Changing Battle Themes/ World Themes

[Redeye]

In my game, I plan to change some default music once the player reaches a certain plot point. Like, during Chapter 1, the default battle theme is "The Arrow was Shot" from Tales of the Abyss. Once the player reaches Chapter 2, the default battle theme changes to "Edge of a Descision" also from Tales of the Abyss, and that theme is permanently the battle theme until you get to Chapter 3, then it changes. I also plan to do this with Boss themes and World themes.

Do you think changing default music would be annoying or cool? A lot of Tales games did it, and I think it's a good idea doing it here.

 

[McTricky]

That is completely fine, at least for me. I always liked it when Tales of games did it, and it was interesting that Graces did it differently a bit by changing the battle theme in accordance to the region.

 

[kerbonklin]

It's a perfectly fine and good concept to implement.

I'm going to do the same thing since I have various music choices of the same origin to choose from.

 

[Jawnsunn]

Welcome change, indeed. Even the best battle themes suffer from repetition.

One of my favorite battle theme changes is Etrian Odyssey III's transition to The First Campaign to To Those that Slay and Fall.

The transition keeps the game fresh while signifying that you are slowly progressing through the game.

 

[Probotector 200X]

Well, I love it when Breath of Fire does this. BOF1 changes the battle theme around halfway through, BOF2 changes the battle theme twice! Most Breath of Fires change the world map theme too. BUT, I think it's coolest in BOF4, where the two distinct countries each have their own battle theme!

THAT's the coolest way to have multiple battle themes, if you ask me. Different regions/countries/worlds/dimensions/realities/whatever. That way, you can go back and forth, so you don't have to drop the old theme.

In my ridiculous crossovers, each dungeon has a battle theme from the source material, if possible. A FF6 inspired dungeon has FF6 battle music, a BOF3 dungeon has BOF3 battle music. A Mega Man X dungeon has...the same song continually play through the battles. OR, if you can choose the main character, their source's battle theme takes precedence. It's actually one of the funnest things about making a crossover, the music! Especially battle music, so many to choose from...

But in more legal games, I still go for multiple battle themes. The PC makers, fortunately, awesomely, have like 6-10 battle themes, so of course I use some for different areas, like one for the main world and one for the nether world. It really sets the mood.

So, multiple battle themes are awesome, but I prefer if it's for different areas, not different chapters/sections of the game.

 

[Subaru]

I know Gust games tend to have new music either for battles or different maps. Truthfully, it's one of the features that got me into their games in the first place. I love how the music changes every time a chapter or significant event passes. It really gave off that feeling of a brand new chapter.

That said, I do think new music for different points are a plus, as long as it's after a good amount of time. 

That is completely fine, at least for me. I always liked it when Tales of games did it, and it was interesting that Graces did it differently a bit by changing the battle theme in accordance to the region.

Yeah, I kinda liked what ToG did as well. It was also sort of like a "new chapter, new song" kind of thing because it took some time before you moved to a new region.

 

[Berylstone]

In my game, I plan to change some default music once the player reaches a certain plot point. Like, during Chapter 1, the default battle theme is "The Arrow was Shot" from Tales of the Abyss. Once the player reaches Chapter 2, the default battle theme changes to "Edge of a Descision" also from Tales of the Abyss, and that theme is permanently the battle theme until you get to Chapter 3, then it changes. I also plan to do this with Boss themes and World themes.

Do you think changing default music would be annoying or cool? A lot of Tales games did it, and I think it's a good idea doing it here.

I think it's cool.  Any song - no matter how good - will eventually get old if you have to hear it all the time.

 

[Espon]

I prefer if the battle music changes based on your location instead of reaching a certain point in the game.  Atelier Ayesha and Tales of Graces are good examples of that.  I hate it when a theme I like goes away forever, a common trend in the older Gust games.