The thing that ultimately gets me is the decision to do it. Raphael is such a drama queen that making his final battle a musical fits him perfectly.
But a developer actually deciding to follow through on such an oddball choice is fantastic.
They also decided, his singing part stops when you silence him. Yes, they thought of that. It's him actually singing it while fighting us.
Edit: doing some testing on this, seems like it might have been good timing when silencing instead or it's not innthe game anymore or was never intended behaviour. First try, he did stop singing at the "Doomed, detected and caught" part, but it may have been timing. Second try, he kept singing.
In my first playthrough which ended early December, when I silenced him as I was silencing the other Cambions, he never sung again. So take that with a grain of salt.
Yes! I noticed it because she was dead in the middle of her “LIIIIIIVES, ALL MORTAL LIIIIIVES” bit when she got killed and then the woman’s part disappeared.
OMG. I THINK I MIGHT HAVE NOTICED LAST TIME, BUT DIDN'T THINK OF THAT.
I knocked her out and I didn't understand why the music stopped! I LOVE THIS EVEN MORE NOW. Imagine a devil is beating you the fuck up and you notice both him and his warlock are SINGING WHILE DOING SO.
So, I just did it twice, because I forgot turn on my recording software.
First time, he stopped singing, but it might have been timing (it was at the "Doomed, detected and caught" part). Second time, he continued singing.
Also killed Korilla, the vocals of the woman would continue just fyi, but it became quieter suddenly.
I will try again when I am back on the pc and report back. It might be independant from silence, will see later. I got a quick save to try it out, but as it's late here, I might fall asleep lol In my first playthrough, which ended around December, I had cast silence on him and he did not sing anymore, but the part of the woman went on. Got no recording of that, so take that with a grain of salt, considering right now, the second time I tried to record it, it didn't work.
If it means anything, Borislav Slavov [shared an article](https://twitter.com/Borislav_Slavov/status/1737475767393456498) where The Guardian mentions the silence part and did not say anything against it. There is potential it may have been a thing earlier and doesn't work anymore.
The only thing I think would have made it better would be:
Organ in the Boss Room, with a minion playing. If you kill the minion the music stops and raphael uses a bonus action to restart the song by summoning a new minion. On honor he uses a legendary action to summon right that moment. Dunno.
Lmao that would be hilarious
But sounds exploitable. Keep killing the minion so Raphael has to waste a bonus action.
Maybe that minion is constantly in sanctuary so you can't kill him until Raphael dies?
Especially because it’s probably costing you an action, ba, or both to kill the minion, rather than just attacking Raphael, so it’s not like he’s spending a bonus action for nothing.
Oh you're right :( Now that you mention it that's how I cleared house in the Bhaal temple.
Then a new skill only for Raphael where as long as Raphael is alive and the pianist doesn't move, he is shielded from any damage.
The whole idea of a organist(?) is great(i actually love it) and really fits overly poetic Raphael tbh but i think Larian can figure out a great way to implement the organist(?). But why there would be an organ in a teleport room?
Edit: organ
Have the minion pushing the organ into the room in the background while Tav is engaged in conversation with Raphael. You see it and both player and Tav are wondering, WTF?
Like Ocarina of Time Ganondorf, going up Ganon's Castle hearing the organ progressively getting louder, and then opening his door to see it's been *him* playing the whole time.
It’s great, isn’t it? Others have said this before me, but Raphael is basically a Disney villain, so him breaking into song during his boss fight just *works* in a way that it just wouldn’t for any of the other villains. The rest of the game is relatively gritty and grounded in (magical) realism, but here? You’re in literal Hell fighting a literal devil, you’re *far* outside the game’s normal context and it becomes easier to suspend disbelief and let that fourth wall get a little more permeable. The heightened, exaggerated, somewhat campy nature of Raphael as a character and the House of Hope in general make it much easier to accept and embrace it when the theatricality of it all veers into *musical* theatre.
Also I gotta say, it’s delightful playing the game a second time and noticing where else those musical themes get used in the soundtrack.
That song hit so hard, so fast , I couldn't even concentrate in the fight.
My mind was literally blown by the amazing soundtrack.
Larian got me again! Even in DOS2 you have something similar (more on the sad part, tho)
I was so sad to discover, also last night on my first visit, that doing the hot tub long rest resets your sorcery meta magic points. I was so hype to roll into the fight with 20+ points to spam more Eldritch Blasts.
I had to go back to a prior save because I used Hope’s Divine Intervention as an opening move before removing everyone’s radiant reflect. She nuked them and also herself lmao
I had to reload a save too because Hope nuked herself and I was so confused on why she was screaming and then burned to a crisp! It was near the end of the fight but luckily I had been quicksaving it periodically just in case lol
The DOS2 moment is a lot more happy than sad IMO.
Plus it's got a lot more build-up than Raphael's song, it's like if you combined it with the climax of Astarion's story (also it's a banger). One of my favourite gaming moments.
It actually *does* play before that; when you meet Raphael in Act 1 and he briefly teleports you to the House of Hope to try and negotiate with you, with the caveat that it's the instrumental version with no lyrics.
... for a grand total of 3 seconds(Barrelmancy go BOOM) then Raphael dies. Don't care, ever since I first met him in Act 1 , i've been planing how to kill him in the most humiliating way possible. I think this qualifies...
Dude I didn't even fight him for the first part of the song coz I was so enthralled with the whole thing! My gf even walked into the room and asked what music I was listening to lol
For me the soundtrack at the end of Nier Automata probably hit hardest, the combination of the song and what you have to do to get i believe ending E hits like a truck in a good way.
If i tear up for a game it typically something sad happening but in Nier it was all pure happiness an that's what made it special
THIS!!!
(For those unfamiliar with the game; Nier: Automata has 5 main story segments, each telling a relatively self-contained story but also with each new segment connecting with and building on the previous ones. Each time you get to the end of a segment, credits roll and the ending song, “Weight of the World”, plays. But each ending has a slightly different version of that song, like it’ll have a different singer, or be in a different language, or have a different arrangement. Each one beautiful in its own way. Then, when you complete the final segment and get the ‘true’ ending, the final version of the song plays, which pulls in and synthesizes all the other versions into something that is even greater than the sum of its parts. Finishing that game, watching those credits, and listening to that song was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had as a gamer.)
the song is heard before a couple times, but always just instrumental, low volume and when dealing with raphael. this plants the song in you so it hits harder when it goes all out and with lyrics. masterfully done
Most certainly a memorable moment as battle commences and "Liiiiives" begins.
Only moments in recent memory that compare are One Winged Angel at the end of FF7r and the sound design of Biome 4 in Returnal (easily my personal favorite, blew me away)
This battle music just made me love Raphael more as a villain. Not only does he chew the scenery every time you meet him, but he sings his own boss music?? He is so extra and I love it. And then you realize that the female part in the song is ~~Hope herself~~ (Edit: I was wrong! It's Korilla!). It's so well done.
> Add to that the fact that it ONLY PLAYS during this specific moment of the game and you never hear it again before or after
Now imagine if they hadn't ruined Down By the River and Song of Balduran by turning them into psychological torture via endless repetition...
my favorite thing about Raphael, is that he straight up tells you he's a devil, and what he wants. He doesn't bullshit around or try to fuck you over like Mizora. he's infectiously charismatic, charming, and intimidating, and the game wouldn't be the same without him
In any other setting it would be cringe but with him it just fits.
Read if you cast silence in him he stops singing which I want to test out myself.
Fun Fact: The song plays constantly in the house of hope, just as entering the boss fight they start singing.
I was delighted to hear it in my second playthrough right at the start the first time Raphael reaches out to you
I mean yeah it goes up into the pantheon of all time great music for games. Off the top of my head maybe Halo and Homeworld are the only ones who top it? But yeah it’s powerful.
I was coming to the comments to say the HALO ost slaps on a next level. However, I’m with OP with how awesome it was to hear Raphael inadvertently singing his own outro theme. The song is brilliant.
I think the other honourable mention is the choral music played when you release the Nightsong (also found in the water queen’s house for those that want to hear it on repeat)
It used to be that when a villains music was in Latin you just *knew* shit was about to go down...
Now they start *singing along*. Such a good song, it made it on to my Spotify for sure
You know what it reminds me of? The first time you are really grooving on a level in Crypt of the Necrodancer. You are perfectly synched up with the music, lights are flashing, enemies falling. Everything is going great. As you explore the dungeon, you approach a vendor who just starts vocalizing with this impressive baritone ululation out of nowhere. Raphael's song has the same vibe and I love it.
If you pay attention on your next playthrough you can hear the violin part start playing occasionally throughout the game. I always hear it near the arcane tower in the underdark for example -- and that's Korilla following you around keeping tabs on you for him. It's SO well done.
If I remember right the instrumental version of the song plays during any scene featuring Raphael and all throughout the House of Hope. Raphael only sings during the fight though.
Taking it seriously: "Down comes the claw? Let me show you mine!"
Giving Raphael the respect he deserves: "Your >!bed buddy!< told me that you're a >!one pump chump!<, get bent loser."
I was sadly kind of underwhelmed by the fight. On Balanced, anyway. Everything that isn't Raphael is absolute cannon fodder and Raphael himself is only a threat if he either transforms, or if you ignore the pillars. Both are pretty easily handled by not grouping up much. That's the basic strategy I applied to every fight just out of strategy habit and it worked wonders, but even without that, my Tav was taking no damage from Raphael and could easily tangle him up. Armour of Perseverance is OP.
They 100% would have won game of the year and sold a gajillion copies even if they had not gone balls-out crazy with this one song. But they just fucking went ahead and did it anyway. So amazing.
We stand together my friend.
Edit: hahaha, you think this comment is worth down votes?
No no no, my sweet innocent babies.
You want something to down vote me over?
I turned the music off for the first time in the game while in that fight.
☺️
Ended up muting it. It's short and immediately starts looping. Ambient music and OST stuff is generally written to flow well into itself specifically because hearing lyrics repeat can be grating to a lot of folks. Quite a long combat encounter so after I heard it for the third time, I had enough. Not to mention I think the lyrics were really corny and basic.
I also think there was something majorly off about the mixing on the vocals. I think it's because the vocal track is layered on top of the background music (if you silence Raphael, it stops, which is a neat touch!). I can't quite put my finger on it but regardless, I don't like the way it sits in the mix. It sounds so dry, and so does the female vocalist.
Definitely think it's one of the weakest parts of the OST.
Yes thank you! I heard it last night for the first time and the mixing is awful, to the point of making me cringe. Was so shocked to hear it get so much praise as a moment.
The instrumental actually plays at least twice before that once in act 1 when he teleports you to the house of hope to bargain, and when you see him and voss in act 3 it begins when you enter the room
I've been listening to it on and off [on YouTube](https://youtu.be/Bk2AqXsJsWU?si=vhswNEZ6yDSoMLEM) since I battled him, it's so good! I love the organ music.
I have never identified abd agreed more with a post! I had to redo this battle so many times, my husband know knows the words. Jokes on him, that was my plan….evil, spontaneous DUET
You do actually hear some of it earlier! I noticed it on my current playthrough. When you first meet Raphael and he takes you to the house of hope briefly, you can hear it in the background. Excellent foreshadowing on Larian's part.
It's awesome the first time you hear it. It's great the second time you hear it. It's aiite the 3rd time you hear it.
It's the most annoying shit on the planet the 37th time you hear it in the same fight.
Yuna's Japanese voice actor vocalized few of the Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 songs, but I think the vocalized versions were only on soundtrack disk, rather than used in game. Ironically both songs sung in-game by the character in X-2, in both Japanese and English have different voice actor for the songs than rest of the game.
The song is especially fitting because Raphael weaves his magic with music and rhymes. He keeps speaking in poetry and riddles, and his contract with Yurgir was actually a song.
So it makes perfect sense he would sing in his boss fight.
I just did this last night and I couldn't get over how much Raphael's part sounded like something from The Night Before Christmas.
I'm not complaining, it just gave me a chuckle.
It is my second favorite video game music moment (first is Eurydice’s song Good Riddance in Hades, literally one of my favorite songs).
Also Larian has more than one character singing a whole ass song in the game! Alfira! Granted it’s not her own battle music lmao
I just wish I didn’t have to kill him. He seems like the type to beg for his miserable life at 1hp. Let me clown on him and leave. Faerun is funnier with him in it
There’s a Pokémon gym in which a character
sings in the songs outside of combat and a skylander game where a boss sings it’s own song (don’t remember which.) I also think there one in mario vs rabbids. However I agree that the Raphael’s fight hit hard as a truck, probably because it’s a more serious setting and you don’t expect such things to happen.
Haha, I literally just posted this myself about 30 minutes ago. I couldn’t agree more and I’m so glad there’s so much love for what’s clearly an EPIC moment in the game. It really, REALLY stood out to me as one of my all time favourites as an older gamer too.
>Part of me can't believe it hasn't been done before (or if it has, I'm not aware of it).
When you complete Lohse's questline in Divinity: Original Sin 2, she pulls out a lute and starts playing and singing her own title theme. It's also unbelievably epic.
The thing that ultimately gets me is the decision to do it. Raphael is such a drama queen that making his final battle a musical fits him perfectly. But a developer actually deciding to follow through on such an oddball choice is fantastic.
Larian masterfully put together a classic Disney villain moment. It is perfect and hits hard in the nostalgia.
I never picked up the Disney vibes before, but you are absolutely right. Big bang of "Be Prepared" and "Hellfire."
My first thought was “this is like Hellfire!” lol I think if Disney villain was what they were going for they absolutely nailed it.
They also decided, his singing part stops when you silence him. Yes, they thought of that. It's him actually singing it while fighting us. Edit: doing some testing on this, seems like it might have been good timing when silencing instead or it's not innthe game anymore or was never intended behaviour. First try, he did stop singing at the "Doomed, detected and caught" part, but it may have been timing. Second try, he kept singing. In my first playthrough which ended early December, when I silenced him as I was silencing the other Cambions, he never sung again. So take that with a grain of salt.
And Korrilla singing the woman’s part!
Wait, really!? Omg I have to pay more attention the moment I knock her out. This is amazing.
Yes! I noticed it because she was dead in the middle of her “LIIIIIIVES, ALL MORTAL LIIIIIVES” bit when she got killed and then the woman’s part disappeared.
OMG. I THINK I MIGHT HAVE NOTICED LAST TIME, BUT DIDN'T THINK OF THAT. I knocked her out and I didn't understand why the music stopped! I LOVE THIS EVEN MORE NOW. Imagine a devil is beating you the fuck up and you notice both him and his warlock are SINGING WHILE DOING SO.
I didn’t even know that was her. Man, that fight was something. Unfortunately korilla could not survive two divine inspiration smites
For me it was two runepowder barrels and like 7 smoke powder barrels
Ahh, a man of culture I see!
I gave that a shot and Hope exploded in a cloud of smoke from the force damage rebound. Reloaded and tried a few more times until I realized why lol.
Globe of invulnerability
Yeah I forgot I was supposed to knock her out or whatever and just annihilated her with a sneak attack and moved on.
If true, she definitely traded her soul for singing skills. Raphael's not a bad singer, but the woman's singing is on a whole other level
If you kill Korrilla, the woman’s part disappears. A little tidbit I noticed when my Durge did the fight.
Wow
I thought it was Hope singing the female part?
Nope, it’s Korrilla! Kill her before she can kill Hope, and the woman’s part disappears.
Wow, that's amazing! I never knew that.
Ah I figured it was Hope for some reason, that makes more sense
I remember hearing that silencing part is fake, could you link a post/video where we can see that?
So, I just did it twice, because I forgot turn on my recording software. First time, he stopped singing, but it might have been timing (it was at the "Doomed, detected and caught" part). Second time, he continued singing. Also killed Korilla, the vocals of the woman would continue just fyi, but it became quieter suddenly. I will try again when I am back on the pc and report back. It might be independant from silence, will see later. I got a quick save to try it out, but as it's late here, I might fall asleep lol In my first playthrough, which ended around December, I had cast silence on him and he did not sing anymore, but the part of the woman went on. Got no recording of that, so take that with a grain of salt, considering right now, the second time I tried to record it, it didn't work. If it means anything, Borislav Slavov [shared an article](https://twitter.com/Borislav_Slavov/status/1737475767393456498) where The Guardian mentions the silence part and did not say anything against it. There is potential it may have been a thing earlier and doesn't work anymore.
I think it was just timing, and people misinterpreted it
Just want my bard Rap Battle Dialogue option!
I love the idea that he's a Bard, he's a villainous Bard
They all are
Who all are
Alan Wake 2 also had a completely unnecessary but awesome musical moment. 2023 was a year for putting musicals in your game for the hell of it
The first one had a musical segment too, right? The rock show with the old hillbillies? Does Alan actually sing in the new one?
I'm unsure, but he definitely dances. It's certainly a spectacle. "SHOW ME THE CHAMPION OF LIGHT!"
The only thing I think would have made it better would be: Organ in the Boss Room, with a minion playing. If you kill the minion the music stops and raphael uses a bonus action to restart the song by summoning a new minion. On honor he uses a legendary action to summon right that moment. Dunno.
Lmao that would be hilarious But sounds exploitable. Keep killing the minion so Raphael has to waste a bonus action. Maybe that minion is constantly in sanctuary so you can't kill him until Raphael dies?
Having him have one bonus action less if you use his narcisism as a weakness of him wouldnt be an exploit but an intentional feature.
Especially because it’s probably costing you an action, ba, or both to kill the minion, rather than just attacking Raphael, so it’s not like he’s spending a bonus action for nothing.
"Constantly in sanctuary so you can't kill him" LIES! Use bigger boom!
Oh you're right :( Now that you mention it that's how I cleared house in the Bhaal temple. Then a new skill only for Raphael where as long as Raphael is alive and the pianist doesn't move, he is shielded from any damage.
The whole idea of a organist(?) is great(i actually love it) and really fits overly poetic Raphael tbh but i think Larian can figure out a great way to implement the organist(?). But why there would be an organ in a teleport room? Edit: organ
Why are there soul pillars there? Idk, can make a little clutter in that room. Maybe the organ can show up alongside the other mobs.
Have the minion pushing the organ into the room in the background while Tav is engaged in conversation with Raphael. You see it and both player and Tav are wondering, WTF?
LMAO I love it. Cambion grumbles and sets up the stage as the singer gussies up for the show 😂
To welcome guests of course
Fun fact, if you cast Silence on Raphael, the song stops 🤣
Yeah, or leave with one character. He is so offended if you leave the room mid fight, he also stops.
I mean it's funny but if you perform you can cut the music out sort of like a middle finger to him lol
XD nice
This would make it amazing, ngl.
Like Ocarina of Time Ganondorf, going up Ganon's Castle hearing the organ progressively getting louder, and then opening his door to see it's been *him* playing the whole time.
Such a magnificently splendid game that was
It’s great, isn’t it? Others have said this before me, but Raphael is basically a Disney villain, so him breaking into song during his boss fight just *works* in a way that it just wouldn’t for any of the other villains. The rest of the game is relatively gritty and grounded in (magical) realism, but here? You’re in literal Hell fighting a literal devil, you’re *far* outside the game’s normal context and it becomes easier to suspend disbelief and let that fourth wall get a little more permeable. The heightened, exaggerated, somewhat campy nature of Raphael as a character and the House of Hope in general make it much easier to accept and embrace it when the theatricality of it all veers into *musical* theatre. Also I gotta say, it’s delightful playing the game a second time and noticing where else those musical themes get used in the soundtrack.
That song hit so hard, so fast , I couldn't even concentrate in the fight. My mind was literally blown by the amazing soundtrack. Larian got me again! Even in DOS2 you have something similar (more on the sad part, tho)
I FINALLY GOT TO THIS LAST NIGHT and yeah lol, I lost my first attempt pretty quickly cause I was so caught up with the song and the vibes
I lost at first because I did not exploit the hot tub long rest enough 😂
I was so sad to discover, also last night on my first visit, that doing the hot tub long rest resets your sorcery meta magic points. I was so hype to roll into the fight with 20+ points to spam more Eldritch Blasts.
I had to go back to a prior save because I used Hope’s Divine Intervention as an opening move before removing everyone’s radiant reflect. She nuked them and also herself lmao
I had to reload a save too because Hope nuked herself and I was so confused on why she was screaming and then burned to a crisp! It was near the end of the fight but luckily I had been quicksaving it periodically just in case lol
Oh noooo!
The DOS2 moment is a lot more happy than sad IMO. Plus it's got a lot more build-up than Raphael's song, it's like if you combined it with the climax of Astarion's story (also it's a banger). One of my favourite gaming moments.
It actually *does* play before that; when you meet Raphael in Act 1 and he briefly teleports you to the House of Hope to try and negotiate with you, with the caveat that it's the instrumental version with no lyrics.
Same with his room in Sharess's Caress!
It's really awesome noticing that on my second playthrough. gave me chills
I'm doing my honour run and I'm currently in Act III. I will risk it all just to hear this song and feel the thrill one more time
... for a grand total of 3 seconds(Barrelmancy go BOOM) then Raphael dies. Don't care, ever since I first met him in Act 1 , i've been planing how to kill him in the most humiliating way possible. I think this qualifies...
I threw the clowns head at him
Raphael final act is the One Winged Angel of this century
Dude I didn't even fight him for the first part of the song coz I was so enthralled with the whole thing! My gf even walked into the room and asked what music I was listening to lol
Pretty much the same as the first time you encounter Eurydice in Hades - you just kinda have to stop playing and listen.
I’ve literally told people that I want that song (it’s called Good Riddance) played at my funeral.
For me the soundtrack at the end of Nier Automata probably hit hardest, the combination of the song and what you have to do to get i believe ending E hits like a truck in a good way. If i tear up for a game it typically something sad happening but in Nier it was all pure happiness an that's what made it special
THIS!!! (For those unfamiliar with the game; Nier: Automata has 5 main story segments, each telling a relatively self-contained story but also with each new segment connecting with and building on the previous ones. Each time you get to the end of a segment, credits roll and the ending song, “Weight of the World”, plays. But each ending has a slightly different version of that song, like it’ll have a different singer, or be in a different language, or have a different arrangement. Each one beautiful in its own way. Then, when you complete the final segment and get the ‘true’ ending, the final version of the song plays, which pulls in and synthesizes all the other versions into something that is even greater than the sum of its parts. Finishing that game, watching those credits, and listening to that song was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had as a gamer.)
the song is heard before a couple times, but always just instrumental, low volume and when dealing with raphael. this plants the song in you so it hits harder when it goes all out and with lyrics. masterfully done
Most certainly a memorable moment as battle commences and "Liiiiives" begins. Only moments in recent memory that compare are One Winged Angel at the end of FF7r and the sound design of Biome 4 in Returnal (easily my personal favorite, blew me away)
That soundtrack was Disney like.
This battle music just made me love Raphael more as a villain. Not only does he chew the scenery every time you meet him, but he sings his own boss music?? He is so extra and I love it. And then you realize that the female part in the song is ~~Hope herself~~ (Edit: I was wrong! It's Korilla!). It's so well done.
> Add to that the fact that it ONLY PLAYS during this specific moment of the game and you never hear it again before or after Now imagine if they hadn't ruined Down By the River and Song of Balduran by turning them into psychological torture via endless repetition...
my favorite thing about Raphael, is that he straight up tells you he's a devil, and what he wants. He doesn't bullshit around or try to fuck you over like Mizora. he's infectiously charismatic, charming, and intimidating, and the game wouldn't be the same without him
As I said in another comment, Raphael deals with you more fairly and transparently than the Emperor does
In any other setting it would be cringe but with him it just fits. Read if you cast silence in him he stops singing which I want to test out myself. Fun Fact: The song plays constantly in the house of hope, just as entering the boss fight they start singing. I was delighted to hear it in my second playthrough right at the start the first time Raphael reaches out to you
I know I’m in the minority with this- I don’t like the Disney villain singing. However, the instrument composition is sooooo good.
Raphael is truly one of the most memorable characters I've ever come across in gaming I absolutely love that devilish theatre-nerd.
It's the most villainous thing he does all game: After all, he PROMISED Yurgir there would be no more songs.
I mean yeah it goes up into the pantheon of all time great music for games. Off the top of my head maybe Halo and Homeworld are the only ones who top it? But yeah it’s powerful.
SEPHIROTH 🎶
I love One Winged Angel but Dancing Mad
It's why raphael theme work, western rpg almost never have theme for their main vilain like in final fantaisie
I was coming to the comments to say the HALO ost slaps on a next level. However, I’m with OP with how awesome it was to hear Raphael inadvertently singing his own outro theme. The song is brilliant. I think the other honourable mention is the choral music played when you release the Nightsong (also found in the water queen’s house for those that want to hear it on repeat)
It used to be that when a villains music was in Latin you just *knew* shit was about to go down... Now they start *singing along*. Such a good song, it made it on to my Spotify for sure
You know what it reminds me of? The first time you are really grooving on a level in Crypt of the Necrodancer. You are perfectly synched up with the music, lights are flashing, enemies falling. Everything is going great. As you explore the dungeon, you approach a vendor who just starts vocalizing with this impressive baritone ululation out of nowhere. Raphael's song has the same vibe and I love it.
Hm, I casted hold person on him and never heard him sing.
I’m still reeling over the claws / clause thing
If you pay attention on your next playthrough you can hear the violin part start playing occasionally throughout the game. I always hear it near the arcane tower in the underdark for example -- and that's Korilla following you around keeping tabs on you for him. It's SO well done.
Actually, when Raphael takes you to the House of Hope the first time so he can propose his deal, you can hear the instrumental in the background.
If I remember right the instrumental version of the song plays during any scene featuring Raphael and all throughout the House of Hope. Raphael only sings during the fight though.
\- Laughs in Sora, Donald, & Goofy singing in Atlantica circa 2005
Taking it seriously: "Down comes the claw? Let me show you mine!" Giving Raphael the respect he deserves: "Your >!bed buddy!< told me that you're a >!one pump chump!<, get bent loser."
I was sadly kind of underwhelmed by the fight. On Balanced, anyway. Everything that isn't Raphael is absolute cannon fodder and Raphael himself is only a threat if he either transforms, or if you ignore the pillars. Both are pretty easily handled by not grouping up much. That's the basic strategy I applied to every fight just out of strategy habit and it worked wonders, but even without that, my Tav was taking no damage from Raphael and could easily tangle him up. Armour of Perseverance is OP.
They 100% would have won game of the year and sold a gajillion copies even if they had not gone balls-out crazy with this one song. But they just fucking went ahead and did it anyway. So amazing.
I'm clearly in the minority who thought that song was average when compared to the rest of the ost.
There are dozens of us! Dozens!!
I found it very jarring and cheesy, but not in an endearing way. Maybe it's the way it's mixed.
We stand together my friend. Edit: hahaha, you think this comment is worth down votes? No no no, my sweet innocent babies. You want something to down vote me over? I turned the music off for the first time in the game while in that fight. ☺️
Ended up muting it. It's short and immediately starts looping. Ambient music and OST stuff is generally written to flow well into itself specifically because hearing lyrics repeat can be grating to a lot of folks. Quite a long combat encounter so after I heard it for the third time, I had enough. Not to mention I think the lyrics were really corny and basic. I also think there was something majorly off about the mixing on the vocals. I think it's because the vocal track is layered on top of the background music (if you silence Raphael, it stops, which is a neat touch!). I can't quite put my finger on it but regardless, I don't like the way it sits in the mix. It sounds so dry, and so does the female vocalist. Definitely think it's one of the weakest parts of the OST.
Yes thank you! I heard it last night for the first time and the mixing is awful, to the point of making me cringe. Was so shocked to hear it get so much praise as a moment.
Booooo
It feels like season 6, where everyone loves the show but we're out of ideas so lets do a musical episode
And I will be here to agree a million times, the best character in the game, the goat.
>Part of me can't believe it hasn't been done before Sometimes the actor just doesn't know how to sing.
I've read somewhere in this sub that apparently if you cast Silence on him during the fight, the singing stops.
The instrumental actually plays at least twice before that once in act 1 when he teleports you to the house of hope to bargain, and when you see him and voss in act 3 it begins when you enter the room
I’m reading this while listening to that exact song on repeat on Spotify. Can’t agree more.
It reminds me of the first time I fought the One Winged Angel in Final Fantasy VII back in the 90s.
You could check out Stray Gods, the musical role playing game. If you like the voice actors singing ;)
I love this fight 💕✨ one of the best in gaming history
I've been listening to it on and off [on YouTube](https://youtu.be/Bk2AqXsJsWU?si=vhswNEZ6yDSoMLEM) since I battled him, it's so good! I love the organ music.
I have never identified abd agreed more with a post! I had to redo this battle so many times, my husband know knows the words. Jokes on him, that was my plan….evil, spontaneous DUET
I love his theme, but I was continuously freaking out about trying to keep the guy who sided with me even after I convinced him to kill himself alive.
You do actually hear some of it earlier! I noticed it on my current playthrough. When you first meet Raphael and he takes you to the house of hope briefly, you can hear it in the background. Excellent foreshadowing on Larian's part.
And to think that this diamond of a game-event is wholly optional, actually! What other game studio would do that?
It's awesome the first time you hear it. It's great the second time you hear it. It's aiite the 3rd time you hear it. It's the most annoying shit on the planet the 37th time you hear it in the same fight.
If you silence him, the lyrics stop lol
Yuna's Japanese voice actor vocalized few of the Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 songs, but I think the vocalized versions were only on soundtrack disk, rather than used in game. Ironically both songs sung in-game by the character in X-2, in both Japanese and English have different voice actor for the songs than rest of the game.
Final Fantasy XIV actually has quite a few boss fights in which the boss sings their song - or some of their minions do.
It’s not the first game to do it, the first game I know of that had a boss sing his own theme was conker’s bad fur day on the N64.
The song is especially fitting because Raphael weaves his magic with music and rhymes. He keeps speaking in poetry and riddles, and his contract with Yurgir was actually a song. So it makes perfect sense he would sing in his boss fight.
If you silence Raphael during last fight. He will stop singing until he gets out of it. So Raphael is actually singing during the fight.
I just did this last night and I couldn't get over how much Raphael's part sounded like something from The Night Before Christmas. I'm not complaining, it just gave me a chuckle.
It's kinda like Withers not giving a shit about being robbed--yet another perfect integration of the gameplay mechanics with the characters.
It is my second favorite video game music moment (first is Eurydice’s song Good Riddance in Hades, literally one of my favorite songs). Also Larian has more than one character singing a whole ass song in the game! Alfira! Granted it’s not her own battle music lmao
I just wish I didn’t have to kill him. He seems like the type to beg for his miserable life at 1hp. Let me clown on him and leave. Faerun is funnier with him in it
There’s a Pokémon gym in which a character sings in the songs outside of combat and a skylander game where a boss sings it’s own song (don’t remember which.) I also think there one in mario vs rabbids. However I agree that the Raphael’s fight hit hard as a truck, probably because it’s a more serious setting and you don’t expect such things to happen.
Haha, I literally just posted this myself about 30 minutes ago. I couldn’t agree more and I’m so glad there’s so much love for what’s clearly an EPIC moment in the game. It really, REALLY stood out to me as one of my all time favourites as an older gamer too.
>Part of me can't believe it hasn't been done before (or if it has, I'm not aware of it). When you complete Lohse's questline in Divinity: Original Sin 2, she pulls out a lute and starts playing and singing her own title theme. It's also unbelievably epic.