Support NeoGAF

[Danknugz]

more along the lines of sound design but still pretty good if you ask me

 

[E-Cat]

Slight old man vibes.

But one thing I hate about many game music now is everything emulates this basic Hollywood score. It sounds generic.

Even praised Soken for FFXVI I wasn't amazed. Just variations of one or two themes, and better choir work done by....Uematsu. Hamauzu is better than Soken.

I do like Hamauzu. His stuff feels like it follows Uematsu's logic but also being his own.

Hamauzu is like "what if Uematsu was classically trained?" He's god-tier

 

[Jinzo Prime]

Enjoy:

So Battlefield ambience is the only music we have these days? Great OSTs drop every year if you play more than just Battlefield, Fortnite, or COD.

 

[E-Cat]

Absolutely right, "Zimmer" like music in games was the biggest failure for OSTs. I can't even remember game which had distinctive music

The thing is, even though Zimmer's style has changed since the 80s/90s, he still does cool stuff with melody/motif/harmony. Just listen to Inception, Interstellar or Dune. A superficial imitation of his style ignores all that, ofc, and just apes the generic BRAAAAM sound.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

Hamauzu is like "what if Uematsu was classically trained?" He's god-tier

I can't fully agree. Uematsu is better at creating memorable melodies than Hamauzu. Also Hamauzu likes to stay in familiar territory with his specific sound, while Uematsu is more willing to add variety to an OST.

Hamauzu's chords/harmonies are truly god-tier, though. He is underrated for sure.

 

[E-Cat]

I can't fully agree. Uematsu is better at creating memorable melodies than Hamauzu. Also Hamauzu likes to stay in familiar territory with his specific sound, while Uematsu is more willing to add variety to an OST.

I mean, I don't disagree. Uematsu is a more gifted melody writer, no doubt. He has a distinctive style, yet can really think outside of the box sometimes. He's like the ABBA of video game composers.

Hamauzu is more in tune with the "craft", but has a limited range like you said. But he has great taste (aesthetics are often overlooked when comparing raw ability/technique) -- adrenaline-pumping, pulsating rhythms on top of otherwordly chord progressions and virtuosic solos.

What I've noticed over the years is, the older I get, the more pleasing to the ear I find the Hamauzu sound compared to Uematsu (whom I still love). In summary, I'd say Uematsu is melody first, whereas Hamauzu is harmony first in how they construct their pieces.

 

[CGNoire]

Sound designers also can be really effective and is a big part of setting the mood. Zelda BotW/TotK have excellent sound direction that does set the mood really well, but I feel sound direction and ambient music alone isn't enough. A certain melody can transport you right to a certain memory and be something you strongly associate with a game. It is kind of like the "soul" of the game or movie, imo.

Agreed.

 

[Fake]

So Battlefield ambience is the only music we have these days? Great OSTs drop every year if you play more than just Battlefield, Fortnite, or COD.

'Example'.

You know what means? And just reforce what Nobuo Uematsu is saying. Modern game music sucks, period.

 

[Madjaba]

I can't fully agree. Uematsu is better at creating memorable melodies than Hamauzu. Also Hamauzu likes to stay in familiar territory with his specific sound, while Uematsu is more willing to add variety to an OST.

Hamauzu's chords/harmonies are truly god-tier, though. He is underrated for sure.

And we also have Yoko Shimomura that can easily enter the god tier composer list that I forgot earlier.

She managed to create memorable themes from Street Fighter to many other games like Kingdom Hearts.

Somnus litteraly sold FFXIII Versus, the theme was such a powerful masterpiece when it played on earlier trailers.

 

[E-Cat]

Sound designers also can be really effective and is a big part of setting the mood. Zelda BotW/TotK have excellent sound direction that does set the mood really well, but I feel sound direction and ambient music alone isn't enough. A certain melody can transport you right to a certain memory and be something you strongly associate with a game. It is kind of like the "soul" of the game or movie, imo.

A soulful, emotionally resonant melody is like the difference between a great and a godly game (or movie).

 

[Jinzo Prime]

And we also have Yoko Shimomura that can easily enter the god tier composer list that I forgot earlier.

She managed to create memorable themes from Street Fighter to many other games like Kingdom Hearts.

Somnus litteraly sold FFXIII Versus, the theme was such a powerful masterpiece when it played on earlier trailers.

She's my number 3.
My short list looks something like this:

1. Nobuo Uematsu
2. Koji Kondo
3. Yoko Shimomura
4. Yasunori Mitsuda

I go back and forth over everyone 5 and below on my list, mainly because I don't know if I should include duos as one entry.

 

[Majukun]

while not universal, it's true that in many games the ost had a similiar transformation than in movies...before scores were made to be iconic and been stuck in people's mind after the movie is over...now they are made to be "invisible", barely noticeable and just carry on the mood of the scene without being intrusive.

 

[Soodanim]

while not universal, it's true that in many games the ost had a similiar transformation than in movies...before scores were made to be iconic and been stuck in people's mind after the movie is over...now they are made to be "invisible", barely noticeable and just carry on the mood of the scene without being intrusive.

It's baffling. I got the Men In Black song stuck in my head, listened to it, and thought "I should watch those again". You can guarantee that themes did that years ago when they were on the radio and MTV. No invisible orchestra is ever going to do that.

 

[M1chl]

The thing is, even though Zimmer's style has changed since the 80s/90s, he still does cool stuff with melody/motif/harmony. Just listen to Inception, Interstellar or Dune. A superficial imitation of his style ignores all that, ofc, and just apes the generic BRAAAAM sound.

It works well within the context of movies, where there is visual spectacle, dialog and so on. It work well for short period of time, which is pretty much perfect for movies. In games its different. I by no means are saying that his music is bad, but its...simple...well simple from the notes perspective. I think what I have in mind, that games should strife more to sound like ORI composition wise. It has a lot movement in it, lot of complexity, melody and so on. Its well known that Zimmer is killer sound designer, but his music is for the most part few chords.

Like for example even tho, I played mass effect 1 15 years ago, I still remember the music inside. Same with Silent Hill HD collection, Shadows of the Dammed....etc. I had a thread here, few years back, where I elaborated on this whole music in games thing.

 

[hangdang69]

He's talking like Doom and Tears of the Kingdom and Tetris Effect don't exist.

Doom's soundtrack is so overrated and Tetris Effect has some absolutely terrible tracks mixed into it. Throwing out a couple of random games from the last ten years doesn't just render the point Uematsu was making wrong, either. Most big budget games these days are just soaring orchestral scores that are lucky to have even a couple of memorable melodies in them.

 

[Skull-Knight]

I am not a fan of his work, but he's right.

 

[Raven117]

He is right. And I wish music for video games would take this philosophy again.

This ambient music era isn't too inspiring.