"Harbor City" from Risen on PC and XBox 360 (1998)
Composer: Kai Rosenkranz
Album: Risen Original Soundtrack
Label: Deep Silver / GOG
Developer: Piranha Bytes
I have not played Risen, although I picked up the game and soundtrack a few years back from Humble's Deep Silver Bundle, so any commentary about the context of the song or further in depth analysis will have to wait until after I start and finish the game. This is also my first foray into Kai Rosenkranz as I have not come across either his name in the currently short career in the video game music realm.
What I hear, seems to be pretty typical of a town theme in a fantasy setting, and there is nothing wrong with that. Within the thirty seconds, I feel like I could easily transition into the soundtrack from The Princess Bride (specifically, for me at least, "The Friends' Song" and "Guide My Sword") without any question about tone or setting. This theme in particular also reminds me a lot of Paweł Błaszczak & Adam Skorupa's score from The Witcher,which came out in 2007, a year before Risen. To me, the music feels new, yet familiar enough that picturing the location is pretty easily done, just throw in a few docks and a larger harbor to accompany the name for which the song is titled.
This is one of the problems with listening to soundtracks to games that I have not yet played, It makes me want to play them. But I just do not have the time I wish that I had to help put context to this beautifully familiar score, but there will be a time, and hopefully coming soon.
~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
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