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I really don't like how video game music is no longer, well, video game music

J

jblank83

Member
Chairmanchuck said:
What I hate the most is orchestral music. Its not memorable at all in most cases.
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It's not meant to be. It's background ambience for the visual action. It's just there to lull you into a mood.

I agree that it's boring. It's also predictable. You get "swells" before action starts. You get "BOMP BOMPS" at the end of an action scene. You get insipid twilling and fluting in walk-arounds. It's mindless.

Not that orchestral can't be great. Obviously soundtracks like Star Wars or Super Mario Galaxy are incredible and memorable, but the way most movies and most AAA games use orchestras is lazy and uninteresting.
 
D

dampflokfreund

Banned
Valen said:
While your concerns definitely apply to some games out there, others are still keeping traditions alive. Super Mario 3D World had possibly the best soundtrack in the entire Mario franchise, or at least close to best (Galaxy's is hard to top).

I wouldn't worry about Zelda U at all. A Link Between Worlds had an amazing OST.
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I strongly disagree. I thought 3D World had the worst and most unmemoryable soundtrack in the franchise. I liked the more electronic sounding soundtrack of Galaxy, Sunshine and 64 much better.

But yes, I have high hopes for Zelda U's soundtrack. ALBW's was pretty good and even Skyward Sword had some pretty amazing tracks.
 
A

aggienader

Member
You may be an old man yelling at a cloud OP.
I'm kidding.
I think the music in most games has improved from the ole chip-tunes days. Yes, those classic tunes will always remain classics. And there's a ton that people can still do with that style, but whether a game is using more modern orchestral score, or heavy metal beats doesn't make it less "video game music".

It all depends on if the music fits within the game world and setting. Music can make or break a game setting IMO. The Last of Us score by Gustavo Santaolla is a perfect example of a score that fits so perfectly that anything else would've completely changed the game.
 
B

Bumbletron

Member
To Far Away Times said:
Music that is only meant to heighten the moment but not be remembered just doesn't have much value to it.
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Completely and utterly disagreed. Music does not have to be catchy to have value. In fact it doesn't have to be anything to have value. 4'33" for instance, it is by all intents and purposes nothing, but it is renowned because it achieved what it sets out to do.

As long as the music achieves what it sets out to do (and even if not, in my opinion) it has plenty enough value to it.
 
T

Theanine3D

Member
dampflokfreund said:
I strongly disagree. I thought 3D World had the worst and most unmemoryable soundtrack in the franchise. I liked the more electronic sounding soundtrack of Galaxy, Sunshine and 64 much better.
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That's too bad you didn't like it. I mean... stuff like Snowball Park, to me, seems every bit as whimsical as those Mario games you mentioned. And that's just one example. The Overworld theme is memorable too, IMO. Nothing remotely comparable to the generic bah-bah garbage from New Super Mario Bros.
 
pixelation

pixelation

Member
Henkka said:
I agree. An easy comparison would be the Ratchet & Clank series.

Here's a bit from the original soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj3dgToY_Fg&index=2&list=PLEC644E72887AB7E3

It's a bit weird, quirky, clearly composed with the look and feel of the game in mind.

Same level in the remake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOI6YzrHzp8&list=PLO4jlmGoc6uDmQZaPcYppFxMAUMJWdfhE&index=19

Generic movie music.
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Agreed, music in the remake is not bad... it's just there. Honestly can't remember anything memorable... only one that i sorta remember is the Pokitaru level music only because it sorta kinda tries to ape the OG soundtrack for that level... i think...

And yes, videogame music has been devolving into generic movie soundtrack-like ish. Can't remember the last piece of original music for a game that stuck with me from the past few years... Nathan's theme i think?.
 
D

DedValve

Banned
Deadstar said:
Video game music is largely trash now. There are exceptions but you get a whole bunch of lazy devs making generic orchestral music. .
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Var GenericOrchestra: Generic_Orchestra

Function PlayLazyMusic(){
WUB WUB WUB
WUB WUB WUB
if (wub)
{WUB WUB}
Else
{DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOM}


Triple A games in general is a very small and stagnant group outside of a few exceptions and they all usually go for a similar style so yeah their obviously going to go for a certain type of music.

EDIT: And then in my stunning realization some of the games I listed earlier are AAA so even then.
 
D

DekuLink

Member
Since you are talking about Zelda:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t8CuZEHV6M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR8dKr258iM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjEYRXpABHw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4-rhNRqtKE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJEKS-xexsY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-dKZHX5M_A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxc9F4ZDKEQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luZA3xUcE50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOajbonwNFw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWehYSW77aY

Soundtrack of the year. I really hope he composes for the new Zelda as well. He did an amazing job with ALBW as well (Ryo Nagamatsu).
 
K

Kyleripman

Member
Depends on the game for me, but I just wanted to say that I've been listening to the Uncharted OSTs a lot lately, and there is a lot of great stuff outside of Nate's Theme.
 
J

jb1234

Member
It's understandable that the more cinematic games get, the more that their music needs to fade into the background. What's unfortunate is that their music choices are mirroring contemporary film scores, which aren't nearly as effective or memorable as the ones being written pre-2000ish. It's possible to write music that can support scenes well while also being able to stand on its own.
 
D

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
BGBW said:
The next Legend of Zelda should have a UK Garage soundtrack.
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You don't know how badly I'd be on board with that. Right now the only UKG songs I know of in gaming are Sonic Adventure 2's Meteor Herd stage and the Buck Bumble title theme.

There's such a variety of musical genres out there that seem to get swept under the rug for A) subtle ambient background music, B) orchestral score with lots of tribal drumming, or C) electronic music genre flavor of the month, but 3 years out of date.

You definitely see more variety with Japanese and indie games, at least.
 
N

NipplesAndToes23

Member
Trigonometrize. said:
A LOT of old video game music was trash, but it was also in-your-face trash, which makes it worse. I like melodic music as much as the next guy, but I'm also fine with composers making their scores something I can forget about in the background if they don't have the chops to make music I actually like in my games.

Stuff that is happening today one-ups a lot of the famous tracks from the good ol' days, like Persona 5 and Shovel Knight.
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Did you play a lot of SNES shovelware or something because I can't think of any trash video game music from the old days and when it's brought up, it's always from some old obscure game like Crazy Bus.

I haven't played a lot of new games so I can't really comment. Is Shantae and the Pirate's Curse relatively new because that's game music is genuine. Can't agree about Ocarina of Time's music especially the Forest Temple track which is one of the best ones in that game to me.
 
R

Ragnorok64

Member
M

mieumieu

Member
music is quite subjective. I would put music in ff12 as some of the best and most intelligent in the industry, but a lot of people can't seem to remember anything from playing the game.
 
W

Wolf Akela

Member
You're probably looking for the melody / motif OP. It's really least common on "Hollywood games": memorable title, ambience everything else. Orchestration doesn't really have anything to do with the issue because there are ten million orchestra versions of classic game tunes out there.
 
T

TokiDoki

Member
TLDR: Do you miss the times when every single piece of video game music was a potential earworm or am I an old man yelling at cloud?
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Don't generalize it to modern games with just Zelda and SF4 .

SFV has fantastic track . Witcher 3 menu screen theme is soooooo gud . Not to mentions Souls games boss fight themes are always out of this world.

Then on recent releases we have Bayonetta's "The Greatest Jubilee" , Nier's entire soundtrack , Halo 3's menu theme and probably more . You guys need to play more games .
 
C

CalamityPixel

Member
The reason I like Marty O'Donnell's music is cause a lot of it is memorable. His job before Bungie was to create jingles for TV adverts.

It's like he was destined for videogame music.
 
MAtgS

MAtgS

Member
Aside from like the main Avengers theme, I struggle to think of when the last truly memorable movie soundtrack was.
 
H

Hydderf

Member
Wolf Akela said:
You're probably looking for the melody / motif OP. It's really least common on "Hollywood games": memorable title, ambience everything else. Orchestration doesn't really have anything to do with the issue because there are ten million orchestra versions of classic game tunes out there.
Click to expand...

I agree. The problem with modern game OST is the lack of catchy melodies. It has nothing to do with how the music is orchestrated.
Or, well, it SHOULD have nothing to do with it, but I suspect there is a link here : orchestrated music have all these fancy instruments and layers to it that is immediatelly satisfaying. It feels rich, profound and greatly composed to an average person, even if it is really just an ambient sound...
So, yeah, why bother producing a melody when 90% people seems satisfied by that ?

I'm working on an arcade racer right now and I must say, listening to old FzeroX music (guitar arranged version) while designing tracks is soooooo good.
 
B

Bumbletron

Member
Hydderf said:
I agree. The problem with modern game OST is the lack of catchy melodies. It has nothing to do with how the music is orchestrated.
Or, well, it SHOULD have nothing to do with it, but I suspect there is a link here : orchestrated music have all these fancy instruments and layers to it that is immediatelly satisfaying. It feels rich, profound and greatly composed to an average person, even if it is really just an ambient sound...
So, yeah, why bother producing a melody when 90% people seems satisfied by that ?

I'm working on an arcade racer right now and I must say, listening to old FzeroX music (guitar arranged version) while designing tracks is soooooo good.
Click to expand...

Well if it sounds good with multiple layers of orchestration, I can almost guarantee that a great amount of work and care went into it. It isn't as though a melody is something composers can't be bothered to write. Different things call for different music. And honestly, if you went and listened carefully to the music in many of these games, I am certain you would find many examples of motif/leitmotif being used throughout.

There are places for both in games, and I am seeing a substantial amount of both being produced by the industry. If you want catchy melodies you can find them. If you want symphonic suites, you can find those as well. This is the best period in video game music to date, even if by no other factor than the sheer quantity and quality of work within.
 
A

Atomski

Member
I have issues with Orchestra. I love classical music and all but most game Orchestra is non memorable. I get bored and sometimes even annoyed with them.

That said many indie titles these days are such pallete cleansers.
 
F

Falk

that puzzling face
Hydderf said:
I'm working on an arcade racer right now and I must say, listening to old FzeroX music (guitar arranged version) while designing tracks is soooooo good.
Click to expand...

Man, that arrange album sure is something. Staff Roll was my jam for a long, long while.

MattZ2007 said:
Well if it sounds good with multiple layers of orchestration, I can almost guarantee that a great amount of work and care went into it. It isn't as though a melody is something composers can't be bothered to write. Different things call for different music. And honestly, if you went and listened carefully to the music in many of these games, I am certain you would find many examples of motif/leitmotif being used throughout.

There are places for both in games, and I am seeing a substantial amount of both being produced by the industry. If you want catchy melodies you can find them. If you want symphonic suites, you can find those as well. This is the best period in video game music to date, even if by no other factor than the sheer quantity and quality of work within.
Click to expand...

I think this really is the crux of the issue. There's so much out there - far more than what the industry had two decades ago - far more than any one person can hope to ever listen to coming out every single year (I should know, I'm on a screening board for game music awards and the list is impossible to manage and yet still barely scratches the surface) that anyone trying to stencil what some games do as representative of the whole industry, or even a majority of it, is just really a product of lack of exposure.

Considering how diverse music tastes are anyone's bound to find a lot of stuff they like if they look, and also a lot of stuff they don't like, which is fine. I'd draw the line at personal attacks on people just because you don't dig their work though. In other words:

krizalidzero said:
douchebags
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Please don't do this.
 
E

Etrian Oddity

Member
The industry needs more Martin O'Donnell. Way more O'Donnell.

At least we have Mick Gordon for now.

::edit:: Also, 90% of the fuckers composing in non-indie games know how to utilize the leitmotif, and it's fucking depressing.
 
T

thelatestmodel

Junior, please.
CloudWolf said:
Video game music is a confusing term for me. For instance, what would you call the old Fallout soundtracks? Are those not "video game music"? Going by the OP I'm guessing no. In that case, screw video game music.
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"Video game music", to me, means music composed specifically for a game.

"Video game soundtrack" can mean any music that happens to be in a game.

However, games with entirely (or almost entirely) licensed soundtracks, that were not originally composed for the game, are automatically disqualified from discussions about which game has the best soundtrack.
 
D

Dingens

Member
I think the first time I really noticed this trend was with the first castlevania los... man what a disappointment.


oni-link said:
Then don't play Xenoblade X
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At least it was memorable... which is more than can be said about lot's of other games' soundtracks
 
T

Teknoman

Member
mieumieu said:
music is quite subjective. I would put music in ff12 as some of the best and most intelligent in the industry, but a lot of people can't seem to remember anything from playing the game.
Click to expand...

Yeah im not sure why, unless they'd just never heard a Sakimoto track before.

Ogre Battle /Tactics Ogre is just as memorable:

Revolt

Overture

Avilla Hanya


Lords of Shadow 1 had a great soundtrack, but only a few themes were stand out as scene setting and memorable. The rest were simply just that, background music with not much in the way of personality.

Path to the Ogre was pretty good as was The Hunting Path.

Castlevania IV on the other hand, along with the majority of the older titles had themes that not only set the scene, but exuded their own personality. Not just fading into the back as background music. Yes ambient music has its place, but not when you're seemingly trying to make the soundtrack stand out alongside the rest of the game.
 
H

Hcoregamer00

The 'H' stands for hentai.
If you play Japanese RPG's or visual novels, the memorable soundtracks are still there.

Trails of Cold Steel, Ace Attorney 5, and Umineko all have amazing and unique musical scores.
 
J

joms5

Member
OrbitalBeard said:
Super Mario Galaxy and Bloodborne are two of my favorite video game soundtracks.
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Nailed it. So sick of hearing traditional Mario videogame music.

But when you think about it, it would be silly to have that kind of music in a game like The Last Of Us or BioShock.

Music is made to fit the game.
 
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