These artists make some sick tunes that’d fit great in a video game.
I’ll be quite honest: this list really has no rhyme or theme to it apart from the fact that they are, as the title suggests, five of my favourite musical artists that I think would do very well in contributing to a video game. A lot of them are Japanese (a majority in fact), but again: this is my own personal taste in music we’re talking about here. Additionally, a lot of them are video game inspired or high energy in and of themselves, so if you do know the artists already, my justification for their inclusion won’t be that much of a surprise. But if you haven’t heard any of them before, I certainly hope you enjoy these artists that I’m introducing you to!
MAN WITH A MISSION
The reason I think these wolves should make a game soundtrack or at least contribute heavily to one isn’t just because of their high-energy sound (because they certainly have that in spades), but their versatility. Yes, you get your big bombastic HELL YEAH songs like ‘Wake Myself Again’, which could do well with moments of great triumph or extreme intensity, but they also have quieter songs. For example, ‘The World’s On Fire” from the album of the same name may be a bit loud, but it’s certainly more restrained and thoughtful with its lyrics about the world having a lot of problems. It touches on the value in sticking together and weathering through the issues. With this combination of big happy songs like ‘Higher’, subtle tracks like ‘Dancing On The Moon’ and of course explosive and dynamic anthems like ‘Raise Your Flag’ (which serves as the first opening to the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans), MAN WITH A MISSION would be a perfect fit for a video game soundtrack. What kind of game, exactly? Well, they already have found a place in gaming with their song ‘Survivor’ being used for the image song for Street Fighter V. I would follow in that song’s footsteps and have them write the music for a fighting game or an action game. But considering their versatility and their penchant for fantasy with their album ‘Tale of Purefly’ or their single ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ from the Netflix anime of the same name, I could easily see them composing for a RPG of any kind.
Anamanaguchi
Now I know I’m kinda cheating with this one considering the fact that 1), they already did the soundtrack to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game; 2) released whatever the hell Capsule Silence XXIV was; and 3), being a chiptune/bit pop band, the link to video gaming is already there. That being said, there’s still a lot more they could do. With their more mature, unique, and (for lack of a better word) ‘aesthetic’ style from the album Endless Fantasy and onward, I definitely think they should have another stab at doing a soundtrack for a video game. I’m not suggesting at all that they should forget their initial Nintendocore roots, as that could easily fit into another throwback 8-bit nostalgia game. Rather, I’m saying that they could also expand to weirder and more modern games as well. They could easily contribute to some strange game seeped in Tumblr/vaporwave aesthetics or even something more pastel cyberpunk-y like Read Only Memories. I would love to hear them in a videogame again since they have evolved away from their original style to a new sound.
Kyary Pyamu Pyamu
If you couldn’t tell by now, I have a very particular taste in music, one that leads me to find artists that take heavy influence from the tunes of classic video games. Kyary is definitely one of those kinds of artists; I feel she would be a driving force behind the hypothetical game she’d do the soundtrack for in both music and aesthetic design. This is due to her having such a strong visual style outside of her music, which can I suppose be best described as bubble-gum, Harajuku psychedelic. In fact, it’s sometimes her unique style that draws me to her as much as her music. But a video is worth more than a thousand words, so watch the embedded music video above for a look at what I mean about her style. If she did a game soundtrack, the easiest genre her style could fit would be some kind of throw-back platformer; hell, she’s already has done adverts with Nintendo, so there’s a precedent for it. But I think the one that would best showcase her style and her music would be the adventure genre. Because the exploration of various environments is the the draw of adventure games, she would be at home in the genre as it would offer many creative opportunities to showcase her style. Additionally, due to the pacing of adventure games, the player would have a lot of time to take in the visuals and the music, thus further proving how well Kyary Pyamu Pyamu would mix with an adventure game.
ORESAMA
As ORESAMA is already based in retro/80s design, their music would be a perfect match for a game of the same style. ORESAMA is a very recently formed indie band from Japan that I can best categorize as future funk; With that in mind, their music has much more singing, less repetition and more romantic lyrics than your average upload to Artzie Music. In short, they are an 80’s synth and video game inspired J-pop band with modern Japanese sensibilities and styling. Now, their obvious 8-bit influences are a key reason why I added them into this list, so obviously they’d do well doing the music for a throwback platformer or RPG. However, I think their lyrical intelligence and their abundance of romantic themes in their songs would make them a good fit for a romantic and stylish visual novel; especially if it uses the artist they usually collaborate with in their music videos! Again, they only have one album out so far, and they are inspired by classic video games, so their options for what video games they could compose for is limited, but I think no matter what they hypothetically would do, it would sound and be great.
SEKAI NO OWARI
This entry is going to be similar to the one about Kyary Pyamu Pyamu, not only because the lead singer of this band used to date Kyary but because they are both musically and stylistically similar. However, I feel SEKAI NO OWARI has some extra things that make it worth putting them into their own entry. Firstly, the innocent, adventurous and fairy-tale like attitude that emerges from songs such as ‘Snow Magic Fantasy/スノーマジックファンタジー ‘ or ‘Honoo to Mori no Carnival (Flames and Forest Carnival)/炎と森のカーニバル’ would match perfectly into a game with a similar style, such as Ni No Mori or Little Big Planet. As well, they also have obviously video game inspired songs such as ‘PLAY’ or ‘RPG’ that could fit in any kind of platformer or (surprise surprise) RPG. They have also shown themselves to be capable of making darker songs like ‘Anti-Hero’ or ‘Death Disco’ that certainly could lead them towards darker (but not necessarily super-serious) action games. They wear their video game influences on their sleeves, but I think their happy go-lucky attitude and diverse soundscape certainly makes them fit for the medium and many projects within it.