Sun and Moon Soundtrack Discussion

[pokepal_123]

What did everyone think of the soundtrack for Sun/Moon? I personally thought that some of the battle themes especially were AMAZING e.g Lusamine, Guzma and the Elite Four fitting the characters perfectly as well as the town/route themes which impressed me as well.

Overall a big step up from XY/ORAS for the most part mostly in regard to the intensity of the battle themes this time around.

 

[BigBadButterfree]

I loved a lot of the battle themes and area themes (like the abandoned supermarket. I think that's my favorite). I really appreciate that they brought back having. Different music between day and night, but I feel like because of that, each city only has like one good version. For instance, KoniKoni city (I think that's it, the rock one). The day music is very nice, really interesting. And then the night version has some veiled vocal thing going on in it that just turns me off. But overall, I really enjoy the feature being brought back.

Tracks I loved are the legendary fight with Solgaleo and Lunala, creepy supermarket, Malie city (can't remember if I like day or night), and the elite four music (well, the intro portion at least). Champion fight was a nice throwback to the main theme of the series.

Ok, now that I've mentioned what I liked, I feel obligated to mention what I don't like (warning: opinions approaching).

First of all, I was very disappointed when I met Red and Blue, heard the awesome remixed Blue encounter theme, and then started the battle to hear... normal trainer music. Boooooo. Give me their amazing champion themes.

Also, the weird tribal singing that comes up now and then. It's fitting, yes, but I still don't like it. It was ok in the opening cutscene, it works as an intro to Alola (also why I think they used it in so many trailers). But then, the credits music. It's like, that same singing, but slowed down to a tempo that just doesn't do it for me. And the Tapu battles... really not my thing.

So yeah, overall I liked this game's soundtrack, don't take my criticisms as meaning I hated it XD looking forward to adding a number of tracks to my iPod along with the rest of my Pokémon music.

 

[Alola]

For the most part, this is a soundtrack I can get behind. I really love Lillie's theme and the Totem Battle theme.

 

[Peridorito]

I absolutely love this game's soundtrack. I don't think there's any track I dislike, just ones that I like less than others. My favorite battle theme is the one for Battle Legends Red and Blue, while my favorite overworld track is Konikoni City day version.

First of all, I was very disappointed when I met Red and Blue, heard the awesome remixed Blue encounter theme, and then started the battle to hear... normal trainer music. Boooooo. Give me their amazing champion themes.

They do have a unique theme when you battle them at another time though. It's just that it isn't used for the first time you battle them for some reason.

 

[SirOni]

I liked a lot of the new signature battle themes. I liked a lot of the over-world themes. Different music tracks for day and night was a great feature to bring back even though I've mostly been around only for the night tracks. And I loved every one of Team Skull's music.

One piece of music that's recently stuck with me was Aether Branch Chief Faba's theme. It's a bit of a mix of some traditional sounds and instruments alongside weird pseudo-electronic and distorted versions of those sounds. I hope I'm giving a decent picture of this piece. Don't have much experience describing music.

 

[Blockhead Pippi]

I didn't find it to be very memorable, to be perfectly honest.

But I think that's partly to do how frustrated and disappointed I've been with this game overall. But I did like Gladion's theme and battle theme. His battle theme is one of the redeeming things about this game.

 

[Lanstar]

I loved nearly the entire soundtrack - and it made me play through all the way to the battle tree with good headphones on. To me, it is truly the best Pokemon soundtrack I've listened to.

My favorites:

-The Standard Battle theme
-HeaHea City (night)
-Route 2
-Poni Wilds
-The Tapu Ruins Overworld

It was hard to find one I didn't like that much. I guess the Tapu Battle music was rather odd, though.

 

[BigBadButterfree]

I absolutely love this game's soundtrack. I don't think there's any track I dislike, just ones that I like less than others. My favorite battle theme is the one for Battle Legends Red and Blue, while my favorite overworld track is Konikoni City day version.



They do have a unique theme when you battle them at another time though. It's just that it isn't used for the first time you battle them for some reason.

Ooh, really? That's actually exciting. I haven't been good enough in the battle tree to see them yet, so I didn't know if they'd have different music or not. Something to look forward to

 

[Esserise]

On the whole it's a brilliant soundtrack, and much easier to listen to casually than XY's (I quite like XY's music, but I find it to be odd in that it only really does anything for me when I'm actually playing the games - in a vacuum, it lacks oomph, so I guess it's more complementary than standalone). It didn't oust the soundtracks for BW and B2W2 as my joint-favorites, but I think I can say that it overtook the DPP soundtrack.

I'm a little surprised by the middling reaction toward the Tapu Battle theme in this thread - I thought it was pretty live. Though I'll admit that it took me a second listen to really get into it.

My favorites from this one are (there are a lot so brace yourself):

- Literally all Team Skull-related music
- Battle Tree theme
- Mahalo Trail theme (Utterly magical, this one)
- Poni Wilds theme, Vast Poni Canyon theme
- Aether Paradise theme, Aether House theme, and the Aether Secret Labs theme (that last one was perfect; so creepy)
- Thrifty Megamart theme (Not the Trial site version; I mean the bouncy one from the store on Royal Avenue)
- Haina Desert theme (It reminds me somewhat of the glory that is the Abyssal Ruins theme)
- Ten Carat Hill theme
- Tapu Ruins theme
- Verdant Cavern/Lush Jungle theme
- Route 2 theme
- Malie City theme (Day), Konikoni City theme (Night), Paniola Town theme (both Day and Night, but Night is outstanding), Po Town theme, Seafolk Village theme (Night)
- "Plumeria's Message" (It crops up several times throughout the game in a few different scenes, and every time, it feels perfectly placed)
- Lillie's theme, both before and after the wardrobe change
- Nanu Encounter theme (Ohhhhhhhhh yes)
- Faba Encounter theme (-wapawapawapawah-)
- Gladion Encounter theme (I actually wish it was his Battle theme; I find it significantly more thrilling than his real Battle theme, which is only serviceable)
- Ultra Beast Battle theme
- Kahuna Battle theme (This one's a wild goddamned ride)
- UB Lusamine Battle theme (It sounds like a big boss battle theme from a completely different franchise, which actually works really well in the context it appears in - stuck in a freaky sci-fi dimension fighting against a freaky human/jellyfish abomination)
- Elite Four Battle theme (New second-favorite E4 theme, though Gen V's is still the best)
- All of the League stuff; Mt. Lanakila, Mt. Lanakila's Peak, the Pokémon League itself, and ESPECIALLY the Champion Battle theme.

But then, the credits music. It's like, that same singing, but slowed down to a tempo that just doesn't do it for me.

I like all the other tracks that have the tribal chorus, but the Credits theme was just flat-out bad. It has distinct opening and ending sections, but in between, it's just that same segment of tribal chorus looped six times over. I was severely disappointed by that - I don't really like any of the pre-Gen V credits themes all that much, but BW and B2W2 had phenomenal credits themes, and XY's was pretty nice too. I did think ORAS's was a bit messy, but there'd been clear progress overall, at least for my tastes. It's a shame to see such a weak effort for these games' credits, especially when the visual sequence (with the photographs) was delightful.

 

[Alola]

- Mahalo Trail theme (Utterly magical, this one)

Indeed. The anime rendition is phenomenal, even better than the game's. It sounds very Mystery Dungeon like too, which is a plus as their music is always great.

 

[Team Gaara]

Lusamine's 2nd Theme is probably my favorite Battle Theme in the game! The music is pretty awesome in SuMo, as expected~ I also love the Champion Battle Theme, The Kahuna's, Totem Pokemon, and Team Skull's Theme~ I also enjoy Konikoni City, Malie City, and Po Town for City Themes~

 

[SirOni]

Lusamine's 2nd Theme is probably my favorite Battle Theme in the game!

That's a really great one! It's actually pretty calm compared to all the other climactic antagonist themes. It also feels like something from another RPG series, to me at least, which kinda goes well with the setting.

 

[PaulTheProtist]

I really liked the Vast Poni Canyon song, it reminds me a lot of David Wise's work. I also liked Malie City's.

In general, the soundtrack was better than XY's, but not as good as BW/2's. Around the level of DP's.

 

[~ Blazing White Yang]

I absolutely love the return of night time City/Town music, and all of them have been very pleasant to listen to. Really relaxing for in-game or when I'm doing other things.

For the rest of the world, I generally enjoy the music while playing but I typically don't come back to many of them outside of that...The few exceptions would be Vast Poni Canyon for that really nice western vibe, and Mt. Lanakila for the sheer feeling of grandeur and finality. This place definitely has my favorite 'Victory Road' theme. Maybe its just me, but this is the only one that really evokes a sense that you've reached the highest point of the game.

EDIT: Oh yeah! And Ten Caret Hill...I love the theme for this place too. It's like something that I could meditate to...

Battle music on the whole I like. The ones for Wild and Trainer Battles are a little 'Eh' to me, but I love the rest. One of my favorite things about the major Battle themes this time around is the diversity of them all...Gladion's really stands out with that slick bass guitar, the Tapu's theme is very 'tribal' and wild (for lack of a better word), Team Skull music is all really gritty and hip-hop influenced, the Aether / Lusamine themes are sinister and eerie but also elegant, etc. My #1 favorite though is Red's/Blue's new Battle theme for how incredibly smooth and majestic it is. Wasn't expecting anything like it. The Championship theme is a close 2nd, and one of the series best to me. Its just one big celebration in musical form, a really nice way to end the Anniversary game. Love the use of the main Pokemon theme and the SM trailer music.

 

[NinjutsuSen]

Loved many tracks. Favourite is definitely Malie City (both Day and Night version).

Favourite soundtrack together with XY.

 

[NoirCore]

First off, I HIGHLY suggest you put a spoiler warning in the title, based on the other posts' content.

As for at least most of what I liked..

Spoiler: Songs I Liked (spoiler tagged just in case)

Ultra Beast battle theme - The energetic, alien feel is awesome.
Ultra Space - Gives off a sense of alien wonder into the new world.
Lusamine's 1st battle theme - I prefer this over the 2nd version, with the vocals, violins, and melody making an epic boss fight.
Iki Town Festival - I like traditional festival music, and this is so fun to listen to!
Mount Lanakila - The flute reminds me so much of PMD GTI's music, which is a big plus.
Aether Foundation (normal) - It's so New Age-like, and I love it. I usually like stuff of the New Age genre.

It's not all, but I may update this later.

 

[GhostLucario]

I am massively disappointed in these games' soundtrack. After the masterpiece of XY soundtrack (or I just love Kalos too much) I was expecting something epic, only to find that we have devolved into a kiddie's game music.
I do like some of the music but just a few pieces here and there.
I do love the music in the ruins and other areas like the Poni Canyon and Seafolk Village (at night)
But overall I don't like it and was expecting so much more from it.

 

[Dizzard]

I loved a number of the tracks in this game, although there weren't that many route songs that stood out to me.

Some of my favourites:

Welcome to Alola (you know the one with the catchy chanting, I think that's one people will remember when they think of gen 7 in the future)
Guzma Encounter Theme (his battle theme is great too but I think this is a bit better)
Lusamine battle theme (I probably prefer the first one but the second is great too)
Elite Four battle theme (in a way it felt like more of a champion battle theme than the actual champion battle theme)
Ultra Beast battle theme (also the theme that plays in the area you catch them is cool too)
Vast Poni Canyon (easily my favourite route theme of this gen)

I'm probably forgetting one or two others but I'll add them in if I think of them.

Personally I felt the champion theme was a big let down, it didn't feel as epic to me as past Champion themes.

 

[NoirCore]

I am massively disappointed in these games' soundtrack. After the masterpiece of XY soundtrack (or I just love Kalos too much) I was expecting something epic, only to find that we have devolved into a kiddie's game music.
I do like some of the music but just a few pieces here and there.

Spoiler: Still spoilers just in case

I'd personally argue against the "kiddie's game music" part, partially because it sounds like an indirect insult to those who like the music including myself, but mainly because Lusamine's themes, Po Town, Team Skull's themes, Aether Foundation (both normal and the lab), and more don't really give off a "kiddie music" vibe. Maybe the Route music, but that's not saying too much.

@Dizzard Yeah, the Champion theme didn't impress me too much, mainly since it's partially a remix of the Pokemon theme we've heard so much and we've heard it in trailers.

 

[Almonds]

I like the Champion Battle theme, mostly because it is

Spoiler

our theme when we defend our title

The intro really gets me pumped up. It's the very theme intro for pokemon we've had for 20 years - and it's the champion battle theme in Alola It feels like a treat, a thank you message for playing all those 20 years, and now that theme belongs to us as true pokemon masters.

Other soundtracks I like are...
Gladion's battle theme because it reminds me of Hugh's theme
Guzma's battle theme. So much swag.

and

Spoiler

All of the Aether Foundation music, including Lusamine's battle themes and that one particular music when you first arrive at the Paradise, trying to get to the elevator. Some youtube videos titled it as "Rescue Lillie"