PBG HC Music Appreciation

This page is dedicated to all the great music that gets edited into the "Hardcore!" series on the PBGGameplay Youtube channel. Needless to say, there will be spoilers for previous seasons. Weekly features: Monday - Music Wishlist: I will post a song that I can imagine being implemented seamlessly in HC. These will be songs that have not appeared in HC, but should fit right in. Thursday - Music Spotlight: I will post a song that I think was used particularly effectively in HC. Sunday - Playlist Update: While a HC season is actively being uploaded, I will list all new songs in HC that gets added to my Youtube playlist, and I will list timestamps for any new, unidentified songs.

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PBG HC Music Spotlight #14 - DOOM - Suspense

Fun fact: This is the ONLY song to have been used in an HC season from each of the three editors: PBG (MC 1 & 2), Jeff (MC 3 & 4, MineZ 1) and Todd (MC 5)

Featured in almost every episode involving the nether, or the Sirus episodes in MineZ #1.

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HC Music Wishlist #13 - Desktop Dungeons - Dragoneye

I just want to remind you all that there are still amazing places to discover in Minecraft from time to time. Take in the scenery.

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PBG HC Music Spotlight #13 - Folklore - Title Theme

This track really sticks out from other songs PBG has used in the seasons he edited; It sounds like a song Todd would choose. Moreover, it was used for when PBG entered a ravine from the bottom. Ravines are scary and I don’t think this song would fit if used nowadays.

So what was different back then that made this song suitable? There was this effect that was in old versions of Minecraft where you are surrounded by thick fog if you are deep underground. Because of this, you cannot see the ceiling or the source of the water flowing into the ravine, which gives it a more mysterious appearance.

Featured in Minecraft HC #2 Part 7.

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HC Music Wishlist #12 - Runescape - Magical Journey

This one came to me in a dream. I heard this song while the HC crew was fishing in the next episode of Minecraft Hardcore. Why I didn’t hear the song called Fishing is beyond me.

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HC Music Playlist Update 12/03/17

The following new songs have been added to my Youtube playlist:

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction - Groovitron 1

Chrono Cross - Arni Village - Home World

One new song in Minecraft HC #6 has not yet been identified:

Part 8 - 19:23

Be advised that the covers/original tracks section of most videos’ descriptions appear to be incomplete. Part 9 especially made that clear to me: 4 original tracks are listed, and there are indeed 4 original tracks. But some of them appeared in previous episodes and were not listed. So the unknown song listed above may be an original track.

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PBG HC Music Spotlight #12 - Firewatch - Something's Wrong

“The journey will begin with fire.”

Featured in Minecraft HC #6 Part 4

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HC Music Wishlist #11 - Blood - Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

Another creepy song for when our heroes are skulking around in a dark place.

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HC Music Playlist Update 11/26/17

The following new songs have been added to my Youtube playlist:

Ogre Battle 64 - Diana

Super Danganronpa V2 - Welcome to DANGAN Island!!

Three new songs in Minecraft HC #6 have not yet been identified:

Part 4 - 3:25

Part 6 - 5:45

Part 6 - 8:17

Since the entire HC music playlist is getting really cluttered, I’ve created a playlist for the Minecraft HC #6 soundtrack as well: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVN9Vk6UkJqcSdRXcWVyG0lEePdGcXpz3 Playlists for other seasons will be coming this Christmas break.

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PBG HC Music Spotlight #11 - Virtue's Last Reward - Blue Bird Lamentation

The last few minutes of Minecraft HC #5 part 15 is in my opinion the greatest scene in the entire series, and this song ties it all together. At first, you feel sorrow for the losses that happen in quick succession. But then the music escalates a bit, and then you realize that this may be the end, as both PB & JEFF both get attacked by wither skeletons. I seriously thought that was going to be the end of the season when I first watched the episode. And then the episode ends with a death montage, all without ever switching the BGM.

This is one of those songs that just can’t be used again, since it won’t have the same impact as it did the first time.

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HC Music Wishlist #10 - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - Departure

Todd has already used “Twilight in Dreamland” from this soundtrack, but I prefer “Departure”. They’re both very relaxing songs. Of all my wishlist entries so far, I think this one is most likely to appear in HC.

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HC Music Playlist Update 11/19/17

The following new songs have been added to my Youtube playlist:

Team Fortress 2 - Right Behind You

Fenix Ark Angelus - Chrono Trigger - Memories of Green Cover

Josiah Everhart - 10 Minutes of Relaxing Acoustic Guitar Music

Josiah Everhart -  Zelda: Majora's Mask - Oath to Order (Cover)

Borderlands 2 - Interlude Ambient

2 songs by Ace Waters appear to be HC exclusives so there is no upload to add to the playlist.

One song in Minecraft HC #6 has not yet been identified:

Part 1 - 3:11

You can check out my full Hardcore music playlist at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVN9Vk6UkJqfpRvp9SFmbsIHK3Sxswruy

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PBG HC Music Spotlight #10 - Josiah Everhart - Super Metroid - Lower Brinstar (piano cover)

I’m really digging the extensive use of music by Josiah Everhart and Ace Waters in Minecraft HC season 6. I’m not seeing any links for Ace Water’s music in the descriptions for episodes 2 and 3, so it looks like we’re getting some HC exclusives in there. An original soundtrack goes a long way for giving a show a unique feel.

While most of Josiah’s songs are not HC commissions, his piano cover for Lower Brinstar makes Terraria’s dungeon feel really desolate. Especially with that 5 second pause roughly 2 minutes in.

Featured in Terraria HC #3 part 21.

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HC Music Wishlist #9 - Yu Gi Oh! Forbidden Memories - Sebek and Neku

The characters in Yu Gi Oh! always seem to get into duels where their life depends on it. I think this is a great battle theme, but it’s just from a card game, so it’s not actually a battle theme.

Just goes to show you, you never know where you’ll find good music.

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PBG HC Music Spotlight #9 - Final Fantasy Tactics - Count's Anger

Season 6 of Minecraft HC looks like it’ll be an ominous one. Expect Count’s Anger to make its return.

First featured in Minecraft HC #5 part 5.

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HC Music Wishlist #8 - Metroid Prime - Chozo Ghost Battle

As the WoF has been successfully defeated in Terraria HC #3, a season of Terraria hardmode HC is now on the table. Usually, the first priority in hardmode is to break demon altars so that hardmode ores can spawn. When the wraiths subsequently spawn, it reminds me of chozo ghosts in metroid prime, because now you have to deal with stronger enemies in a place you’re revisiting.

In reality, the wraiths are a threat only when you break the altars in rapid succession. But one may break a handful of altars before they find out that wraiths spawn at all...

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PBG HC Music Spotlight #8 - Kevin MacLeod - Return of Lazarus

Eerie and mysterious. This is the theme for the Jungle Temple in Minecraft HC #2. I remember reading twice in the comments that PBG should’ve used the Forest Temple theme from Ocarina of Time. Return of Lazarus works better, as it is more effective to use unfamiliar music for unfamiliar situations.

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HC Music Wishlist #7 - Dragon Quest VIII - Remembrances...

One of the most outstanding things about the music used in HC is the music we hear whenever we lose someone. The three most recent seasons of HC have already used most of the good songs from Chrono Cross, so it looks like we have to start looking for sad music elsewhere. There’s a good reason we don’t often hear the same sad song twice: it just wouldn’t be as effective if we did.

I haven’t played many RPG’s, so this is pretty much the only song I know of that gives some of the same emotions we’ve heard in the Chrono Cross soundtrack. Excellent track nonetheless.