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The last bit of light, today..'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Composition | #34 | 4.111 | 4.111 |
| Quality | #34 | 4.148 | 4.148 |
| Overall | #66 | 3.793 | 3.793 |
| Impression | #75 | 3.741 | 3.741 |
| Storytelling | #110 | 3.519 | 3.519 |
| Creativity | #129 | 3.444 | 3.444 |
Ranked from 27 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
I decided to take inspiration from the image mainly, and also got inspired by my friend @nakoa.rt 's beautiful illustration. ( on instagram )
The game I imagined is a JRPG where you play a team of 3 or 4 characters through a post-apocalyptic environmet. This part of the story appears around 20hours of gameplay, the final boss is gettin closer, and the world is getting more and more corrupted. You see the final Island, where the apocalypse began, but it's so late in the day...
The last bit of light, today... : This music plays during a cutscene. The characters, exhausted, set up a camp for the night then go to sleep, but one remains awake and decides to take a walk along the beach during sunset. The wind picks up gradually, along with the cello, and then she dances. She realizes that their situation is hopeless, and prefers to enjoy what is probably her last sunset.
The cutscene ends at night, the character danced for so long that she now lies down, enjoys the moment a little longer, then gets up and starts walking back to the camp to join the others...
Battle for a friend ! : Unfortunately, on the way back, she encounters a monster (a kind of modified human, like so many others), which in a few seconds will come across the rest of the sleeping team if our character does nothing.
So she fights the monster alone to protect her vulnerable friends.
The battle is epic, with the character fighting alone against a monster that you usually defeat with three people. She will surely lose an arm or an eye, but if that is the price she has to pay for his friends, she won't hesitate for a second..
It's a short fight, where the wind blows in the forest, near the camp, and the moon is the only source of light.
Message from the artist
I'd love to have some feedback, i worked hard on it, and absolutely enjoyed working on this theme !
( You can listen to both tracks, while playing a windy forest sound if you find a good one, it rly adds to the atmosphere i think )
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
The story i wrote it for, takes place in a summer calm night
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://youtu.be/3BfLCt-TuEc
Number of tracks2
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
For game jams only
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Comments
These pieces are amazing !! I loved how you were able to portray so many emotions...
Wow, these two pieces feel so full of life and character. I really like the vibe you achieved with this smaller ensemble, it feels much more intimate and I think that often works better for certain kinds of stories, as it does here. Excellent piano and string writing, with great sound and handling of the virtual instruments. Truly an excellent submission!
Beautiful soundtrack! Was very nice to listen to!
These are some beautiful piano parts! The OST as a whole is very emotive, but I’d maybe go for something a bit more active for the battle theme to make it contrast with the first track.
I think it can be cool to have a somber piece playing when fighting a boss, but that’d depend on the primary emotion you want to communicate – if it’s not fear or danger, but sadness, then in that case it would work, I think.
A very good submission!
The way you described the battle theme made me think it was going to be more impactful sounding. It's still good, but I think adding percussion or having a 3rd song with increased intensity would be a good addition.
I actually tried to implement drums, and i would have uploaded the drum version if it was what i wanted it to sound like, but when i tried to take the drums off, i found it way better fitting the scene i had in mind. I think my mistake here is the text ^^ The scene i have in mynd is way calmer than a regular epic fight, I went quite the opposite way, to make it feel important ! ( exemple : the actual fight fight music from almost every souls game is epic, drums, full orchestra right BUT the final boss, often have a much calmer music, to make the player THINK about his actions more than just fighting ! )
I hope you got the point and that you could re listen to it with maybe a clearer vision of my imaginary game ! ( tell me if you re listen, i'll love to hear a 2nd point of view !! )
Anyway, thank you so much for the comment, have a great day !!
Very pretty soundtrack!! You've definitely got great control over writing for the piano and violin, I'm very impressed! For a JRPG, I do wish your battle song had some more energy to it. Maybe with the proper visual style your song could work perfectly fine and so I won't criticize it for that too much, but just something that crossed my mind while keeping the game in mind.
Such a beautiful sounding OST! You write for piano and strings really well and I'm definitely gonna take inspiration from this for future pieces that I write. Speaking of, what VST did u use for the strings? It sounds really nice.
the piano sound is fantastic, the whole OST is suuper calming and healing, you did a fantastic job showcasing the calm and tenderness of the picture you mentioned. Excellent work and great submission!
this is just so stunning and beautiful especially the first track, with the cello and piano yet the reverb is used SO well!!! i absolutely adore how the piano just feels as if it's lingering on, and despite the minimalist quality of the track it does not feel dragged on at all which is incredible!!! i love how gentle yet powerful the second track is, it's not an easy thing to compose (in my opinion) INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you very much, in the first piece i really tried to make the piano " breathe " by taking long pauses as our characters would like to enjoy the moment a little longer :)
In the second track, i added a 4 violins legato section that is pretty much carrying the whole thing haha !
The Last Bit of Light, Today: I really love the melody at 0:40 where the D# is used to turn the B chord major. Really beautiful! The violin solo over the piano is also very gorgeous. This reminds me of themes from Studio Ghibli movies by Joe Hisaishi. Quite ethereal and emotive!
Fight for a Friend: This somber violin for a fight scene reminds me of the Zuko-Azula fight in Avatar the Last Airbender. It takes a very violent event and makes it almost beautiful like a work of art. These are two stunning pieces of music. They do a good job of describing the story as it’s unfolding. I wonder if using the main motif from the first track in the second one would have added even more to that feeling? It would be really cool to hear more music from this game idea! Thanks for sharing!
Bro wtf I'm almost in tears, this is the first time someone ever compares my work to Joe Hisaishi's.. he definitely is my n°1 inspiration and everytime I discover a new piece from him I wish I could write it haha.. even if I am faaaar away from his level, your comment really hit me a lot, thank you for that 🙏
The B major chord would happen when the character arrives at the beach and sees the beauty of the sunset ( which is soon replaced again by the minor one when she dances ), I'm glad you noticed it :D
For the 2nd track, I tried to implement the main motif from the 1st one, but didn't have time to make it sound as I would like it to, so I kinda let it as it was, but I'll definitely work on it again ( after the jam ratings end, when I'll have some time :) )
Thank you again 😁
The harmonization with the violin and cello is absolutely fantastic in the first track. I started to think it wasn’t from a VST so I’m super surprised that it is. It was really easy to visualize the scenario for the second song because of how well the instrumentation is (also super curious what the 2nd art is supposed to be setting-wise, I was thinking it was seaweed lol it’s really pretty).
Thank you so much ! I really appreciate your feedback !
The 2nd art is basically the scenery from the 2nd music in an abstract style where i represented the bushes, and the moonlight as i was imagining them. Even if it's absolutely not what the fictionnal game would look like, i came up with this :)
you can check a better version and an other one from the 1st music here if u want :) https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ZlbnLZ
I like the minimal instrumentation and the intimate mood you create. The harmonies you use capture that JRPG essence. I like the subtle variation of the main melodic ideas. The driving rhythm in the battle piece produces just the right amount of urgency as the melodic material unfolds, telling us the story.
Oh friend!
This is awesome! You really did some amazing work with the mix and it sounds like a proper couple of songs! Once again im beyond impressed with how well you had the few instruments you are working with fill so much space and have these conversations.
Great work!
Thank you so much !!! I hope to see your next works in upcoming jams !
Nice piano work, the reverb is greatly handled and overall sound is so gentle, however the same dynamics and articulations are carried over to the battle theme which kinda loses its intentionality as I can't really imagine this to accompany any sort of fight, it sounds like it could used to for some troubled thinking, (like a fight inside the mind or smth) but it doesn't really work for this. Still, I can't tell you how fantastic the piano and violin sounds, sounds incredible :>
Thank you so much for the feedback, i appreciate that !
I would have loooved to work a little longer on the cellos of the 2nd track, or even add some subtle spiccattos in the background but i had no more time :')
It's beautiful. I also just adore the title and the artiwork "the last bit of light" it has such inagery.
Ye my friend's art kinda carried me for the artistic direction, if you like her style you can check the insta, amazing work here !
( Thanks for the feedback !! )
Beautiful soundtrack! You get a lot out of just piano and strings. One critique I have is about the battle theme: while good, I think it could use a bit more intensity (swapping sustained sounds for shorter staccato sounds, adding in some more low notes, etc.). Amazing work!
Ye i thought about it too, but couldn't make it work in such a short time, ( i started this one yesterday morning and barely finished it haha ) Thanks for your feedback !
Such a simple yet powerful work of art.
Funnily enough I'm not picturing an epic fight, but exactly what you chose as a cover art. I imagine story driven graphic novel, where you would follow these three friends, split up by life events, and finally reunited by strange circumstances in a train ride during a warm summer night.
I'm still surprised by the fact these violons are from a VST, they are very well programmed and sound so nice. Definitely one of my favourites so far.
Thank you so much for the feedback ! What i called an epic fight is more something like an important fight maybe, with huge consequences, and our character knows it.
I was so surprised too when i first found this vst, Cello being my fav instrument i put it in every track, i looove writing for them !
Feel the warmth of the strings, I loved how it tells the story little by little
that's some holy cellos i hear