i could write a whole essay about dynamic music in video games and how changing the music based directly on a player's actions both elevates the situation and makes the player feel good about what they did
devil may cry 5 and the music changing as you get a higher style rank
need for speed most wanted (2005) dynamically changing its pursuit music depending on what stage of the pursuit you're in (bonus points for having like the best police radio chatter ever)
nier when you're in the village, normally an instrumental version of song of the ancients plays, but as you move closer to devola, you hear her singing more clearly
destiny's raid encounters ramping up the music as the encounter goes on (spire of stars final boss, last wish vault, acquisition in vow of the disciple)
there's so many good examples of dynamic music being used effectively, and video games are the best medium to really make this feature shine
Rockport as a setting is just so interesting to me, and I don't know why. It's not because it feels lived-in because it's the map to an open-world racing game. Of course, it isn't. Streets are just a little too wide. Even for a major American city, all of the alleyways and shifty side streets are wide enough to fit a super wide sportscar. But there's something about the vibe of Rockport that's Pacific Northwestern as fuck, in a way that no other PNW-inspired Need for Speed locale hasn't ever been able to replicate. And there have been at least three others. Seacrest County and, to a lesser extent, Redview County from Hot Pursuit (2010) and Rivals, respectively, as well as the city of Fairhaven from Most Wanted (2012). Maybe it's because I'm an Oregonian from Portland, but the vibe of Rockport just speaks to me. It's a city plagued by endemic corruption, economic decline, and a militarized police force. It gets the broad strokes of Portland's situation right, both at the time of release and as of me writing this, and it feels like, to me at least, that just offscreen, there's a homeless camp that's just been shut down by the city, a peaceful protest being broken up by RPD pigs, and this city's sleazebag shithead of a mayor is gonna win reelection because even though things have gotten bad, they're still better than a Republican. I don't know where I'm going with this anymore, it's like 11:30 my time and I'm feeling a little eepy from taking my sertraline, but what I'm trying to say with this wall of text is that Rockport as a setting is Portland as fuck, and by extension Northwestern as fuck. All to serve as set dressing for a cheesy funny-bad revenge plot serving as motivation for racing that sucks because everyone else cheats, and cop chases that fuck because the music and vocal performances in that one specific area are really good.
I never actually played through the OG NFS Most Wanted because back then it was too hard for baby me and I got stuck early in the game, so now I'm catching up (I already replayed NFSU2 as well, twice in a row actually, should post my rides from there too). Except the vanilla car list in MW is the absolute worst in all the series when it comes to JDM (no Hondas? no Nissans? not a single one??) so I doused it generously with mod cars from the truly amazing selection people have made for it.
Also now that I have the skill and more patience to play it I can see why this one is also generally regarded as one of the top tier NFS games.