LogFAQs > #931259451

I totally agree with this and I'm glad to hear someone else notice it and bring it up - I think sound design in a game is an incredibly important factor in game feel. If a sound effect is off, it's noticeable, and you'll notice really quickly how much less satisfying things are if the sounds are turned off. Good sound design is what gives a lot of actions in games the 'oomph' they need to feel fun to do.

I really like the work Powerup Audio did in Crypt of the Necrodancer and Darkest Dungeon, for instance. I watched Kevin Regamey, the lead sound designer, work on some sounds for Necrodancer and it was really apparent how much care he put into all of them; there's a big difference between someone who just uses stock sounds for everything and someone who actually designs these sounds. I like in Necrodancer, for instance, that originally he had doors open up with this slow, creaking sound, but realized that didn't fit well with the game's rhythmic pacing - so he changed it to be this loud, staccato door slam effect to give it a nice thump, and it makes even a boring act like opening a door feel really good

Darkest Dungeon has some of the most impressive sound work I've ever seen - nearly every single attack or action in the entire game has a unique sound effect, and it sounds so good, so crisp, that I almost feel like I'm playing an action game when I play it despite the fact that it's just a turn-based RPG. When you click Crusader's Smite and it crits, it lands with such a resounding THUD that it somehow carries this kinetic energy through it.