Daily Debate: What “Zelda-Like” Game Has Your Favorite Soundtrack?
Posted on May 05 2022 by Sean Gadus
Over the course of its long history, The Legend of Zelda series has been highly influential across the video game industry. Plenty of developers and designers have openly admitted that the Zelda series, or a specific Zelda game, has influenced their own projects. Many games inspired by the Zelda series, complimentary called “Zelda-likes” or disparagingly called “Zelda clones,” have taken different elements of the series and built their experience around them. Some games may be inspired by the combat seen in a Zelda game, others may be influenced by the overworld design, and others may focus on the types of puzzles seen in the series. When done well, a Zelda-like can be an extremely enjoyable experience that gives fans more of what they already love.
One of my favorite aspects of Zelda-like games are the musical scores. Video game soundtracks are incredibly diverse, which makes them so enjoyable to explore. Composers and developers approach music for their specific games with wide ranging ideas about the type of instrumentation they should use and the styles that they want to evoke. Some soundtracks are designed to be approximations of or homages to classic 8-Bit and 16-Bit music, while other soundtracks feature full orchestras. With this in mind, which Zelda-like game has your favorite soundtrack or score?
Overall, my favorite Zelda-like soundtrack comes from one of the most famous Zelda-like games: Okami. Built using many of the design ideas from games like Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, Okami is a sprawling adventure based around Japanese mythology. The game’s soundtrack is very diverse; it has sweeping, inspirational songs for its overworld and irreverent, silly themes for its comic relief characters. “The Sun Rises” and “Reset” are two of the best songs from the game. A more recent entry would be Gareth Coker’s score from Immortals Fenyx Rising. Immortals, a game that shares many core design philosophies with Breath of the Wild, has a dramatic soundtrack that is integrated into the open world very effectively. In contrast to the orchestrated sounds of Immortals, the music from Blossom Tale: The Sleeping King feels like it could be ripped straight from the 16-Bit or Game Boy Advance era. The title screen music reminds me of games like A Link To The Past and The Minish Cap.
What do you think? Which Zelda-like game has your favorite soundtrack or score? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Featured art by evelmiina
Sean Gadus is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time, and he loves all of the 3D Zelda games from 1998-2011. The final battle of Tears of the Kingdom is one of his favorite final battles in the entire series. He wants to help build a kinder, more compassionate world. You can check out his other written work at The-Artifice.com.
