Behind the Music of Bless Unleashed

Earlier this week, we released the musical track, “The Festival of Teleos,” one of many original works of music created for Bless Unleashed (You can listen to it below). We also had a chance to interview KwangSok O, the music composer for Bless Unleashed. Read our interview him below!

Bless Unleashed: Could you tell us your name, your position at Round 8 Studio, and what work you do on Bless Unleashed?

KwangSok: My name is KwangSok O, and I am a music composer for Round 8 Studio. I am in charge of creating the background music for Bless Unleashed.

Bless Unleashed: What is your personal favorite video game, and why?

KwangSok: As a game developer and someone who also enjoys playing games, I really appreciate games that successfully harmonize gameplay with music. I don’t have a strong preference for any particular genre however. Recently I’ve been playing Astral Chain, The Legend of Zelda, and Dark Souls. I also really enjoy music games like Just Dance and Guitar Hero.

My favorite game is the Bayonetta series. The game flow is very stylish, it has fantastic music that fits the game quite well, and the cutscenes are engaging.

Bless Unleashed: What went into the creation of The Festival of Telarion?

KwangSok: When I create any music for Bless Unleashed, I start by composing the melody, which takes up most of the work. I wrote this piece for the mandolin. Next I work on the arrangement, and add various instruments to support the main melody. Here, I added different string instruments like the guitar to create harmony and support the main melody that was played on the mandolin.

In total it took me about 10 days to finish this piece. We did not use digital instruments for this piece, but a small orchestra of strings in order to express the overall warm and pleasant atmosphere provided by the festival.

Bless Unleashed: What inspired the creation of that festival music? Were there any artists or other songs that helped you to bring this music to life?

KwangSok: Have you ever imagined participating in a festival with your favorite character? I spent some time thinking about the excitement and anticipation a person from a small town might feel surrounding an annual festival, something that was looked forward to each year as a time of joy, and tried to create music that would match this feeling. To me I thought such a person might experience excited little butterflies in their stomach. I thought deeply about how I could deliver the feeling of having excited little butterflies in your stomach with sound. I wanted players to feel like they are actually in Telarion enjoying the festival.

We wanted Telarion to feel like a vacation spot in Italy or Greece as well. This is reflected even in the music, as we use the mandolin as the primary instrument for this piece, and that instrument’s origins are in Italy.

Bless Unleashed: What other influences are in the of music in Bless Unleashed? Were you inspired by any other games, movies, or other outside influences when writing the music for the game?

KwangSok: Not really. I tried very hard to avoid outside influences from other media when writing the music for Bless Unleashed. I believe that the role of music is to allow the player to “hear” the image of the game. Whether you are in the small island village of Telarion or exploring the majestic mountains and plains of Kannus Valley, my goal is to provide you with background music that compliments what you see while playing Bless Unleashed and highlights the individuality of the world of Lumios that distinguishes it from other games.

Bless Unleashed: What is your favorite music track in Bless Unleashed, and why?

KwangSok: I can’t choose! I’m actually very proud of all the music we created for Bless Unleashed. Rather than simply making music to put in, we tried very hard to compliment the places and events that exist in the game. For example, when a player arrives at the grand city  of Sperios, we tried to convey the feeling of being in the middle of a large, important city with the music provided by a full orchestra. This helps to convey not only the importance of the place, but also the sheer size of such a city. Our ultimate goal is to make Bless Unleashed even more fun with sound!

Bless Unleashed: Finally, is there something you want to tell fans about your work in Bless Unleashed?

KwangSok: I think that players will get to experience many memorable things in Bless Unleashed. For my team and I, our goal has been to maximize the overall atmosphere and sensations that players will experience on their journeys through our game. We hope you will be able to enjoy our effort for a very long time. We are always grateful to the fans who are looking forward to our game, and believe that our job is not to make you listen to our music, but to feel Round 8 Studio’s combined work in Bless Unleashed. We will continue to do our best to create sounds which will help to immerse you in the world of Lumios. Thank you for this opportunity.

Sincerely yours, KwangSok O