Sound Design Principles: Entertainment

Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 (Epic Games)

The soundtrack of a games, including that of music, dialogue and music, is expected to be “exciting, larger than life and original.”

1. “A seasoned sound designer will look for or create a sound that will not simply complete the visual elements but also serve [every other aspect of a game, from narrative to texturing, animation to game mechanics] in the most meaningful and appropriate manner.” (Sinclair 2020, pp. 36-39)
   The responsibility to create and complement the environment and the story of the game. Maybe making a horror game scarier and more intense or hyping up a close call. The sound design complementing an environment can be seen in Valorant where a player completely wiping out the enemy team by themselves starts off with a simple sound effect, gradually rising in volume and fullness per kill and finishing off with a triumphant sound accompanied by a voice line suitable for the character used.


2. Where music and sound design work together to magnify the emotion impact of the scene of the game and therefore increase the active participation of the game. “How should the player feel? What emotions should be intensified?” Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 shows this well. Its boss fight soundtrack “Une vie à t'aimer”, while not sung in English, uses its fragile violin and piano to highlight the vulnerability and tragedy of the game’s narrative, and swells up at its most intense moment. As well as this, the opposing male and female voice also illustrates the two viewpoints from different characters and signifies the parallels and double meaning of the lyrics themselves.