Enhancing Gameplay with Music in Celeste
Hi, I’m Alex and this is “Game Audio Lookout”, a series on how music and sound design in games work.
In this episode we’ll have a look on how the music in the 2D platformer “Celeste” propels the gameplay momentum forward by clever decisions regarding music and their placement in the game.
On the surface, “Celeste” is a brutally hard 2D platforming game about climbing the imaginary Celeste Mountain but it is much more than that. It narrates a compelling story of main character Madeline fighting with her demon doppelgänger. Gameplay-wise, super tricky levels combined with tight controls let you fail and re-try over and over again. But what it makes it even more enjoyable is the wonderful soundtrack composed by Lena Raine we’ll have a look at in this episode of “Game Audio Lookout”.
This is the first part of the “Celeste” soundtrack:
It is a very calming piece we’ll hear in the beginning. But as you keep exploring the “Prologue” chapter of the game you face a thread: You have to cross small stone platforms which rapidly keep disappearing while walking on them. There you are shown your main mechanic, the dash, to overcome this obstacle. The music changes once Madeline is in danger: The calm 8bit styled synth line changes to a threatening high intensity music with electronic drums and other more densely packed instrumentation [1:27 in YouTube video].
There’s a whole lot of great music we could look at in this episode. For example, there is the wonderful “Forsaken City” chapter, which was the first thing Lena made for “Celeste”.
We’ll keep near the beginning of the game with an analysis of the second level “Old Site”. This chapter is a great example on how the game slowly builds tension and afterwards goes back to a more calming and meditative music once a specific sequence in the game is solved. You can find the music titled “Resurrections” on the “Celeste Original Soundtrack”:
First, I will explain the basic structure of the level to better distinguish the individual parts. There are three main pieces of music in this level:
1. The opening sequence of this area, which itself is split into three so-called “layers”
2. A chase sequence where Madeline is haunted by her doppelgänger
3. A calm-down part at the end of the chapter
So let’s have a look at the first musical part in this chapter which itself can be divided into three subparts: The first musical variation begins while Madeline stands at a fire with greenish flames. The music here is very low-key and reflects the gameplay of this area with spikes and a lot of not passable obstacles in the form of black blocks. This part basically consists of an obscured synth loosely sounding like an organ and a minimalistic piano line.
When reaching a mirror as a key point in this chapter the non-passable obstacles turn into coloured space-like looking moving blocks Madeline now can get through with her dash mechanic. An additional trip-hop drum layer with a moving synth bass line is added in this variation to increase the intensity of the track.
When finally reaching the evil “Part of Her”, a chasing sequence begins. Have a listen what happens the moment you approach her. The music turns silent before the encounter to increase tension, then this eerie theme variation of the level’s music plays out under the dialogue of Madeline and her doppelgänger.
A very high intensity variation of the music with a faster bass line, acoustic drums and piano chords plays out now. This choice of music greatly increases the tension of this last part of the chapter with an escape sequence from the level’s boss.
But when you reach a specific point the chase stops and the doppelgänger disappears. The high energy music still keeps playing but it sounds more and more distant until finally disappearing once the player reaches a pay phone marking the end of chapter two.
As great as this example is for showing how music can improve gameplay, it is also very interesting to know how the team achieved this result.
First off, Lena joined the project in a very early stage where only a small part was already done as she mentioned in interviews. Usually developers tend to search for a composer once the game is nearly finished. Here, the whole team collaborated and each individual part influenced the others including the music. By that, the music becomes a more integral part of the experience instead of a mere addition or an afterthought.
So with all that said, I hope I encouraged game makers to give music more space during game development. This game is a breathing monument how an awesome game becomes a masterpiece partially thanks to the music. In my opinion, this is due to the fact that the basic structure of the gameplay is perfectly mirrored by the music created for an individual play sequence.
To sum up, the structure the music follows in conjunction with the level design is this:
1. Calming music at the beginning
2. Build up through musical layers coming in fitting the gameplay perfectly
3. The peak of the chapters theme in a boss chase sequence with very high intensity in gameplay and music alike
4. The calm down once the boss chase sequence is completed, reflecting that relieve when a stressful period of time is over
This setup will occur later in the game too and the music again reflects this design philosophy in a perfectly fitting way.
References
· https://radicaldreamland.bandcamp.com/album/celeste-original-soundtrack
· http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/01/25/celeste-review
· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvETIcMXaEo&t=185s
· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku8QUnmwxQM
· http://www.idatxbox.com/2018/01/24/celeste-interview-with-matt-makes-games/
· https://daily.bandcamp.com/2018/02/23/lena-raine-celeste-feature/?utm_source=notification
