The Sound and Music of Oceanhorn: Chronos Dungeon

The Oceanhorn: Chronos Dungeon soundtrack is freely available for streaming.

Today, we're exchanging a few words with Ilmari Tiitinen, already SFX designer on Oceanhorn 2, and now also the composer for the 16-bit-homage soundtrack of Oceanhorn: Chronos Dungeon. 

"I wanted to include all of my childhood's SNES memories into Chronos Dungeon's soundscape. I grew up with Super Mario World, Megaman X, Final Fantasy 6, and Zelda: A Link to the Past. Like many others at the studio, I found a favorite a bit later on in Final Fantasy 7: the soundtrack of that game shaped my overall relationship with the craft itself. I believe you can hear the influence of Koji Kondo and Nobuo Uematsu in Chronos Dungeon. It has chiptunes elements to it, but it also refers to more modern soundscapes. I think this OST compiles all of my gaming experience and memories from the '90s, the great gaming decade, with more contemporary takes, like the Shovel Knight soundtrack". 

How did Ilmari go about composing from such an age-inspired project? "At the very beginning, the team was still working on the look and feel of the game. At first, I made a set of generic action-packed songs that were fully randomized through the game, but that approach felt a bit off," he says. "When levels started displaying a more characteristic look and style, I went into composing level-specific music that fit the actual game – that's when it clicked."

This is not Ilmari's first music gig. Since 2012 he's been working on the music of titles such as Minigore 2, Kinghunt, Spell Brawl, Trade Town, and Hardland. Besides his work with us, his portfolio includes companies like Mountain Sheep, Lucky You-studio, and Ministry of Games, all active in the mobile gaming space.

"In practice, the process worked so that I captured video footage of the game, put it into the sequencer, and just started playing. It began with a basic melody loop, upon which I tried variations. It needed to feel right first – only then I made sure everything was fitting with the team's guidelines. All SFX were also made in the same way, my only compass being the need to evoke some positive nostalgia." 

"The overall process has been very refreshing," concludes Ilmari, "and a new way for me to compose music."