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Final Fantasy music legend Nobuo Uematsu thinks modern ‘movie-like’ game music is uninteresting | VGC
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this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2024
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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.
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.
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.