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Karifean's Blog of Visual Novels

Title Screen Themes in VNs

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I feel like doing a few writeups of particular aspects of visual novels, and how and where they were done well or not-so-well. There's a lot of subtle things that go into a visual novel experience, and I appreciate the attention to detail on some accounts. This is one of those little things that can truly make a big difference.

In many ways a good title screen theme is important. It's the single theme you keep coming back to - the one you hear every time you open up the game - and it will probably carve itself into your mind over the many sittings you're gonna be reading a visual novel, most likely more than any other track in the OST.

Some visual novels nail this perfectly. Others, not so much. Let me list a few that I find particularly notable.

When They Cry

Nope. This is one category that doesn't have When They Cry kill all competition right off the bat. Higurashi greets you with cries of the Higurashi on the title screen, while Umineko (usually) greets you with cries of seagulls. Fitting for sure, though on the memorability scale it ranks pretty low. The ambience is classic though, especially combined with the sound effects, so it doesn't disappoint much.

Muv-Luv

The original Muv-Luv has a pretty simple and calming title theme with Chiisana Kouen. It's pretty telling of the kind of story you're in for. It doesn't exactly get you hyped up for the game, but that's not what it's going for either. It just conveys this feeling of calming day-to-day life, and that's exactly what Muv-Luv is. Not the best title screen theme, but well fitting enough for Muv-Luv, one of the more boring and plain VNs I've read.

...that is until you hit Alternative, which has a slightly different title theme: Crash. It's as different from Muv-Luv's title screen theme as you can get, but again, it fits perfectly. An absolutely wonderful way to contrast Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv Alternative right off the bat, and a superb representation of how different in tone the two really are.

Ever17 - The Out of Infinity

Karma. Just... beautiful is all I can say. Ever17 already has a great pre-title-screen opening movie, and combined with this one it makes for one hell of a startup. While the sad piano music may feel a bit jarring if you haven't finished any of the routes yet, that'll only last until you've finished some of the routes... Tsugumi's in particular.

G-senjou no Maou

G-senjou greets you with a good old Air on G-string and my god does it work well. A wonderful calm before the storm. And it actually has plot relevance, being the main character's favorite piece of classical music. The song gets more and more instruments as you complete routes until it has a full-on orchestra by the end of it, which is a very nice touch.

Steins;Gate

My personal favorite track of all the title screen themes, Gate of Steiner is an incredible piece. I love the melody as much as the instrumentation, and it fits Steins;Gate so damn well. I'd seriously never tire of listening to it.

The only complaint I have with it is that it doesn't really fit that well as a title screen theme, in my opinion. I like it more as a standalone track.

There is only one company that consistently nails the title screen themes...

Key

Of course it's Key. All the Key games have pretty amazing soundtracks, and the title screen themes never fail to disappoint either. Well as long as they exist anyways (looking at you, AIR).

CLANNAD's title theme is Ushio. I distinctly remember staying on the title screen for minutes doing nothing but listening to the piano play over and over again first time I booted up the game. I'd already formed an attachment to the game by that point through the anime, and I couldn't have asked for a better way to be greeted by the source material.

Tomoyo After takes a different approach with Hope, a rather solemn theme by comparison. But that's fine. Tomoyo After is not a long visual novel, and you'll probably finish it in only a couple of sittings. It works to establish a shift in tone when you've just come from CLANNAD, and it works just as well when you finish the game and are left with a case of classic Key PTSD.

Rewrite's Journey is definitely up there as one of the overall best title screen themes. It really makes you want to read it, and it fits Rewrite soooo well. It's Jun Maeda's only contribution to the OST, and what a contribution it is!

All I can say about Kanon's Morning Lights is that it makes me feel like reading it. So good job I suppose ^^

It's not even out yet, but Main Menu (name subject to change?) from Angel Beats!-1st Beat- is just like... whoa! Holy trout! Erasing all doubt from anyone's mind that Key's still got it. I so can't wait to read it...!

And finally, what I would call the best title theme (even if Gate of Steiner is the better overall track) is, from Little Busters, A World Is Born. I can't even really explain why I like it so much. I could call it calming, but that's not really it; it gives off a vibe like you're stepping into a world beyond any of your expectations, and you're just sitting there in awe... that's what this track is to me. And every time you complete a route, this track will play once you're back on the title screen and no matter which one it was, good end or bad end, this track fits both cases so damn well. It's that special kind of track that just amplifies whatever feeling you were just left with, be it sadness or joy or regret. And it just makes you want to jump right back into it. Especially when you just got done with Rin2 and get the option to enter Refrain. That moment is one I will not soon forget.

Well there you go. Those are my favorite title screen themes. Which of them do you like best? Did I forget any?

Edit (02.08.2015): Having recently finished Grisaia no Kajitsu, I have to give special mention to its title screen theme, The Final Fractral (Instrumental). It's so incredibly upbeat and fun to listen to, and it's really representative of what I like about the novel: reading it is just plain having a good time. My only complaint with it would be that it's sometimes hilariously jarring when you've just hit a bad end, the title screen suddenly pops up and this unbelievably cheery music starts playing. But it's still definitely one of the best title screen themes I've heard.

Updated 08-02-2015 at 01:33 PM by Karifean

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