Soulslike Legend Yuka Kitamura Reveals Why Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Bloodborne Music Hits Harder Than Most Games

FromSoftware games like the Dark Souls series, Elden Ring, and Bloodborne to name a few have managed to leave a mark in the video game industry. All of these games are known for one thing i.e. their difficulty level. These highly difficult games have also given the rise of the so-called Soulslike games.

However, apart from the difficulty level, FromSoftware games are also known for their iconic game music. Be it the Dark Souls series, Elden Ring, or Bloodborne, these games came with exceptional background scores, which helped in engrossing the players completely into the game.

Yuka Kitamura talks about the music in games like Elden Ring and Dark Souls

One of the main people behind all of these captivating game scores is Yuka Kitamura. Kitamura has been associated with FromSoftware for more than ten years and has composed music for games like Bloodborne, Sekiro, Elden Ring, and Dark Souls III. She has recently decided to freelance to explore new directions in music.

During a recent email interview with toucharcade, Yuka Kitamura talked about various aspects of her career in music including her music composition in the legendary Soulslike games which include the likes of Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Dark Souls III, and Sekiro.

When asked about her music having a personal touch of emotion, Kitamura added that the music score is created keeping in mind that the fans while playing the game should feel the emotions, backgrounds, and feelings of the game’s characters. As such, every piece of music has a process of discussion and decision.

She further added,

“However, my experience in game development has taught me that game music doesn’t stand alone, but rather as one of the elements of the game, harmonizing with the map backgrounds, bosses, situations, and so on.”

She also spoke about her inspiration behind becoming a game music director which came from her childhood fascination with video games and their music which made her want to develop music that would go on to move people’s hearts.

Elden Ring wins big for its game music

Elden Ring’s game music won first place in the Spotify Streaming Division for Best Original Soundtrack during the PlayStation Game Music Awards 2022.

The awards are focused on recognizing the most popular game soundtracks from every year. Elden Ring won this award out of many popular nominations such as Horizon Forbidden West and Sonic Frontiers to name a few. Elden Ring won the Spotify Streaming Division for Best Original Soundtrack as it became the most-played game music on Spotify.

The game’s music score also got nominated for several prestigious awards ceremonies which include the British Academy Games Awards, the Game Awards, the Game Developers Choice Awards, and the New York Games Awards.