The composer’s inventory: creating a topical catalogue from Japanese role-playing game soundtracks

This paper explores the different ways in which video-game composers create extra-musical meaning by using topics that complement gameplay sequences in classic JRPGs from 1980-1999. Through the lens of topic theory (Ratner 1980; Agawu 1991; Atkinson 2019; Principi 2024), I create a small catalogue of video-game topics by interpreting musical signifiers and structuring them into a hierarchy of importance (Frymoyer 2017) to more objectively explain how the music mirrors both the gameplay and plot of the game. Three total topics are identified and each topic has three tokens, specific examples that exemplify the musical signifiers of each topic, or deviate for narrative purposes. The first topic explored is the Battle/Danger topic, which uses the following tracks as tokens: “Battle! Trainer” from Pokémon Red/Blue, “Battle” from Final Fantasy VI, and “Battle 1” from Chrono Trigger. The second topic is the Home/Safety topic featuring tokens “Home Sweet Home” from Earthbound/Mother 2, “Peaceful Days” from Chrono Trigger, and “Homesickness/Kyaro Town” from Suikoden 2. The final topic is the Otherworldly topic, using “Prologue” from Dragon Quest III, “Let Me Sleep So I May Dream” from Breath of Fire 2, and “End of Time” from Chrono Trigger. The Battle/Danger topic contains musical signifiers such as aggressive basslines, chromatic harmony, polyphonic texture, etc. As each of the three tokens feature aggressive basslines, that signifier would occupy the highest tier. Chromatic harmony and polyphonic textures appear less frequently and fill the middle and lowest tiers respectively.