Legendary video game music composer Nobuo Uematsu says he doesn’t think some modern video game soundtracks are as interesting as those in older games.
He’s not wrong, but blandness is king in the AAA space.
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He’s not wrong. Old school Nintendo and super Nintendo and Sega Genesis songs gets stuck in my head all the time. Same can’t be said of modern-day AAA games.
Yeah, take Jeremy Soule, for example. He’s talented, experienced, and composing all of these broad symphonic soundtracks for Elder Scrolls, Skyrim, and Harry Potter games.
But, what’s the soundtrack of his that sticks out in my mind? Secret of Evermore. Underrated as fuck soundtrack for an underrated as fuck game. Back when he was forced to compose for a game with limited hardware and instrumentation, where he had to use distinct melodies to achieve a sound that sticks in everybody’s minds.
Every Frame a Painting did a good video on this subject, as it pertains to the Marvel movies.
Thats because the game only had 6 songs, and they played on repeat for 20 hours straight
Butthurt modern gamer? Lol
FF6 OST has 61 tracks.
COD Modern Warfare 3 OST has 20 tracks.
I could be wrong since I’m going off of what YouTube Music has, but you’re way off base.
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I would gladly listen to the streets of rage 2 soundtrack on repeat for hours.
Dee dee do do do do
Do dah dee dee dee dee
Part of the reason I enjoy games is for the soundtracks. Modern games that come to mind are Persona 5 and Nier Automata which has do much memorable music. The soundtrack creates an Identity. So many games feel like the sound team doesn’t care if I play my own music instead.
Sea of Stars was such a refreshing game. From the music, to the backgrounds, to the combat, it was like a love letter to 90’s RPGs. You only get that level of quality and love from indie games these days. Games from large companies just don’t have any soul anymore.
They literally can’t afford to.
There’s a huge budget bloat, which means having to play ever safer to maximize your audience.
The reality is that only small games can afford to be gambles and actually have an identity and a soul.
Big budget games need to be works of incredible craftsmanship like the Arkham games to maintain a soul while being unimpeachable in execution, and you can’t just throw money at the skill problem.
You can however throw money at 10387 consulting firms to make sure you’re aiming for maximum palatability, and inevitably make homogenised pap for babies.
For instance: it’s really telling when even a game that should have been edgy as fuck like Suicide Squad had to lionize Wonder Woman, and only Wonder Woman, because apparently you can’t humiliate her and unceremoniously murder her alongside every other beloved Justice League member.
Counterpoint: Doom
That is an example of the “incredible craftsmanship” I mentioned.
Id software knows what they’re doing, as much as you can hate zenimax/bethesda/Microsoft they do leave their subsidiary/partner studios alone to do their thing, mostly.
I would say that a lot of this has to do with survivor bias. Most of the shitty soundtracks were forgotten and buried. Only the really good ones had staying power. So it is easy to convince yourself that the past was so much better because you remember the good and a lot less of the absolute trash that existed back then and compare that cherry picked past to today’s mix of good and bad.
Based. I love his music btw from FF4 to FF9 he’s one of my favs with Lotus Juice and Yoko Shimomura and I agree with him 100%. Movie music is boring as shit and his music is way way better
I mean fuck, movie music doesn’t have to be boring as shit either, but it sure is in a bad state these days.
A lot of that is audio balancing too tho
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Yeah, I mean those ones end up just getting lost in the noise with no completely discernable tracks and melodies. There are a few stellar movie soundtracks that break that mould line the blade runners but that’s not what some games are trying to emulate.
Flashbacks of how lit the Queen of the Damned soundtrack was.
Hell, movie like soundtracks in movies are getting boring. One of the reasons I saw dune in theaters was because I was expecting an awesome soundtrack that used a diverse array of instruments and sounds, not just generic western orchestra
There are some good movie soundtracks, but they’re few and far between. The Saw theme still occasionally pops into my head, for example.
Absolutely. Final Fantasy 6 is so enjoyable, with the music being a big part.
It’s not all bad; as far as I’m concerned Nier Automata had one of the greatest and most compelling soundtracks of all time. I still listen to it on a regular basis and am floored every single time.
DOOM. Mick Gordon. Shame what they did to him though.
This is going to be a bit of a conservative opinion, but hear me out because i respect both sides of the conversation!
I think the 2016 doom ost sucks. The way he made is original and kudos to him for doing it that way, but i found the end result boring.
I like my metal, but not death metal. And this is what it sounded like to me. The same note over and over and no melody.
That said : the following youtube meme is exactly what this conversation is about and both sides are a-ok!Edit : any way i can embed a video in lemmy?
I like my metal, but not death metal. And this is what it sounded like to me.
You understand the doom ost and make a good point, but I think you need to check out death metal with a better ear/bands.
Not saying you gotta like it, but there’s a lot more notes. Maybe try revocation, it’s a solid middle of the road death metal band (a little tech, but all the instruments share regular as are the song structures)
Go for “scorched earth policy”, that’s a banger.
Ill have to take a listen to those, but dont get your hopes up hehe. I have the same with hardcore etc. After while it all sounds the same to me. Now dimmu borgir has a few really good songs, but they are melodic black metal hehe
Try Melodic Death Metal, Dark Tranquility for example I can recommend “Focus Shift” and “Atoma”
Music is integral to build the game’s overall atmosphere. At least indie studios still get it: Look at Cuphead, Hollow Knight, Hades, Vampire Survivors, etc.
Thank you!
Although there’s exceptions. I’m playing FF16 right now and the only piece of music I can play in my mind is the beginning of the "special-er“ battle music that’s that final fantasy battle music but reimagined on a big violin - meanwhile I can play the whole vs. Möbius track of XC3
I kind of agree that 16 isn’t my favorite even though it certainly had some moments. Soken’s FF14 OST is amazing though.
He’s not wrong, Sony is a bit guilty of this; but Elden Ring soundtrack is goated.
Elden Ring had a soundtrack?! Now I need to play it again. I think I had the music volume off.
Uematsu is hands down my favorite video game composer ever. He’s done so many fun and interesting soundtracks. His tracks have style, they’re catchy, they’re emotional, they’re memorable, they speak. FF9 or 8 were his best.
9 and 10 for me
