Play soundtrack
Runaway (Vesta's Return) - an OST's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Correlation to theme | #107 | 3.500 | 3.500 |
| Composition | #120 | 3.350 | 3.350 |
| Quality | #129 | 3.350 | 3.350 |
| Overall | #135 | 3.310 | 3.310 |
| Impression | #152 | 3.150 | 3.150 |
| Creativity | #173 | 3.200 | 3.200 |
Ranked from 20 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
Runaway (or Vesta's Return) is a survival/horror/RPG game about our main character Vesta from Okinoa town, who lived in peace in the forest until a demonic beast emerged from the depths of hell and destroyed her home town. Vesta is then forced to evacuate into the surrounding forest, where she fights for her survival. Throughout the game, she gets stronger by fighting enemies and gains new powers until she is strong enough to return to her hometown and slay the demonic beast that has taken over her hometown.
Soundcloud playlist of tracks:
https://soundcloud.com/chadlacy/sets/ost-jam-4-submission
Track explanations:
Runaway (Title Theme):
This is the main title theme that the player would hear upon startup of the main menu. It also contains the main leitmotif that represents the demonic beast (the main antagonist and final boss of the story)
Okinoa Town:
This is the theme for Vesta's hometown, Okinoa Town. This would play during the start of the game, when everyone in Okinoa Town lives in peace, and the player learns the backstory of the town and characters and basic game mechanics. This track would loop indefinitely over the sections with piano and guitar in game
Exposition:
This is the music that would play in the cutscene depicting the destruction of Okinoa town, as well as a possible background theme for exploring in the surrounding forests. This track would also loop indefinitely in game
Final Boss:
This is the theme that would play in the final boss fight in the game, against the demonic beast. This fight would take place in the destroyed Okinoa town, and as such it contains leitmotifs for both the demonic beast and Okinoa town. This track would loop the middle section during the fight, after the slower tempo intro. Once the boss is defeated, the ending tag of the song would play.
Theme:
How does it fit the theme?
The main character lives in a forest town and must "run away" when her town is attacked by a demonic beast
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/chadlacy/sets/ost-jam-4-submission
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
Starting with "Runaway," right away builds some tension. It gave me some chills... What a contrast to go from that at the menu, then to peaceful "Okinoa Town." Can't be too surprised when that place is decimated. I love the whole thing. It's just a great composition that's well balanced and there's so much tension, resolution, tension, resolution written in to the pieces.
Love the use of leitmotif! Beautiful composition. Favorite is definitely Exposition. Amazing job!
Really immersive and interesting universe you've built through the story and the music! I especially liked the chord progression in "Exposition" and how the melody "clashed" with it at some moments to create tension. Nice job!
Track 1: Definitely an unsettling first track, it gets the eerie mood of the game across very effectively. I do feel like the piano became a bit redundant after a while (it also felt out of place without any reverb in this mix.) Also, repetition of the same four chords over and over should be avoided when possible, as it takes away from the motion and intensity of a track.
Track 2: I am so delighted by this beautiful guitar playing-- is this you playing live? Quite a lovely track, one of my favorites. This piano-guitar texture is one I would like to explore myself.
Track 3: Another nicely done track!
Track 4: really cool final boss theme and an awesome tonal shift-- could definitely feel the intensity mounting. Loved each of the various sections of this piece-- it kept changing, and kept me listening.
Good job on this soundtrack, and keep writing!
Really amazing work!
The opening is quite nice. I'm imagining some sort of cutscene unfolding. Love the flute melody. While I like the idea of the piano note acting almost as a metronome, near the end it sounds a tiny bit static though. I wonder if it could've benefitted from a little automation of its reverb or something to make it sound a tiny bit less static. It's a very minor nitpick, but just something I noticed.
Okinoa Town sounds nice. It indeed sounds Town-ey. It also sounds quite happy and peaceful. I feel sad that Okinoa town is gonna be destroyed.
Exposition is so lovely. It's incredible and it is easily my favorite from this soundtrack. It sounds both melancholic, but not just depressing if that makes sense. It definitely has a sadness and a very heavy weight, but it still feels like we're moving towards a goal. It feels like our character is not going to just give up. Like hoping for a better place and then moving towards it. Onwards towards something better! I really really like this one. It's absolutely gorgeous. It gives me Yann Tiersen vibes.
Final fight sounds pretty satisfying. Especially after Exposition, I'm really rooting for the character to overcome this weight that is on their shoulders.
Also, props for the very nice cover art.
I really liked the "Exposition" and "The Final Fight" tracks - the first one has a fitting, somber vibe and the other one gets you pumped for a fight.
Great sound that really evokes atmosphere where I can almost see the game in front of me. Especially liked the built tension in the boss fight piece.
Nice job and incredible output with the time frame of the project. I really enjoy the exposition track and think the loop is well done, I know the track fades out but I'm almost positive I hear a repeat of the material from the start in the fade out, it flows well! One small thing is I feel like the piano in the first track is just a bit too dry. I think it sticks out just a hare. Incredible work nonetheless!