VGCulture - Music: Code of Princess

Official Site: http://www.atlus.com/codeofprincess/
Source: Youtube Channel insidegamesjp

Having finally completed The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D on my 3DS, I opened up Code of Princess with excitement.  I've been listening to the soundtrack for a month or so now before last night and really liked what I heard, but to hear it alongside the game was a different experience.  This is generally true for all videogame music I listen to.  I am able to better appreciate the songs once I hear them in-game and have a better connection with what the song were meant for.  I already liked the opening song "Gather the Lights", but it blew me away hearing it along with the opening cinematic. Source: Youtube Channel dannykim0730

There are many unique songs throughout the game that emphasizes the colorful and often eccentric characters within the game.  They can be upbeat, inspiring, and playful.  It's something that really gets to me when the most recognized and praised videogame music are the generic hollywood style moods, themes and orchestration while memorable music within videogames that sound nothing like other genres of music out there are largely shrugged off as background music.  The level of music Code of Princess is at rivals with that of classic games with its catchy melodies, exciting beats, and memorable themes.
Source: Youtube Channel tangytablet

This is one of my favorite tracks in the game so far.  I fell in love with it the first time I heard it.  The quirkiness it has in the opening just leads it into a really simple riff, but it commands so much of its mood and theme that draws in the listener.  The melody is equally simple, but is also uplifting.  I have heard this song only once in the game thus far in the 2 hours I played, and it was during a major boss fight.  It really changed the mood from when I was fighting against regular enemies.  The difficulty of the boss battle mixed with this track made is so exciting and memorable.  Although it doesn't sound anything like it, it really reminds me of one of my favorite tracks from Guardian Heroes:
Source: Youtube Channel KMaelstrom

The music for Code of Princess is done by a group of 3 composers who call themselves ACE+.  It's really hard looking for information about them, but they've also worked on music for Xenoblade Chronicles.  I'm looking forward to hearing more of their music in videogames in the future.

In terms of the game so far, I wasn't expecting the campaign to be chopped up into individual quests as I was hoping for a long and cohesive play like Guardian Heroes.  Character selection doesn't change the story and there aren't branching paths.  Conversations between the characters and voice acting are odd and can be perceived as pretty bad, but the writing is pretty humorous with lots of puns and jokes which makes the seemingly bad voice acting tolerable.  Combat mechanics are rather limited with two attack buttons with a few special moves.  Also, there are conflicting art styles throughout the game between scenes, in-game sprites, and cinematics.  Despite all that, I couldn't put the game down so there's definitely something about it that makes it really fun.  I'll have a full review of it in the future.