Some composers found their love of music at the symphony hearing Brahms or Beethoven – Thomas B. Yee discovered his from the beeps and boops of the family Super Nintendo. Blending the roles of composer and music theorist, Thomas' research explores music semiotics and representation of identity in video game music.

• List of Figures and Tables Introduction: Enter the Virtual PART I: NARRATIVE AND PLAY 1. Ludo-Narrative Harmony: Interpretative Interactivity in Chrono Cross and Gris PART II: GENDER 2. Feminine Themings: The Construction of Musical Gendering in the Final Fantasy Franchise3. Single Ladies and Herbivore Men: Alternative Femininities and Masculinities in Final Fantasy XIII and XV4. Damsel No Longer: The Empowered Mezzo-Soprano Voice in Horizon Zero Dawn PART III: RACE 5. Racialized Fantasy: Authenticity, Appropriation and Stereotype6. Antiracist Storytelling: Representation and Diversity in Civilization VI and Overwatch PART IV: RELIGION7. Sonic Iconography: The Sacred Music Topic in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII8. Battle Hymn of the God-Slayers: Troping Rock and Sacred Music in Xenoblade Chronicles Conclusion: Enter the Real Appendix: Audiovisual Media References About the AuthorIndex

'Yee has written a book that is remarkable in its clarity of methodology, source work, subject position, choice of case studies (focusing primarily on Japanese and US titles), analysis, and descriptive language, and clear-eyed in its presentation of how representations of social identity and culture have transformed over time in video games alongside evolving public mindsets...Overall, Gender, Race, and Religion in Video Game Music is poised to be essential reading in the field of video game music, building on the work of predecessors and colleagues like Karen Collins, Isabella van Elferen, Tim Summers, William Cheng, and Grasso. The book is primarily written for musicians; as Yee is a music theorist, music analysis and transcription are key to his interpretations. But the book holds promise in the classroom. In each chapter, Yee focuses on one or a few case studies, using games that students can access; this makes individual lessons built on individual chapters possible... Each section of the book can be used on its own to dig into its core topic (theories of narrative and play, gender, race, or religion) and to promote further classroom discussion on additional game soundtracks. For musicians, Yee’s case studies are excellent examples of how to blend social, political, and cultural analysis with music analysis in order to make the case for the importance of media, and especially video game music, in our time.'