OK, so its time for my look at my pick for the top 10 themes from Dark Souls II, which I think had a much better, more varied soundtrack then the original game (even if the game wasn't quite as good as the original!). So, there will be plenty to look at here and sift through to find my picks for the 10 chosen tracks.
So, with that said let's dive in and take a look at No's 10 to 6 on the list...
10. Burnt Ivory King
So to start off at No.10 is the theme for the DLC boss, Burnt Ivory King, which was scored by Yuka Kitamura (who went to be the chief composer for Dark Souls III and Sekiro) and its an excellent one for sure as it really has quite an epic feel to it and a great intro that pulls you in. In fact you could say the theme has a certain sadness to it but at the same time its a very cool epic sound, which is a fine mix of electronic and orchestrated compositions.
The intro and the middle sections are definitely my favourite parts of the theme and it helps that the Burnt Ivory King is one of the cooler bosses from Dark Souls II, so its not like we had yet another mediocre boss with a great theme (although unfortunately there are still quite a few of those coming up!).
Anyway, so I really like the BIK theme as its epic feel and its orchestrations and elecotrnic synth combo work very well together to make it worthy of being a top 10 track from the Souls II soundtrack.
9. Ancient Dragon
This next theme on the list is for the Ancient Dragon boss, who is purely an optional one as you don't fight him until you have aggro'd him enough for him to fight, which is generally considered a big mistake as he is far from easy!
As for the theme itself it was composed this time by Motoi Sakuraba (still the chief composer on Souls II and the original Souls too) and its a really good theme overall with a pretty dramatic and strident opening, which strongly implies that you have made a BIG mistake in aggroing one of the game's toughest optional bosses! The remainder of the film has some great rising moments from the orchestrations and again it has a pretty good mid-section. This is one track that has alot of variation, which is certainly one of the things it has most going for it.
However the only snag with this score is that the Ancient Dragon boss himself is pretty mediocre and rather dull as he's just a giant dragon who flies around a bit and the only unique thing is that he can breath fire underneath himself (well that and he crushes you to death if he lands on you!). So, it really is another case of a bland boss with a theme that is too good for itself to be utilised with such an underwhelming albeit intimidating foe.
Still that aside, this is an excellent theme with plenty of variation and one of my favourites from the main game.
8. Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin
At No.8 is the theme for the final boss of the game, Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin and its actually a big fan favourite in the Souls community and its easy to see why as its beautifully haunting poignant one at that.
In fact I would probably go as far as to say that it echoes the sounds of Gwyn's theme in one or two places with its haunting piano although it does sound quite different. However, perhaps why this theme is so good is that it maybes captures the spirit of Aldia once was when he was human and he is a fascinating character in the game, just a shame he is such a crap boss! However, if you can forgive that then I still think the final choices your character make in Dark Souls II are probably the best in the whole series. You have a chance to either take the throne at the end of the game and keep the same cycle going or break free from that and take your own path and turn your back on throne to walk an unknown road.
So Aldia's theme is undoubtedly excellent and one of the best in the game and its easy to see why so many fans like this one. I think to be honest there are still alot of better themes in the game but I still really like this one myself and think it deserves it spot on here at No.8.
7. Ruin Sentinels/Smelter Demon/Blue Smelter Demon
OK, so at No.7 is a theme that is so good it was actually re-used no less than three times in the whole game for three different bosses (well two of them are virtually the same boss!). So, this theme was initially for the Ruin Sentinels boss but was later used for the optional duo bosses of the Smelter Demon and the Blue Smelter Demon. The Ruin Sentinels are an OK boss but nothing special whereas the Smelter Demon is one of the best bosses in the game but his counterpart, Blue Smelter Demon (or Smelty 2.0 as he is also known) is not so great and just pointless revamped version.
However, the theme itself (again by Yuka Kitamura) is an excellent one overall and it really oozes quality from the start but of course its best part is the choral section, which is brilliant and one of the best in the game. It is however one of the shortest themes in the game or at least the version I've listened is just over 2 minutes in length but there are actually extended sections that appear in the game that I haven't heard on the versions circulating Youtube!
Despite this though, the Ruin Sentinels and Smelter Demons theme is definitely a real highlight of the game and it stands out strong as one of the best from the game.
6. Darklurker
So, at No.6 is the theme from for the boss that is Darklurker, the secret hidden boss in the game and the theme itself is terrific and has its own chilling sound to it that sets apart from alot of the other tracks in the game.
The theme itself was composed by Motoi Sakuraba and its a great mix of orchestral strings and choral voices (once again!) and the instrument that makes this track is the harp that plays throughout it. But what really makes this theme so great is its awesome mid-section, which has a really eerie, menacing quality and I just love it for that alone.
So, yep Darklurker is certainly one of the best themes to feature in Dark Souls II and its one I can certainly listen to time and time again.
So, that's it for part one and I will be back soon with the my second part where I take a look at the top 5 themes from Dark Souls II.
Till then its bye for now!
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