Hi everybody, I am super happy to present you today the first After Beat article, in which I will dissect the music of the game.

Let’s start with a question that almost nobody asks itself except me: is there a leitmotiv in the game?

Well, since not everyone is necessarily a specialist in music, we will first define what a leitmotiv is. Let’s take the Oxford dictionary definition, which is very clear:
«Leitmotiv: A recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation».

So, did I use a leitmotiv in Stellar Overload? Yes, and even several, for factions, characters, etc. But today we will just focus on the most important: the leitmotiv of our character.

It consists of a short melody of 8 notes (just because 8 is my favorite number, that's it...) that we will be able to hear for the first time in the main menu of the game, towards the very end (At 03.42 precisely). Concentrate on your left ear and spot it played by a kind of "electronic flute":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaM8klGIK88&feature=youtu.be&t=3m41s

This little melodic figure, which stumbles but always arrives higher, is there to represent the difficult task of our hero. All this is also perceived visually by taking a glance at the score and the way it is composed:



Following the curve drawn by the course of the notes, one sees well the stumbling side but which always goes up higher.

And I hid this leitmotiv in many important places of the adventure, either related to the scenario, or related to particular gameplay situations. For example, here in the cinematic intro of the game, played at the Glockenspiel, the first time we see our character asleep (at 0.30 precisely):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6badE21opk&feature=youtu.be&t=28s

The rebels are an important part of the formation of our character, thus the music of their camp on Merx also contains this theme sometimes (at 0.16 for example, in a little more serious tone than before):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVt1FcxRj_c&feature=youtu.be&t=15s

It is also present but modified in victorious jingles, or even in the captured music of an enemy building, where the victory of our character mingles with that of the rebels (at 0.15 precisely):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoQdKpLGkNA&feature=youtu.be&t=15s

The last example, more subtle and emotional, when we find our brother in the lab, here with the figure engrained on the piano to bring back a little tenderness in a place yet conducive to combat (from 0.37):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3ZUyUkX1qQ&feature=youtu.be&t=36s

Let’s finish with a really hidden detail. If several jingles obviously use the leitmotiv, it is much more hidden in the « medium » jingle, when you get a recipe kind of reward. In the excerpt that follows, you can hear the jingle at its normal speed then slowed down strongly, clearly revealing the melody:

https://soundcloud.com/cubicaldrift/jingle-medium

There are other examples of the presence of this melody in other musics of the game, or even in some trailers, but I let you find them by yourself now. I hope you enjoyed this little article, next time we will talk about the music of Merx!

See you soon, Keep on rocking!