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.
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
The problem is not orchestral music vs 8 bit, it’s the industry being driven only by money and profits. This guy is an insider they should know better.
Yeah, Nintendo in the 90s didn’t care about profit, they added music to their games for the pure whimsey of it. Give me a break.
Right now profits seem to be the only goal, back then they probably aimed at releasing quality products that would sell well in the market. You won’t find the peak of music in videogames anyway
Lets get one thing straight: it was always about profit. The only thing that changed is that they figured out that they dont need to put in as much effort to get the same financial result. They are the corporate equivalent of someone realizing they get paid the same wage whether they just barely meet expectations or spend 60 hours a week working their ass off. If gamers want them to put in the work, they have to give them a reason to and right now they’re not.
It was to show off the hardware capabilities and to deal with the restrictions of the hardware
Absolutely. Final Fantasy 6 is so enjoyable, with the music being a big part.
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.
I think hardware limitations on old hardware is one of the reasons why music in old games was interesting.
I still listen to the FF8 soundtrack daily. It’s absolutely beautiful! Most games these days have very forgettable music. I actually can’t remember most of it.
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.
He’s right! Video game music has been absolutely mental since the start, whether Japanese arcade machines, the early 90s German demo scene, JRPGs, etc etc. Just getting a session orchestra in to riff on Holst and Wagner is boring.
Just getting a session orchestra in to riff on Holst and Wagner is boring.
Most often it’s not even a real orchestra, but Vienna Symphonic Library.
He’s not wrong, but blandness is king in the AAA space.
It’s taking over everything that corporations touch. Despite all their attempts to hide and distract from their problems, they only keep mounting because they refuse to accept the fundamental truth that it is literally impossible to strictly control the entire population the way that their systems are designed to work. Computer technology and the Internet have ironically actually solved our problems, not by controlling what people do, but rather by accelerating the enshitification process to a pace where their bullshit becomes abundantly obvious to everyone.
No offence to Tetsuya Nomura, I love a lot of the titles he worked on, but he doesn’t have a single independent thought in him. Everything he makes feels like a remix of something else, like his entire legacy is loosely copying Hironobu Sakaguchi’s successes.
Cmon, he put lots of belts and zippers on things and gave us the not at all convoluted plot of Kingdom Hearts, that’s gotta count for something
Just kidding, Nomura and his enablers are the worst thing to happen to JRPGs
Yet another thing I love about Helldivers 2. The sound track is fantastic.
Just the song: A cup of Liber-Tea - Wilbert Roget, II
… I agree it’s great but it’s exactly what is criticized here. It’s the typical bombastic movie epic theme song. It would fit just as well into any Sci-Fi block buster. There is nothing about it that gives away that it’s for a game as opposed to a movie or tv-series.
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A cup of Liber-Tea - Wilbert Roget, II
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https://piped.video/NHIkUzmNmc0
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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.
Really depends. Orchestral pieces can fit certain games, or certain parts of a game. A set soundtrack with a few variations for changes of pace can work if it’s a good fit for the game in general.
If it’s a constant wall of music that’s not really well integrated, sure it can be a bit annoying, even if the music itself would be very good in isolation.
But on the contrary some games have adaptive music, and interestingly it’s a bit more like John Williams’ view on movie soundtracks : it’s made to adapt to what’s happening in real time. When it’s done right it’s everything but boring.
Yeah hard disagree with Nobuo on this one. I remember firing up Halo CE for the first time and being blown away by what I was hearing throughout the game, and to this day I can see a screenshot of that game and my brain immediately starts rocking out to that level’s sound track.
It can be utilized poorly for sure, but a videogame with a cinematic sound track done right goes straight to my favorites.
In my experience lots of games go for this “generic movie-like” style, which sounds high production value, but where the composition is just unmemorable filler that says nothing.
Halo was great in this regard, so I don’t think that’s what he’s going for here. Hell, I’m instantly getting Halo ost playing in my head while writing this.
Halo’s opening theme on the OG Xbox is so iconic I guarantee you if you did the chants in public several random dudes (and even a few women) will join you. Iconic
Completely agree. A movie style soundtrack has it’s place if used correctly.
But on the contrary some games have adaptive music, and interestingly it’s a bit more like John Williams’ view on movie soundtracks : it’s made to adapt to what’s happening in real time. When it’s done right it’s everything but boring.
Elite: Dangerous does this extremely well (IMO it has some of the best sound designs out there, not only music but everything else, too, including the dynamic range). The music is never this generic bombastic horn sections, and it’s different in different environments and situations, always somberly haunting at the edge of consciousness and enhancing, not overpowering, the gameplay.
What’s that? Sorry friend, I couldn’t hear you over An der schönen blauen Donau playing while the AI auto docks the ship.
Modern movie music is overly emotional and uninteresting too.
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.
