Cthulhu Saves the World Soundtrack

Cthulhu Saves the World Soundtrack, Gordon McNeil, 2010

With the rise of indie games, the number of titles styled after 8- and 16-bit classics has exploded. Among the most beloved genres of that earlier era was the JRPG. It is hardly surprising, then, that the retro market has been flooded with games trying to recapture the magic of genre touchstones like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Star Ocean, and Tales of… One of the stronger throwbacks was Zeboyd Games’ Cthulhu Saves the World. For its soundtrack, the studio turned to Gordon McNeil.

McNeil had already contributed a handful of tracks to Zeboyd’s earlier Breath of Death VII: The Beginning. His role on Cthulhu Saves the World would be far more substantial, resulting in more than seventy minutes of music. His stylistic approach to scoring this hybrid of homage and parody was wholly unsurprising. In his own words: “Since I was a toddler I’ve wanted to score an RPG of the J variety, so I jumped at the chance. The whole idea behind Zeboyd’s RPGs is to make as much an honest tribute as well as parody, and so I decided to go whole hog and put together as iconic a JRPG soundtrack as I could.”

And indeed, like the best parody scores, McNeil plays everything entirely straight. He never pushes the music towards anything overtly jokey or self-aware. More importantly, he succeeds in writing what genuinely deserves to be called an iconic JRPG soundtrack. This may well be Western game music’s finest retro RPG score: one of the very rare throwback works that stands shoulder to shoulder with the classics it references.

Listeners will know they are in good hands from the moment the opening track, “Save the World (Hero Theme)”, begins. Beautifully layered brass fanfares prepare the ground for a wonderfully enterprising, youthful French horn melody. With its buoyant swagger, the cue captures the requisite sense of adventure to perfection. Like most JRPG scores, the Cthulhu Saves the World soundtrack freely mixes classical and rock / pop influences. “Save the World”’s main theme embodies McNeil’s command of both idioms. Beautifully developed and broad in contour, it also has the repetition and immediacy of a great pop tune.

While McNeil consistently integrates rock elements into the orchestral fabric with skill, one aspect of this fusion deserves special mention: the excellent drum writing. In fact, his work for the drum kit is more inventive than what one hears in most rock- or metal-inflected game scores. Just listen to the fantastic variety of fills and rhythmic turns in “Conquer the Fire (Volcano)”. They help propel the cue towards one of the soundtrack’s most goosebump-inducing moments, when a magnificent soaring string melody once again fuses classical gravitas with pop immediacy.

As an exercise in pastiche, Cthulhu Saves the World necessarily follows genre conventions. But it does so with near-total assurance. Expect a peaceful town theme? That is exactly what “A Moment of Clarity (Town)” provides. There is nothing surprising about that, but with woodwind melodies this gorgeous unfolding over acoustic guitar chords and warm string support, there is no reason to complain. And once again, McNeil does not neglect development, guiding the cue into a romantically swooning B section led by solo piano.

Other locations are scored just as predictably and with just as much musical accomplishment. “Rust and Scrap (Factory)” is a junkyard stomp, mixing playfully industrial rhythms with clarinet leads and harpsichord riffs. “Into the Depths (Shrine)” opens with a deep male choir whose obviously synthetic sound is a charming nod to PS1-era RPGs. One of the soundtrack’s most beautiful brass melodies – solemn yet aspiring – fittingly underscores this ecclesiastical setting. And finally, mighty electric guitar riffs roll in to complete the picture of a place that feels both mysterious and awe-inspiring.

No classic RPG score would be complete without strong battle themes, and unsurprisingly the Cthulhu Saves the World soundtrack excels here as well. McNeil brings his fondness for dense, intricate instrumentation to these adrenaline-driven cues. “Conflict (Battle)” is another track that fuses classical and rock – or rather metal – language with seamless ease. Hugely energising, it never lets up, but it still knows how to pace itself. Listen to how its lighter piano lead arrives at exactly the right moment, after strings, choir, guitar, and drums have already driven the track to peak intensity.

And then there is the finale. A six-minute miniature epic, “Existence Collapses” allows McNeil to pull out all the stops: metal riffage, prominent choir and organ, show-stopping trumpet soli, fists-raised orchestral drama. Naturally, he binds all of it together with complete assurance, producing a final-boss theme for the ages. “Existence Collapses” fully earns the hyperbole promised by its title and seals the Cthulhu Saves the World soundtrack’s status as a genre classic, one that surpasses far more prominent JRPG throwback scores such as Octopath Traveler and Bravely Default.