Indie games continue to surprise us with their brilliance, the latest being Momodora: Moonlit Farewell (2024). It features a glorious soundtrack from the elusive composer nk/Notorious Knave (also the name of a minor character in Shakespeare’s Othello). So notorious, in fact, this person has almost no information about them online.
The game was developed by the Brasilian indie team Bombservice. Alongside its fantastic gameplay is this melancholic score, a wonderful complement to the core gameplay and its emotional narrative arc.
Moonlit Farewell’s Swoonworthy Score
We weren’t going to create a sole feature Moonlit Farewell’s score, but as we progressed through out game review (published shortly) we realised we were droning on about the music a lot. Thus, it gets its own feature!
The music is neoclassical in its structure, using lots of piano and focussing on an orchestral sweep. But there’s plenty of modern tech in there, too, with synths and pads.
Alongside the strings, acoustics, and percussion, it all makes for a dreamy experience. Misty, almost, which is apt as there’s a lot of mist in the game.
At times it breaks away from its structure to go into video game mode, bringing punchy 8 bit type bloops to accompany the likes of boss battles.
But it’s only ever inspiring. Lots of fine mood music and a sense of chiming bells in the mist (as is so very suitable for JRPG lore).
The music is tonally similar to Yasunori Mitsuda’s work on Chrono Cross (1999), a Squaresoft title that launched in the original PlayStation days (an example of how classic video games have influenced modern creatives).
The influence on Notorious Knave is clear! We never did play Chrono Cross, but it’s considered one of the best games on the original PlayStation.
You do get the sense of a JRPG (Japanese role-playing game) from Momodora titles, even if this series is Metroidvania. There’s the melodic folk style music, mixed with sophisticated orchestral peaks and minor key harmonies. All of which is possible without bringing a whole orchestra in, all thanks to the joys of modern technology.
Leaving one of the best until last, Noblesse is a brilliant showcase of inspired piano with a looping and dreamy melody. A bit like a lullaby, but gradually building towards an orchestral swell.
It’s one of the most piano-led soundtracks we’ve heard since Cลur de pirate’s CHILD of LIGHT (2014) score. But she has been more present in her online presence.
But this is the norm with indie games. We often find amazing titles with devs who want to keep a low profile, or fantastic music in a game and it’s unclear who created it. And why not? Some people don’t like the limelight and are happy in their creaitve guise.
But whoever Notorious Knave is, we hope they continue with more of this. It appears the Momodora series is now at a close, but their collaboration with Bombservice must continue. For the love of gawd!
