Before the release of Robin's new album "Air Chrysalis", no one would have imagined that a game music album from "Honkai: Star Railway" (hereinafter referred to as "Star Rail") would become the "top stream" on the charts of major music platforms.
In addition to the ranking of the list, paper data such as more than 10 million views on the first day and nearly 300,000 comments in three days have made the popularity of this album beyond the imagination of many players and even outsiders.
The popularity of major music platforms is still like this, and the internal reaction of players can be imagined. As early as before the album was officially launched, the release of each of its singles could almost trigger waves of viewing and discussion among players in the community. And the related second creation of these singles has already become the hottest content in the current "Star Iron" community.
When I first saw the performance of "Air Chrysalis", I was a little surprised. After all, as early as the preview live broadcast of version 2.2, "Star Rail" had already previewed the launch of this album, and players also knew that this was the content launched to cooperate with the new version.
But the key to this album's popularity lies in this "cooperation". Whether it's music albums, related singles, or community comments, you can see a lot of discussion about the game's story. The success of "Air Chrysalis" is not so much the reason for the music itself, but more like the result of the cooperation and action of the music and the content of the game.
How do you have a picture of this song?
Binding to content has always been an impressive source and feature of game music, and the same is true for the "Air Chrysalis" album.
While the album's three singles, "Saving a Heart from Sorrow," "Hope for Feathers and Wings," and "Swinging Alone in the Galaxy," all appear in the game, "Star Iron" isn't prepared to stop at simply "listening." Through a series of careful designs, these three songs have been cleverly choreographed into the player's gameplay.
As early as version 2.0, "Saving a Heart from Sorrow" has already appeared in the plot related to the flow of fireflies. The beautiful scenery, the fleeting shooting stars, the true feelings of the fireflies, and this graceful song all serve to set off the atmosphere of the story. It is this shaping that makes the character of Liuhotaru a favorite of players, and "Saving a Heart from Sadness", which renders the atmosphere, has naturally become the best way for players to reminisce about this plot and character.
As the BGM of the second half of the "God Sunday" boss battle, "Hope with Feathers and Wings" not only relied on the right timing to appear, representing the turning point and change of the whole battle, but at the same time, its own passionate melody became the outlet for the players' suppressed emotions in the first half of the battle, while rendering the themes of hope and bonds to the fullest, it performed an impressive boss battle for players.
As for the last single "Lonely Swing in the Galaxy", it shows a different style from the first two BGMs, as the robin character's finishing skill BGM, the rhythm of this song is more brisk, and it will continue during the finishing skills, and it is also more in line with the robin's character design of assisting in the battle and bringing gain and power to his teammates......
Although the three singles appear at different times and in different places, it is not difficult to find that all three have something in common: a deep involvement in the game process. Whether it's the BGM as the climax of the story, the background music for the boss fight, or the character finisher, these singles play an indispensable role in the content shaping.
In other words, the content of the game impresses players, and the video and music as its carrier naturally become an extension of the player's love for the content. The "dominance of the charts" of the robin album is the player's love and recognition of the content behind the music.
Pinocone, the "City of Multiculturalism"
As a household name in Pinocone and the galaxy, Robin's singing style is ever-changing, and this is also one of the characteristics of Pinocone planet.
The "Land of Dreams" is the first impression of the planet Pinocone, which is like a beacon in the galaxy, bringing dreams and hopes to thousands of visitors. But beneath this surface, Pinoconi's history is also full of rebellion, inheritance and sacrifice, and this complex history and current situation is not only the basis of the story that players experience, but also the inspiration for Stariron to compose music for it.
In the "Song of the Distant Planet" documentary officially released by "Star Iron" a few days ago, several creators responsible for the music of "Star Iron" shared their mental journey when creating music with players through this context.
First of all, in order to allow players to remember this "land of dreams" at first glance, the team deliberately made the melody catchy and easy to remember when creating Pinocone's "brainwashing divine comedy" "Sleepless Night", and when arranging the music, the team chose to use funk, synthesizers and other elements to fit the bustling and lively setting of Pinocone.
In the face of different areas such as "Golden Hour", "Child's Dream" and "Dream Border", the team also highlighted the characteristics of different regions through different timbres and melodies to make differences.
The "Golden Hour" part will be biased towards the use of wind music, and the arrangement will also try to create a positive atmosphere; In "A Child's Dream", the music team will show the fragmentation and absurdity of the scene through some distorted and slightly out-of-tune timbre; In the "Pinocone Grand Theater", which focuses on grandeur and splendor, players will usher in the climax of the whole plot here, and in order to set off this atmosphere, the combination of organ and vocal chorus has become the best choice.
The documentary also gives an intimate explanation of the robin's musical style: as a world-famous singer, the robin represents the changeable and fashionable side of Pinocone, and her music style is influenced by Asian pop music, but also has the shadow of European and American pop music.
In short, this diversity of musical styles is not only a representation of the robin's character, in line with the definition of Pinocone, but also an interpretation of the planet's inclusive culture.
epilogue
At the end of the "Song of a Distant Planet" documentary, the music team of "Star Iron" made a summary of the whole Pinoconian music: the planet belongs to the "harmony", it welcomes people from all over the world, and at the same time absorbs their culture, bringing many "foreign products" to itself, and the robin is a symbol of this composite culture, and it is also a representative of Pinoconi's diverse culture.
It is because of this eclecticism that we hear different styles of music at Pinoconi, which seem to be ever-changing, but are essentially the same—simple expressions of emotion. In other words, behind the diverse musical styles of Robin and Pinocone is the tolerance and recognition of different cultures in Star Rail, and this willingness to step out of the "comfort zone" of existing content and dare to try multiple styles may be the key to Star Iron's ability to attract players.