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Submit Your Question For The MinnMax Show Podcast (Patreon)

Published:
2023-11-28 00:03:33
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

We're recording The MinnMax Show early this week, on Tuesday evening to be exact. So we need your questions early as well! This week for community questions on the podcast, we'll have Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Jacob Geller, and game music maestro Emily Reese from Level with Emily. It's your turn to make the show better by leaving a question, news story, BetterQuest goal, or anything else for us to read on the show as a comment below! We’ll choose our favorite and iam8bit will ship out the great prize below for the winner! We'll stop pulling questions around 8am Central on Wednesday.

On this week’s episode we’ll be talking about...

- Our favorite game music from 2023, submit a YouTube link with your favorite track!

- Steam Deck OLED

- Blasphemous 2

Everybody at the Backstage Pass tier can watch us record the show live on Tuesday night at 7:30pm Central, with an exclusive pre and post show. The unedited archive will be available to view after the fact. You could do us a favor by subscribing to the audio version of the podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, telling a friend, leaving a review, and subscribing to our YouTube channel!

https://apple.co/3lRbzbE

https://www.youtube.com/minnmax

You can also find this item for sale in iam8bit’s online store, and you can use the promo code GOBBLETILLYOUWOBBLE for 10% off everything under $100. Psst… please don’t post that promo code anywhere else on the internet. It’s a MinnMax-exclusive thing. https://www.iam8bit.com/collections/all

Files

Comments

Palo

Which Christmas/holiday cookie reigns supreme?

Quillgrim

Imagine the following scenario: you’re playing video games when a radioactive storm suddenly transforms all video game characters into organic beings. The characters from the last game you were playing turn towards the screen and start stepping out into your house. What is the result of their entry into the real world? Who do you team up with for the greatest chance of surviving the impending video game apocalypse?

Kraven Morcome

Hey MinnMax, What is your "red dot" in videogames? I'm referencing the Seinfeld episode where George buys Elaine a cashmere sweater that has a small red dot on it. He asks Jerry if it is noticeable and Jerry responds he can't answer that now because he already knows of its existence. So, what is a video game that you enjoy but has an issue, big or small, that you can no longer ignore because you know it exists?

SlyCut

If you had to stand on a small ledge against a cliff wall and shimmy across, would you have the front of your body against the cliff wall or the back of your body? For the music portion, I'll offer this new version of the music played during Super Mario RPG's secret, optional boss fight as one of the greatest this year. I love this updated soundtrack. Sea of Stars probably has the best music overall this year, though. https://youtu.be/2rky5mkpAM8?si=cUIRnbVyMuGjrrWv Let it play at least 35 seconds for those drums to kick in.

Travis in Fargo

How is it that the Borat-style “mahyy wiiiiiyyyfe?” has remained culturally relevant and often-quoted after all these years? It’s weird, riiiiiyyyght?!?

Travis in Fargo

Do you have a fun story about sneaking into an event? (Movie, expo, concert, etc.)

Travis in Fargo

Have you ever been starstruck? One time I met Ira Glass at a health food store, and I couldn’t function like a normal human being.

icu.one Cult of the Month

If you could pull a game from obscurity and create an up to date remake of the game for 2024, what would you wish for?

RynaGoGo

Eyyy! That time of the year! Welcome back Emily! My favorite song of the year is Jamie’s Theme from Street Fighter 6. It’s wonderful background music for training and working on combos. Perfect track for getting into the zone. https://youtu.be/TjALmQn5iKc?si=HDpcVYFwXyimsDV7 PS. Ben I sent this link to you months ago. Don’t know if you got it to check it out but the Chained Echoes soundtrack was the best soundtrack of the year 2022. More people should play that amazing game!! https://youtu.be/6AClSFTIM2k?si=s_rgUedLYecb-9op

Quillgrim

Regarding my favorite music of 2023: The music that plays as you battle the boss in the wind temple in Tears of the Kingdom is not only my favorite piece of gaming music from 2023, it was one of the most memorable musical arrangements I have ever experienced while playing a video game. The long climb up into the far reaches of the sky, the lead up to confronting the boss, the glorious battle you wage against it way up in the clouds, all building to an incredible orchestral crescendo... it was unreal. Link below, with a timestamp to the crescendo I'm referring to at 11 minutes 40 seconds (though if you played the game, you already know what part I'm referring to). https://youtu.be/w4NZGa3NMG8?si=du3y9Nc9HTQBK16e&t=700

RickyWinterborn

what's the most catchy video game song of all time? my vote is the doctor mario theme

Jackson Davis

Yoton Yo from Alan Wake 2 has been stuck in my head for weeks, definitely my favorite video game song this year: https://youtu.be/_8-Dc4UNDyY?si=f1-Kz2cbjZEPB9b4 Also glad you’re finally talking about Blasphemous 2! I haven’t even played it yet but I loved the first one so much I don’t want the sequel to get overlooked. What’s a game you want more people to check out even if you haven’t played it yourself?

RabidLime

has a fear or phobia ever stopped you from playing a game? i.e. arachnophobia and Grounded, or acrophobia and Jusant the endless maw under the surface of the ocean is paralyzing to me (thalassophobia). Subnautica is basically a custom-made torture scenario.

Dan from Canada

What percentage of the population likes clowns that are not in fact themselves clowns?

IanTClark

The Hideout default music from FF16. It gets stuck in my head every time! It sounds like something from the Witcher 3.

Devin Atlee-Nutts

"The Floor is Lava" from Pineapple On Pizza (it's the only song in the game). The part where it ramps up at 2:14 is fantastic, especially with the context of what happens in the game. https://youtu.be/tJa8_9t--A0

Joshua Novalis

Hey all! In the spirit of Suriel Vasquez’s truly impressive Zeldathon, I’m starting a new tradition. I’m going to pick a series that I don’t know well and attempt to play through every entry in that series over the course of the year. I think it will be a fun way to fill some of my knowledge gaps, give older titles their time to shine, and see how a franchise evolves over the years. My question to you is: if you had the time, what’s a series that you would want to play through from start to finish? Would you take the opportunity to try something new or use it as an excuse to go back to some old favorites? And what series do you think are a good fit for this project?

Kyle Silva

My favorite track this year comes from Splatoon 3 - Daybreaker Anthem. This recent season of the game added this track and it plays immediately in the hub-world after a weekend-long competitive Splatfest is finished. After all the intensity and pressure for repping your Splatfest team, this track gives me a sense of catharsis and peace from a game known for its fast pace and huge swings. https://youtu.be/tk_HrRkUyDQ?si=O9QumF5dB8x3plvM (0:45 for opening verse, 2:17 for Chorus)

Mike Lynch

Do you think rpg remakes added 2X+ speed for the grown ups who have no time to replay them. Or is it because *nobody* nowdays has time to spend on older rpgs?

RabidLime

hi Emily! do you ever turns a game's music off and put a podcasts on? to people that do, how do you do it? 🤷even if the music isn't doing anything, it still sets the tone and feeling. listening to something else during it feels like taking a big dump on the vibe.

Gabriel Cleveland

Holy hell, would I love to win The Garages "Discipline" vinyl! I got super into them this year, which helped me cope with the ending of Blaseball. Anyway, here's my question: I've always found the MinnMax jingles to be particularly high quality. The "Get a load of this!" has a classic cartoon whimsy to it and even the ad read music propels the listener forward through something that on most podcasts would be tedious, but on this show manages to still be fun. What was the process like in developing the show's signature sounds? I'd love to hear you talk about the level of input you had in terms of creating them.

Devin Atlee-Nutts

Hey MinnMaxers and friends, Have you heard of a game called "The Day Before"? It has been the most wishlisted game on Steam for the last couple of years before recently dropping down to the #2 slot and there seems to be very little attention from games media even though it's releasing next week! It's a game that seems to only be famous for its most wishlisted status and how little has been shared about the game so far. From what has been shown in the few gameplay trailers, it seems to be a zombie survival game MMO type thing, like a mix of State of Decay and Tom Clancy's: The Division but a little more soul-less. Is it on your radar at all? Do you think there is any underground momentum behind this thing or is it some kind of fraud? I'm curious to see what it actually becomes next week (unless there's another mysterious delay). Cheers, Tom

Sam Kennedy

Hello all, The Game Awards are coming up and Geoff Keighley has asked YOU, yes YOU, to devise some new security measures. The only rule is that they have to be ridiculous. What is your plan to prevent people from coming onstage?

Gabriel Cleveland

If each of you had a "walk-up theme" that accompanied your introduction at the beginning of each episode, what would your song be, and if no such song exists yet, what would you want it to sound like? What do you envision the walk up songs for your fellow, not present cohorts to sound like?

Aging_Poorly

Hi Minnmaxers, and hello Emily! What's your favorite example of an obscure instrument being used in video game music, and/or what instrument should be getting more love? Also, shout out to the title screen track of Sea of Stars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ2y5jPD8SY

Veggie

I thought they really knocked it out of the park with the entire Super Mario Bros Wonder soundtrack, it's actually the best part of the game for me. The whole thing has so much variety. My favorite track is Dark Forest, which notably plays over the level where castle bowser looms menacingly in the distance. It's such an eerie and unsettling tune and I feel like we got a lot of types of songs in this game you never thought you'd hear in a Mario game. https://youtu.be/VfvNC5CB12c?si=dXgS-iQbYA14Y_Oo

brynmaur

What is the best instrument?

Andy Dwyer

Do you have a favorite “short” piece of media? Such as a short story, short film, or short game. Shout out to the Minnmax discord book club which is reading the short story Robbie by Asimov this December.

Bryce Blackmore

It is fair to say that graphics in games have improved significantly since games were first introduced to the world. Would it be fair to say that music in games has improved too? Do you think that the music in games followed a similar trajectory or do older game music like tetris, halo etc hold up more than game music today? Why do you think this is/isn't true?

henry db

i was considering nominating a track from TOTK (lookout landing and the colgera fight as standouts) but it’s really gotta be POE’s This Road from alan wake 2 for me. genuinely love this track, it’s thematic relevance, and the way it’s implemented in the game. https://youtu.be/DJy36K2jYCg?si=Dt5LPJ0S-IC_NhOe

Ben with one N

For me, there is no debate about the best video game song of 2023: it's the Skyview Tower Launch track from Tears of the Kingdom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVbEDeGHhOE Made even more emotional knowing that you'll only hear this song a limited number of times. It's a bop!

Nick from Atlanta

Oneirophobia (oh-nigh-roh) is the fear of dreams, and the name of the final raid boss' theme in Destiny 2: Lightfall. Nezarec, the "Final God of Pain," as his health bar describes him, has been taunting you from the moment you entered. As you approach him in the final encounter, he bursts from his sarcophagus and his theme and the fight begin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beGLAnX7-J0 This is peak Destiny soundtrack. The music first weaves in the theme for the Cabal (the primary enemy race in the raid) on strings at 0:34. At 1:06-1:17 you can hear the chorus singing the theme for the Guardians while the brass play the theme for the Darkness. 1:34 has the main Lightfall vocal theme. 2:09-2:22 we hear the Cabal theme again, but now the low brass have taken the theme as a drumset drives them forward and the strings play frenetically underneath. We then immediately get a trumpet that cuts off the low brass with the Guardian theme, illustrating our stand against their forces. The entire last minute of it feels like chaos building until 4:43, when the Guardian theme plays again triumphantly as Nezarec is defeated - but as the rhythm in the strings slows back down, we can still hear the ominous low brass fade out, as Nezarec tells us "My memory will never extinguish. In your calmest moments, your deepest slumber - you will remember me, Guardians." Gives off huge "Sephiroth defeated at the end of Advent Children" vibes. It's an amazing song and I'm so excited for what the audio team is doing for Final Shap- ohhh several of the composers were part of the layoffs. Yikes.

SuperThisWay

Hey cool Min-Maxies! Do you feel like a huge friction point for VR gaming is exclusivity? Video games have always had exclusives with consoles (and also not being able to play old games on new consoles) but with VR having their own exclusives within exclusives (PS5 and PSVR2 for example) I can’t help but wonder if this is hurting VR adoption a lot more. Also y’all are cool. No question about that

Swedish pagan

Is it better to marathon a game you love or play it slowly and savor it?

Jump On Everything

Can't decide between Yötön yö and the final trailer theme for tears of the kingdom

CptCobblePot

Greetings Minnmaxers and Emily! By far the my favorite OST this year is Sea of Stars with Eric Brown (The Messenger fame) heading up the whole audio experience and Yasunori Mitsuda as a guest composer. The whole game has very SNES sound design to it, but with modern layering. What makes the OST exceptional is they made two parallel tracks as you change time, one for day and one for night in each area. My favorite song is probably Mountain Trail. Day: https://youtu.be/i6X-wQU3c8Q?si=JP55O4Gj5ypbRD81 Night: https://youtu.be/nUH-qqYEqLo?si=3LPUUZ5zEMf1RFv2

Jeorin

My favorite soundtrack this year by far is Final Fantasy XVI's. With an incredible opening boss track like Away, or the epic Ascension track that plays during the battle with Bahamut. However, I want to call attention to the softer and beautiful song Histoire, which plays in the overworld en route to the Holy Empire of Sanbreque: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CroyD1kH3AM. Masayoshi Soken truly delivered one of the most memorable soundtracks in video game history.

Hunter Sax

Final Fantasy XVI's soundtrack is absolutely nanners. The track Press On (Infernal Shadow Theme) is not only a fantastic boss fight, but also accompanied by one of the best bangers of the year. https://youtu.be/LGdVC9LwQkk?si=zP6EnMza4BFQqr65 Also love or hate Starfield, it has great space music.

Martin Glowacki

"No Risk, No Reward" from Final Fantasy XVI has to be one of my favourite battle themes in ages. https://youtu.be/_ZoEeTBstNw?si=O2wyimuGyZzVzx6T The way the song builds up at 1:26 is wonderful, and the portion that plays at the crescendo of the build up at 1:42 has been stuck in my head all year. Awesome battle song that never failed to keep me pumped up for each encounter.

Charnel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODy6rmrh4Og Hideki Naganuma of Jet Set fame(?) returns to drip illness on Team Reptiles BombRush Cyberfunk. Best OST this year for me. Question- It feels like live-service games have changed the meta forever. There are a handful of games that ask you of your time indefinitely. Imagine playing Diablo 4, Fortnite, and being in a guild on a mobile game. Are you going to go collect every Alex Casey lunchbox in Alan Wake 2 when you've got gamer chores to do? Do collectibles and side content feel superfluous in linear story games like Ragnorok and Spiderman when they are competing with long-form experiences that you already have years of progress in?

Malcolm Holliday

Hey MinnMax, was there ever a genre of music or an artist/band that you thought you wouldn't like or vibe with but ended up surprising you?

Daniel Doran

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdKtbuUoOdI&list=PL12plCWchkDs2nWC3Wrcg6rCU-3xh0EdX&index=5 Battle On! from Sea of Stars is the track that I hummed the most out in the real world of the 20 or so games I've played this year. I'm embarrassed that it's not from a game I loved more...but all that humming has gotta mean something. How many hours a week do you play video games? Do you calculate how much time you have left in the year to plan out what games you can realistically fit in before game of the year debates? We currently have 4 weeks left in the year...but you have less time than that because of pre-recording the debates. I'm sorry

Patrick Hughes

Ahoy MinnMax and crew! It would be criminal if Hi-Fi Rush wasn't given at least one shout-out as that game had me literally tapping my foot along side Chai from start to finish of that musical rush of a game, so allow me to fill that role if needed (and sorry for cheating with additional song suggestions by piggybacking off of some of the other comments, 2023 has just been a great year for music in gaming) - https://youtu.be/mTwvBHBR-Lk?si=8hbJ7y_GWekwV3xr And if I were to cheat a little more, here's one more track from Hi-Fi Rush for those who stayed to the end of the credits, probably the most humorous, honest and heart-filled sentiments to be found - https://youtu.be/t0YmpHi4020?si=6r_IQgoAjhg_RwUr

Keenardo

Can't talk game music in 2023 without mentioning Hi-Fi Rush. While it has plenty of standout licensed needledrops, the point at which I fell in love with the game was with the OST track 'I Got This' in the first level. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5H9S3JtBuo&t=820s

RiskyChrisP

First, a couple of pieces: •I know it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I think Stray Gods is a cool concept with some gems in its soundtrack. This piece from the beginning of the game has some fun harmonies and gorgeous strings, especially in the second half: https://youtu.be/AB3htXkBI6g?si=rxe0CzxB380-8Bxc •I didn’t love Hi-Fi Rush quite as much as I thought I would, but this jazzy piece was a standout for me that featured in my favorite level of the game: https://youtu.be/mTwvBHBR-Lk?si=1kKOhs2rOd2yimcj •I know others have commented about it, but Baldur’s Gate is my most listened to soundtrack of the year, and while I adore Raphael’s Final Act, I think “The Grand Design (Requiem)” is absolutely haunting: https://youtu.be/qqKscHtqdfw?si=8nop8F6ZL5WHH7UI (skip to 2:30 and 4:50 for my favorite sections) My question for this week’s podcast: With musical numbers becoming a slightly more common element of games, what’s a franchise you’d love to see get one? I think Kingdom Hearts would be a natural fit for something big and bombastic using all that Disney music they have access to. They technically have all of Let it Go in Kingdom Hearts 3, but I’d like something interactive rather than a glorified music video like it is in that game.

wittynicknamehere .

My addition to the Overlooked Games list somehow didn't make the Party Chat conversation, which only confirms the game's seeming invisibility. One more time loudly for the cheap seats: VIEWFINDER IS GREAT! No game packed more "oh, wow, I can do THAT!?" moments for me all year. I hope it at least gets mentioned during the Two Tens conversation.

Ari

Hey Minnmax, What is your favorite video game cover band? My personal favorite was this group from Berkeley School of Music called The Konami Kode. Back in 2007 my friends and I thought this was the greatest album ever. Also shout out to cross fade! I hope it returns one day. Favorite video game music cover this year - RE4 The Drive ~ First Contact https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNKEasntT-w The Konami Kode https://thekonamikodevg.bandcamp.com/album/up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-a-b

dmoreno

You’d have to be insane not to include Alan Wake 2 as best soundtrack of the year. When this comes out on vinyl, it’s an immediate purchase for me. Ps. Alan Wake 2 is the closest we’ll ever get to a real PT from Hideo Kojima.

David Gilman

Octopath Traveler 2 is my favorite soundtrack of the year and I’d offer up Partitio’s theme as an example why. Each Traveler has a great, identifiable theme and Partitio’s combo of electric guitar and sax (two instruments that define the sound of rock and jazz) help deliver a story that feels like an American fever dream of a Merchant legitimately trying to make the world a better place for the masses instead of focusing on pure profit for the few. Partitio is an American fantasy and a wailing sax set to the beat of that guitar is the best music to back his boundless optimism. https://youtu.be/23F7lA8jbTE?si=klcbu4Q07smW9fZN

Starkiller

I definitely want to call out Down By The River from BG3. It starts off as just the character creation music, but it is changed, adapted, and tweaked so much throughout the game that it’s been constantly stuck in my head: https://youtu.be/zSVRtM1x9wQ?si=rqSaIg_OoMeBQ83n

Ian Switaj

Honestly my absolute favorite soundtrack from this year has to be Final Fantasy XVI's. Soken and his crew released a certifiable banger with a number of character motifs that weave their way through numerous tracks such Ascension, Titan Lost, The Outlaw, Find the Flame, or -- perhaps one of my personal favorites -- My Star (a rendition of Jill's theme that is used in other tracks like My Lady, Aligned, A Prayer to Metia, Currents, and Not Alone) that plays before the credits. Then there are tracks that help set the mood like Our Terms (the main hideaway theme), Twilight, Color and Crackle, To Sail Forbidden Seas, Indomitable - The Kingdom of Waloed, etc. You even have tracks that pay homage to the series past like the songs Bloodlines, Mighty Acts of God, and Salvation which include a minor key rendition of the overworld map theme from Final Fantasy I. But seeing as how I'm sure everyone and their mother will be listing a bunch of these tracks among others from FF16, a couple of tracks that caught me by surprise this year were two new, almost ethereal character navigation tracks that were added as a part of Sonic Frontiers' DLC: * Maybe If (Amy Mvt.) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3r4ifLUViI * Blood Flow (Knuckles Mvt.) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7LH8GaCwvY Question: With winter fast approaching, what's a song/soundtrack that's your go-to while sitting next to the warm crackling fire (or heater in lieu of a fire) and sipping on a soothing cup of coco?

D M

Is Nolan North allowed to audition for Bethesda's recently announced Indiana Jones video game?

Neill Smith

My favorite game music track this year was one of the tracks the DJ at Pyloon's Saloon plays in Star Wars: Jedi Survivor: Ebon Flow (feat. Joywave) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To51JuV1AeM. There's an entire diegetic album of tracks the bar Sounds from the Galactic Skylanes which is a neat thing I'm happy exists. Honorable mention to another game with diegetic music: Venba where the mom listens to this track, Thulludhadi Valasu, on the radio while making a birthday dinner for her son: https://youtu.be/FEyPQ8Xb35k?si=iO_w3Agy8AYgdPrP

b_wood

Hi Emily, I have really enjoyed listening to your podcast Level with Emily Reese. I especially liked the episode from earlier this year with Garry Schyman (good job pronouncing those weird names). That leads me to my question: Do you think good soundtracks get overlooked or under-appreciated because the game is not well received? If so, do you think composers like Garry Schyman and Bear McCreary are very disappointed that their work in games like Forspoken will not be appreciated due to the games reception or do they take a more "That's the business" approach?

FrostedSherbert

What makes a game soundtrack Good or Bad? Is there any specific qualities?

Vilis

A simple question: Which Cream of The Steam has been this years Creamiest??

CaffeineDad

Hey all! Both MinnMax and Level with Emily know the number one rule of videomaking: you HAVE to start with some killer opening music. What is your favorite opening theme? TV, film, video games, other podcasts, anything!

Callan Rowe

What non-gaming activities are most enhanced by listening to game music? What game genres go with what activities? Eg: I love listening to the Watchdogs 2 OST while warming up for a workout on the exercise bike.

Joe Dean

We've all talked about how it's a great year for video games (aside from the mass layoffs) and asked can anyone think of a better year than this one. My question is a little more specific, can you think of a better year for Nintendo games? Basically every month has had one quality Nintendo game this year: January - Fire Emblem Engage - Metascore 80 February - Metroid Prime Remastered - 94 - Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe - 79 March - Bayonetta Origins - 81 (not a Nintendo game, but Bayonetta is heavily associated with Nintendo.) April - Advanced Wars 1 + 2 - 82 May - Zelda ToTK - 96 June - Pikmim 1 + 2 - 79 - Everybody 1-2-Switch - 56 July - Pikmin 4 - 87 August is the only month barren of Nintendo IP. September - Pokemon Scarlet/Violet The Teal Mask DLC - 65 (I know Gamefreak isn't Nintendo) - F-Zero 99 - 80 (still waiting for a proper F-Zero) - Baten Kaitos I & II - 79 (Co-owned by Namco and Nintendo) October - Detective Pikachu Returns - 66 - Super Mario Bros Wonder - 92 November - WarioWare: Move It - 75 - Super Mario RPG - 84 December -Pokemon Scarlet/Violet The Indigo Disk DLC Besides 1 2 Switch, and the Pokemon content (which I considered leaving out, but included for a more complete picture) their worst is 75, and they released other well scoring games in those same months. Obviously Nintendo is known for making quality, but this feels like a lot of games, and includes a wide breadth of Nintendo's IP. Do you think Nintendo has ever done better than this?

Nugget

Octopath Traveler II has one of the best game soundtracks I've ever heard. There isn't a single song in the game that I don't like. My favorite is "Critical Clash II," which plays during certain story boss fights. It's a good thing I wasn't wearing socks the first time I heard this, because they would have been blown off! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wrdwiR0pCo

Jason Wojnar

Question for Emily, any advice on writing good baselines? It's secretly the hardest thing to do in songwriting and arranging. I recently figured a solid way is to write it in relation to the vocal melody (try to move in contrasting motion to it, avoiding parallel 5th and octaves when possible, etc.) but any insight would be appreciated. Also, hello everyone else.

Michael Baker

What is the game setting you'd most like to live in for a few years?

Anders Sværke Corneliussen

Ryan Hamann used to make wonderful medleys of music from the year in gaming for the Sound of Play podcast. I've been looking for a similar fix since they stopped. Do you have any recommendations?

Seán Mooney

I think the Jusant soundtrack is phenomenal. Beautiful music that perfectly captures the game.

Landon Tyler Cook

Hi all! I've never asked a question because I don't feel like I ever have a profound enough question. So my question is, what's best fruit?

MarcusW

Hi Emily, so fun to have you back on the podcast, it's always a blast to listen to all your recommendations afterwards! A question for you and the rest of the gang: if you could choose one instrument that you could magically play perfectly for the rest of your life, which one would you choose?

LlorchDurden

About the Deck Oled and handheld gaming as a whole, Is the handheld market living a second renaissance? (I had to google renaissance lol) biggest since the GBC days? Did the Switch trigger all these? You got Steam and Asus plus a ton more releasing "handheld" PCs, Logitech and Sony releasing their "streaming only" version (is the WiiU concept "back" or trending now?). I personally get much more excited these days with how much you can do on these compare to the newest power hungry GPU

Graham Jones

Hello minnmaxers + Emily! I would love to hear what Emily hears in the MinnMax theme. I love the tune and feel like there is more to it that needs be to broken down...

McCracKenway

My absolute fave music track from the year I have to give to Ezio’s Family - Mirage version by Brendan Angelides. This beats all the other versions of this piece for me, and I particularly love the Arabic vocals that ask “where is my home, who am I?” (Ayna beyti, mun ana?) it lens Basim’s story a little more impact for a series that in the last few years has struggled to make its narratives feel like they have any meat in them rather than popcorn.

Tanner Hoisington

My favorite track is "To Sail the Forbidden Seas" (the Eikon Boss theme) from FFXVI. The parts I love are present in the battle theme as well which are a couple of different string heavy leitmotifs, but in the Eikon track they provide a tone shift from all the choral chanting. I don't normally like chanting in OSTs, but maybe because of these leitmotifs it works here for me (they can be found at 1:35 and 2:20) https://youtu.be/vDBbA9zCOnY?si=dE9-tkELrOphr_Pp

Ampex

One of my favorite things in games is when the music is incorporated into the story or gameplay in some way. And without going into details, Planet of Lana does that in a great way. Definitely one of my favorite soundtracks of the year. Planetarium - Takeshi Furukawa: https://youtu.be/xR6u3llIFUA?si=j4-B-LsJWSjJQqiJ

Punk Wizard Ministries

Hi hi hi! What is an IRL sport that you think would benefit from a remake/remaster?

Andrew Walker

My first submission for the podcast :) Hi guys and an especially tuneful welcome to Emily! A couple Song of the Year suggestions for the crew: I have to give a shoutout to The Last Spell as being both an unloved game gem from this year as well as having a killer metal soundtrack! Commander's Theme · Remi Gallego https://youtu.be/fnCnB12KcjY?si=9CvUfoN_M_m8xuUQ I defy anyone to not be moved as the main theme from Jusant builds and swells. Jusant - Guillaume Ferran https://youtu.be/fnCnB12KcjY?si=9CvUfoN_M_m8xuUQ And now for something completely different. Blasphemous 2's soundtrack is full of choral chants and Spanish acoustic guitars. Corona de Siete Azahares · Carlos Viola https://youtu.be/zn6XDqKWXb0?si=0__MueQFJ_hZUfZh PS. OMG I am listening to this Blasphemous 2 track right now and it NEEDS more ears to hear it! I only just noticed that you plan to talk about the game in the podcast too! It's absolutely in my Top 10 of 2023!

Mootkinstein

Hi to all of ya! From 2023 it’s got to be Sea of Stars. Garl’s theme is the feel good theme of the year! https://youtu.be/uAXT55VMB9E?si=PLc20jil9Sy6Lyju I’m currently reading through Brandon Sanderson’s ‘The Way of Kings’. It’s full of moments I can picture playing in a video game. Any books you guys would love to see as a video game? Cheers

Ollie Clay

Heya gang, At what point does homage become too much of an imitation? Sea of Stars wears its influence on its sleeve, but not really seen any comments on if it does enough to push the genre forward. Is it just a greatest hits? On a similar note, the Colgera Theme from ToTK is my pick for best music - just love the way it builds off pieces from BotW and interpolates other parts from across the series. https://youtu.be/u7OPgmFnh0w?si=4iQznNES_BSfQYKk

Patrick Polk

Unsurprisingly, FFXVI's and Octopath Traveler 2's soundtracks are already well represented in these comments, so I won't offer suggestions from those. The cheating answer, of course, is that Theatrhythm Final Bar Line had the best soundtrack of the year by far. You already know all the hits there, so I will recommend the slightly less revered, but shockingly great, Mystic Quest soundtrack. Here is Battle 2: https://youtu.be/ie__67GTp0M?si=OR_vSrKt_bYxu1iZ A non-cheating answer that is not yet flooded here is Zangief's Theme - R.E.D. from Street Fighter 6. It's great! https://youtu.be/o6caXwwXbjk?si=JTsr4ls3p83G5GW6

BEEFCAKE

Is it too late to ask a question?

Tonytheswordsman

What’s the best thing you stole from a previous job

John

The Octopath traveler soundtrack is truly one of the most lovely soundtracks, but another good one that might get overlooked was the Forspoken soundtrack. “Vagabond” is a great sample from when the world first opens up to the player. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJKzt_WoR9w

Ryan Dodson

Name a song that you misheard and what lyric did you come up with to replace the actual lyric.