First time playing this, orchestra mod or not?

[Ron]

I am definately playing with the enhanced HD backgrounds, but I am wondering if the orchestra version is a must.

For instance, I thought the orchestra mod for Dragon Quest XI was inmensly superior to the game's default MIDI ost

[Gabby]

Originally posted by Sneezes:

I am definately playing with the enhanced HD backgrounds, but I am wondering if the orchestra version is a must.

For instance, I thought the orchestra mod for Dragon Quest XI was inmensly superior to the game's default MIDI ost

There's actually give and take for both of these things.

For FFIX, the orchestra music is definately nicer, for the MOST PART. But the Orchestra tunes simply cause parts of the story to lose some of their weight and feeling because the instruments use no longer match the scene. My major example here is "You're Not Alone", which plays at a certain moment where Zidane's mood changes with the music and the instrument use that comes in as it plays is very important to this. The orchestra loses that entirely and it kinda kills the scene.

For DQ... I agree for the most part that the orchestrated version sounds way better. But I also feel where they were coming from, as the chiptune music they used was meant to evoke a feeling of nostalgia since this game is a direct call back to the original trilogy. For long time fans, that "terrible" midi soundtrack has something worth absorbing. But... yeah, for the average player it doesn't have that added feeling thus it causes the game to fall flat for everyone but us old people.

[Zunnoab #931]

Yeah I like many of the Distant Worlds versions of songs, and I'm not sure if that's what used, but I do not care for what they did to that one. I specifically don't like the "fluttering" background tune that intrudes on the song over and over again right from the beginning.