Video game music is often timeless, and there's perhaps no greater recent example of that than this year's Grammy award winner of Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media, which went to the composer for a remake of a 44-year-old RPG.
Composer Winifred Phillips has contributed the music for plenty of iconic games over the years, having been credited on God of War (2005), LittleBigPlanet 2, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and more. However, the game soundtrack she's just won a Grammy for is none other than Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord – specifically, the 2024 remake of a highly influential RPG which first released in 1981.
As you might expect, Phillips' updated soundtrack sounds rather different to the original, but it's so damn good that it beat some very popular rivals for the award. Also nominated were Bear McCreary for God of War: Ragnarok's Valhalla DLC, John Paesano for Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Wilbert Roget II for Star Wars Outlaws, and Pinar Toprak for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, making for a truly eclectic mix.
Of all the nominees, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord's roots certainly go back the furthest, and while the award might be for the remake's composer, it's very neat to give the series some credit here, especially when it had such an impact on RPGs in general. The series, which started with Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, is often credited as having helped shape the likes of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.
In her acceptance speech, after expressing her gratitude to remake developers Digital Eclipse, as well as the remake's creative lead Jeff Nachbaur and music producer Winnie Waldron, Phillips says: "I'd just love to thank all of you for believing in music for games and for recognizing it, and for breathing life and enthusiasm and energy into what we do. It means so much, thank you."
For more games like Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, be sure to check out our roundup of the best RPGs you can play right now.
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