(July 23rd, 2025, 03:43)TheArchduke Wrote: EDIT: And DO not get me started one the music. I may be alone there but to me it is a big deal. CIV VI music was AWESOME. I am still listening to Atomic Age America or Macedonia in my car in front of my children. It is close to Stellaris in that regard.
Yep.
Civ VI's music is brilliant. Tin took the simple but in retrospect awesome choice to base each civ's theme on an important indigenous piece of music, BUT he interprets that music in an increasingly complex, orchestral way as you progress through the ages, rather than just a straight rendition. So ancient era themes are simple, with one or two instruments, a single short melody, no harmonies, etc. As the game moves into the medieval, then industrial and finally atomic eras, he weaves in more instruments, adds layers of contrast, and gradually builds the theme into a full-blown orchestral celebration of your civ. The effect is that of an entire symphonic movement, starting simple and building into something grand. It mirrors the progression of the game, perfectly suits the theme, AND communicates the unique nature of each civ in the game.
For example, the Greek theme, the Epitaph of Seikilos.
Here's the original...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGfOHoun0OQ
Tin's simple Ancient theme based on that.
The melody is there, but it's just plucked out on a single lyre, slowly and gently. Perfect while you're just moving a few warriors and builders around 2-3 cities.
I'll skip the middle themes (although I love the Industrial theme in particular), but by the Atomic era you've reached:
this.
Now that same melody is powerful, triumphant, and supported by a full-blown orchestra, electronic instruments, etc. It's nothing less than epic as you close in on your victory condition.
Highlighting two more of my favorites before I proceed to VII's music...
The Zulu, ancient.
No instruments, just vocals of a classic Zulu hymn.
The Industrial and Atomic themes are once again, though,
some of my favorite pieces of music.
The sheer optimism and energy that pours out in every note by the end, I feel like I can conquer the world.
Korea's is based on the famous
Arirang.
It's absolutely lovely, and ubiquitous in Korea. In VI you have
the simple Ancient tune on a flute...
Evolving with drums and a gayageum added with some harmonies in
Medieval...
By the Industrial age you have
a traditional Western orchestra with horns, violins, a piano and the traditional instruments all working in harmony now:
And finally the Atomic era appropriately
adds some electronic, futuristic instruments to the Industrial orchestra.
By contrast, VII's music is approached completely differently. Once again, the blame can be laid on the feet of the Age system. There IS no more smooth progression from Ancient to Atomic. THere's just Ancient, Exploration, Modern. Then you have a different civ in each era, and as a result there is no theme running through the whole game - not musically, at least.
So instead, Tin's tracks, while passable enough on their own, all stand solo, and lack all of the complexities of interpretation that VI's music had. Greece is just a simple Delphic hymn - fine enough in the Ancient era but you never hear it built upon. This is all there is for Greece, forever:
[
It's...fine. But it's purely indigenous, none of Tin's modern orchestra interpretation added, which keeps it simple and, well, antiquated to me.
Same goes for the medieval themes - a bit more complex, but tonally and thematically totally divorced from their predecessors. You can evolve from Greece to Normandy. Here's the Norman theme. Any relation at all to Greece? None that I can tell - a totally brand new musical theme.
The result is even the modern themes are lacking, because they don't have the thematic grounding that's been building the entire game. They burst forth from the head of Tin like Athena, totally unconnected from all that came before. Buganda, the Zulu-equivalent civ, has a perfectly acceptable theme in the modern age, but compare it with the Zulu who have had an entire game to explore the variations in their music and it's just...fine.
So Civ VII, even if each track has the same quality as any individual track from VI, just as an overall game is way less musically interesting or powerful than VI. What a bummer. Once again, the Age system and the civ-switching just completely torches the rest of the design. What were they
thinking.
