THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT
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Marcin Przybyłowicz - The White Wolf (2:21)
Marcin Przybyłowicz - The Trail (2:49)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Geralt and Yen (2:18)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Fortress of Memory (2:37)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Ciri's Footwork (1:01)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Nightmare of Frost (1:42)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Wake Up, Geralt (0:28)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Griffin (1:12)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - White Orchards (2:28)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Remants of Temeria (2:16)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Nilfgaardians (1:47)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - In War's Path (1:08)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Chasing the Griffin (1:29)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Fighting the Griffin (1:15)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Trouble at the Inn (3:36)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Yennefer of Vengerberg (1:12)
Marcin Przybyłowicz - They Emerge from the Mist (1:32)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Royal Palace in Vizima (1:32)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The White Flame (2:30)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Ciri Has Returned (1:38)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Hanged Man's Tree (3:00)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Inn by the Crossroads (2:59)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - No Man's Land (2:59)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Corpse Eaters (2:10)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - South of the Yaruga (2:58)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Wolf's Eye (2:16)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Fighting in the Devil's Pit (2:09)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Fields of Doomed Souls (2:48)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Mulbrydale (2:48)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Barren (2:48)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Night Falls (2:46)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Blade of Steel (1:30)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Survivor in Heatherton (1:33)
Marcin Przybyłowicz - Death of Hendrick (1:45)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Crow's Perch (3:49)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Bloody Baron (0:43)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Fists of Fury (1:14)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - King of the Wolves (0:56)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Ciri's Wager (2:46)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Baron's Snatched (0:27)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Civillization's Edge (2:28)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Stalking Eyes (2:32)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Heated Breath (2:02)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Village on the Outskirts (2:51)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Fire in the Night (2:25)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Guided by the Moon (3:04)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Blade of Silver (2:13)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Forgotten Child (1:50)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - "I Name You Dea" (1:16)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Pellar Speaks (1:16)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Price for Answers (1:36)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Assassin of Kings (1:36)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Secrets in Stone (3:16)
Marcin Przybyłowicz - The Hunt is Here (1:10)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The White Frost (1:36)
Marcin Przybyłowicz - Vanguard of the Hunt (0:48)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Nithral of the Axe (1:54)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Mire (2:56)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - This is Their Land (2:53)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - In Service to the Ladies (2:24)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Ciri and the Crones (0:54)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Tower of Mice (2:38)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Tragic Romance (1:58)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Ciri Emerges (0:59)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Depatures (1:09)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Tapestry of the Sisters (1:57)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Ghost in the Tree (2:16)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Killing the Ghost (1:16)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Ladies Tell All (1:42)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Ciri in the Bog (1:14)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Close Shave (0:54)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Fiend (1:40)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Cruel Partings (1:35)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Northward (3:48)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Flames of Novigrad (1:32)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Inquisitors (2:41)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Searching for Triss (4:03)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Backstabbers (2:12)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The King of Beggars (2:30)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Streets of the City (3:12)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Fools in Masks (2:07)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Nightmare (0:49)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - No Haunts Here (3:16)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Meeting the Leaders (1:10)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Sauna is Heating Up (0:32)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Blackjacks and Towels (1:33)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Finding Whoreson (2:43)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Ruining the Operation (2:05)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Geralt Gewnts for Whoreson (2:24)
Emma Hiddleston - The Wolven Storm (3:12)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Into the Lion's Maw (2:27)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Inquiring on the Inquisition (1:39)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Goodbye Menge (0:46)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Oxenfurt (2:28)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Streets of Enlightenment (3:12)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Fools and the Fooled (2:36)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Degenerate Bastards (2:12)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Ploughing Whoreson (1:41)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Chameleon (1:59)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Dandelion's Inheritance (1:36)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Gang's All Here (1:44)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Luiza and Voorhis (1:12)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Shit Leads to Freedom (2:15)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Rats (1:04)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Triss Merrigold (1:08)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Vanishing in a Gust of Heat (0:58)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Burial of King Bran (2:16)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Decisions Must Be Made (2:49)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Ard Skellig (2:44)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Old Ways (1:25)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Might of Clan an Caith (1:21)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Fear the Sea (2:15)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Hunter's Ballad (2:10)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Salty Air (3:06)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Sirens and Drowners (1:18)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Lord of Undvik (2:49)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Home for Beasts (0:39)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Enter the Giant (1:26)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Usurping the Giant (0:54)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Hjalmar Triumphant (2:37)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Spikeroog (2:37)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Troubled Past (2:37)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Ancient House (2:12)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Demand for Trust (0:43)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Baby in the Oven (0:28)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Presence of Shadows (1:33)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Mirrors of Lies (1:07)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A King is Freed (0:43)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Aen Seidhe (1:43)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Ritual of the Berserkers (2:05)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Steel and Claw (1:15)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Chase (1:08)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Lfe of Salt and Blood (3:09)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Live By Deeds Not Words (2:24)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Leshy Comes (0:37)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - An Offering is Made (0:42)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Into the Depths (2:34)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - From the Darkest Deeps (1:42)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Freya's Garden (2:10)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Speak Corpse (1:05)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Morkavag (1:15)
Mikolai Stroinski - After the Cataclysm (1:36)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Escape (1:50)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Trapped in the Barn (0:31)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Wounded Honor (0:25)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Foaming Mead (3:04)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Drinking Horns (2:40)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Valhalla Can Wait! (2:41)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Skelligen Celebration (1:37)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Knife Games (0:58)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - In the Search of Answers (3:01)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Fortress of Stone (1:02)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Yennefer Resumed (2:01)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Trial of the Grasses (1:54)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Transformation (1:36)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Avallac'h (1:03)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Enter the Mist (0:34)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Forgotten Place (1:34)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Wake Up, Ciri (2:43)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Ship of Nails (0:44)
Marcin Przybyłowicz - The Wild Hunt (3:13)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Defenders of the Fortress (1:15)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Welcoming of Fire (0:20)
Marcin Przybyłowicz - The Power (6:50)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Sabbath (1:12)
Marcin Przybyłowicz - Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon (1:29)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - One Survivor (0:39)
Mikolai Stroinski - The Shield of the Hunt (0:55)
Mikolai Stroinski - To the Bitter End (0:35)
Mikolai Stroinski - The Battle with Imlerith (1:42)
Mikolai Stroinski - Igni and Hammer (1:14)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Vengeance from the Heart (0:55)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Women are Complicated (1:56)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Aen Elle (1:52)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Dreams of Regicide (0:55)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Lodge (1:35)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Sailing West (1:31)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Ciri Vents (1:44)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Skjall the Brave (3:00)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Naglfar (2:10)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Trapped (1:41)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Breaking Through (1:42)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Golden Child (1:29)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Son of an Crait (2:01)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Eredin, the King of the Wild Hunt (1:37)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Betrayal (1:28)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The Conjunction of the Spheres (1:45)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Ciri's Choice (1:57)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - A Refused Sacrifice (1:12)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Ithlinne's Prophecy (0:41)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - Farewell Geralt (2:04)
Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski - The End (1:28)
Adam Skorupa - Killing Monsters (Trailer) (2:10)
Adam Skorupa - Killing Monsters (Unused Version) (2:10)
Code:
https://mega.nz/#!6QQDEZQA!QTtgHBN_aIk_kFo5EqXCm2qhM23FaYSW4st9DWlr_OE
In regards to the Witcher 2, I would consider it CD Projekt Red’s attempt at the Lord of the Rings through a bitter Medieval lens. I mean that not just narratively, in regards to how it is a bigger game that expands the scope on a bigger scale, but also in regards to the music. The music team left behind the very intimate and rural textures that established the prequel’s identity, and tried to go for a much more cinematic feel.
Witcher 3 is in many ways more of a sequel to the first game than to Assassins of Kings. Even though it is comparable to Witcher 2 in regards to the variety of locales you visit, Geralt’s motivation is much more personal. Wild Hunt is much more about the lives of the people that Geralt meets in his journey rather than about the political stage that he has been thrusted upon.
The music has also been a return to the original game’s roots, but it also takes influence from Assassin of Kings. Adam Skorupa is no longer involved, having been replaced by Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikolai Stroinski. Przybyłowicz was a contributor to Assassins of Kings’ score, with his most iconic contribution being the ethereal “Elain Ettariel”.
Wild Hunt has the longest length by far, clocking in at 6 hours of music. This is almost double of the previous two entries, who each had a little bit more than three and a half hours. What tends to happen with game scores of this length is that, at some point, the attention of detail is lost and there is a drop of quality at some point. Even if the work load was divided equally in half between the two composers, and even if they had the entirety of the game’s development to work on the score, that is just too much music to be written.
Musically, Wild Hunt lags in the final act of the game, and especially in regards to most of the music written to the cinematics. While the exploration and battle themes have a sense of character and identity, the cinematic music have the impression of being written at the last minute. There is also a large lack of motifs to unite this massive body of work together – each track is like an island, individually pleasing but isolated from the whole.
With that said, the soundtrack excels in making the Northern Kingdoms a unique setting. This is a dark score, but it never goes into the typical “dark and brooding chorus” or repetitive low instrumentation. The music achieves a good balance between establishing the dark tone of the game, distinguishing each region from each other, and not plunging into clichéd “grim dark” that so many other soundtracks fall into. The opening track to the prologue region, “White Orchards” illustrates this perfectly.
What should also be acclaimed is the use of medieval instruments and the restrained use of them. Very rarely are they exaggerated or made the forefront of whatever cue they appear in. This really does add a lot of character to the score that other “dark” scores such as Game of Thrones lack.
The combat themes are dominated by the vocals of the Polish folk band Percival, who contributes a very rough and barbaric tone. Some would compare to the Middle Eastern wailing woman motif that dominated historical film scores for the better part of the 2000’s, but that would be an inaccurate comparison. While there are comparisons to be made – the vocals in Wild Hunt are polar opposites of romantically inspired works that you will find in the works of John Williams, for instance – Perceval actually goes for the effort of having actual words.
Eventually the game finds Geralt in the Skelligle Isles, a region inspired by Norse mythology and Irish culture. The soundtrack takes a drastic turn in tone, abandoning the grim and foreboding textures established in the previous hours. Instead the music is much more optimistic, almost heroic at times. It almost sounds like a different games at times, especially with some of the combat themes.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt manages to hold itself together, despite its cyclopean length and the weakness of its final cues. When the music works – and it does so on a frequent basis – it works pretty damn well. However the lack of any thematic unity really does harm the score as a complete entity. In a sense, it was just staying in line with the soundtracks to the last two games. A good soundtrack, possibly a great one, but not one truly memorable.