Respawn

Golem, created by Highwire Games and released in November, has been one of the most-anticipated VR games in recent years. The game puts the player in the world as the younger child of a family who live near a huge ruined city filled with treasures and populated by massive golems. With a special artifact, the children are able to inhabit a golem themselves and explore the city.

It's been an incredibly busy year for composer Jason Graves: writing music for the terrifying Dark Pictures: Man of Medan from Supermassive Games. He also scored episodes of DC's Swamp Thing, and in the midst of all that terror, carved out time to return to the charming world of Quill, the young mouse hero of Moss. I caught up with Jason to talk about all three projects.

On its surface, GYLT, the new game created by Tequila Works, is a terrifying adventure in which teenage Sally is looking for her missing cousin. But Tequila Works dives into deeper psychological waters, and the game also deals with the effects of bullying. Cris Velasco says both of those concepts gave him plenty of inspiration to create a scary soundtrack, while also incorporating a lush, empathetic sound with the orchestra.   

The darkly funny MediEvil game series was one of the most beloved of the late 1990s. The game's story follows a hapless hero, Sir Dan Fortescue, as he battles an evil sorcerer, Zarok, for control of the kingdom of Gallowmere. Twenty years later, Sony has dusted off the classic with new graphics and updated gameplay, and music from the original soundtrack composers, Paul Arnold and Andrew Barnabas, known as Bob and Barn.

The Outer Worlds, from Obsidian Entertainment, lets players choose their own adventure on hostile planets, and solve problems (or make new ones) for the settlers there. Composer Justin E. Bell tells me that his soundtrack is filled with the wonder of space exploration, and inspired by the character of the planets and strange creatures you encounter in the game.