching your music reactions. I end up learning so much about music.
You’re not wrong about the Area Zero theme. “Grand, sprawling,” those adjectives definitely describe the Great Crater of Paldea. It’s a beautiful world unto itself, hidden underneath a dense cloud layer. AND YET…despite the beauty and the majesty, this place IS dangerous. It’s the most restricted territory of Paldea for a VERY good reason. I personally compare it to the Forbidden Forest from Etrian Odyssey 2 (particularly the remake, for the music). It’s grand, it’s beautiful, it SEEMS perfectly serene…but underneath it all, you just KNOW that something is WRONG here. And knowing that makes me, and hopefully others, understandably uneasy.
I cannot imagine how haunting and beautiful Area Zero would sound with strings. Super hyped for whatever the future holds! With all the Gen 9 artwork officially out, Paldea's in FULL swing!
The loop point for the Legendary Quartet theme is actually a bit further into the song than you stated, and is notable for being the "break" point of the tune (where everything sort of stops for a moment as if to let everyone take a deep breath). And yes, the song has a very regal feeling that also crosses with the Bolywood pop-style. Many have noticed a similarity between it and the song "Tunak Tunak Tun" by Daler Mehndi from two decades ago; there are some shockingly good remixes of the two songs together out there. As for your question, I don't really have a singular generation I like over the others anymore; I've been with the series since the start, and I have favorites in every generation. I just love them all.
The battle theme for the 5 Team Star bosses is one of my favorite tracks in any Pokemon game. And I love that it's actually playing in universe from the Starmobile's speakers and Giacomo is the one who made it.
@@drascin well, at least we get to hear it in the postgame! Unlike Penny's theme which only plays once the whole game even though we can battle her in the tournament, and what was the point in giving Nemona a second theme if they weren't going to use either of her themes in the postgame?
So about Pennys theme, it’s my favorite in the game, and here’s my analysis of its style for those un-educated in its genre. The genre is happy hardcore with elements of rawstyle and hardstyle. The synths used are very reminiscent of super saws mixed with the Hoover sounds of the alpha-Juno 1 synthesizer, which was used in the early days of the genre, especially in the harder Gabber scene of the late 80’s early 90’s. A lot of artists in the hardcore spectrum take inspiration from classical, intentionality or not. It’s even become a joke in the community to make a remix of a classical song in the genre, almost like a write of passage. Anyway, I’m very tired and my English isn’t the best, so sorry for any inaccuracies things I missed, and for the bad explanation.
Your little play-along of Area Zero gave me goosebumps! I never realized how good that one would sound with strings until now. I always enjoy seeing your reactions to these songs! My two favorite games are from Generation 8 and 9 respectively. Favorite generation as a whole? Generation 5, probably, depending on what Generation 9 is yet to bring. :-)
Personally I'm a Gen 5 guy. I'm a sucker for the story and it's Characters. I also love a lot of the different cities and the music that accompanies them. The music just brings so much nostalgia for me, and it unlocks a special part of my brain. However, the music from Gen 9 (Scarlet and Violet) is also pretty great.
My favorite gen is a three-way tie between Gen 4, 3, and 9. 4 because Platinum was my first game, and Heart Gold blew me away. Looking back on it, I really did fall in love with the series when Cynthia kept sending me back to the Elite Four’s Pokémon center. 3 because Emerald was an incredibly charming journey with a phenomenal soundtrack. Gen 6 gets points for me for ORAS, the game I started seriously shiny hunting. 9 because the story was magical and the characters felt human. I didn’t run into a single character I disliked in my run of Scarlet, and it’s the only Pokémon game to make me shed a tear (thanks, Arven). Mature themes elevated it even further, especially near the end. Honorable mention goes to 7, as I don’t see it get the love I think it deserves. The uncanny feeling that game gave me was delightful, I mean, who’d think to mash Hawaii and inter dimensional aliens?
For me, it's 5, 7, and 9 (In that order maybe? Idk 7 and 9 are about equal with their problems to me tbh). I still think 7 doesn't get enough love too sadly. Which is funny considering Gen 5 gets a ton of it in the modern day at least. SuMo were super solid games, and while USUM were disappointing in the story aspect in some ways (probably should have told an entirely new story instead of retelling old ones) it made up for that in its gameplay and updated features. I loved how challenging gen 7 was on the whole, especially USUM. And now Gen 9 has taken what they tried to do in gen 7 and made it a reality. Albeit Gen 7 still has better execution IMO. I grew up with 4 and 5, and played through 3 recently too.
I've actually seen several really well done Orchestra compositions of Penny's Theme, because it does translate so well as a classical piece, so I think its so awesome that he mentioned that aspect of her theme.
when you were playing along (in this and part 1), all I could think was ‘dang, that man can fiddle’. i know some violinists don’t like that name or the perceived comparison, so I’m very sorry if I’ve offended. But I grew up in the southeast US, and I’ve seen some bluegrass fiddlers that honestly transcend description, and the joy and ease of your playing reminded me of that!
I'm a gen 5 fan. The storyline and music and just everything around it is incredible. This last gen gets on 2nd place for soundtrack and story alone tbh.
@@exaunitive4948 it still affects the game as a whole. I echo the sentiments of Noe save for making it 2nd best (I personally have it tied for 3rd with Gen 4). The glitches, the frame rate issues, you not being able to go into many buildings, having little to no NPCs be interactable, etc. is leaning towards being unacceptable. The worst part is it’s not even the devs’ fault. Whoever up top decided it was a good idea to whip out a Pokémon game every three years needs a lobotomy. If this team had 1, 2 years tops, this very well could have been the perfect Pokémon game.
Admittedly I usually play Pokémon games with the sound off because there’s no dialogue and I can listen to other things, but when I heard the Area Zero theme in another video, I fell in love. I listen to it all the time now.
I love Area zero SO MUCH. Imagine being in a place that humans haven't visited in hundreds of years. I get that feeling when I hear it, like almost unspoiled wilderness. Highly recommend listening to Tera raid battle music, very positive. I'm so accustomed to you're style of music now, SPG! Scarlet and Violet is the best, final story was incredible. Nostalgic to first, and third Gen. Honestly didn't play much of second Gen. Had some time in Crystal.
We know humans have been there in the past century because the research stations were said to have been built 87 years ago But yeah there's a sense of utter foreboding like nothing else.
Gen 5 is certainly my fave still as its the first game I ever bought with my own money. But gen 9 post the bug fix patches? That's definitely the strongest story, visuals and soundtrack
The music in these games absolutely blew my mind, I love it. I would say gen 2 is my favorite, but it was also my first. Maybe gen 5 after that, but Paldea has really grown on me so maybe now I'm a niner.
PART 3 PLEASE!!! The theme from Geeta is awesome, specially some parts with some guitar, it's awesome, also the themes for the Team Star Leaders! and since we are with all this pokemon songs, how about going to the gen 4 and reacting to the piano theme from Cynthia?
the area zero theme is one of my favorite themes i always like battle themes more but when i heard area zero i was blown away but my favorite gen is gen 5 it has a good soundtrack and its the most nostalgic for me
Im so glad you mentioned that Area Zero gave you Nier vibes because that was literally what I thought when I first heard it. It became one of my fav tracks!
My favorite gens are 5 and 9 in a tie and 7 as 2nd to them. The themes, the love that was poured into all 3 was amazing. 5's story was very mature for a Pokémon game when it came out and has some of the best music. 9 just made me feel happy being able to explore everything in its capacity, the story being far more mature, the music being amazing and the Pokémon being super cool. 7 had some of the greatest marketing (even though we were bombarded with information about new pokémon constantly), amazing customization and the areas were just pretty.
saw a reply somewhere that you're doing another scarlet/violet video. my personal recommendations are the team star grunt theme for context/buildup to my main choice: the team star boss theme (kinda loops around 3 mins but is a bit different in the 2nd half, wouldnt want to miss that), followed by the team star flashback music to see what emotion it conveys to you (its a lot less intense than the first 2 but hits hard with context from the story). favourite gen is gen 3 since i first properly saw someone playing sapphire, but the nostalgia is still there for 1-3, especially when it comes to the music
ah man so happy to see other people compare the area zero theme to something from nier automata. as soon as i heard the vocal that was the only thing i could think of
I love how melancholic the basic melody to Penny's theme sounds and the Area Zero one also reminds me of some of the Earth Girl Arjuna themes by Yoko Kanno, too 🥰 Oh, and Gen 1 girl, as I started out with those and most of my favourite mons are still from that gen. Got no clear favourite, though, I really enjoyed most of them 😁
Gotta go with gen 2 myself. It added some great pokemon and qol improvements over gen 1 and those remakes? **Chef's kiss** Hadn't really thought about what Penny's theme would sound like without the Star treatment, but it sounds so different!
I knew Toby Fox worked on music for Sword and Shield, but I was not aware he also worked on Violet and Scarlet, which doesnt suprise me as the music in the game is crazy good. It hard to put into (the right) words, but he has a way with music where you can litteraly feel the atmosphere and it plays with your emotions.
Love your style and your energy that you bring to these videos! As someone who enjoys pokemon music so much and is a big part of my experience while playing the game, your enthusiasm and insight into these tracks is so amazing to hear. Both these videos have been amazing and I've watched them multiple times. Can you make one final one and review the Team Star Boss Battle Theme? It's actually diegetic and has some elements to it that fit in with the plot really well. Would love to see what you think about that track. Other than that, Montenevera Gym Theme is quite nice, and Academy Ace Tournament too.
Oh my god. I hadn't heard the Quartet of Ruin's soundtrack before, so I'm pleasantly surprised by how cool it sounds!! I also found your immediate reaction to Area Zero hilarious. I can agree how mindblowing it was to hear it for the first time. As for generations, I'll admit this is a "first game bias", but I like Gen 3. Gen 5 is on second place for the story and soundtrack itself, even though I haven't finished the game. Lastly, recommendations. I'm gonna stick to Violet/Scarlet. I think you'll have a blast with both Team Star Grunt and Team Star Leader's themes!!
I've been playing since gen 1, but I am also a gen 3 lover. The music is amazing, with my all-time favorite track being here in route 113, my absolute favorite pokemon Blaziken was introduced here, and my favorite treetop city, Fortree City is here.
I know this video is over a year old, but i loved both reactions to the scarlet/violet soundtrack. The commentary is great and it makes me want to suggest maybe doing some reactions to concerts from the game i play, Mabinogi, we have a large group of composers in game that do concerts every few months, translating already known songs into mml format or even sometimes composing their own new songs
Favorites: Gen 1, 6 and 9 Reasons: I'm start to play Pokemon for the very first time during the 6 gen. I'm played the remake of Red and Blue (from Gen 1) using my tablet. For Gen 9, The music and the lore was very amazing.
Area Zero Wild Battle Theme and Paradox Pokémon battle themes are also absolutely bop. The champion theme is also pretty good. This game has probably the best soundtrack in Pokémon.
Funny that you mention Nier Automata vibes for Area Zero theme. I just double checked and it was Toby Fox that made that song and he absolutely loves those types of games so it's very fitting you'd hear that sound in there
I would love if you could react to the songs from the Stardew Valley OST or Hollow Knight OST or maybe Sky: Children of the Light? I love all these games a lot and they have a lot of good music in them !!
These are three of my absolute favorite songs from Scarlet and Violet, and it's so cool seeing your reactions to them. Love your work, man! Hope to hear some covers of these from you sometime!
Just saying the Two Team Star themes are great the ones for grunts and the Boss's, btw a fun fact these 2 tracks canonically are made by one of the Team Star Boss's Giacomo! I should mention Penny is part of Team Star but she has a different Energy then these 2
Yes Legendary Quartet is my favourite track in the game, and my favourite generation is 5, the Unova games, particularly Black And White 2, were near perfection, and the amazing soundtrack is part of that.
My favourite generation used to be 5, because of the Pokemon *and* the soundtrack, I also loved gen 7 (mostly because of Ultra Necrozma and its battle theme), but gen 9 became my favourite almost as soon as the games came out. I love pretty much everything about it, the Pokemon design (especially the Future Paradox Pokemon), the story, and especially the soundtrack, like, Arceus Almighty, this soundtrack is amazing.
I'm not a music expert so my opinion is entirely uneducated, but I feel like the violin improv and the OST playing in the background should have a smaller difference in sound. The violin sometimes overshadows the entire song making it hard to comprehend the actual OST and how the violin compliments it, especially with the cuts to other segments of the OST in question. Amazing video though, so glad you loved Penny's team! My favourite generation is Gen 5, mainly because of the sheer death count in my Black 2 nuzlocke
I'm old school so Gen 1 and 2 are my favorite also even though I'm not the biggest fan of the new game the music is amazing and you really did it justice I loved your violin playing while listening to it the first two songs are my favorite Penny's theme and Zero Area theme are two of my favorites from the game
Scarlet and Violet definitely have the best story out of any Pokémon game, but like you, Gen 3 is still my favorite too. I started my first Pokémon journey with Leafgreen and Emerald, and Emerald is still my favorite Pokémon game. However, Scarlet is rapidly approaching and is a very close second. I also highly recommend you do a part 3 and react to the Elite Four theme and Champion Nemona theme.
I don't know if there's gonna be a part 3 to this or not, but if there is, I think it should include the Elite Four battle theme, Champion Geeta battle theme, Nemona battle theme (both versions), Arven battle theme, Sada/Turo battle theme, and Team Star Bosses battle theme. I think those are the last big themes in the game besides the Province Area themes, but god, I love the battle themes in this game.
Maybe you could listen to the themes of the other 3 pokemon of the last one part of the quartet since I'm pretty sure they were legendary and the point of them being connected is they all come from the same place once you wake them up you battle them and if you look at they're expressions of each 4 of the Pokemon their faces are like different type of unhappiness or anger I forgot their names but the white ice leopard one is mad and like wondering why you're there and bull looking one is mad that your on they're land and it's ready to headbutt you out forever the fish one is just mad because why not? And the grass one is checking you if they have like an expression that they're like looking at you trying to figure out who you are but it's like mad
For me, Generation 5 is my favorite. There's so much about it I adore. I do also have to put Gen 2 solely for the nostalgia since that is the first Pokemon game I played, although I play the remakes more because the remakes are strictly better games all around. XD
Well damn if I'm not now hyped for a violin cover of the area zero theme~ XD Hmm. Which gen of Pokemon is my fav is a hard one... I really love story so gens 5, 7 and this most recent gen 9 are really hard to chose from (and I'm not entirely sure if Legends Arceus is gen 9 or gen 8 technically?) but I think I'll have to go with gen 5, if only because it had two top tier games (Black and White and their sequels) in them, plus while pokemon music is always good gen 5 went jazzy a lot and had the joy that is the Village Bridge track which just barely pushes its tracks past my fav tracks in gen 7 and 9 in terms of preference (those mainly being 'Gladion's theme' for SM, 'vs Ultra Necrozma' for USUM, and Penny's theme, area zero theme and the 'Vs Professor' themes in SV). It's really hard to choose though given so many of fav Pokemon and lore concepts where introduced in gen 7, and this most recent gen changed so much of the classic formula (plus. Area Zero is one of the most unique and interesting places in the entire series)~
Going to have to go with Gen 5, the refresh on most mechanics, completely new pokedex, music and most of all story are tough to beat. Gen 3 is probably a close second though.
Well,the composer of these soundtracks are created by a pixelated dog plushie,I forgot his name but he created a comedian skeleton,a psychopathic jester and a puppet robot.
My order is as follows: Gen 2>5>1=9>4>7>3>6=8 I live and die by Gen 2, this is what pkmn will always be for me. The reveal of Kanto being in the game, the new pkmn being seen but many difficult to find, the remakes... really love this generation.
My favourite gen is 6 and tbh S/V is the fist time I'd say I like the soundtrack equally as much. They are both on nr. 1 for me (the Kalos and Hoenn remix tracks just go too hard for me personally to put them under S/V)
I’m a diehard gen 5 fan. The story, Pokemon, characters, region, and music are all perfect. That said, Area Zero and its storyline essentially carried this game for me. As much as I liked Arven, Penny, and Nemona’s stories, S/V wouldn’t be nearly as high on my list if it didn’t have Area Zero capping it off. However, the glitches, frame rate issues, and other aspects about the game (such as being little to no buildings in towns you can enter) are actually unacceptable. You can’t have this happen with a franchise this big.
Haven't seen you listen to legends Arceus soundtrack. It is amazing as well. Do you wanna do that as well? Especially the final battle song with the Villain, so epic🥰