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Your favorite video game composer?

Garry Schyman (BioShock series)
Koji Kondo
Martin O'Donnell
Akira Yamaoka
Mahito Yokota
Michiru Oshima
Harry Gregson-Williams
 
Grisby said:
Martin O'Donnell
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There's no other answer for me. Marty is a master. His work on the main Halo trilogy may be his most iconic, but ODST and Reach showed how intelligent and versatile he is as an artist.
 
I don't follow specific composers because I don't find that to be an accurate barometer for my tastes. I liked what Marty O'Donnell did with Halo's soundtrack, but all subsequent music in the series has felt uninspired. I liked what Jeremy Soule did on Morrowind, but then his Oblivion soundtrack left me cold. Also, I loved Oemetsu's Final Fantasy VII soundtrack, but haven't been particularly fond of any of his subsequent work.
 
Mmkay, finally have time to properly contribute to this thread. I think I'll go out of my way to explain my choices. I don't have a one single favourite composer. I have many, and I can’t decide between any of them, lol. In no particular order...

Yasunori Mitsuda
One can argue that he peaked with Chrono Cross, but Mitsuda knows how to pull it off after that. He has quite a distinct sound, and I like it. His soundtrack for Tsugunai, tracks on various Shadow Hearts albums, tracks on Arc Rise Fantasia, and the Inazuma Eleven album are really wonderful. He hasn’t composed much on his own lately since he established his own studio, but I await a new solo album from him.

Corridors of Time
Scars of Time
Knight of Fire
Angel Heart
Astaroth
Snowdrops Blooming, Opalus
Lascarde Skywalk


Shoji Meguro
I got hooked on Shoji Meguro a few years into university. I like his guitar, electronic, pop and jazz tracks. It was a breath of fresh air to me. I love how his themes can be upbeat and poppy, calm and jazzy, fast-paced and chaotic, head-banging, gentle and atmospheric or others. It just seems like the guy has command over many different genres and can pull any card of his deck and work with it. And the result ends up being great and/or listenable, no matter what.

Mist (PMLB Ver)
Ikebukuro
Signs of Love
Epic Battle
Master of Tartarus
Roux
Lights of Life


Masashi Hamauzu
I imported Sigma Harmonics and could not believe the sound coming out of my DS speakers. I had to know who this was. I looked it up and was happy to hear it was Hamauzu. I liked this tracks on the FFX OST and Unlimited SaGa. I decided to seek out more of his repertoire, and I’m constantly surprised and content with what I hear from him. He’s not only great at classical, ambient and electronic stuff, but when he expands into different genres, they’re generally well-composed and very pleasing to the ear.

Dust to Dust
Feldschlacht I
Heartening "Dance of the Cornered Rat"
Battle Theme I
Fight for Justice
Fight Tune "Girl Named Shelke"
Besaid Island


Miki Higashino
The composer of Gradius, Salamander and Genso Suikoden, and For me, part of Genso Suikoden was Miki Higashino. It wasn’t only the games’ narratives, but the soundscape, which impacted the overall strength of certain scenes, making them even more memorable than they would be on their own. The melodies are catchy, heartfelt, tense, silly, or... how should I put this... “comfortable”? They’re generally quite beautiful, and even moreso when arranged.

Into a World of Illusions
Reminiscence
Gothic Neclord (Suikogaiden Vol 1)
Gradius Arcade OST
Forgotten Days (Celtic Ver)
The Chase
Beautiful Morning


Yoshitaka Hirota
Hirota hasn’t gotten a lot of solo composition work since Shadow Hearts closed shop (he mostly does arrangements now). He not only defined Shadow Hearts’s soundscape, but its mood, atmosphere and settings with his incredible scores (with a little help from Mitsuda and other composers (most notably Tomoko Imoto on SH3’s OST). With scores including pieces ranging from gentle acoustic pieces, quick electronic pieces and beautiful sombre melodies, it’s impossible for me to ignore him and these soundtracks. I eagerly await the day when he can compose another album again.

Plains ~ Sphere -qu-
Decisive Battle ~ Imbroglio
Midboss II ~ Demon's Gig
The Fate ~ Cluster Amaryllis
In Darkness of a Labyrinth ~ Dungeon
Ladder to Heaven
ICARO -Acoustic Arrangement-
Delusion of Death
Lady Tears II

Someone needs to find this guy more work. Seriously.


Anyone who worked as part of the Falcom Sound Team JDK in the past or present
I’m surprised there aren’t a lot of mentions in this thread for the Falcom Sound Team, but I guess it’s because composers on this team seem to be ever-changing. I personally like their PCE and X68000 stuff more than their other stuff. It can be rockin’, fast paced, jazzy, impactful or anything else. The nice part of a composition team is that you don’t just get one guy’s perspective of a scene or track, but many others as well. I think that’s a huge strength of the Falcom Sound Team, and that’s why a lot of their stuff is generally memorable.

The Strongest Foe (PCE Ver)
A Great Ordeal (PCE Ver)
Silver Will
Crossing Rage!
Mythical Land Serpentina
Stranger ~ Wandering Swordsman
A Powerful Foe!!

*ears are still plugged for TitS: SC music*


Yuzo Koshiro
An old favourite. I think I’ve elaborated on why I love Koshiro’s stuff before. I don’t him just for his Streets of Rage stuff, his Etrian Odyssey stuff or his Shenmue stuff alone. His soundtrack for 7th Dragon was amazing, as was his Ys, ActRaiser, Shinobi, Sonic, The Scheme and others as well. I don’t think there are a lot of tracks of his that I don’t like.

The Street of Rage
Go Straight
North Wall
Perpetual Dark!
Battlefield - Swords Bursting(Retro Sound Source) (NDS Sound Source)
Stream of Tears
Final Battle


Tomoya Ohtani
I think Ohtani’s my favourite out of the entire Sonic Sound Team. There aren’t a lot of tracks of his that I dislike (and I can’t say the same for Senoue); and compared to Senoue, it seems like he gets that “simple” works well when arranging compositions.

Planet Wisp Act 1
Aquarium Part Act 1
Super Sonic vs Perfect Dark Gaia
Deeper
Ocean Base Act 3
Rescue!
Crisis City ~The Flame ~ Skyscraper ~ Whirlwind ~ Tornado~

I’ll give a nod to Nobuo Uematsu, Takeharu Ishimoto, Motoi Sakuraba and Keiichi Okabe as well.
 
Yuzo Koshiro
Motohiro Kawashima
Yoshitaka Hirota (underrated)
Keiki Kobayashi
Masaharu Iwata
Junichi Nakatsuru
Hiroyuki Fujita
Noriyuki Iwadare
Motoi Sakuraba
Kou Ohtani
Yasunori Mitsuda
Yuki Kajiura
Satoru Kosaki
Akitaka Kohyama
Masaru Shiina
Michiru Yamane
Jun Senoue
Keichi Okabe
 
Yoko Shimomura
Yasunori Mitsuda
Nobuo Uematsu
Masashi Hamauzu
Jesper Kyd
Shoji Meguro

Very interested to see if Keiichi Okabe can ever again touch the heights of the Nier OST. There seems a distinct risk at the moment he might go down as one of the genre's greatest one hit wonders.
 
Yoshiya said:
Yoko Shimomura
Yasunori Mitsuda
Nobuo Uematsu
Masashi Hamauzu
Jesper Kyd
Shoji Meguro

Very interested to see if Keiichi Okabe can ever again touch the heights of the Nier OST. There seems a distinct risk at the moment he might go down as one of the genre's greatest one hit wonders.
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Hasn't Okabe done lots of scores?
 
Coxy said:
Noriyuki Iwadare; such an amazing composer working on the likes of the Grandia, Lunar and Langrisser series and he seems like such a nice guy too, interacting with his fans for easily a decade or so
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Have to agree. His music always sounds incredibly...sincere, for lack of a better word. His work flows with layers of emotion, whether upbeat and bubbly or somber and tense. If I had to pick one song as an example of this genius, would have to go with...ryuu/the theme of the dragons.

And of course Nobuo Uematsu. Simple but effective melodies; a true master at not overindulging.
 
On the indie front, Jim Guthrie (Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP), Souleye (VVVVVV) and Module (Shatter and the surprisingly nice Zen Puzzle Garden) have been some of my more recent favourites.
 
I can't pick a favorite. That's just way too hard. But Koji and Marty are some of my favorite overall due their amazing consistency in making feel a sense of wonder and awe.
 
Garry Schyman
Greg Edmonson
Michael Giacchino (from the pre-reboot MoH games)
Jesper Kyd
Andy Hale
 
marty_o_donnell.jpg
 
Western: Martin O'Donnell (no one can deny his music put the soul into the Halo franchise)
Runner-Up: Jeremy Soule

Eastern: Masashi Hamauzu (he stands atop the Jpn composers as of right now, I feel)
Runner-Up: Yuzo Koshiro (Etrian Odyssey proves he can still make a phenomenal OST)
 
Misanthropy said:
The woman who composed the kingdom hearts music. NOT the stupid lyrical song! I'm referring to the music in the actual game. Battling a boss, visiting some area, etc.
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Yoko Shimomura, who has been listed many times already. Utada Hikaru did the jpop themes, btw.
 
I just couldn't pick. I really couldn't.

It's a toss-up between Akira Yamaoka (he's a brilliant composer, even outside of the Silent Hill soundtracks), Masafumi Takada (his range as a composer is incredible, and his work on killer7 is as mind-blowing as everything else in the game), Norihiko Hibino (guy is a fantastic composer and a great sax player, too), Michiru Yamane (she's responsible for what might be the most consistently excellent series of soundtracks in any game series, though Castlevania was no musical slouch before she came along), Hirofumi Taniguchi (his music is so refreshingly unconventional), Motoi Sakuraba (his battle tracks are sometimes duds, but he's created some of my favorite soundtracks ever), and Yuzo Koshiro (the man is a game music god, with the seeming ability to compose well in pretty much any genre he attempts). And those are just the ones who come to mind immediately.

It doesn't even seem fair to compare Kondo to anyone else. He sort of wins by default for some of the amazing soundtracks he's created, especially Ocarina of Time's. It's a real shame he's taken a more management position these days. Ditto for Hirokazu Tanaka as president of Creatures, Inc. Seems like wasted talent.

And just so I don't look like a weeaboo, Russell Shaw, Steve Henifin, and Jeremy Soule rock.

Anyway, I could go on for days listing more composers I adore, so I better stop now.

EDIT: I just couldn't walk away without mentioning Koichi Sugiyama. When either Horii or Sugiyama go, the series is done, as far as I am concerned.
 
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Kenji Yamamoto. Sure he's not that prolific but he's put together some of the best songs and OST's of all time with the Metroid series and more recently DKCR.
 
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