Battles in Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs) present special problems for game immersion because of their sheer ubiquity and repetitiveness. This is particularly true of games that require the player to “grind”—that is, to engage in repetitive fights in order to level-up characters and thereby gain tactical advantages later. This paper argues that battle music is first and foremost a variety of functional music, a genre that fans measure not by its sonic beauty but by its psychological effectiveness. This point leads directly to a number of pressing questions: How do battle themes function? How do these functions relate to the all-important concerns of immersion and interactivity? How do we evaluate the effectiveness of battle music? And finally, what would a preliminary theory of battle music composition look like? This article examines how the grind of JRPG fighting manifests as an integral part of battle music composition, analyzing three standard conventions in detail: (1) a clear opening audiovisual rupture, (2) a fanfare as cadence, and (3) a sustained period of harmonic stasis underpinning busy surface textures. This last phenomenon creates a sense of “musicospatial stasis”—that is, a musically induced sense of stasis that intermingles with and projects itself onto the visual and narrative fields. Because the repetitive grind of JRPG battles interrupts movement through the overworld, battle themes should be understood as ruptures in the sonic environment, just as the battle stage is a spatial rupture in the overworld. Battle themes therefore make little sense as analytical objects out of context: by definition, they signal a break that impedes the player’s movement throughout a larger environment.

In the age of participatory and convergence paradigms, video game music has its own networked culture with cybercommunities that discuss, share, and create content, thus opening up a creative space for artistic activities in a constant digital flow. Music composition and production is one of these activities, with files made available on several platforms such as SoundCloud and YouTube, specifically in the format of modification files (or mods). Building on research for a master’s dissertation, this article examines a new model of online artistic production in the form of the circulation of musical mods that were composed and shared on the Nexus Mods platform for the The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim video games. These mods add new musical material that is similar to the existing soundtrack of both titles, but the majority of the files in this platform’s audio category are related only to sounds, not to musical composition. By using titles such as “better sounds” or “immersive sounds” to describe their additions, many modders aim to give other gamers a more immersive experience in the game(s). In this case, immersive relates not only to the musical style and sound quality of the aural effects but also a plausible construction of the reality in which the gamers live, play, and negotiate meaning relating to their own social context. Intersecting “playbour,” fandom, aural immersion, and audiovisual literacy, these audio modders work on adding new layers to the soundscapes and environments of the virtual worlds presented in the two games. The modders regard immersion as a key aspect of design and playability, and they contribute audio material to enable their social capital and visibility on online platforms.

Role-playing video games can highlight a sense of player identification with a pre-made player-character through the inclusion of the voice; this can include diegetic character dialogue, the non-diegetic sung voice, and voice-overs. Ensuring that the player can connect with their player-character on an individual level is key to forming a suspension of disbelief and immersion with a game. Final Fantasy XV emphasizes collaboration between the player, player-characters, and non-playable characters during combat, cutscenes, and exploration. This camaraderie effect actively engages the player with multiple characters through the constant use of the diegetic spoken voice to communicate between the player-character, Noctis, and the three other character identities, Prompto, Ignis, and Gladiolus. The game’s opening rendition of Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me,” performed by Florence + the Machine, provides the player with four narrative themes that are present throughout the game. These themes include a coming-of-age story, character relationships, and the development of a greater evil within the narrative. Unique in its position as a pre-composed song, “Stand by Me” plants the idea that the player will not be alone in their journey, as character allies will stand by Noctis, from the beginning of the game. Final Fantasy XV uses vocalizations in both the diegetic and non-diegetic audio space in order to reflect the characteristics of the playable characters. The vocal relationship between the player’s characters provides directional feedback and information for the player within combat, alongside foretelling the stories of certain characters.

The mid-to-late 2010s saw a renewed interest in virtual reality technologies with the release of a wide selection of consumer VR headsets and glasses, and the increased power of smartphones to provide augmented reality experiences. While research on sound and music in these technologies has started to gather pace, practice and research continue to grapple with significant creative and practical questions. In addition, such discussions have tended to be limited within disciplinary or professional silos. The roundtable presented here was an effort to begin conversations across a variety of fields of research and practice. We shared perspectives and exchanged views informed by different disciplinary traditions and experiences. We also sought to identify key questions and issues regarding music and sound in VR/AR. Three main themes are presented here: 1) Spaces and musical performances, 2) Realities and realism, and 3) Movement, orientation, and disorientation.