The game cycles around the theme of good-evil dipoles, with the trademark Pacifist and Genocide routes serving as the most common for veterans of the game. Here, Toriel ask s the player to refrain from leaving her home, offering the promise of home-cooked meals and freedom from the broader complexities and dangers of the world outside. Musically, the piece opens with a soothing classical guitar with a simple picking pattern, as a melody line soon joins. The piece flirts with the tempo in rubato, as we slow down and gradually fade to a close. “Home” effectively establishes the setting, epitomizes the theme of innocence and offers a heartbreaking solo line in the guitar’s upper register.

It’s a simple, yet highly effective piece and a great way to end the first act of the game. (7/10)Ģ) Snowy is the theme of our first setting outside of Toriel’s home, and opens with a single piano establishing a very clear motif with sequencing between two chords. Violin enters as we continue with this motif, with a countermelody in the piccolo. As these drop out, we reach our B section, with a new melody in the piano, albeit with the same harmonic structure. We decrescendo to a close in the solo piano. This piece conjures up imagery of a winter landscape through the use of the undecorated solo piano, although this may a result of my personal bias having played through the game in its entirety multiple times. Nevertheless, the ability of Snowy to establish a very clear theme within seconds while adding a bit of variation through orchestration and a different melody keeps the piece moving. The largest issue with this piece however is its ability to establish momentum or enough variation to keep it interesting, particularly when this is a longer section of the game. There are a number of memorable pieces here to break up the monotony-“Dogsong” and “Snowdin Town” in particular-but above all else, “Snowy” suffers from a lack of embellishments without a strong enough harmonic structure to pique my interest. (5/10)ģ) Bonetrousle introduces us to the first use of leitmotif in this piece. Leitmofits-moments in music that associate each character or moment with a particular instrument and/or theme-have been around for centuries, from Berlioz’s use of idée fixe in Symphonie Fantastique to Wagner’s use of leitmotifs in his Ring Cycle.

The use of leitmotif has faded to a large degree from the Western miscellany of classical music and from soundtracks, but is arguably the most distinct element in Toby Fox’s soundtrack here.

8bit drummer undertale chime remix