Bro, this dude guessed 90% of the lore correctly just by listening the boss fight OST, THIS IS THE POWER OF MUSIC, MY BOY, also, love your videos Marco, love from Brasil 🇧🇷💚💛
1:10 - "The Abyssal Hunters are not to be messed with, they are efficient hunters." - Perfect description, in the world of Arknights, they are a cut above most of the characters in terms of power. Skadi has been called a "walking catastrophe" and has apparently almost single-handedly turned the tides of massive battles, in her bio, it has statistics on her health, they left the Physical Strength part blanked out from how powerful she is. A captain of the Hunters, Gladiia, has a blank for Mobility, and she...can just...casually go and break the sound barrier. 2:30 - "They have this mysterious strength here." - The Abyssal Hunters are a modified version of the Aegir, a race in Arknights that are composed of people with sea animal features, they lived under Terra's oceans and have an extremely advanced civilization that very few people out on land know about. 3:10 - "It must involve the water." - Yep. As said previously, the Aegir live in underwater cities, and the reason the Abyssal Hunters were created was to combat a threat in the water: the Seaborn, a terrifying species that are known for being able to evolve violently fast and assimilate the things they consume, that, combined with the natural instinct of all living things to find ways to survive and thrive makes them a potentially apocalyptic threat, for everyone. The last part of that sentence is basically a spoiler for a future event. As for the animalistic quality...Abyssal Hunters are genetically modified Aegir, whose DNA have been spliced with Seaborn DNA. So there's that. 4:30 - "Insanity" - Is doing the same thing over an- As for insanity being a theme, I guess there's the existential dread one would feel if one knows about how dangerous the Seaborn threat is, or the Nerve damage debuff/effect in the game, the Lovecraft-y vibe to them and the fact that the Abyssal Hunters and the Seaborn look an awful lot like stuff out of Bloodborne, down to the outfits of the Hunters. 5:00 - "Their journey is marred with sadness and pain and regret. It has this angst to it." - The Hunters don't show it much, but their story is pretty tragic, most obvious example would be that there's barely any Hunters left. Previously mentioned future event's going to make it so that it's going to turn into a global tragedy... - "It sound like they were made to be Hunters" - As I said. They were genetically modified supersoldiers meant to combat an eldritch threat. On point. 6:20 - "Sounds like a water-based natural disaster." - Uh...again, future event. It's not going to be the water itself but it will come from the water. 8:15 - "It's like her abilities come to life, like she awakens her capabilities." - Under Tides hinted at it, the alternate form of Skadi definitely hints at it. Future event's going to show it in full force. *What the hell is up with you? You got all this from a single song, I didn't even need to stretch the meaning of most of what you said all that much, you straight up just guessed pretty accurately.* Anyways, great reaction, need more Arknights, like way more. The character themes would be great, look up the Kazdel Team channel for those. As for specific recommendations, all of th- Ständchen feels like it could be right up your alley, March On is an amazing battle anthem, Eternal Flame is just great, same as Immutable. All four have lyrics, so there's more to interpret for you.
Don't forget that Gladiia got donut'd and just casually brushed it off like it was nothing. It was all according to her plan to get the enemy to talk more. XD
Watching this gave me literal chills. Not just from the music but the fact that this guy absolutely NAILED the lore of the Abyssal Hunters. like my jaw dropped that he was able to pick up on their lore just by listening to this theme. I think that's a huge testament to the composers of this song and to the skill of this guys musical prowess. thank you for the video. this has been like the one time where I actually got some thing interesting recommended to me by the algorithm
I always took the "ethereal" singing in the song to be a representation of how killer whales sing since it is more than implied that Skadi is the one singing
The fact that you were spot on about what the music is trying to portray down to the emotions tied to the Abyssal Hunters story with minimal to no context just amazes me. It's not everyday that a music piece from a mobile game of all things is able to connect with you and tell you an in-depth story without uttering a single word and it really fascinates me
Your analysis about the haunting, insanity and ethereal part is spot on. The event where this music plays, is essentially Arknights version of HP Lovecraft's chtulhu incarnate: that means seaside town, quirky inhabitant and eldritch tentacle monsters (literally, nearly every enemy in this event are eldritch monster that actually deals sanity damage). Lore-wise, the Abyssal hunters are created specifically as hunters of these creatures. However, with their immense strength and power, it also comes at the cost of their own mental health, which is highly unstable. Why? because the power comes by essentially injecting their body with the same creature they fight Strongly recommend Arknights' "Stultifera Navis Dsdevr", since it's essentially the sequel of the Under tides. Or if possible, Arknights' "Keep the Torch" (Pallas' theme)
This was supposed to be the boss music for the Eldrich flower bishop but Gladiia, Specter and Skadi absolutely destroyed this dude and it became their boss music instead. Along with him being so weak that you can kill him with just 3 stars.
Arknights characters are mainly based on an animal and if I’m not mistaken, Skadi is based on a killer whale? And about that insanity part, so right on point, the enemies dmg does sorta nerve dmg and when you accumulate too much of it, it stuns you for a some time. Loving your analysis on games that you’ve never even played before which is mostly on point. I came here after Genshin and only listen to those games I play but now I think I will slowly go through others that I don’t play too. 😊😊
5:05 - "Forgive me if I'm totally off base", Man you're so on point with how the game lore goes, sometimes I kinda feel the same way when I hear some soundtracks in the sense that I could grasp the gist of a story without explicit knowledge, but I surely don't know how to express it as impeccable as you do, it's fascinating to watch your reactions to many game OSTs.
As others already pointed out that arknights characters are based on animals and Skadi is based on a killer whale. That's why the singer of the song actually imitates a whale vocalization by a high-pitched voice. In fact, Skadi is an Abyssal hunter, but all Abyssal hunters in the lore are also talented artists. Specter is a sculptor and Gladiia a dancer. As for Skadi, she is a singer, and in this part of the story she showed up as a bard, and she literary sings this song if you deploy her bard form in the game.
@@sweetescape51 From the operator record of Specter the Unchained. It‘ll be soon on EN server. Gladiia was the one who taught Specter how to dance back when Specter had just become an Abyss hunter.
E2 promotion file. It states how even tho she is cold and distant towards everyone she has a soft spot for ballads and accepts anyone who ask for a dance. It also says that even if you suck at dancing her leading makes you feel like a natural and the guy who wrote the report seemed to have gained a crush on the abyssal hunter after one dance, so you know she must be pretty damn good at it
5:46 Ah yes my fav part. Great reaction. As you can see from my photo profile, Skadi has always been my fav waifu from arknight. Skadi Alter has this music as part of her skill or more like she sang this song as her skill. I got goosebump everytime she activated it. This music actually played for PV Under Tides too, and I remember being so hype about it when 5:46 started to play toward the end. Also I recommend Towerfierce OST from Arknight.
After the spoilers of Integrated Strategies 3, this ost hit different in a sad and hopeless. In arknights the people are based in some animals, the Abyssal hunters are based in water animals, Skadi is a killer whale, Specter is a Shark and Gladia i belive it was a Sailfish or a Swordfish. The Abyssal hunters hunt the seaborns (horror straight from Lovecraft myth), the part of the Insanity You talk is most likely related to the fact that Abyssal hunters have blood of the seaborns inside them that give them, Their abilities to hunt seaborns but at the same time this blood is trying to turn them into seaborns. In the world Terra there are many conspiracy, political crisis, war, discrimination, diseases (Oripathy) and many other things but those problems are literally nothing considering there are 2 major threats one is the Revival of an ancient God and the other are the Seaborns. In the new Game mode we have the story about a different timeline where Skadi becomes a seaborn but not any seaborn, before the Events of under tides, Skadi slay the God of seaborns, She was infected with it's blood and She in that different timeline turns into this god and She leads the seaborns to destroy humanity, Save only one person the doctor (player avatar), skadi's feelings affected the seaborn God and keep the doctor alive until he accept to became a seaborn. The ending of the song could represent to that moment when Skadi was mentally unstable and has been called by the seaborn, thanks to the help of specter and Gladia She reject the call of the seaborns, and Skadi, specter and Gladia Hunt the seaborn boss, killing him. I would recomnend the song "I belive in Us" that is related to Skadi in the Events of under tides
the Under Tides theme is more on The Hunt and the general Horror that unfolds in the small town of Sal Viento as The Firstborn awakens and the seaborn slowly creep into the land, devouring and feeding off of those in their way I believe in Us is pretty much the opposite side of the coin, the three hunters, simply remaining steadfast even if it gets harder and harder to stay sane, stay alive or even just stay on top of things, they keep going, because they support each other, and should something ever happen to one of them, the other two will be there to stop them this makes it even more horrifying to think about the fact that Skadi's and Specter's alters are practically a What Could Happen, or a What Will Happen, should they Lose it; and the only key we have to deciphering what made the alters, well, occur, is a stranded ship, lost from the hand of god, a Monster born from the depths, and the supposedly dead 3 hunters; two have already risen as something else; but will the third?
@@grimmreaper5349 don't know much of Specter alter (only the fact i saving for her and Irene). But i was already horrified as soon i read Skalter profile and the spoilers of IS3 make it worse, hopefully we Will get the new Abyssal hunters event soon in Global
@@blackfangex6813 Gladiia's E2 animal shown in her art is a "Sailfish", not "Swordfish". I make this conclusion due to the "sailfin" on the fish's back is lot longer to the spine compared to a "Swordfish". I put "" so you will find them easily.
@@blackfangex6813 the name of the second event in the Abyssal Hunters storyline gets us a step closer to guessing what happened, Stultifera Navis, the Ship Of Fools, and to the event names I add narrative "From Under Tides Came Monsters, and we followed them to their den, The Ship Of Fools"
@@rezafebriansyah8620 There's no animal shown in Gladiia's E2 art plus Gladiia usually refers Specter as 'Shark' and Specter once said 'Damn, that swordfish won't let me rest' or something in that line in Under Tides event finale Marlin, Swordfish, Sailfish. Swordfish is the most common name among people for these needle nosed fishes despite their actual name
Hearing the depth of your interpretation makes it incredibly clear how well the composer managed to put together a piece that tells the emotional story of the characters and the scenario. It’s very very impressive. This piece got me to pick up the game, and I’ve never regretted it.
5:13 spot on also the singing is basically the abyssal hunters' singing, which is how they communicate (they're based on sea creatures + skadi is an orca whale)
Your capacity to guess so accurately just from a single song is straight up INSANE. That's impressive! You got a new sub and I hope you'll analyse more Arknights songs in the future 🙏 Another comment recommended the Kazdel Team channel and songs like Immutable and March On, and I couldn't agree more with them.
The story of Under Tides draws a lot of similarities to H.P. Lovecraft's The Shadow over Innsmouth, complete with deep sea cults, mysterious Lovecraftian sea creatures, and existential identity crises. The Abyssal Hunters are essentially super soldiers genetically modified with the DNA of these Seaborn monsters which makes them extremely powerful but also (Skadi in particular) in constant danger of becoming what they hunt (think the Old Blood in Bloodborne). The distorted voices in this and related music represent the call of the Seaborn.
Fun fact that high pitch "singing" part is being sung by Skadi since part of it is sung when she activates her skill 2 aassnd slowly loses her mind and is becoming a Seaborn God 😥 Yeah the Abyssal Hunters storyline is Arknights' take on Lovecraft
it makes me so excited whenever you upload an Arknights music reaction.. even though this is the 2nd time only so far! Arknights is my favorite game, with one of my favorire world and music and story.. you get the point. I'm REALLY looking forward to more reactions of AK music, and I hope you'll also check the game out, or maybe the anime (which covers the main story), which starts airing this month on the 28th. Always a pleasure to hear your thoughts Marco, keep doing you!
Continuing the theme of the Abyssal Hunters, another track I think you'll really like from Arknights is "Awaken". It's Specter the Unchained's theme. It explores her story, and is an *excellent* vocal showcase that I think you'd appreciate, given your background.
The Abyssal hunters are some very fascinating folks in the AK universe, as they are ridiculously strong (Skadi is nicknamed a "Walking Catastrophe"). They come from sea like some kind of dangerous mermaid out for blood. One memorable trait they have is their white hair and red eyes. You are definitely right about the insanity part, Specter is literally insane, Skadi has lost her mind to the horrors of the deep and turned into a goddess bent on destruction of this world, Gladiia I think is probably the only sane one of this group. (There is another Abyssal hunter, Andreana. But we don't know anything about her.)
Mmm yes, been waiting for you to react to this one. This song is like a glove to your expertise, perfectly fitting. Edit: You should really react to Stultifera Navis' OST, it is in line and kinda a continuation of Under Tides, the tone shift however blows the minds of many, can't wait to see your vid on it.
Totally on point review, start from the "hunters", artificial creation, disaster from the deep waters, to the "awakening". Also, there's this Arknights Music called "第■幕" by Adam Gubman which heavily inspired by Phantom of the opera, you should really check that out!
This song is not a about Skadi that we used know, but Skadi The Corrupting Heart. The skadi that we used to know is already gone, she already lost the battle to herself, now she loses control of her. She's a ticking time bomb and now the time is almost up, she could blow out at any moment and destroys everything.
I love taking the musical analysis angle to stuff like this, was cool to see you pick into the character from sound alone. Def checking out your other stuff
great stuff marco! I've listened to this track many times before and play arknights myself, but your analysis on the song has given me a new perspective. the thing about drums and maddened singing is so fascinating
tbh the fact that you were able to so accurately determine what the story of the event is about just from the song, and the characters involved in it is a testament to how good the composer is
If you are into opera, stage, or orchestral music in general, Arknights has bunch of it... The one that i like the most is Lingering Echoes boss theme and Ebenholz's leitmotif "Ständchen", because it's so emotional, the music and the lore behind it but overall Lingering Echoes OST are epic... Oh yeah this one that you had reacted is Under Tides boss theme, Under Tides is an event name that has several OSTs, this boss theme is one of them...
incredible insight! this game has a very rich OST spanning so many genres, there's a lot I think you'd appreciate. I'm floored that you selected this song in particular -- I've always absolutely loved it, but there's so many bangers that I feel like this song was overshadowed in the community's eye. my favorite part, around 5:45, gave me the impression of a singing skadi being sucked down straight into the abyss with those sliding vocals, only to burst forth with a roar of surging waters. seeing this song impact you physically vindicated my excitement for this song.
Damn, you got it so spot on. As a side-note they're called the abyssal hunters because they guard humanity against the creatures of the abyss, and this song was in a way portraying the relationship and struggle between the Abyss and the hunters, rather than just being Skadi's theme. Hence why you mentioned it feeling animalistic at parts and creating a sense of fear. The abyss in the name for the ocean depths where the abyssal creatures came from btw, hence the siren-esque motifs. One of the central components of the story that this song was featured in was the discovery that the abyssal hunters were created from the abyss, and potentially they can be corrupted or the will eventually degrade back into being abyssal creatures, which was another struggle faced by the hunters in this story. There were many hunters in the past who went insane and had to be 'disappeared'. And you're right, they were absolutely forced into becoming hunters in order to protect their society from the abyss, but not many survived the actual process of becoming a hunter. There is a sort of kin-ship between the hunters and the abyss which explains the tortured sound. As the abyss see the hunters as kin and don't understand why they hunt them, and when Skadi found out the truth about the origins of the hunters she felt conflicted about the situation too.
I am SO HAPPY to see you cover arknights music. It's a common running gag to refer to the company making this game as a music company instead of a game developer because they routinely release amazing music with the game's updates.
Its just incredible that you can get most of the Abyssal Hunters story out of the OST - Boss theme I would like to see some more contents about Arknights songs and your thoughts on them
Your ability to accurately discern story elements and character thoughts and motivations from songs is absolutely fascinating. Would love to see you engage with more of the Arknights soundtrack! Wlfmaster from the Siracusano boss theme would be interesting Edit: The ethereal voices in this track are actually Skadi's singing voice, singing and dancing being something that the Hunters hold very dear.
Never been on this channel before this video and i really liked it. If you really have never ever played the game or even learned a bit of the lore... YOU NAILED IT! You've given the perfect description for them. I recommend you the "second part" of this event, it's called "Stultifera Navis". Cheers!
Arknights EP- Voices Arknights- Dsdevr Arknights- Caerula Arbor Boss Battle Theme 02 Here's some more that's also part of Under Tides and the events that comes next, the vocals and sirens stays on the other 2 except Dsdevr. I recommend checking these out in order
So glad to see you taking the the incredible music of Arknights, it defiantly isn't one to pass up. The music of Arknights speaks volume, it along with your music appreciation videos have inspired me to take up learning the violin and for that I am grateful. Really hope you cover more tracks from Arknights.
The Abyssal hunters are indeed very eFISHent! Jokes aside, i cried i lil bit when i first heard this. your thoughts on each part of this piece is almost spot on, its like understanding a hidden language ( which it is).
I believe her “awakening” as you mentioned may be her discovering or realising the seaborn she was born and modified to destroy are actually her kindred. And in the moment she is trying to accept one side over the other, continue being an abyssal hunter and stay with your friends and comrades while slaughtering your family, or become the goddess of the seaborn and live with the knowledge you will be struck down by her friends. The ethereal screams would be her natural compulsion to the Seaborn, but the booming drums are the rigorous training and abyssal hunter instincts continuing the unending assault. When the two come together is her realising she can accept being a Seaborn if she can also accept being an abyssal hunter. She gets an alternative form name “Skadi the Corrupting Heart” and in it she bears no weapons and has control over a seaborn leviathan. It heals her allies and can damage her foes, but she no longer actively participated in the fight.
Your analysis is amazing. The song itself is also a masterpiece, but as an Arknights player, I just can not get the meme of Skadi screaming "UUUUWWWWEEEEEEEAAA NEEEEGGGGAAAAAA" out of my head, everytime I listen to this song...
A captivating song. I remember sitting on the Anniversary Stream and hearing this song, it blew the hell out of me. And if possible, there are a few more songs that are interesting in terms of meaning (Requem, Renegade and Lullaby). And two more animations, End like this and Last of Me(Song and animations complement each other)(by Steve Aoki, on official Arknights channel) Upd. Just realized that you already reacted to Lullaby three weeks ago.
More Arknights YAY! Discovered this channel through the Lullabye reaction and checked out other reactions. I love reaction videos that goes beyond what is on the surface and dive into the deeper meaning behind the media. Would love for you to check out Winter Absolution from Arknights, it's a very much opera style song in Greek, a beautiful and emotional piece. Keep up the good work
hey, just watched your channel and I love how you analyze the music and actually got almost accurate even. i really suggest listening to Arknights music called Rhythm in Literature. I am not really an Opera specialist as you are, sir. But listening to that music really shed me tears of how beautiful and psychopathic it is
*Listens to song without any context* "Alright guys, here is literally all the lore about the whole story." You have a gift. You convert music to lore. No context, only music.
ngl your analysis hit the mark (dang, you're really good 🤣👍) man, glad you finally doing Arknights(it has called music studio rather game cuz their OST just wow) they had a lot of genre, which is kinda odd for tower defence game if ya want do more Arknights these are several title that kinda...: - wrathful cerulean flame (Just search "Amiya Guard Awakening" for the scene) - any Contingency Contract OST - Towerfierce - Frostnova Theme
I Love your reactions Marco!!! Keep going and we will always listen you. I am a theatre performer and sometimes on the stage we have to manifest with our body what we listen, so hearing you trying to describe what the songs wants to let as feel is very enjoyable :)
The Under Tides music is by far some of the most unique music Arknights has to offer, and it's among my favourite parts of the AK soundtrack (if not my favourite) because of that. The ethereal singing is absolutely incredible, the music overall perfectly encapsulates what the event and the characters are about. It's not necessarily my favourite event or group of characters, but the music itself definitely is because it's incredible. That part at 5:46 hitting during the final stage/boss of the event is one of my fondest memories of the game, actually makes me emotional every time I hear it. Also it's crazy how on point you were about your grasp on the lore/characters based on music alone.
I really like the vocals in this track. There's no specific lyrics to them, but it reminds me a lot of whale song.. But more sinister. The whole beginning of the track feels very "culty" for lack of better words. But the vocals gives me the feeling of these sea-dwelling creatures, that has suddenly been thrust into a world they do not understand, the surface, and are whaling out in.. a myriad of emotions, and it give me chills every time I listen to it
I love when people really appreciate this theme song and understand this song without knowing the context. Thank you for the reaction Marco Anyway, pelase react another ak song, i will wait reaction for minima,towerfierce, and invitation of wine boss theme in this channel
U gotta listen to "keep the torch" its another great arknight music bcs many poeple say (include me) its banger song! I wanna see ur reaction and what u think about the song. thanks!
It's already been said but your accuracy in interpreting the feeling of music is simply fantastic. You got almost everything right down to a t. If I may suggest more songs to check out from Arknights specifically, my favorite is the theme of the Emperor's Blade.
You might want to consider doing another run through Arknights since they just did another event that was a continuation of Under Tides, which is called Stultifera Navis. It not only furthers this story in the music, but ties it into the rest of the world of Arknights. Particularly I think you will appreciate the main bosses BGM, "Stultifer Cantus". Especially if you know what that mean, which I bet an opera singer like yourself does.
After this spot on interpretation I'd love to hear your thoughts on the continuation of this arknights event. The event is called Stultifera Navis, and the title is "The Golden Age Will Return Again". Similar to Under Tides it's the track that plays when you fight the final boss of the event.
You made the unfortunate (or fortunate) time to listen to this song. Currently in the CN server that is 6 months ahead of us; an event occurred where skadi killed the entire world. It was a what-if scenario but it still soured the taste for skadi moving forward. Wow. What are the chances.
The fact that you got the feelings and the "message" of the song without playing the game should be telling of how good Ak's music is. Also, you should listen to Holly Orders 3 (Ky Kiske's theme song) from Guilty Gear 2 you're gonna love it.
with you having this reaction to Under Tides, I would really appreciate if you could listen to the other one, it's on a different language but the rough translation of the song is "Song of Fools," the PV OST for the next tied event, Stultifera Navis btw, i love your breakdowns of music like this
THANK YOU THANK TOU SO MUCH!!! I'M REALLY HAPPY YOU REACT TO THIS MUSIC XD. Tbh, this is my favorite song cause it's give dark abyssal horror vibe and similar stuff like that. also the reff part is really like sound of sea monster in my imagination.
This gives me chills every time! As always, watching your reactions is a blast :D Also I suggest to check out Sui-Xiang theme!! It’s one of my top favs in AK. A total banger (just as every AK ost out there)
As someone said Arknights characters are based on animal in this case the abyssal hunters are all sea creature and they're like super soldier whose goal are to eliminate eldritch monster from the sea. Skadi however have to fight the blood of the monster in herself and this song is also the theme song of the alternate timeline where she lose herself and become "Skadi of the corrupting heart" If you like this song I would suggest you try "Awaken" which is a theme song of her best friend the shark nun Specter
@@wanabid98 Yes, and this is why Gladiia was desperate to find the "Stultifera Navis" that was lost in the "Profound Silence" she believes that Aegir knows the cure and the ship is the only way to return there.
I read somewhere in another comment section how the "climax" moment of the song is meant to be like... "if fish/seaborn had lungs" and its super haunting. Anyways, I can tell you'll enjoy the Whalefu known as Skadi if you get Arknights
I'm glad you also look into arknight music! Please give reaction to another arknight song cause i'm excited to see that. Oh ya, i suggest you also react "minima" or stultivera navis boss theme ost, "golden age will return again"
In case you want to get into Arknights yourself, or if you plan to occasionally stream it like you do with Genshin, here are a few heads up. Arknights is NOT an easy game. It is classified in the Tower Defense genre and hearing that you wouldn’t assume that Arknights is that hard, Tower Defenses are traditionally known to have very easy games in their lineup. Hypergryph however, the developers behind the game (Yostar being the publisher), they don’t play around. The mechanics of the game go very in-depth. EACH and EVERY single one of the Operators in this game have their own unique niche. There is quite literally a playable character for everybody. The story requires a lot of reading since the “visual novel” sections aren’t voice-acted, so it might feel a bit weird going from a big title like Genshin over to Arknights, but trust me, Arknight’s story is worth everything. Translation might not always be accurate, and there are grammar errors here and there, but the world of Arknights has to be one of the most imaginative half sci-fi half fantasy world I have ever seen, complete with lots of happy and tragic events and circumstances. That, and each and every single one of the characters in the roster, a lot of whom don’t even appear in a story event, have backstories that make them feel more real than what their 2D art still image pose is able to portray. And this should probably go without saying, but the music, good lord the music. Both the tracks used in promotional material and in-game go unnecessarily hard. High quality stuff from way up top and yonder. I love the character theme music Arknights uploads on their official RUclips channels. Such a wide variety of genres it’s mind-boggling, and the way the lyrics are written is pretty interesting, not to mention the quality of the sound in general. You have to check out more Arknights music, you won’t regret it. Be cautious when around the fandom though, some of the members can be a tad bit crazy. Just a tad~
Normal TD game are have more enemy you just need to spam as many tower as possible but not Arknights. Arknights is all about strategy. I agree with you that Arknights is not an easy game when it comes to higher stage as no brainer its fucking hard.
you should listen to requiem next. It's really somber and it just makes you wanna just sit down and think, I mean that's what I feel sometimes when I have it on
That was nearly a spot on analysis of who the hunters are! Kinda blew me away without you having actually played the game. Great reaction video! Hope you get a chance to hear more songs from the game!
Yay! more Arknights! I really love watching your videos but I'm really curious on what you think about Arknights OSTs. Since many people in the comments already told you that Skadi is based on an Orca and her theme is eldritch horror (and if you're planning to do more Arknights OST reactions, you can think of an animal while analyzing because the whole cast is based on animals and some myths) I wanna tell you about an interesting fact abt her, She can sing beautifully and play harp. In a story, she needed to infiltrate a town so she brought along her harp and pretended to be a bard/singer which is quite interesting because mermaid sings to drag sailors down to sea but her entire job is to keep the sea at bay. In game, she uses her "singing" to buff and heal other units (and sometimes dmg enemies), she has 3 skill that she can use, everytime you deploy her into the field or her skill got activated she'll sing (the game will play a sound clip from this song, pitched up, like in 5:44) so we can guess that Skadi sing this song with her haunting vocals to help her team and also deal some kind of sanity dmg to the enemies.
so excited to see arknights music (and pgr) being featured here too now! I love how you take the time to not only analyze the music but also draw inferences on the characters/story it's depicting, it really shows how well the music invokes its themes. I haven't been playing arknights for long, but I started during a recent event called Invitation to Wine, and the lobby theme of that event was so beautiful - I don't think it has an official release anywhere which is sad but man, such a calming and uplifting instrumental piece.
what I love about Arknights that you cannot find in other gacha games, is the soundtrack. it's basically not just the theme and aesthetic of it, arknights is so diverse and not afraid to try new things. you should react to the PVs and videos where these tracks were first used in trailers, see what you think of them. your single audio descriptions are definitely spot on with what one can see on the screen, its crazy
While I love leitmotifs, a lot of games tend to overuse them. What I love about Arknights is that the use of it is minimal not because they avoid it, but there are so many unique stories, and so many places that each piece is pretty much unrelated to another. But I can point out on or two, like Patriot’s and Emperor’s Blade’s.
If you haven't already Arknight's vocal song Golden Age Will Return Again also know as Stultifera Navis Boss Battle Theme is quite good and was heavily memed when it first came out would love to hear your thoughts on it.
The abyssal hunters are my favorite faction in AK, not only because they are absolutely badass (just look at their design) but also because they have a really interesting lore covered in the mystery of a hypothetically lost/unknown civilization and fight an extremely dangerous threat menacing Terra in the shadows, deep in the sea. Without forgetting the Lovecraft/Bloodborne vibes. And AK's music perfectly describes this threatening, haunting feeling.
I literally only realized it now that this is the uncanny valley only in music. The whole time the comments described it but it only now i got that it was the uncanny valley they described. The singer is really close to a normal voice time to time, but then it hits you with the high pitchted notes and the off putting melody that it feels creepy and gives you the chills
I would recommend checking out Towerfierce and Doubledragon from Arknights chapter 8. These are battle theme of the most important boss so far and also my favorite songs😊
This is one of those theme that I acknowledge as good because I remember it when playing the stages, all other themes just passes through the ear to another. Don't get me wrong, the other themes are good but my brain just focuses on the game as you know how Arknights is, one mistake and you'll have a leak.
I know that the song of the AEgier are not met for anyone. The songs belong to them. Edit: I think they brought in the ethereal sound to signify that these songs aren't for landwalkers.
boy am I glad to have found your channel It's not easy to find people like you who give a deeper understanding and appreciation for the music and stories I love :)
Bro, this dude guessed 90% of the lore correctly just by listening the boss fight OST, THIS IS THE POWER OF MUSIC, MY BOY, also, love your videos Marco, love from Brasil 🇧🇷💚💛
Obrigado!!!
@@MarcoMeatball You speak Portuguese? Oh God, that's so cool!
The purpose of a good song is to tell a tale, even if it speaks without ever saying a word.
Um BR safado perdido por aqui?
@@raphiiaz3730 SIM KSKSKSKSKSK
1:10 - "The Abyssal Hunters are not to be messed with, they are efficient hunters." - Perfect description, in the world of Arknights, they are a cut above most of the characters in terms of power. Skadi has been called a "walking catastrophe" and has apparently almost single-handedly turned the tides of massive battles, in her bio, it has statistics on her health, they left the Physical Strength part blanked out from how powerful she is. A captain of the Hunters, Gladiia, has a blank for Mobility, and she...can just...casually go and break the sound barrier.
2:30 - "They have this mysterious strength here." - The Abyssal Hunters are a modified version of the Aegir, a race in Arknights that are composed of people with sea animal features, they lived under Terra's oceans and have an extremely advanced civilization that very few people out on land know about.
3:10 - "It must involve the water." - Yep. As said previously, the Aegir live in underwater cities, and the reason the Abyssal Hunters were created was to combat a threat in the water: the Seaborn, a terrifying species that are known for being able to evolve violently fast and assimilate the things they consume, that, combined with the natural instinct of all living things to find ways to survive and thrive makes them a potentially apocalyptic threat, for everyone. The last part of that sentence is basically a spoiler for a future event. As for the animalistic quality...Abyssal Hunters are genetically modified Aegir, whose DNA have been spliced with Seaborn DNA. So there's that.
4:30 - "Insanity" - Is doing the same thing over an- As for insanity being a theme, I guess there's the existential dread one would feel if one knows about how dangerous the Seaborn threat is, or the Nerve damage debuff/effect in the game, the Lovecraft-y vibe to them and the fact that the Abyssal Hunters and the Seaborn look an awful lot like stuff out of Bloodborne, down to the outfits of the Hunters.
5:00 - "Their journey is marred with sadness and pain and regret. It has this angst to it." - The Hunters don't show it much, but their story is pretty tragic, most obvious example would be that there's barely any Hunters left. Previously mentioned future event's going to make it so that it's going to turn into a global tragedy...
- "It sound like they were made to be Hunters" - As I said. They were genetically modified supersoldiers meant to combat an eldritch threat. On point.
6:20 - "Sounds like a water-based natural disaster." - Uh...again, future event. It's not going to be the water itself but it will come from the water.
8:15 - "It's like her abilities come to life, like she awakens her capabilities." - Under Tides hinted at it, the alternate form of Skadi definitely hints at it. Future event's going to show it in full force.
*What the hell is up with you? You got all this from a single song, I didn't even need to stretch the meaning of most of what you said all that much, you straight up just guessed pretty accurately.*
Anyways, great reaction, need more Arknights, like way more. The character themes would be great, look up the Kazdel Team channel for those. As for specific recommendations, all of th- Ständchen feels like it could be right up your alley, March On is an amazing battle anthem, Eternal Flame is just great, same as Immutable. All four have lyrics, so there's more to interpret for you.
Hahaha first of all thanks for watching it all and second of all I swear I guessed this stuff 😩🫠😂🤣
@@MarcoMeatball your insane just insane with guessing stuff and getting it right everytime.
“Water-based natural disaster” is correct. We will learn later that the Seaborn are very aptly named, as they originated from the ocean itself.
@@MarcoMeatball seriously you got all that just by listening to their theme? You pretty much nail every single thing about the abyssal hunters
Don't forget that Gladiia got donut'd and just casually brushed it off like it was nothing. It was all according to her plan to get the enemy to talk more. XD
Watching this gave me literal chills. Not just from the music but the fact that this guy absolutely NAILED the lore of the Abyssal Hunters. like my jaw dropped that he was able to pick up on their lore just by listening to this theme. I think that's a huge testament to the composers of this song and to the skill of this guys musical prowess. thank you for the video.
this has been like the one time where I actually got some thing interesting recommended to me by the algorithm
Welcome!
I always took the "ethereal" singing in the song to be a representation of how killer whales sing since it is more than implied that Skadi is the one singing
That’s a good point
Her skill activation is the same voice so yes it is indeed Skadi -Ishar M'la-
The fact that you were spot on about what the music is trying to portray down to the emotions tied to the Abyssal Hunters story with minimal to no context just amazes me. It's not everyday that a music piece from a mobile game of all things is able to connect with you and tell you an in-depth story without uttering a single word and it really fascinates me
🙏🙏🙏🥰
Your analysis about the haunting, insanity and ethereal part is spot on. The event where this music plays, is essentially Arknights version of HP Lovecraft's chtulhu incarnate: that means seaside town, quirky inhabitant and eldritch tentacle monsters (literally, nearly every enemy in this event are eldritch monster that actually deals sanity damage). Lore-wise, the Abyssal hunters are created specifically as hunters of these creatures. However, with their immense strength and power, it also comes at the cost of their own mental health, which is highly unstable. Why? because the power comes by essentially injecting their body with the same creature they fight
Strongly recommend Arknights' "Stultifera Navis Dsdevr", since it's essentially the sequel of the Under tides. Or if possible, Arknights' "Keep the Torch" (Pallas' theme)
The music truly speaks for itself! For someone that has no context about the in game music, that's surprisingly accurate!
This was supposed to be the boss music for the Eldrich flower bishop but Gladiia, Specter and Skadi absolutely destroyed this dude and it became their boss music instead. Along with him being so weak that you can kill him with just 3 stars.
Who would win:
an Eldritch horror beyond human comprehension
Or one sushi man
@@fefega Jaye in my team always solo low def bosses
You should be able to win every level with just 3-Stars, but good luck with your sanity.
Don't forget, the Abyssal come back much stronger in IS3
Technically every boss can be beaten with only 3-stars. Speaks volume on how balanced and non-P2W the game is! 😌
How did this man knows the lore without even playing the game
Music🤷🏻♂️
@@MarcoMeatball all is music :))
Well its possible, first time i experienced this myself is in jonathans theme from jojo. His whole theme is just his whole life story.
Like Aegirian. Music and other arts connect everyone. This is one of the example :)
Obviously not the first time he's hearing this
Arknights characters are mainly based on an animal and if I’m not mistaken, Skadi is based on a killer whale? And about that insanity part, so right on point, the enemies dmg does sorta nerve dmg and when you accumulate too much of it, it stuns you for a some time.
Loving your analysis on games that you’ve never even played before which is mostly on point. I came here after Genshin and only listen to those games I play but now I think I will slowly go through others that I don’t play too. 😊😊
Aw! Id love if you explored them!!
@@MarcoMeatball i hope you will react to the Stultifera navis boss music!!!
@@MarcoMeatball If you're planning to review Arknights music again, I hope you still remember [Curtain's Call] I've once told you before.
Skadi is based on an orca but close enough
@@whiskas7078 indeed my friend.
5:05 - "Forgive me if I'm totally off base", Man you're so on point with how the game lore goes, sometimes I kinda feel the same way when I hear some soundtracks in the sense that I could grasp the gist of a story without explicit knowledge, but I surely don't know how to express it as impeccable as you do, it's fascinating to watch your reactions to many game OSTs.
🥰
As others already pointed out that arknights characters are based on animals and Skadi is based on a killer whale. That's why the singer of the song actually imitates a whale vocalization by a high-pitched voice. In fact, Skadi is an Abyssal hunter, but all Abyssal hunters in the lore are also talented artists. Specter is a sculptor and Gladiia a dancer. As for Skadi, she is a singer, and in this part of the story she showed up as a bard, and she literary sings this song if you deploy her bard form in the game.
May I know where Gladiia's dancing specialty bit comes from?
@@sweetescape51 From the operator record of Specter the Unchained. It‘ll be soon on EN server. Gladiia was the one who taught Specter how to dance back when Specter had just become an Abyss hunter.
E2 promotion file.
It states how even tho she is cold and distant towards everyone she has a soft spot for ballads and accepts anyone who ask for a dance. It also says that even if you suck at dancing her leading makes you feel like a natural and the guy who wrote the report seemed to have gained a crush on the abyssal hunter after one dance, so you know she must be pretty damn good at it
5:46 Ah yes my fav part. Great reaction.
As you can see from my photo profile, Skadi has always been my fav waifu from arknight.
Skadi Alter has this music as part of her skill or more like she sang this song as her skill. I got goosebump everytime she activated it.
This music actually played for PV Under Tides too, and I remember being so hype about it when 5:46 started to play toward the end.
Also I recommend Towerfierce OST from Arknight.
Indeed my friend!!!!
@@syaondri Nope. I don't want to see the leak for IS3 but some people on discord already told me there is Skadi also Sarkaz girl.
After the spoilers of Integrated Strategies 3, this ost hit different in a sad and hopeless.
In arknights the people are based in some animals, the Abyssal hunters are based in water animals, Skadi is a killer whale, Specter is a Shark and Gladia i belive it was a Sailfish or a Swordfish.
The Abyssal hunters hunt the seaborns (horror straight from Lovecraft myth), the part of the Insanity You talk is most likely related to the fact that Abyssal hunters have blood of the seaborns inside them that give them, Their abilities to hunt seaborns but at the same time this blood is trying to turn them into seaborns.
In the world Terra there are many conspiracy, political crisis, war, discrimination, diseases (Oripathy) and many other things but those problems are literally nothing considering there are 2 major threats one is the Revival of an ancient God and the other are the Seaborns.
In the new Game mode we have the story about a different timeline where Skadi becomes a seaborn but not any seaborn, before the Events of under tides, Skadi slay the God of seaborns, She was infected with it's blood and She in that different timeline turns into this god and She leads the seaborns to destroy humanity, Save only one person the doctor (player avatar), skadi's feelings affected the seaborn God and keep the doctor alive until he accept to became a seaborn.
The ending of the song could represent to that moment when Skadi was mentally unstable and has been called by the seaborn, thanks to the help of specter and Gladia She reject the call of the seaborns, and Skadi, specter and Gladia Hunt the seaborn boss, killing him.
I would recomnend the song "I belive in Us" that is related to Skadi in the Events of under tides
the Under Tides theme is more on The Hunt and the general Horror that unfolds in the small town of Sal Viento as The Firstborn awakens and the seaborn slowly creep into the land, devouring and feeding off of those in their way
I believe in Us is pretty much the opposite side of the coin, the three hunters, simply remaining steadfast even if it gets harder and harder to stay sane, stay alive or even just stay on top of things, they keep going, because they support each other, and should something ever happen to one of them, the other two will be there to stop them
this makes it even more horrifying to think about the fact that Skadi's and Specter's alters are practically a What Could Happen, or a What Will Happen, should they Lose it; and the only key we have to deciphering what made the alters, well, occur, is a stranded ship, lost from the hand of god, a Monster born from the depths, and the supposedly dead 3 hunters; two have already risen as something else; but will the third?
@@grimmreaper5349 don't know much of Specter alter (only the fact i saving for her and Irene).
But i was already horrified as soon i read Skalter profile and the spoilers of IS3 make it worse, hopefully we Will get the new Abyssal hunters event soon in Global
@@blackfangex6813 Gladiia's E2 animal shown in her art is a "Sailfish", not "Swordfish". I make this conclusion due to the "sailfin" on the fish's back is lot longer to the spine compared to a "Swordfish".
I put "" so you will find them easily.
@@blackfangex6813 the name of the second event in the Abyssal Hunters storyline gets us a step closer to guessing what happened, Stultifera Navis, the Ship Of Fools, and to the event names I add narrative "From Under Tides Came Monsters, and we followed them to their den, The Ship Of Fools"
@@rezafebriansyah8620 There's no animal shown in Gladiia's E2 art plus Gladiia usually refers Specter as 'Shark' and Specter once said 'Damn, that swordfish won't let me rest' or something in that line in Under Tides event finale
Marlin, Swordfish, Sailfish. Swordfish is the most common name among people for these needle nosed fishes despite their actual name
Hearing the depth of your interpretation makes it incredibly clear how well the composer managed to put together a piece that tells the emotional story of the characters and the scenario. It’s very very impressive. This piece got me to pick up the game, and I’ve never regretted it.
5:13 spot on
also the singing is basically the abyssal hunters' singing, which is how they communicate (they're based on sea creatures + skadi is an orca whale)
What is Gladiia based of? I know Specter is shark
@@RuiFanTier Gladiia is a swordfish
Ah yes Under Tides, always gave me chills every time I hear this music.
Your capacity to guess so accurately just from a single song is straight up INSANE. That's impressive! You got a new sub and I hope you'll analyse more Arknights songs in the future 🙏
Another comment recommended the Kazdel Team channel and songs like Immutable and March On, and I couldn't agree more with them.
😍🥹
The story of Under Tides draws a lot of similarities to H.P. Lovecraft's The Shadow over Innsmouth, complete with deep sea cults, mysterious Lovecraftian sea creatures, and existential identity crises. The Abyssal Hunters are essentially super soldiers genetically modified with the DNA of these Seaborn monsters which makes them extremely powerful but also (Skadi in particular) in constant danger of becoming what they hunt (think the Old Blood in Bloodborne). The distorted voices in this and related music represent the call of the Seaborn.
Fun fact that high pitch "singing" part is being sung by Skadi since part of it is sung when she activates her skill 2 aassnd slowly loses her mind and is becoming a Seaborn God 😥 Yeah the Abyssal Hunters storyline is Arknights' take on Lovecraft
it makes me so excited whenever you upload an Arknights music reaction.. even though this is the 2nd time only so far! Arknights is my favorite game, with one of my favorire world and music and story.. you get the point. I'm REALLY looking forward to more reactions of AK music, and I hope you'll also check the game out, or maybe the anime (which covers the main story), which starts airing this month on the 28th. Always a pleasure to hear your thoughts Marco, keep doing you!
Continuing the theme of the Abyssal Hunters, another track I think you'll really like from Arknights is "Awaken".
It's Specter the Unchained's theme. It explores her story, and is an *excellent* vocal showcase that I think you'd appreciate, given your background.
Yayyy more Arknights! Always happy to see you react to all this cool music :D
The Abyssal hunters are some very fascinating folks in the AK universe, as they are ridiculously strong (Skadi is nicknamed a "Walking Catastrophe"). They come from sea like some kind of dangerous mermaid out for blood. One memorable trait they have is their white hair and red eyes.
You are definitely right about the insanity part, Specter is literally insane, Skadi has lost her mind to the horrors of the deep and turned into a goddess bent on destruction of this world, Gladiia I think is probably the only sane one of this group.
(There is another Abyssal hunter, Andreana. But we don't know anything about her.)
Andreana is Lowlight's Persona.
@@HeliPotter2000 Hopefully Andreana will take parts on the 4th Anniversary (should it still revolves around Iberia)
@@rezafebriansyah8620 We'll definitely get Andreana Alter for Lord Lowlight
Andreana is a failed Abyssal Hunter created by the church. Other than that, we know very little about her.
Andreana secretly is an ancient god who created Arknights universe
Mmm yes, been waiting for you to react to this one. This song is like a glove to your expertise, perfectly fitting.
Edit: You should really react to Stultifera Navis' OST, it is in line and kinda a continuation of Under Tides, the tone shift however blows the minds of many, can't wait to see your vid on it.
The fact that you actually guess almost all of the Lore without actually knowing anything about game is amazing, Good Job Dude
Thanks!
Totally on point review, start from the "hunters", artificial creation, disaster from the deep waters, to the "awakening".
Also, there's this Arknights Music called "第■幕" by Adam Gubman which heavily inspired by Phantom of the opera, you should really check that out!
Im so happy for this! 😭😭
I hope you get to hear Stultifera Navis cause its Under Tide's sequel ✨️✨️
This song is not a about Skadi that we used know, but Skadi The Corrupting Heart. The skadi that we used to know is already gone, she already lost the battle to herself, now she loses control of her. She's a ticking time bomb and now the time is almost up, she could blow out at any moment and destroys everything.
I love taking the musical analysis angle to stuff like this, was cool to see you pick into the character from sound alone. Def checking out your other stuff
❤️❤️❤️
Dang, thanks for covering my favourite music in arknights.
You can think of the abyssal hunters like the hunters from bloodborne :)
great stuff marco! I've listened to this track many times before and play arknights myself, but your analysis on the song has given me a new perspective. the thing about drums and maddened singing is so fascinating
Thanks so much!!!!
tbh the fact that you were able to so accurately determine what the story of the event is about just from the song, and the characters involved in it
is a testament to how good the composer is
If you are into opera, stage, or orchestral music in general, Arknights has bunch of it... The one that i like the most is Lingering Echoes boss theme and Ebenholz's leitmotif "Ständchen", because it's so emotional, the music and the lore behind it but overall Lingering Echoes OST are epic...
Oh yeah this one that you had reacted is Under Tides boss theme, Under Tides is an event name that has several OSTs, this boss theme is one of them...
incredible insight! this game has a very rich OST spanning so many genres, there's a lot I think you'd appreciate. I'm floored that you selected this song in particular -- I've always absolutely loved it, but there's so many bangers that I feel like this song was overshadowed in the community's eye. my favorite part, around 5:45, gave me the impression of a singing skadi being sucked down straight into the abyss with those sliding vocals, only to burst forth with a roar of surging waters. seeing this song impact you physically vindicated my excitement for this song.
Damn, you got it so spot on. As a side-note they're called the abyssal hunters because they guard humanity against the creatures of the abyss, and this song was in a way portraying the relationship and struggle between the Abyss and the hunters, rather than just being Skadi's theme. Hence why you mentioned it feeling animalistic at parts and creating a sense of fear. The abyss in the name for the ocean depths where the abyssal creatures came from btw, hence the siren-esque motifs.
One of the central components of the story that this song was featured in was the discovery that the abyssal hunters were created from the abyss, and potentially they can be corrupted or the will eventually degrade back into being abyssal creatures, which was another struggle faced by the hunters in this story. There were many hunters in the past who went insane and had to be 'disappeared'. And you're right, they were absolutely forced into becoming hunters in order to protect their society from the abyss, but not many survived the actual process of becoming a hunter.
There is a sort of kin-ship between the hunters and the abyss which explains the tortured sound. As the abyss see the hunters as kin and don't understand why they hunt them, and when Skadi found out the truth about the origins of the hunters she felt conflicted about the situation too.
It's a classic "Beware becoming what you face" story.
I am SO HAPPY to see you cover arknights music. It's a common running gag to refer to the company making this game as a music company instead of a game developer because they routinely release amazing music with the game's updates.
I just reminded myself this morning of Mylnar's EP Unsheathe. The vocalist did such an amazing job
I f*****g impressed how clearly you can hear such elements. As a man that trying to read all about lore I'm saying you're damn right!
Its just incredible that you can get most of the Abyssal Hunters story out of the OST - Boss theme
I would like to see some more contents about Arknights songs and your thoughts on them
Can't wait for you to react to Arknight's Stultifera Navis theme. It's a sea shanty type song
Arknights really has a lot of great musics. I hope you enjoy listening to them :)
Your ability to accurately discern story elements and character thoughts and motivations from songs is absolutely fascinating.
Would love to see you engage with more of the Arknights soundtrack! Wlfmaster from the Siracusano boss theme would be interesting
Edit: The ethereal voices in this track are actually Skadi's singing voice, singing and dancing being something that the Hunters hold very dear.
Never been on this channel before this video and i really liked it. If you really have never ever played the game or even learned a bit of the lore... YOU NAILED IT! You've given the perfect description for them. I recommend you the "second part" of this event, it's called "Stultifera Navis".
Cheers!
I haven’t!!!
I freaking love Undertides event music, but especially this track. Glad you reacted to it thank you!
Arknights EP- Voices
Arknights- Dsdevr
Arknights- Caerula Arbor Boss Battle Theme 02
Here's some more that's also part of Under Tides and the events that comes next, the vocals and sirens stays on the other 2 except Dsdevr. I recommend checking these out in order
So glad to see you taking the the incredible music of Arknights, it defiantly isn't one to pass up. The music of Arknights speaks volume, it along with your music appreciation videos have inspired me to take up learning the violin and for that I am grateful. Really hope you cover more tracks from Arknights.
Lots more to come!
The Abyssal hunters are indeed very eFISHent!
Jokes aside, i cried i lil bit when i first heard this.
your thoughts on each part of this piece is almost spot on, its like understanding a hidden language ( which it is).
Really impressive to see how many aspects of the Abyssal Hunters lore you got right just by listening the music ^^
I believe her “awakening” as you mentioned may be her discovering or realising the seaborn she was born and modified to destroy are actually her kindred. And in the moment she is trying to accept one side over the other, continue being an abyssal hunter and stay with your friends and comrades while slaughtering your family, or become the goddess of the seaborn and live with the knowledge you will be struck down by her friends.
The ethereal screams would be her natural compulsion to the Seaborn, but the booming drums are the rigorous training and abyssal hunter instincts continuing the unending assault. When the two come together is her realising she can accept being a Seaborn if she can also accept being an abyssal hunter.
She gets an alternative form name “Skadi the Corrupting Heart” and in it she bears no weapons and has control over a seaborn leviathan. It heals her allies and can damage her foes, but she no longer actively participated in the fight.
Your analysis is amazing. The song itself is also a masterpiece, but as an Arknights player, I just can not get the meme of Skadi screaming "UUUUWWWWEEEEEEEAAA NEEEEGGGGAAAAAA" out of my head, everytime I listen to this song...
YESS, FINALLY!!!
thank you, kindly for the reaction.
Speaking of Under Tides, you should check Stultivera Navis boss theme if you have time too.
GOLDEN AGE WILL RETURN AGAIN
GOLDEN AGE WILL RETURN AGAIN
A captivating song. I remember sitting on the Anniversary Stream and hearing this song, it blew the hell out of me.
And if possible, there are a few more songs that are interesting in terms of meaning (Requem, Renegade and Lullaby).
And two more animations, End like this and Last of Me(Song and animations complement each other)(by Steve Aoki, on official Arknights channel)
Upd. Just realized that you already reacted to Lullaby three weeks ago.
More Arknights YAY! Discovered this channel through the Lullabye reaction and checked out other reactions. I love reaction videos that goes beyond what is on the surface and dive into the deeper meaning behind the media. Would love for you to check out Winter Absolution from Arknights, it's a very much opera style song in Greek, a beautiful and emotional piece. Keep up the good work
dude, this guy is insane, he can read the entire Undertides lore just by the music alone.
You really are the best! To think you manage to guess the huge chunk of the lore with just the music! Looking forward to your other reviews!
hey, just watched your channel and I love how you analyze the music and actually got almost accurate even.
i really suggest listening to Arknights music called Rhythm in Literature. I am not really an Opera specialist as you are, sir. But listening to that music really shed me tears of how beautiful and psychopathic it is
You should really check out the stultifera navis boss bgm when the event comes out on global! Its really good !!
It is absolutely STUNNING that you can that much and such precision just listening to the song
I'm highly impressed
*Listens to song without any context*
"Alright guys, here is literally all the lore about the whole story."
You have a gift. You convert music to lore. No context, only music.
ngl your analysis hit the mark (dang, you're really good 🤣👍)
man, glad you finally doing Arknights(it has called music studio rather game cuz their OST just wow)
they had a lot of genre, which is kinda odd for tower defence game
if ya want do more Arknights
these are several title that kinda...:
- wrathful cerulean flame (Just search "Amiya Guard Awakening" for the scene)
- any Contingency Contract OST
- Towerfierce
- Frostnova Theme
I Love your reactions Marco!!! Keep going and we will always listen you.
I am a theatre performer and sometimes on the stage we have to manifest with our body what we listen, so hearing you trying to describe what the songs wants to let as feel is very enjoyable :)
its kinda scary how accurate you are with your analysis
The Under Tides music is by far some of the most unique music Arknights has to offer, and it's among my favourite parts of the AK soundtrack (if not my favourite) because of that.
The ethereal singing is absolutely incredible, the music overall perfectly encapsulates what the event and the characters are about.
It's not necessarily my favourite event or group of characters, but the music itself definitely is because it's incredible. That part at 5:46 hitting during the final stage/boss of the event is one of my fondest memories of the game, actually makes me emotional every time I hear it.
Also it's crazy how on point you were about your grasp on the lore/characters based on music alone.
I really like the vocals in this track. There's no specific lyrics to them, but it reminds me a lot of whale song.. But more sinister. The whole beginning of the track feels very "culty" for lack of better words. But the vocals gives me the feeling of these sea-dwelling creatures, that has suddenly been thrust into a world they do not understand, the surface, and are whaling out in.. a myriad of emotions, and it give me chills every time I listen to it
I love when people really appreciate this theme song and understand this song without knowing the context. Thank you for the reaction Marco
Anyway, pelase react another ak song, i will wait reaction for minima,towerfierce, and invitation of wine boss theme in this channel
When I play the Under Tides event, this song gives me the vibe of alien and unspeakable being approaching. Amazing song for a gatcha game!
U gotta listen to "keep the torch" its another great arknight music bcs many poeple say (include me) its banger song! I wanna see ur reaction and what u think about the song. thanks!
It's already been said but your accuracy in interpreting the feeling of music is simply fantastic. You got almost everything right down to a t. If I may suggest more songs to check out from Arknights specifically, my favorite is the theme of the Emperor's Blade.
You might want to consider doing another run through Arknights since they just did another event that was a continuation of Under Tides, which is called Stultifera Navis. It not only furthers this story in the music, but ties it into the rest of the world of Arknights. Particularly I think you will appreciate the main bosses BGM, "Stultifer Cantus". Especially if you know what that mean, which I bet an opera singer like yourself does.
After this spot on interpretation I'd love to hear your thoughts on the continuation of this arknights event. The event is called Stultifera Navis, and the title is "The Golden Age Will Return Again". Similar to Under Tides it's the track that plays when you fight the final boss of the event.
You made the unfortunate (or fortunate) time to listen to this song. Currently in the CN server that is 6 months ahead of us; an event occurred where skadi killed the entire world. It was a what-if scenario but it still soured the taste for skadi moving forward. Wow. What are the chances.
The fact that you got the feelings and the "message" of the song without playing the game should be telling of how good Ak's music is. Also, you should listen to Holly Orders 3 (Ky Kiske's theme song) from Guilty Gear 2 you're gonna love it.
with you having this reaction to Under Tides, I would really appreciate if you could listen to the other one, it's on a different language but the rough translation of the song is "Song of Fools," the PV OST for the next tied event, Stultifera Navis
btw, i love your breakdowns of music like this
THANK YOU THANK TOU SO MUCH!!!
I'M REALLY HAPPY YOU REACT TO THIS MUSIC XD.
Tbh, this is my favorite song cause it's give dark abyssal horror vibe and similar stuff like that. also the reff part is really like sound of sea monster in my imagination.
This gives me chills every time! As always, watching your reactions is a blast :D
Also I suggest to check out Sui-Xiang theme!! It’s one of my top favs in AK. A total banger (just as every AK ost out there)
As someone said Arknights characters are based on animal in this case the abyssal hunters are all sea creature and they're like super soldier whose goal are to eliminate eldritch monster from the sea. Skadi however have to fight the blood of the monster in herself and this song is also the theme song of the alternate timeline where she lose herself and become "Skadi of the corrupting heart"
If you like this song I would suggest you try "Awaken" which is a theme song of her best friend the shark nun Specter
and those sea creature's are the dreaded seaborne.
All abyssal hunter have seaborn blood if i remember? I think that how ÆGER created their super soldiers and dub as bait too.
@@wanabid98 Yes, and this is why Gladiia was desperate to find the "Stultifera Navis" that was lost in the "Profound Silence" she believes that Aegir knows the cure and the ship is the only way to return there.
Yes. Arknights has AMAZING music. Please react to more of their music!
I read somewhere in another comment section how the "climax" moment of the song is meant to be like... "if fish/seaborn had lungs" and its super haunting.
Anyways, I can tell you'll enjoy the Whalefu known as Skadi if you get Arknights
Good, subscribed!
:)
I'm glad you also look into arknight music! Please give reaction to another arknight song cause i'm excited to see that.
Oh ya, i suggest you also react "minima" or stultivera navis boss theme ost, "golden age will return again"
I am actually amazed he nailed like spot on the story from just listening to a song!!!
Marco foreshadow the tidal wave part.
In case you want to get into Arknights yourself, or if you plan to occasionally stream it like you do with Genshin, here are a few heads up.
Arknights is NOT an easy game. It is classified in the Tower Defense genre and hearing that you wouldn’t assume that Arknights is that hard, Tower Defenses are traditionally known to have very easy games in their lineup. Hypergryph however, the developers behind the game (Yostar being the publisher), they don’t play around. The mechanics of the game go very in-depth. EACH and EVERY single one of the Operators in this game have their own unique niche. There is quite literally a playable character for everybody.
The story requires a lot of reading since the “visual novel” sections aren’t voice-acted, so it might feel a bit weird going from a big title like Genshin over to Arknights, but trust me, Arknight’s story is worth everything. Translation might not always be accurate, and there are grammar errors here and there, but the world of Arknights has to be one of the most imaginative half sci-fi half fantasy world I have ever seen, complete with lots of happy and tragic events and circumstances. That, and each and every single one of the characters in the roster, a lot of whom don’t even appear in a story event, have backstories that make them feel more real than what their 2D art still image pose is able to portray.
And this should probably go without saying, but the music, good lord the music. Both the tracks used in promotional material and in-game go unnecessarily hard. High quality stuff from way up top and yonder. I love the character theme music Arknights uploads on their official RUclips channels. Such a wide variety of genres it’s mind-boggling, and the way the lyrics are written is pretty interesting, not to mention the quality of the sound in general. You have to check out more Arknights music, you won’t regret it. Be cautious when around the fandom though, some of the members can be a tad bit crazy. Just a tad~
Thanks for writing this!
@@MarcoMeatball Knowledge is power
Normal TD game are have more enemy you just need to spam as many tower as possible but not Arknights. Arknights is all about strategy. I agree with you that Arknights is not an easy game when it comes to higher stage as no brainer its fucking hard.
you should listen to requiem next. It's really somber and it just makes you wanna just sit down and think, I mean that's what I feel sometimes when I have it on
That was nearly a spot on analysis of who the hunters are! Kinda blew me away without you having actually played the game. Great reaction video! Hope you get a chance to hear more songs from the game!
Yay! more Arknights! I really love watching your videos but I'm really curious on what you think about Arknights OSTs. Since many people in the comments already told you that Skadi is based on an Orca and her theme is eldritch horror (and if you're planning to do more Arknights OST reactions, you can think of an animal while analyzing because the whole cast is based on animals and some myths) I wanna tell you about an interesting fact abt her, She can sing beautifully and play harp. In a story, she needed to infiltrate a town so she brought along her harp and pretended to be a bard/singer which is quite interesting because mermaid sings to drag sailors down to sea but her entire job is to keep the sea at bay. In game, she uses her "singing" to buff and heal other units (and sometimes dmg enemies), she has 3 skill that she can use, everytime you deploy her into the field or her skill got activated she'll sing (the game will play a sound clip from this song, pitched up, like in 5:44) so we can guess that Skadi sing this song with her haunting vocals to help her team and also deal some kind of sanity dmg to the enemies.
so excited to see arknights music (and pgr) being featured here too now! I love how you take the time to not only analyze the music but also draw inferences on the characters/story it's depicting, it really shows how well the music invokes its themes. I haven't been playing arknights for long, but I started during a recent event called Invitation to Wine, and the lobby theme of that event was so beautiful - I don't think it has an official release anywhere which is sad but man, such a calming and uplifting instrumental piece.
My pleasure ❤️
what I love about Arknights that you cannot find in other gacha games, is the soundtrack. it's basically not just the theme and aesthetic of it, arknights is so diverse and not afraid to try new things. you should react to the PVs and videos where these tracks were first used in trailers, see what you think of them. your single audio descriptions are definitely spot on with what one can see on the screen, its crazy
While I love leitmotifs, a lot of games tend to overuse them. What I love about Arknights is that the use of it is minimal not because they avoid it, but there are so many unique stories, and so many places that each piece is pretty much unrelated to another. But I can point out on or two, like Patriot’s and Emperor’s Blade’s.
Your analysis is spot on I'd say!
If you haven't already Arknight's vocal song Golden Age Will Return Again also know as Stultifera Navis Boss Battle Theme is quite good and was heavily memed when it first came out would love to hear your thoughts on it.
With Marco doing all these Arknights tracks I'm really hoping he has a chance to listen to Ständchen from Arknights. I think he'll love it!
The abyssal hunters are my favorite faction in AK, not only because they are absolutely badass (just look at their design) but also because they have a really interesting lore covered in the mystery of a hypothetically lost/unknown civilization and fight an extremely dangerous threat menacing Terra in the shadows, deep in the sea.
Without forgetting the Lovecraft/Bloodborne vibes.
And AK's music perfectly describes this threatening, haunting feeling.
I literally only realized it now that this is the uncanny valley only in music.
The whole time the comments described it but it only now i got that it was the uncanny valley they described.
The singer is really close to a normal voice time to time, but then it hits you with the high pitchted notes and the off putting melody that it feels creepy and gives you the chills
I always wondering if you have played this side story before, because you're God damn accurate
Nope!
I would recommend checking out Towerfierce and Doubledragon from Arknights chapter 8. These are battle theme of the most important boss so far and also my favorite songs😊
This is one of those theme that I acknowledge as good because I remember it when playing the stages, all other themes just passes through the ear to another. Don't get me wrong, the other themes are good but my brain just focuses on the game as you know how Arknights is, one mistake and you'll have a leak.
Yay, U did Arknights again. Hope u do more.
"Keep the Torch" or Pallas' theme in particular. Ive got a feeling you'll like that one.
Cheers, mate!
“Water demon”
Yeah, that’s sounds like the “other Skadi”
I know that the song of the AEgier are not met for anyone. The songs belong to them.
Edit: I think they brought in the ethereal sound to signify that these songs aren't for landwalkers.
boy am I glad to have found your channel
It's not easy to find people like you who give a deeper understanding and appreciation for the music and stories I love :)
My pleasure. Glad you’re here