Hello, all, Merry Christmas, and welcome to my last Weekly Video Games Thread of 2023! Wow! Of course, Brakeman will be doing the actual last one, and Bones’ll count off New Year’s Day. While Christmas Day perhaps calls for a more fitting prompt, I’d like to do something a bit more celebratory for the whole year. Time to listen to some tunes.
I generally like to do music prompts. They’re fun. It’s also a great way to goose the content of these threads. And I had an idea for one fitting the end of the year, so let’s get started. This year had a lot of big games, and a lot of great music from them. So what’s your favorite song from your favorite game of 2023? I know mine: it’s the title theme from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. There’s a lot of great music in that one, as there was in Breath of the Wild, but I love the bombast and grandeur that plays as Link slowly dives into the lake of the Great Sky Island. It’s a great prelude to the game’s energy and emotionality and even its mild cinematic flavor.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Wolfman Jew music thread without some more tracks, so here are my favorite songs from each of the other games I played this year.
- Advance Wars 1 + 2 Re-Boot Camp, “Sensei’s Power”
- Dredge, “The Sunken Memory”
- Pikmin 4, “Dandori Duel”
- Resident Evil 4 (2023), “Baile de la muerte”
- Sea of Stars, “Dance of 1,000 Suns (Pirate Version)”
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder, “Wonder Flower: A Very Special March”
Ooh, and what about my favorites from years past? Yes, this is a way to avoid working on the Peely’s and unrelated Source Gaming articles, but hey. It’s the holidays. I can have fun.
My examples from previous years
- 2022: Pentiment, “Flight from the Library”
- 2021, New Pokémon Snap, “Blushing Beach (Day)”
- 2020, Hades, “In the Blood”
- 2019, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, “Between Heaven and Earth (Rain)”
- 2018, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, “Galeem”
- 2017, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, “Riding – Night”
- 2016, Persona 5, “Life will Change”
- 2015, UNDERTALE, “Dummy!”
- 2014, Mario Kart 8 (which only just replaced Wolfenstein: The New Order as my favorite of this year), “Mount Wario”
- 2013, Pikmin 3, “Twilight River”
- 2012, Journey… I’m not sure. It’s just been so long since I played it. Maybe “Apotheosis?”
- 2011, Dark Souls, “Ornstein & Smough”
- 2010, Mass Effect 2, “The Illusive Man”
- 2009, Bayonetta, “Let’s Dance, Boys!”
- 2008, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, “Tower of Dolls”
- 2007, Super Mario Galaxy, “Super Mario Galaxy”
- 2006, Õkami, “Playing with Waka”
- 2005, Resident Evil 4, “The Drive ~ First Contact”
- 2004, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, “Main Theme (Title Screen)”
- 2003, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, “Castle Corridor”
- 2002, Metroid Prime, “Phendrana Drifts”
- 2001, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, “Yell Dead Cell”
- 2000, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, “Majora’s Theme”
Beyond that, what was the weekend like for you for playing games? And remember: Round II of the Peely’s starts tomorrow! That’s where it gets big!