Amplitude & FreQuency from Harmonix have long since been some of my favorite games of all time.

Extremely high on most of my lists.

I’ve also long since wanted some kind of HD remastering/collection or remake.

Unfortunately, there was never a collection released – not even PS2 Classic versions on PS3 or PS4.

Likely due to licensing costs – the games featured a lot of licensed music, despite most of them being remixes made in-house.

So I get it. It’s the same reason you’ll likely never see the original Guitar Hero/Rock Band games get re-released. Such is the dilemma of a rhythm game that uses licensed music.

That left one option: a remake of some kind.

Now, my original thoughts on a remake would have been like any other. Redo the original game with better visuals, maybe new music if needed, and tweak the overall gameplay to be better.

And then something happened. Harmonix announced that they were working on an actual remake/sequel to the series – and it would be funded through Kickstarter. Obviously, I had to pitch in on this one. It was the first – and currently only – Kickstarter I’ve actually backed. I had to – the chance to see one of my all-time favorite series return was too great to pass up.

Still a little hard to believe that was over 5 years ago. It’s still installed on my PS4 and my PS3 – and my PS5 when I get one. I still play it every now and then, just for fun.

About The Project

Finally, a project I did where I can actually talk about the inspiration behind it.

I’d done a series of fractals before – the SUMMONER series that was based on the Cloisters of the Fayth in Final Fantasy X.

I wanted to do something like that for Amplitude 2016. Since the game was originally meant to represent the phenomenon of synesthesia, I figured representing what I heard in each of the main 15 songs of the OST as fractals would be a perfect fit.

I wanted there to be a consistent “through-line” between each of the fractals, so they all started from the same base structure which was a base Spherical fractal. I’ve made a few of them before and chose that form for its resemblance to something like synapses/connecting wires.

The main things influenced by the game’s OST were color choices & placements. For instance, the fractal above – Magpie – has green as its main color, with little streaks of yellow appearing throughout. The song itself is very outdoors sounding. It paints a picture of playing outside, perhaps in a wooded area with sunlight filtering in through the trees.

On the other hand, Digital Paralysis is a song that comes later – things are starting to either go wrong or become terrifying for the patient. It’s a dark, aggressive song (And one of the hardest in the game). Fast-paced, anxious, and uncomfortable. As such, I could see a lot of red and overall darkness with a few bright spots here and there – the small reprieves in the song where you can relax a little between onslaughts of rapid-fire notes.

This was one of the biggest projects I’ve ever done and I’m really proud of how it came out. It even got shared by the official Amplitude Twitter account back when I made it! Probably the most recognition I’ve ever gotten on something I’ve done – so that was nice.