I honestly can't wait to hear your thoughts on Fontaine's 3rd battle theme. It's definitely my favourite of the lot as it doesn't sound like a traditional battle theme for Genshin.
And could you after that do Fontaine battle theme 3? In my opinion it is really worth reacting to because (at least for me) its one of the best battle themes ever. So if you have time could you consider it after Kazuha character demo?
Hey Macro, if you could review the music for the long dark. That would be awesome. Not a lot of people know the game let alone how amazing the music truly is.
I've once seen someone theorize that _photon of fluctuation_ is the travelers' motif. Which I think makes sense. The travelers obviously represent the light (photon), but are also considered a variable in the story, so in a sense, they're the fluctuation in the static world of Teyvat. Just thought it was interesting.
Super interesting idea! Unfortunately it doesn't connect with the fact that the Photon of Fluctuaction plays in every character demo up until Eula's and Yanfei's so I lean more towards it being Teyvat's general theme than the Traveler's.
I love it so much how HOYO-MiX goes so hard even for the normal battle themes. It makes regular gameplay so much more enjoyable to have these bangers playing all the time!
It's just a shame that for long time players like me, the enemies barely last long enough to listen past 10 seconds max lmao Hoyo NEEDS to add higher world levels, overworld is just too easy now lol
@@Reydriel It's casual so I sorta understand. If you want "difficult" gameplay there's abyss but tbh, I only do it b/c of mora/primos. Not because its any way at all engaging for me. If we could have deeper coop like optional coop abyss where I can help other player achieve a 36-star abyss but can either be done solo or group, that'd be fun.
@@NightFoxXIII I get it, which is why I want these extra World Levels to be optional and to not give out any more rewards than what the current max level does. Abyss is uninteresting to me. Genshin's strength is the overworld gameplay, and right now it's become so trivial, I have to switch to underleveled/underdeveloped characters to have fun lol
Can't wait for you to hear the third one, It really feels like the battle is a stage and both you and the enemies are dancing to death Edit: man it’s been 8 full months and he still hasn’t listened to it :(
This theme makes me think of a duel between two very pompously dressed fighters, both wielding rapiers. Think puss in boots type of attire. It's not a battle to the death but more of an intricate sword dance not necessarily made for killing efficiency but for the spectacle.
That also makes perfect sense with fontaine, with that one dancing boss and how trials are treated in Fontaine (Btw i haven’t done the latest archon quest so idk if the trial thing changes)
I could not believe my ears when I first heard this theme in game. I always have high expectations for genshin, but this battle theme has such a different feel than all other battle themes, but it including the photon of fluctuation theme quickly reminds you what world you’re in. Such a masterful piece of music, as always. This Chicago concert cannot come sooner
This track specifically feels like something straight out of a JRPG to me, second half especially has that quick, dance-like tempo that I find missing in most combat tracks for this game. Great piece and great analysis as always
I've heard the photon of fluctuation leitmotif in every other piece with it but i can't hear it here😢😢 like i can't hear the photon of fluctuation melody anywhere
Wait... when you say photon of fluctuation are you referring to the f#, a, g#, e, f# melody? Because it's such a basic melody that's used everywhere i don't hear photon of fluctuation in it
Yeah I instantly fell in love with Fontaine when hearing the music, like every song is simply superb, especially the underwater music, it's just divine
Little tip for everyone in listening to full battle osts: When you're grinding out domains, be sure to have all the materials you can think of on hand and use them to level or upgrade weapons and characters at the start of the domain rather than outside of it. You'll more than likely hear the first half of the battle music while leveling up in menus and actually fight to the second half of the music once you're done. It's a very good way to hear the full piece instead of just the first bits in overworld encounters since the likelihood of spending more time grinding in domains than materials outside will be higher so I say make the most of the experience with the music
BTW Mr Yu-Peng Chen officially announced his resign from HOYO-MIX today(on bilibili). It is based on his personal career plan and was well discussed within the team/company. He was proud of growing such a great team of musicians/composers specifically the creation of Fontaine music. For those who don’t know, Mr Chen was creating many famous chinese TV series tracks way before his Hoyo time, and he deserves to move on and pursue his personal achievement and career.
I left Genshin long ago, just before the Chasm was released. I don't really follow what happens there since. But your reviews of Genshin OST make me want to get back and experience all these new locations and archon quests. One day I'll probably give up and get back there thanks to you x) I mean, HOYO-MiX are magicians. I love their works on Honkai Impact 3rd, and I appreciate how they manage to pack all the cultural, world-building and character context into these Genshin soundtracks. And the way you unpack all of it back, catching all the little details which I subconsciously feel, but can't notice, makes me especially happy. Thank you, Marco, your videos are always a ray of light in these dark times. ❤
Yupeng Chen just announced leaving Hoyo-Mix in pursuit of a new journey. Sad to see him left the team, but I believe Hoyo-Mix is capable of maintaining the same level of production since Fountain music are basically made without Chen’s direction.
I love that in 5:49 Photon of Fluctuation is used as a rhythm under the main melody. The last time i remember this being done is Overlord of the Thunderstorm, only this time in Fontaine its more subtle. It makes a really nice groove
This Track feels like it's an epic battle between the Hero and the Villain, both armed with Rapiers. And I loved that the first time I heard it, it was against the 3 million HP Boss, that made the Fight even more exciting.
YOOO. I would have never heard Phase 2 of this theme at all! Though I do believe it plays in the hp sponge enemies you encounter throughout Fontaine, so those fights may let you hear much more. Drums coming in reminded me of Octopath. Good chill beats that are catchy!
Oh man, the piano and guitar having a back and forth in the Part no one hears section is so beautiful. It’s something I never really thought about until hearing it, and now I wonder why it isn’t used more.
Hope you'll get around to having a listen to the Icewind Suite open-world boss, and how you have to manually choose which of two suites to "dance" with for whatever material you want to acquire.
With the emphasis on acoustic guitar and brass, this reminds me a lot of Revo's composition style for Bravely Default. This song sounds lifted straight from that series! I think the song best represents being the nation of water through flow. As the song flows from one part to the next seamlessly it really helps create a fluid vibe.
Every time I listen to this track, I feel as if we were dancing a very dangerous but thrilling tango with the most beautiful woman who turns out to be a femme fatale but also our love interest and the tango keeps getting faster and faster, until we stop.
When you realize that this is also an evolution of the musical talent in Hoyomix as this is made by the successors of Yu Peng Chen after his departure.
It sounds to me like the theme you'd put in an old adventure movie. The hero happily drawing his sword to face many enemies, but confident of winning...
The way this theme does the handoffs between the Spanish guitar and the trumpets really reminds me of the Fire Temple theme from Tales of Zestiria, which is a similarly fun track. Both are extremely joyful!
I genuinely love how long the battle themes are. There are plenty of times (VIVIANE) that I’m spending way too much time on a fight, and it doesn’t feel repetitive
A lot of people seem to agree with my initial thought that this sounds very Xenoblade-y which I find cool, but I didn't pick up on just how close it sounds to Fodlán Winds until you brought it up!
i think the reason why mihoyo makes a long battle event right after Fontaine was released is because so the player can actually listen to the full battle theme
This is my favorite music of the 3 battle theme, absolutely unique and fresh. I like how heroic, dancing and how varied it is, as you pointed out, every instrument gets it's chance to shine. So many little variations that make it so satisfying. This music is unique.
Photon of fluctuation has transformed in many ways,, this version feels like fencing made even epic or a vicotorious siege, with some Final Fantasy feel in some sections, magical, epic, like a dance like some of the Meka that twirls to attack you, and maybe even like an Anime Opening in some ways. Also, From Recent news, Yu-peng chen has left Hoyo-mix to pursue his personal dreams. His works in Hoyo-mix will always be remembered.
Waltz + Jazz + Ballad = Lamentation et Triomphe This new kind of combination instrument is something an game music composer is need to discover some more .... Even Yu Peng Chen left Hoyo-Mix, but he pass the baton at right team and people behind Hoyo-Mix so far ....
I love seeing the enthusiasm you have for music in each of the analysis videos you do!! Every video teaches me something new and honestly I feel like I've been able to appreciate the music more in Genshin because of them.
I like to think that the aim for the fontaine battle ost is to make it sound like we’re watching some sort of movie/movie trailer because the people of fontaine treats real life as if it is fiction.
*SO much going on in this song. I'll swear. Been months, and end up listen to it JUST NOW. It's not boring.* 7:04 Melodic... Harmony. I'm crying. And, you're right. It's literally dancing, to its peak performance. No, not at the peak yet. They can make it better. They can make it richer than this.
The quick, swirling, and dance atmosphere of this song (Fontaine's music in general) greatly reminds me of the songs within Super Smash Bros. Also that whole section of video game music that is included within Super Smash Bro's characters.
This one is so special. Must be one of the best Genshin battle themes with how much it tells, almost as if there's a written scene happening on the screen. One could say "too good to be just a battle theme". I can't say enough how great it is to have Marco explain every moving moment of this track.. piece? What's the right word... Anyway, yeah.. it's so great because for me at least this music is too "big" and overwhelming. I love it, but i love it so much i loose understanding of what am i even feeling at certain points. It's too beautiful to put into words for me, so an explanation lifts a boulder from my soul. I'd love to describe my perception of it, but there's so much, i'm afraid to loose track of some detail, and that's too much of a loss to even try. A definition of "can't grasp the whole picture".
Oh my word I've been waiting for you to do this 🤩. I just love how you react to genshin impact music in particular and it just really brings me chills. When I saw this thumbnail I was absolutely overjoyed and just so excited to watch this video and as always... You never disappoint with your amazing videos. Keep up the amazing work Marco, we all love and support your amazing channel ❤️
I'm in love with most of Fontaine's OST, the classical tones, and the throwbacks to 90's style of Japanese games in particular RPGs are just great. In particular, this track would go great on a traditional RPG.
Lets goo! Around 7:10 is my favorite part too, I quite literally have to forgo killing enemies just so I can get to this part sometimes. Personally, Battle Theme 3 is my favorite but all of Fontaine's music is so good.
7:12 this is why I always said and ask in every single survey: add more world levels, add extreme/hardcore vesions of boss battles. Let players that put effort into building their characters enjoy longer fights and listen to the music instead of just E+Q -> character swap -> E+Q -> character swap -> E+Q -> character swap -> E+.... oh enemies are dead
Marco, YuPeng Chen is leaving HOYO-MiX for his career arrangements. Feeling quite sad, but I think the rest of the team can carry on though, they've already proved their abilities
It gives me the feeling that we are almighty heroes and battles for us just too easy to be worrying about them and we just dance along enemies with smile
It definitely sounds like a fire emblem music you would find in super smash bros ultimate, either 3 houses or a remix My favourite Fontaine battle music
Ngl, I thought that this BGM is specifically made for the Ice wind robot couple boss. I've been playing on Fontaine only fighting the crab boss and ice wind suite, so I haven't really heard how Fontaine Battle Theme on overworld sounds like. But I think this is the ice wind suite based bgm, if you often fight the boss, you will notice it right away. Marco's description also fits the context of fighting this boss.
7:12 _[laughs nervously in routinely hearing the entirity of duel in the mist while fighting kairagi]_ so... I probably will hear it, if it's the first song that comes on. if i was actually still playing.
Yeah, considering how quickly fights end for me in Genshin, I’ve never heard the FE Three Houses section of this theme lol. Also, pretty please listen to Goddess of Victory from the OVERZONE event of Goddess of Victory: Nikke. It’s so good it’s genuinely insane
4:11 In addition to the five regional variants, many early character trailer OST were also largely based on it, and in some cutscene BGM too, as you mentioned it is *the* battle theme and as soon as that motif plays, consistently viewers/players will know combat is to be expected.
I fell in love with this track almost instantly and I fully admit part of it was that those ~4 seconds you hear at @5:50 in this video (where he calls out the "fantastic rhythm") are very close to a couple of seconds in "Don't Ever Forget/I Don't Want To Say Goodbye" from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (roughly 43 seconds into that track if anyone wants to compare). I'm 99% sure this is pure coincidence but since it reminds me of that OST I can't help but love this battle theme more for it - that's not to say the rest of this track isn't great though :D
Fontaine scores remind me Exos Heroes, the terminated turn - based gacha game that have European theme and their scores is so great. As the one who played it not long time ago and heard about the game being shut down, it's so pity the game that have unique characters design and scores have ended their service. I would be glad if you mind reacting this game's scores.
I legit have this theme as my ringtone and I play it and the third on loop... They are SOOOOO GOOOD😢... This one is such a beautiful combination of the various ballroom dances: Ballet, Salsas, a light waltz... 😍😍😍😍 Its just uggghhhh love it.. Feels like Im being tossed all over Europe while equally being the protagonist of some anime
I also thought that we‘d never get to hear the full track in game but when you’re farming domains, they play the music on a loop, so when you’re half way through the track and restart the domain the track actually continues and they switch between tracks. I realized it in Inazuma.
One of the other battle tracks (don't know which one) also has an interesting switch near the end and I only heard it because I sat around listening, it was one of my favorite musical battle moments yet I'll rarely ever hear the whole thing
7:17 So true that most players finish the battle before reaching this part. Because I love the music so much I will use Zhonglis and open a shield just to listen the music lol.
I'm Chinese and I saw your video on Chinese platform Bilibili and I came here to subscribe to your RU-vid channel. I like the analysis of genshin impact music from an opera singer like you so much!
