Favorite Town Themes

[Jason Tandro]

Hey, I was gonna make this a top 10, but I don't know that many town themes and its hard to organize those. So just opening a dialogue. What are some of your favorite town themes?

The Presidium (Mass Effect)

As a town theme goes, this is pretty simple. Not a whole lot going on, just very soft ambiance. I actually really like this though. Even though it's not particularly interesting, it's very soft and soothing. I wouldn't rate it higher than #10, but it definitely belongs on here.

Rogueport (Paper Mario Thousand Year Door)

There's just so much going on in this town theme. It is primarily a salty sea-town sound, but each bar goes into a different sound as though it musically represents the variety of places that you will go afterwards. Not much else to say. It's adventurous and uplifting, it's salty and smarmy, it's jovial and triumphant. It's Rogueport.

Lazy Afternoon (Kingdom Hearts II)

Granted this only plays during the prologue, but it's a perfect example of splendid simplicity. Melodically there's not a lot going on, but it's treated with such artistry. A soft horn part, playing counter to a guitar with the occasional accent of string pads. It's title pretty much says it all. It's the sounds of a nice lazy afternoon.

Home Sweet Home (Final Fantasy V)

Picking a favorite town theme from the countless Final Fantasy tracks was IMPOSSIBLE. I want you to understand that. This was an IMPOSSIBLE task. I mean think about this!

Narshe, Kalm, Bran Bal, Luca, Esthar, Cosmo Canyon.... Every Final Fantasy town theme has something going for it. I like some more than others but they're all really good (this is true of most types of Final Fantasy tracks).

So why did I settle on this relatively obscure Final Fantasy track? Well, I think it's the most natural sounding of the town themes. I could easily hear this playing on a medieval street corner. I also think this is a classic example of Nobuo Uematsu's brilliance with minimalist melody. You don't always have to have a complex score to create a moving piece.


Outset Island (Zelda: Wind Waker)

Of all the Zelda themes, the ones in the Wind Waker are my favorite . It was tough choosing between this and Windfall Island, but I love the musical subtleties in this. It bounces between Kokiri Forest, Kakariko Village (albeit this is more obvious in Windfall Island) and some nice tunes of its own.

It's hard to explain why I like this so much except that it like all good songs draws you in and you can instantly visualize the place it represents.

[EverPhoenix]

The first one that comes to mind is most definitely Crysta.

[Brutus]

From a worthless game, that had no good music otherwise:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loa3uUH9Ea8

7th Saga had some awesome ones too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMXpX94j0ww

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOXLZUxYs34

And Phantasy Star IV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HufWo3A8ZRQ

[psychokind]

My personal favorite, although it's a theme for only a short amount of time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRvLt-v7Rvg

obviously crysta:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmmN-13uDS0

I love the amazon castles' theme from som 3 and jads' theme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIRw5x9wiio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMMNQtXMeA8

I'll add another 7th saga one, because 3 of 4 town themes are awesome

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdQDETzViic

last bot not least a town theme that isn't a town theme in the game but has the name of a town, "Seattle 2050" from Shadowrun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8PYHx4QvOU

[inferiare]

And Phantasy Star IV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HufWo3A8ZRQ

PSIV yes!


Anyway, some of my favourites, I'll probably add more later:

The Black Market - Ar tonelico Qoga

New Bodhum - Final Fantasy XIII-2 (I play this a lot in my car ok)

Pure A Stream - Star Ocean 2

Home Arni Village - Chrono Cross


I'll edit more in later, gotta run back to work.

[psychokind]

Home Arni Village - Chrono Cross

gotta play that game again soon

[Jason Tandro]

@psycho: OMG yes to the Final Hours in Clock Town. Thats soo cool!!!

@raini: New Bodhum was really good! Honestly i don't know why but i found the lyrical music in FFXIII-2 to be much better than FFXIII