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Fantasia: Music Evolved |OT| I Put On My Robe & Wizard Hat

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Developer - Harmonix
Publisher - Disney Interactive Studios
Director - Daniel Sussman
Composer - Inon Zur
Platforms - Xbox 360, Xbox One
Release date - October 21, 2014 (World Wide)
Genre - Music, Rhythm
Modes - Single-player, Multiplayer

Xbox One:
Digital Version - $59.99
Digital Deluxe Version - $89.99
X1 Demo

Xbox 360
Digital Version - $49.99
X360 Demo

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Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved” is a breakthrough musical motion video game inspired by Disney’s classic animated film “Fantasia.” In the game, players enter the magical realms of Fantasia, selected by the legendary sorcerer Yen Sid, to hone their musical and magical prowess as his new apprentice. “Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved” takes players on an interactive and immersive motion-controlled journey through worlds of music and magic.
The narration directly references the "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment from Walt Disney's 1940 animated film Fantasia. The sorcerer Yen Sid tasks his new apprentice, the player, with animating the worlds he has created. Players generate life in initially desolate levels by moving in rhythm with licensed popular music, which unlocks gestures that change elements of the musical composition. In an example, a player traced arrows with her body in time with a song, and was rewarded with a selection of rock, orchestral, and brass music overlays that fit over the song. The Kinect's camera shows the player as an on-screen silhouette, which transforms other objects when the two touch. The game is able to read nuance in the player's body movements and change the visual animations accordingly.

I get the knee jerk reaction to it not being a game that one-to-one tries to emulate the experience of the 1940s film (or the follow-up, Fantasia 2000, which did attempt to emulate and continue exactly what was happening in 1940). It’s fair that fans and lovers of the original work might have certain expectations.

Take or leave what I’m about to say in response to these concerns/reactions – it’s not in any way intended to sway your thoughts on the merits of the game, but should frame where we are coming from. (Full disclosure for those who don’t know, I’m PR and Communications Lead at Harmonix and have worked on Fantasia for 12,000 years by this point.)

First, at no point did Disney Interactive want us to re-create the experience of Fantasia (1940) as a game. That exists, it still holds up as one of the most innovative, beautiful pieces of animation ever created to this date. You can’t touch THAT, and I don’t think you should. (See the 1991 Genesis/Mega Drive game for the results of that.) What Disney did want us to do – and this was an open ended assignment, honestly – was for us to capture the spirit of the film and bring it into a modern context using motion control and the interactive medium. I wasn’t there for the meeting, but there’s a legend that someone in the first Disney/Harmonix meeting said “Players should move their arms around and cool music and stuff should happen.” That’s… really broad!

Still, we wanted to be very respectful of what Walt Disney’s original vision for the film was. So beyond just taking a wild guess, we were given access to the Disney archives that contained transcribed notes of literally hundreds of hours of production meetings, meetings where that original team solidified their intent for the project. TL;DR – marry this new medium of film/animation with music to allow audiences to experience music a completely new and unique way. To connect them with musical pieces in a way that a recording or a live performance couldn’t.

At the time, the idea of a concert film started with these classical pieces people associate with the film. But the idea of building on that concept was to release additional shorts with new music, year over year. That never happened. From 1940 to now, so much has changed about music – evolving genres, new ways to create, new ways to share, new ways to consume, etc. So for us, there’s how we looked at the soundtrack, and that included classical music (we have a handful of classical tracks – including pieces from the 1940s film – as well as orchestral remixes of songs original written for other genres), rock music, pop music, electronic music, and more. All told, when you take a hard look at what genres and sounds you’ll hear in the game in terms of various remixes, it’s bonkers: big band jazz, country, heavy metal, punk, chip tunes, dubstep, pop, easy listening, hip-hop, and all matter of genre variations you could think of. [FWIW, there’s evidence based on archives I’ve read that suggested music that featured electronic drums was being considered for future Fantasia pieces… this was in 1939!]

I don’t expect everyone to agree with all of the music on the soundtrack; musical taste is highly personal and subjective. And you either enjoy the experience or you don’t; that’s also personal and subjective. But please don’t for a moment think that Harmonix or anyone at Disney Interactive has any motives outside of creating a truly unique, innovative experience that remains true to the spirit and core of what Fantasia is. (SomewhatGroovy: I do take issue with you saying “this game offers nothing innovative in any sense of the word.” Show me another game that allows players to not only create their own music in the context of existing works, but to take those existing works and alter them dramatically in real time. There really isn’t, as far as I know. The team worked hard to create a new gameplay experience, and I give them crazy props for actually delivering.)

Another thing to note is that the demo showcases performance gameplay, and there's a whole secondary interactive Discovery element that features gorgeous, musical and magical worlds that players can interact with. (That's hinted at in the visuals behind the Performance gameplay, as well as the "upsell video" that plays after you complete the demo.)

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SONG - ARTIST : (PINK MIX / GREEN MIX)

• Dvorák – "Symphony No. 9 from the New World" : (1-1 / Remix for Big Band)
• Vivaldi – "The Four Seasons: Winter, 1st Movement" : (Alt Rock / Steve Porter)
• Avicii – "Levels" : (inter:sect 6581 / De7il's)
• Bruno Mars – "Locked Out of Heaven" : (First Impossible / Ska)
• Cee Lo Green – "Forget You" : ('80s Rewind / WatchTheDuck)
• David Bowie – "Ziggy Stardust" : (Orchestral / Ashtar Command Parallel)
• Depeche Mode – "Enjoy the Silence" : (Speed of Dark / Chris Micali)
• Drake – "Take Care" (ft. Rihanna) : (Steve Porter / Pentatonix Vocal)
• Elton John – "Rocket Man" : ('80s and Rainy / Dubspot Labs)
• Fun. – "Some Nights" : (Ashtar Command Parallel / W@RBL3S)
• Gorillaz – "Feel Good Inc." : (Melancholy Town / Case & Point)
• Kimbra – "Settle Down" : (Spartacus / Golden Ratio)
• Lorde – "Royals" : (Hifalutin / Heroes X Villains)
• M.I.A. – "Galang" : (Saffron Harem / inter:sect Spoon Party)
• Mussorgsky – "Night on Bald Mountain" : (Hamilton / Neon Sabbath)
• Nicki Minaj – "Super Bass" : (Soca / Jake Staley)
• Peter Gabriel – "In Your Eyes" : ('79 Mixtape / Pardo Bros)
• Police – "Message in a Bottle" : (Sending Out a CQD / Audrio)
• Queen – "Bohemian Rhapsody" : (Classical arrangement / Metal)
• Tchaikovsky – "The Nutcracker Medley" : (D00 BAH D00 / DC Breaks)
• The Who – "The Real Me" : (Orchestral / Big Vision of Little St. James)
• White Stripes – "Seven Nation Army" : (Micali X Bartlett / Steve Porter)
• Mozart – "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" : (Nassau / Chords)
• The Flaming Lips - "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, Pt. 1" : (Mumbai / Grimecraft)
• Imagine Dragons - "Radioactive" : (Spirit Kid / Jake Staley)
• J.S. Bach - "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" : (Organ / Synth)
• Inon Zur - "Scout's Theme (ft Lindsey Stirling)"
• Jimi Hendrix - "Fire" : (Eddie Kramer Electronica/Analog / Eddie Kramer Orchestral)
• Lady Gaga - "Applause" : (Heroes X Villains / Veldt)
• Liszt - "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" : (Hungarian on the Plain / Telecaster)
• Missy Elliot - Get Ur Freak On" : (Luke Boggia / Death of the Cool)
• New Order - "Blue Monday"

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• Justin Bieber ft. Big Sean - "As Long as You Love Me" Justin Bieber ft. Big Sean
• Ellie Goulding - "Burn"
• Talking Heads "Burning Down the House"
• Ne-Yo - "Closer"
• The Band Perry - "DONE."
• Lady Gaga - "The Edge of Glory"
• Flo Rida - "I Cry"
• R.E.M. - "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
• The Cure - "Just Like Heaven"
• Maroon 5 - "Lucky Strike"
• Coldplay - "Paradise"
• Soundgarden - "Spoonman"
• Zedd ft. Hayley Williams - "Stay the Night"
• Skrillex and Alvin Risk - "Try It Out"
• Avicii - "You Make Me"

PRE-ORDER BONUS SONGS:

• OneRepublic - "Counting Stars"
• Avicii - "Lay Me Down"
• Demi Lovato - "Let It Go"

• $1.99 each
• All tracks included in the Digital Deluxe Version
• Not all songs available yet (TBA)


REMIX EXPANSION PACKS:
The remix expansion packs are included with both digital versions of the game on Xbox One. These expansion packs do not provide new songs, instead they provide additional remixes for the on-disc songs.

Dance Expansion Pack
"Get Ur Freak On" - Missy Elliott
"In Your Eyes" - Peter Gabriel
"Rocket Man" - Elton John
"Some Nights" - Fun
"Take Care" - Drake (feat. Rhianna)
"The Real Me" - The Who

Pop Expansion Pack
"Blue Monday" - New Order
"Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen
"Forget You" - Cee Lo Green
"Levels" - AVICII
"Seven Nation Army" - The White Stripes
"Super Bass" - Nicki Minaj

Rock Expansion Pack
"Applause" - Lady Gaga
"Feel Good Inc." - Gorillaz
"Galang" - M.I.A.
"Locked Out of Heaven" - Bruno Mars
"Message in a Bottle" - The Police
"Royals" - Lorde

• $3.99 each

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  • First: this only works on Xbox One!
  • After completing a performance, you can save the performance. Do that!
  • In order to upload, you have to watch the performance first (the Xbox One records it to the console via Game DVR, which is needed for sharing)
  • After watching the performance, you have the option to upload your track to YouTube. You DO NOT need a YouTube account to do this as the video is put on the Fantasia YouTube channel. You can view mixes already uploaded here -- makes a decent work playlist. :)
  • Once you choose to share, the game will generate a string of characters for you that will allow you to search for and identify your mix on YouTube via a search.
  • Search for your song on YouTube... share it here/with your friends/whatever. Note that it may take awhile for the video to upload, process, and then be searchable. Be patient!

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Gameplay & Venue Walkthroughs
Song Previews



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REVIEW THREAD

Official Site
Official Youtube Channel
Youtube User Uploads
Official Facebook
Wikipedia Page
Harmonix


(Thanks to Zenner for the title suggestion)
 

jond76

Banned
Much better :)

Mods, feel free to scoop these together or delete mine.

...Although, I am partial to my title: |OT| Wave that funky music!

Nice OT!
 

PAULINK

I microwave steaks.
Can't wait to really sink my teeth into this game and finally get to play the dlc! Played a bit last night and feels like the game is good strength training for your arms :p
 

nicholasbrutal

Epic Games PR Manager
I love you, Guitar.

Would be great to hear people's experiences with the game -- favorite bits, most surprising bits, any issues, whatever... happy to answer questions, too.
 

SFenton

Member
I love you, Guitar.

Would be great to hear people's experiences with the game -- favorite bits, most surprising bits, any issues, whatever... happy to answer questions, too.

Remember DJ Hero and how inspiring it was to hear fresh new music, brought together in ways you couldn't anticipate?

Fantasia is like that but it's *completely up to you* and *you're shaping the music* and it's a completely new and original experience and I love Harmonix pleas do more things like this forever and always.
 
I'll grant that it would have been incredibly difficult to get a big budget music game greenlit in 2014 with classical music alone, but that's really what Fantasia was about. Not contemporary music, a way of bringing classical music to the masses.

Would have been hard to get done, but begs the question whether it was worth doing at all... it's exactly the same to me as if they'd gone full on Activision and (not that legal teams would ever let this happen) had Ringo Starr getting down to Aerosmith in Beatles: Rock Band. It's a shame that this doesn't look like the same labour of love that game was, from the same studio honestly.
 

StudioTan

Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
I love you, Guitar.

Would be great to hear people's experiences with the game -- favorite bits, most surprising bits, any issues, whatever... happy to answer questions, too.

Just played through the first hour and a bit, right after Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and the game is super fun.

As I said in the other thread Night on Bald Mountain felt very epic to perform, especially on a 106" screen. Especially if you let yourself "get into it" so to speak.

I was surprised at how complicated some of the moves got, I wasn't expected that. Like having to have one arm go up while the other goes sideways, or have one arm do a hold cue while the other does sweeps at the same time. A lot of fun.

My only quibble, and it's a small one, is that the video transitions are way too compressed and have poor black levels and it's a bit jarring with all the macroblocking. It seems like they were made to fit on the 360 DVD and don't take advantage of the space available on a Blu-ray. Again, I'm on a big screen so maybe others won't notice as much.
 

jond76

Banned
I'll grant that it would have been incredibly difficult to get a big budget music game greenlit in 2014 with classical music alone, but that's really what Fantasia was about. Not contemporary music, a way of bringing classical music to the masses.

Would have been hard to get done, but begs the question whether it was worth doing at all... it's exactly the same to me as if they'd gone full on Harmonix and (not that legal teams would ever let this happen) had Ringo Starr getting down to Aerosmith in Beatles: Rock Band. It's a shame that this doesn't look like the same labour of love that game was, from the same studio honestly.

I've played it, and its great. It's something you have to experience to really have an opinion on. I'm glad they made it.
 
I'll grant that it would have been incredibly difficult to get a big budget music game greenlit in 2014 with classical music alone, but that's really what Fantasia was about. Not contemporary music, a way of bringing classical music to the masses.

Would have been hard to get done, but begs the question whether it was worth doing at all... it's exactly the same to me as if they'd gone full on Activision and (not that legal teams would ever let this happen) had Ringo Starr getting down to Aerosmith in Beatles: Rock Band. It's a shame that this doesn't look like the same labour of love that game was, from the same studio honestly.

There is definitely that same labor of love here.
 
I've played it, and its great. It's something you have to experience to really have an opinion on. I'm glad they made it.

I'm sure it's great to play. The concept sounds perfect. But it has Missy Elliot and Justin Bieber tracks in, and I don't think I'm being crazy in saying that sounds like complete (forgive the pun) dischord. That's really my only problem, but a pretty big one. it's not like I dislike contemporary tracks, I just don't think they have any place in a game that shares it's name with the film.
 

StudioTan

Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
There is definitely that same labor of love here.

Yeah, I don't think people appreciate how deep the game goes. Remixing songs is pretty fun, as is getting to record your own bits and have them added to the mix.

I'm sure it's great to play. The concept sounds perfect. But it has Missy Elliot and Justin Bieber tracks in, and I don't think I'm being crazy in saying that sounds like complete (forgive the pun) dischord.

No, it doesn't feel like that at all. I had fun playing along with tracks in Rock Band that I'd never listen to normally. The same thing applies here. Plus, there are various mixes of each song.
 
No, it doesn't feel like that at all. I had fun playing along with tracks in Rock Band that I'd never listen to normally. The same thing applies here. Plus, there are various mixes of each song.

Again, you can argue it all you like, but it's just my opinion. Fantasia is classical music to me. Always will be. The game could be GOTY, life-changing experience. Rock Band was fantastic for me, if it had been Nursery Rhymes, Nickelback, and religious hymns, I would have chucked it out the window. In music games, the music absolutely makes the game.
 
I'm sure it's great to play. The concept sounds perfect. But it has Missy Elliot and Justin Bieber tracks in, and I don't think I'm being crazy in saying that sounds like complete (forgive the pun) dischord. That's really my only problem, but a pretty big one. it's not like I dislike contemporary tracks, I just don't think they have any place in a game that shares it's name with the film.

Yeah, you're just incorrect on this. When playing Royals by Lorde becomes a magical experience, which it does, you know that they carefully, meticulously crafted this game. It's one thing to just watch it, but to experience it is another entirely. They want you to feel like you're painting music (at least that is what I've gotten out of it thus far, and I almost typed magic instead of music, which is also apt) and in that they greatly succeed.
 
Yeah, you're just incorrect on this. When playing Royals by Lorde becomes a magical experience, which it does, you know that they carefully, meticulously crafted this game. It's one thing to just watch it, but to experience it is another entirely. They want you to feel like you're painting music (at least that is what I've gotten out of it thus far, and I almost typed magic instead of music, which is also apt) and in that they greatly succeed.

I'll honestly have to give it a try. Just wish the ratio of classical tracks was a little bigger.
 

GTSweet

Neo Member
Nice OT!

Only played through the demo, but the full game is ready and waiting. Excited to dive in tonight. It seems so fun and original.

MS needs to bundle Kinect + Fantasia + Dance Central Spotlight for $150. That's an actual value as opposed to the current Kinect package (Kinect +DCS for $150). People would be pleasantly surprised with Kinect in general once they got it, I know I was.
 
For people with the DLC or Deluxe version: do songs like Burning Down The House have multiple song tracks like the base game? Also, for the additional sound packages, do they add to the normal 3 mixes on a song, or is it a completely different song to select on the screen. I'm curious how that works.
 

nicholasbrutal

Epic Games PR Manager
For people with the DLC or Deluxe version: do songs like Burning Down The House have multiple song tracks like the base game? Also, for the additional sound packages, do they add to the normal 3 mixes on a song, or is it a completely different song to select on the screen. I'm curious how that works.

All DLC has three mixes (original + two alternates) like the disc games.

The mix packs add another option for you so before playing a song, you can swap out different mixes, including removing the original completely. So for example, if the disc was:

- Original
- Metal
- Chiptunes

And you got the Dance Pack that included that song, you could set it up as:

- Dance
- Metal
- Chiptunes

And then mix from there. Or any other combination. That's simplifying it, but that's the idea.

True story: I haven't even heard all of the stuff in the mix packs and some of the DLC. REALLY psyched to play it/give it a listen now that we've shipped! I hear there's an amazing metal version of "Message in a Bottle" in the Rock pack...
 
All DLC has three mixes (original + two alternates) like the disc games.

The mix packs add another option for you so before playing a song, you can swap out different mixes, including removing the original completely. So for example, if the disc was:

- Original
- Metal
- Chiptunes

And you got the Dance Pack that included that song, you could set it up as:

- Dance
- Metal
- Chiptunes

And then mix from there. Or any other combination. That's simplifying it, but that's the idea.

True story: I haven't even heard all of the stuff in the mix packs and some of the DLC. REALLY psyched to play it/give it a listen now that we've shipped! I hear there's an amazing metal version of "Message in a Bottle" in the Rock pack...
Awesome, thanks for the response. This is gonna be a long day at work...and my shift just started :(
 
Been playing for about 3 hours straight now. The demo was one of the best this year and sold me on the full game, but the full game is sooo much better. The game can be way more challenging than what's in the demo and a good deal of the songs and how they can be remixed surprised me. Plus, I forgot about the interaction/exploration stuff in the single player and that's been fun. One of the biggest surprises of the year, definitely. I just hope more dlc is on the way, the bit in the OP looks alright (maybe about 4 probable purchases) but having Drake's Take Care on here but no Hold On (Going Home)? Also, Disney songs proper. Having a beautiful underwater level and no "Under The Sea" is weird.
 
Been playing for about 3 hours straight now. The demo was one of the best this year and sold me on the full game, but the full game is sooo much better. The game can be way more challenging than what's in the demo and a good deal of the songs and how they can be remixed surprised me. Plus, I forgot about the interaction/exploration stuff in the single player and that's been fun. One of the biggest surprises of the year, definitely. I just hope more dlc is on the way, the bit in the OP looks alright (maybe about 4 probable purchases) but having Drake's Take Care on here but no Hold On (Going Home)? Also, Disney songs proper. Having a beautiful underwater level and no "Under The Sea" is weird.

I'm hoping they're at least working on procuring some Disney songs for DLC, maybe they're just waiting on seeing how the game performs first, although they'd have drawn more people in with Disney songs included right away.
 

StudioTan

Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
LOL at the thread title change.

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I'm hoping they're at least working on procuring some Disney songs for DLC, maybe they're just waiting on seeing how the game performs first, although they'd have drawn more people in with Disney songs included right away.

They absolutely need to do this.
 

Dominator

Member
Yeah, I'm loving the game but hoping for some Disney songs. And I got the physical version and the three DLC codes were inside the box, for anyone wondering.

This is a pretty great arm workout too lol
 

StudioTan

Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
Man I think Disney Fantasia I think of my youth
I look at that track listing and just want to cry a little

Most of the songs from the movie are in the game.
 

Jomjom

Banned
When this game gets songs from many of the Disney and Pixar animated movies I'm getting it.

Also can you play this with controller?
 

Jomjom

Banned
Kinect only.

Damn it. Well I'd still get it if they put in songs from Aladdin and Little Mermaid. The current song list looks horrid and songs from Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 is not enough. In its current form this is more like "Just Dance 5: Music Evolved"
 

Mr.Fusion

Member
Already bought the game and can't wait to play it next Tuesday when my Xbox One arrives! I'd be willing to pay a good chunk of money for a large pack of Disney song DLC...
 

espher

Member
Somehow missed that there was an OT so I'll leave my thoughts from the demo thread:

Got my copy in the mail (Xbox 360 from Best Buy Canada). Codes in the case. Crappy eco-case broke and my disc was loose/wobbly. Those things are the absolutely worst. Was able to redeem my code. Expansion packs on the store, but as others note, no DLC in the store.

Still struggling to get a feel for the calibration/timing, but hitting ~95% on most tracks so far (admittedly not very far it) so it's not the worst thing... just have to try and read which instrument may be picked for a given beat matching sequence which is tough on a first play.

Surprised at how quickly the difficulty ramps up relative to the demo -- I think there's going to be a lot more meat here than I (or the public at large) expected... kudos. Presentation is great. Framerate in some spots really dips (not during gameplay but it can make some of the realm interaction muddy) and load times are killer. I just installed it to hopefully help w/ the latter.

So far, I regret nothing, except that we never got Rocket Man in RB3. ;)
 
OK...? I don't see anything wrong with it but you are entitled to your opinion. As for this game I really enjoyed the demo and the concept is super cool. I'll probably pick this up sometime in the future.

I'm just stating an opinion is all, as they could've done a better job with the art. Made something more appealing that would really catch parents' eyes.

I have nothing against the game, as it looks like it's good. I just won't be buying it myself.
 

SFenton

Member
I'm just stating an opinion is all, as they could've done a better job with the art. Made something more appealing that would really catch parents' eyes.

I have nothing against the game, as it looks like it's good. I just won't be buying it myself.

I would think the Fantasia brand name, as well as the famous artists listed as the front, would get the point across to parents.

I quite like the box design, more than the Dance Central titles, but sure, I can see where some might not like it.
 

ThatMattZ

Member
The game is fantastic! My only problem with it is the amount of handholding and "tutorials" they make you go through before you can actually dig into the game. I know it's a new concept on how to play but at some point they just need to take the chains off and let you get your hands dirty exploring the game and the songs.

I mean I might not be the sharpest tool but I played for over an hour before I figured how to play my DLC tracks.

Either way the game is totally fun and a much needed breath of fresh air in games.
 
Amazing thread title. I really wish I had more fun with the demo than I did. I kind of wish the majority of the songs were classical to match the original Fantasia -- the formula didn't translate well to modern music (for me at least). Maybe I'll try this out when it drops in price.
 
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