Ah, my old demo reel. Before I really knew what demo reels were supposed to be. I got the idea to make a “fake RPG soundtrack”, to show off my developing writing skills to potential clients. It was my first real large-scale orchestral work.
What it ended up being was a lesson in how NOT to orchestrate, but it was important in helping me to develop my style and learn more about theory and production. I sure did have fun writing these and compiling the project over a few months’ time.
The grand title and credits sequence, in which the characters are introduced and the story is hinted at through a montage of scenes, the evil wizard grinning amidst lightning strikes, scythe yelling as he dives for a crystal, and the hero holding his sword as the camera zooms out to show him in a live [...]
The introduction of the game finds our young prince shrugging off his studies to explore the castle grounds and cause mischief. He feels uneasy about something but can’t quite identify it. At dusk he returns to the castle and gets ready for bed.
Skyview city, situated on top of a mountain with a clear view for many miles in all directions, seems to be at the top of the world, but one of the evil wizard’s henchmen attacks the party and tries to bring the city crashing down!
The hero, through a mystical out-of-body experience, is shown his true powers and destiny, and begins to wake up to the true timelesSness of the world! All is revealed, and the quest truly starts.
Scythe, the rebellious teenage mystic who was killed during forgotten-tides-1, comes back to life to join the hero’s party and guide him toward defeating the evil wizard!
Sunrise in the royal court — but something is not right! As the king enters the courtyard, the evil wizard attacks!! The young prince can barely escape capture, but he manages to rush out of the castle just in time
The dark emperor is vanquished! The hero is victorious! Now they must escape from the crumbling dark tower. Fades into a sad interlude while the hero mourns the loss of his comrades, then a triumphant restatement of the theme as Krystal reanimates and the two reunite!!!
The hero searches for his lover, in all corners of the world, only to find her at his home, apparently dead or spellbound….
The hero and krystal fall in love in a secluded area of a rainforest, with a waterfall and sparkling lagoon. Giant props to chris wilkerson (psykoz) for the melody/theme.
Unprepared, Scythe is no match for the dark emperor. He sees how hopeless the situation is, and saves Krystal by taking the full impact of an attack, letting them escape – this is the cutscene after the battle where he falls, and the hero, upset with himself, draws inward and meditates. Krystal adjourns to a [...]
Scythe finds the emperor. This is the first of two battles against this character.
The DARK EMPEROR descends on the nomad camp. In a divine clash, the camp is destroyed and they are all killed, including scythe’s family.. Scythe soon returns to find the wreckage. Shocked, devastated, blinded by rage, he seeks out the dark emperor without thinking. The hero and krystal chase after him.
A snowy mountaintop, glistening in the morning sunlight. Of course, the serenity is shattered when giant monsters try to kill you, but that’s another song :)
The party explores the halls and rooms of the emperor’s tower at night, trying to lay low and avoid being detected.
A 5-minute cutscene of a ride through the imperial city – over, under, around, and through the giant ducts, smokestacks, and neon-lit tech noir skyscrapers.
A short, troublesome, absentminded clockworker who was employed in the construction of a prototype teleporter – he might be the hero’s ticket back home. If only they can get his attention. He’s very irritating!
The roving in-game music as the party explores the desert, looking for the mid-game boss battle.
Hay, cobblestones, wagons, inbreeding. Battle theme is integrated at 4:06, even though in a real game it would not work that way.
The main title animation of the game jumps onscreen, smolders, glows, then deadens and is cast into stone. Cliché, but necessary.