(Fictober attempt derailed by college classes, but I’m still writing out the prompts. I just can’t swing the one-per-day this time, I’m afraid)

It’s that time of year again! Spooky time! Which means… another set of spooky video game tracks for me to ramble about! Not sure how many this year, at the moment. I’d like to do more than five, but it depends on how things outside of this blog go. Busy busy!

Last year I started with Metroid, and honestly, I always want to talk about Metroid. I never want to stop talking about Metroid. So here we are again!

While I tend to treat the Metroid Prime trilogy as one single game when it comes to favorites (ask me what my favorite Metroid game is and I will always, always cheat and say Metroid Prime Trilogy), if I absolutely had to choose a single game… My favorite would probably be this one, which, as I understand it, is not a popular opinion. Ah well.

I’ve always been fascinated by the light world/dark world mirror trope, which, of course, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes employs. Only this game doesn’t have the “beautiful world becomes terrifying realm” portion that other light/dark mirror world tales might have. Rather, it runs on “from bad to worse”.

And thus, this track.

This… got dam track.

The Hydrodynamo Station as it appears in the light side of the planet Aether is… decrepit, for lack of a better word, overrun by dangerous creatures. Plunged into Dark Aether, it’s even worse. Being in the Dark Hydrodynamo Station is an incredibly eerie experience, as per the usual with Dark Aether, but I feel like its theme is the most disturbing of Dark Aether’s music.

Even though it’s still dangerous in Light Aether, this is the theme that plays in the Light Hydrodynamo Station, just for comparison.

Fittingly, the Dark Hydrodynamo Station’s theme is a corruption of it. Where the Light theme creates a sense of peace, if a bit lonely and ethereal, the Dark theme creates only unease, and the moaning… oh my god, the moaning! That zombie-like moaning! It’s even worse with headphones! Therefore, I highly recommend listening to this with headphones.

The theme isn’t intense, but the slowness of it only builds up the dread. The moaning is honestly the worst part of it for me, but I can’t ignore the steady thumping sound that brings to mind a heartbeat. It’s a repetitive rhythm that is served by said repetition, as not only does it allow the added eerie sounds to pack a bit more punch when they do appear, it illustrates the utter desolation of the station’s dark mirror. Cold, unyielding, and dangerous.

This is a place you, a being of the Light, were not meant to be. Every step you take, you should be aware that the creatures of the Dark are there, watching you, waiting for you to leave your pitiful beacons of Light, ready to tear you to shreds.

(or you could just supercharge the Light Beacon and watch the Ing happily gravitate to their doom instead)