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Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Favorite Tunes #83: Tear Jerker

Video games can bring about a myriad of emotions. Happiness, rage and yes, even sadness. We're going to talk about some of the more heartache-inducing gaming beats and the moments associated with them in this edition of Favorite Tunes. Spoilers lie ahead so proceed at your own risk.




"Strange. Funny. Heartrending." That is the tagline for Mother 3 and boy, do they ever mean that last one. Mother 3 is filled with all kinds of weird, laugh out loud moments, but it's also one of the darkest, most depressing video games to come from Nintendo. During the game's first chapter, Hinawa, Flint's wife and the mother of Lucas and Claus goes missing. The two boys turn up but poor Hinawa suffered a horrible death at the hands of a beast while defending her sons. Flint does not take this news well and lashes out at the villagers to the point where he as to be knocked unconscious. This is just the first of many Player Punch moments. If you play Mother 3, you better have a few sets of hankies ready, because the tears are going to flow like Niagara Falls. Even with the GBA's limitations, this is quite the piece of piano music. The way the song starts off key lends itself greatly to the moment, as if the pianist was caught off guard, which is how many of us feel when news reaches us that someone we love has died.


Locke Cole has a habit of going out of his way to protect every girl he meets. At first it seems like he's just being kind to Terra to guard her because she has amnesia, but when he promises Celes he'll always look after her as well, the player begins to think something is up. Later in the game we find out that Locke had a girlfriend, Rachel. During a treasure hunting expedition, Rachel took a nasty fall because she pushed Locke out of the way. When she awoke, she had anmeisa and couldn't even remember Locke. Sometime later, she was slain during an imperial attack but her memories of Locke returned. Locke would later find happiness with Celes and forgave himself for what happened to Rachel. You can actually hear a bit of Forever Racel in Locke's theme.

Reminiscence - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Arrange



The first case introduces us to Phoenix Wright, a bumbling but promising defense attorney. He's mentored by the lovely Mia Fey, who is promptly killed off at the start of the second case, much to the shock of the player and the horror of her little sister, Maya. Maya is the first to the scene of the crime so she's accused of murdering her. Phoenix comes to talk to her in the detention center and it's here where we first hear this melancholy theme. The current circumstances make it all the more saddening to hear. This is actually a remix of the Detention Center theme and it's a lot more heart-wrenching than the original, yet has a beautiful air to it.

I Won't Forget - Secret of Mana (SNES)



Randi removes the Mana Sword from the stone and unleashes a horde of monsters, one of them being a huge monster, that is an immediate threat to his village, Photos. Randi slays the creature, but the villagers are furious at the dangers Randi has brought about. By unanimous decision, Randi is exiled from Photos. Cue one of the most popular musical pieces in the game, that is actually an arrangement of the title theme.

Alone in the World - Wild Arms (PS)



Another RPG with protagonists that have names beginning with an R. Both characters are also exiled from their villages, but for different reasons. Where as Randi was given the boot for unleashing a plague of monsters upon everyone, Rudy is exiled from his town because the villagers fear him. Rudy possess ARMs, an ancient, but incredible power. Like Randi, Rudy also acts heroically, saving his village from a monster, but that's not enough to keep him from getting exiled. Alone in the World is a somber arrangement of Hope.

Debriefing - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2, 3DS)



Naked Snake (later known as Big Boss) endured many a hardship during Operation Snake Eater. But nothing was more difficult for than than fighting and ending the life of The Boss. This woman was more than a friend and more than a mentor to him. After her death, Snake found out the ugly truth: she was never a traitor to her country. It was all a facade by the higher ups to get rid of her simply because they feared her influence. Needless to say, Snake was a very different man from here on out.

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