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[CraigerGamer]

While most of my favorite games come from Western developers I find most of their music tracks fail in comparison to those games developed in Japan. Perhaps it is just my taste in music/games, but, even if the Japanese game is not really interesting to me, the music is usually better than most of the AAA big budget Western games.

My very amateur and uninformed opinion on this is many Western developers can afford to spend large sums of money on world building through graphical and gameplay assets, whereas, Japanese developers use music to create ambiance because they don't have the huge budgets many of the Western devs do. I don't mean to stereotype and my knowledge in game development and Japanese culture is limited, but I have tried to branch out recently. The wonderful music of games created in Japan is one of the first thing I noticed. Maybe its just a coincidence?

 

[MrT-Tar]

The West does tend to have a lot fewer games with melodic sountracks. There are exceptions such as Metroid Prime (though I think that had a Japanese composer), Rayman Origins/Legends, and anything composed by David Wise

As a result, the VGM is listen to is at least 90% Japanese.

 

[akachan ningen]

I think the problem is that western devs try to use the type of music used in the typical Hollywood movie.

Jp games are slowly going in the same direction though.

 

[epmode]

Generalization:

Big Western games tend to mimic film where music is more ambient and tries very hard to NOT take your attention away from what's happening onscreen.

If you're interested in first-rate Western game music, you have to look at the independent stuff.

 

[Chuck Norris]

Eastern Devs aim to make amazing game soundtracks. Western Devs aim to make amazing movie soundtracks

 

[DocSeuss]

In the West, we have Mick Gordon

In the East, we do not have Mick Gordon

So.

Well.

Mick Gordon.

Eastern Devs aim to make amazing game soundtracks. Western Devs aim to make amazing movie soundtracks

Nah. Western devs tend to run with complimentary music that aims to strengthen the overall moment of a given game. When you hear something like Ezio's Family or Plains of Death, it really helps set the tone and mood.

Overall, Western games tend to focus more on crafting these really awesome, emotional moments. Every ingredient working towards a cohesive whole. This is great video game music.

Japanese games take a different tack, where music tends to be more tune-driven, but that doesn't make it "better game music." It's foolish and ignorant to say so.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Unfair comparison, too many countries are put together when one says "the west".
But I see your point when you mention the budget and assets vs music, maybe that's why some people prefer the soundtrack of indie games.

edit: still, David Wise mostly works on big budgets games, so if there is talent, there will be tracks that take the center stage no matter the philosophy.

 

[Meccanical]

All I've been listening to lately is Western OSTs.

Hotline Miami, Deus Ex, Neotokyo, Shadowrun Dragonfall etc.

Like someone said earlier, most western games tend to try to go for hollywood backgrond noise rather than actual inspired pieces.

 

[Boombloxer]

Disagree.

Assassins Creed 2
Battlefield
Call of Duty
Uncharted 2-4
God of War
Half Life 2
Syphon Filter
Hotline Miami
Axiom Verge
Titanfall
Mass Effect
Red Dead Redemption
GTA V
Burnout

And this is off the top of my head. The stuff that sticks out from Japan is basically Square and MGS.

 

[SolarPowered]

The solution is play play western made games with Japanese composers running the show.

NMO Arena (empty) theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6vV0CIAUgg&list=PLGe28ESTbVQuVJoz_zu69jQtC2tvEJ7TF&index=38

Rooftops assault stage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YayQ62vT4Nk&index=30&list=PLGe28ESTbVQuVJoz_zu69jQtC2tvEJ7TF

Bath of Tefnut:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly4mHKIpTHk&index=32&list=PLGe28ESTbVQuVJoz_zu69jQtC2tvEJ7TF

Unfinished business (under the bridge):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58NKCwjz6e8&list=PLGe28ESTbVQuVJoz_zu69jQtC2tvEJ7TF&index=36

 

[Crossing Eden]

In the West, we have Mick Gordon

In the East, we do not have Mick Gordon

So.

Well.

Mick Gordon.



Nah. Western devs tend to run with complimentary music that aims to strengthen the overall moment of a given game. When you hear something like Ezio's Family or Plains of Death, it really helps set the tone and mood.

Overall, Western games tend to focus more on crafting these really awesome, emotional moments. Every ingredient working towards a cohesive whole. This is great video game music.

Japanese games take a different tack, where music tends to be more tune-driven, but that doesn't make it "better game music." It's foolish and ignorant to say so.

The bolded is especially true. And that's why I prefer western music these days. Having the right music cue at that exact moment is such a good feeling. What you described is EXACTLY what Marty and many other audio designers try to do.

The level designer would tell me what he hoped a player would feel at certain points or after accomplishing certain tasks." Based on this information, O'Donnell would "go back and develop appropriate music cues, then have the designer script the cues into the level, and then we'd play through it to see if it worked as desired."

 

[jb1234]

What this thread really points out is how boringly ambient contemporary film music has gotten.

 

[Jotamide]

The only memorable OST from a western game in all of last gen was Deus Ex Human Revolution. Everything else lacks character. You could slap most western OST in a random films and they would work just as well.

 

[Anth0ny]

The West does tend to have a lot fewer games with melodic sountracks. There are exceptions such as Metroid Prime (though I think that had a Japanese composer), Rayman Origins/Legends, and anything composed by David Wise

As a result, the VGM is listen to is at least 90% Japanese.

yup. western soundtracks are generally forgettable as fuck, but work well in the moment. kinda. sometimes.

 

[SephLuis]

Disagree.

Assassins Creed 2
Battlefield
Call of Duty
Uncharted 2-4
God of War
Half Life 2
Syphon Filter
Hotline Miami
Axiom Verge
Titanfall
Mass Effect
Red Dead Redemption
GTA V
Burnout

And this is off the top of my head. The stuff that sticks out from Japan is basically Square and MGS.

In this entire list, I can only remember tracks from Hotline Miami and Burnout Paradise. The rest goes into a blank in my mind. I really like the games, but I can't remember one memorable track from RDR, ME, CoD, Uncharted and so on.

I also prefer japanese OSTs, but even then I have some titles that either I completely ignore the soundtrack or love it to death.

Recently, I am listening to Falcom OSTs (Ys OSTs are amazing), Ar nosurge and Ar Tonelico series, Atelier series, Bayonetta 2 OST, Nier, Drakengard 3 and others.

 

[Crossing Eden]

The only memorable OST from a western game in all of last gen was Deus Ex Human Revolution. Everything else lacks character. You could slap most western OST in a random films and they would work just as well.

Jesper kyd.

 

[Zekes!]

My man Koji Kondo is Japanese

 

[Alcoholikaust]

Chaos Theory's Soundtrack proves the west will always win this fight.

 

[Puruzi]

Eastern.

I only like western music in indie games nowadays.

 

[K.Sabot]

I'm biased, I've heard way more mediocre western osts because AAA gaming has the lions share of bad osts in games.

West does have some great curated soundtracks though.

 

[Midnight Bliss]

Eastern hands down, nothing can really compare. There are a few good ones from western indie or the icewind dale 2 sound track has a really beautiful one so does the baldurs gate 2 soundtrack. But when I think of videogame music I can use to take me somewhere else I think of eastern videogame music.

 

[BocoDragon]

Western: "Oops All Atmosphere"

Eastern: "Oops All Melodies"

That is the final word... No further discussion needed.

 

[DocSeuss]

The bolded is especially true. And that's why I prefer western music these days. Having the right music cue at that exact moment is such a good feeling. What you described is EXACTLY what Marty and many other audio designers try to do.

I should have spelled it complementary, not complimentary. Oops.

Also, I cannot reiterate enough: Mick Gordon. Single-handedly defeating all other game composers ever.

The only memorable OST from a western game in all of last gen was Deus Ex Human Revolution. Everything else lacks character. You could slap most western OST in a random films and they would work just as well.

You could slap most Japanese soundtracks into a film and people would boo you for bad music, though.

 

[rjc571]

Do western AAA games even have soundtracks that play during gameplay? In all the time I've spent playing such games, I can't recall ever hearing music outside of cinematic moments.

 

[Kieli]

The only memorable OST from a western game in all of last gen was Deus Ex Human Revolution. Everything else lacks character. You could slap most western OST in a random films and they would work just as well.

Maybe only if you consider triple-AAA....

Some wicked stuff brewing in the indie scene.

 

[sn00zer]

Western: "Oops All Atmosphere"

Eastern: "Oops All Melodies"

That is the final word... No further discussion needed.

Yuuuuup, bth have their pros and cons

 

[FF Seraphim]

This is hard... Witcher 3 has a wonderfuk soundtrack but so does Bloodborne. I think Bloodborne edges out and wins for me on the East vs. West music debate.

 

[SkyOdin]

Nah. Western devs tend to run with complimentary music that aims to strengthen the overall moment of a given game. When you hear something like Ezio's Family or Plains of Death, it really helps set the tone and mood.

Overall, Western games tend to focus more on crafting these really awesome, emotional moments. Every ingredient working towards a cohesive whole. This is great video game music.

Japanese games take a different tack, where music tends to be more tune-driven, but that doesn't make it "better game music." It's foolish and ignorant to say so.

However, I tend to find that music in Japanese succeeds much better at that stated goal of using music in combination with other elements to create very emotional music. I can think of tons of moments in Japanese videogames that have used music to accentuate the emotional impact of scenes. So i question the accuracy of your premise. If I would judge both Final Fantasy 7 and Assassin's Creed on that same criteria you give, I would rate Final Fantasy 7 much much higher.

 

[RK128]

Video Game music rocks no matter where it comes from . The difference is what kinds of music that the East and the West have when it comes to music.

I mean, Eastern composers have a focus on music memorable and nostalgic using melody's; a strong melody can go a very, very long way into making something timeless :').

Green Hill Zone, World 1-1, Willy's Castle, and many more use these timeless melody's and due to that they are firmly planted inside our minds.

Western soundtracks do this a lot too, as games like Rayman Origins/Legends use this trick, as does Hotline Miami, Guacamelee and Shantae.

Western soundtracks also like to create atmosphere with there worlds and that in tern leads to western soundtracks to be used for world building, set-piece starting and pumping you up for the action ahead. God of War's booming orchestra, Darksiders II beautiful and haunting pieces, and the Batman Arkham games having a score making you feel like you are in a Batman film; these build the worlds for the game .

At the same time, western soundtracks bleed there way into eastern games. A fantastic example is Metal Gear Rising; full of hard, rock heavy tracks that I would expect to find in a Metallica or Judas Priest track .

Overall, gaming music is fantastic and really does a great job working with the medium's interactive nature .

 

[Acquiescence]

The best bands come from Manchester, the best video game music comes from Japan.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

The only memorable OST from a western game in all of last gen was Deus Ex Human Revolution. Everything else lacks character. You could slap most western OST in a random films and they would work just as well.

DE:HR is no less generic than Uncharted's OST. Even without leaving the AAA realm you find things like Blood Dragon that are already more quirky than DE soundtrack, step into the indie and you find things like Hotline Miami floating on the surface and one can only go but deeper.

 

[akachan ningen]

You could slap most Japanese soundtracks into a film and people would boo you for bad music, though.

Games aren't like movies, ideally.

 

[Sakujou]

Eastern Devs aim to make amazing game soundtracks. Western Devs aim to make amazing movie soundtracks

quoted. and we are done here.

 

[DocSeuss]

However, I tend to find that music in Japanese succeeds much better at that stated goal of using music in combination with other elements to create very emotional music. I can think of tons of moments in Japanese videogames that have used music to accentuate the emotional impact of scenes. So i question the accuracy of your premise. If I would judge both Final Fantasy 7 and Assassin's Creed on that same criteria you give, I would rate Final Fantasy 7 much much higher.

Yeah, see, I find it really distracting, but I didn't grow up with those games, so I don't suffer from nostalgia.

Games aren't like movies, ideally.

The point was that it's often just plain crappy music. Like, Dragon's Dogma's soundtrack, for instance, is just plain bad, especially the new Dark Arisen theme. Metal Gear Solid works, largely because he'll grab things like Here's to You or gets an American composer to do some of its music.

 

[Hoje0308]

Western for me, easily. TW3, The Order and Dying Light are examples of games that have great, complementary music in 2015. Bloodborne is the only contender from Japan so far. MGSV might be up there, but it seems its best tracks might be those that came from cheesy 80s rock bands.

 

[AlucardGV]

Nah. Western devs tend to run with complimentary music that aims to strengthen the overall moment of a given game. When you hear something like Ezio's Family or Plains of Death, it really helps set the tone and mood.

Overall, Western games tend to focus more on crafting these really awesome, emotional moments. Every ingredient working towards a cohesive whole. This is great video game music.

sound to me like "music for cutscene and cinematic moments, dunno. maybe they aren't, i didn't play those 2 games.
i'll take Nier ost over those everyday

but i don't have an objective point of view, since i mostly play japanese games.

 

[Disaster Nebraska]

I think the problem is that western devs try to use the type of music used in the typical Hollywood movie.

Jp games are slowly going in the same direction though.

When they pull it off, though, it's epic. Soundtrack to Total Annihilation comes to mind.

 

[Voliko]

If there was more western vgm like Tim Follin and Virt's stuff, then I would listen to it more.

 

[IvorB]

Barring Uncharted games, western game music tends to be forgettable and background filler. Whereas Japanese devs from Capcom to Nintendo to Square just know how to make amazing music tracks that blow away anything else on the scene. They have it perfected to a fine art.

 

[CraigerGamer]

Do western AAA games even have soundtracks that play during gameplay? In all the time I've spent playing such games, I can't recall ever hearing music outside of cinematic moments.

I find the music in Fallout New Vegas pretty memorable. Not persona 4 memorable but I do remember being impressed by it.

 

[vocab]

There's a bunch of western ost's that are great. Theres just a lot of them that are forgettable.

 

[Hoje0308]

Metal Gear Solid works, largely because he'll grab things like Here's to You or gets an American composer to do some of its music.

Or a Brit. Harry Gregson-Williams is fantastic.

 

[Nakho]

Disagree.

Assassins Creed 2
Battlefield
Call of Duty
Uncharted 2-4
God of War
Half Life 2
Syphon Filter
Hotline Miami
Axiom Verge
Titanfall
Mass Effect
Red Dead Redemption
GTA V
Burnout

And this is off the top of my head. The stuff that sticks out from Japan is basically Square and MGS.

That is insane. From, Atlus, Nintendo, Capcom, Falcom... all have created beautiful game soundtracks.

 

[he who dwells]

Jesper kyd.

/ Thread.
He's my favourite composer of all time !
He's a fucking genius.

 

[Crayolan]

Western composers make soundtracks which work in the moment, but otherwise tend to keep their music subdued.

Japanese composers try to create music which you can listen to out of context and still appreciate.

Of course there are exceptions (Grant Kirkope, David Wise, etc etc), but usually I prefer the Japanese approach. Songs which are just great to listen to tend to be much more memorable and end up being things I'll still be listening to years down the line.

 

[AlucardGV]

Disagree.

Assassins Creed 2
Battlefield
Call of Duty
Uncharted 2-4
God of War
Half Life 2
Syphon Filter
Hotline Miami
Axiom Verge
Titanfall
Mass Effect
Red Dead Redemption
GTA V
Burnout

And this is off the top of my head. The stuff that sticks out from Japan is basically Square and MGS.

well that probably means that you play mostly westner games. funny thing is that by saying "S-E" you're saying "dozen of videogames series that had many composers working on them"
yes there is final fantasy, but there's so much more

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

I rarely listen to westren soundtracks outside of the game (Only KI, Hotline Miami and MGR for any listens from me).

 

[RK128]

I looked up Jesper kyd (as I really loved his work with the Darksiders series) and wow! Didn't know he composed for ACII ! I remember really enjoying that game's soundtrack, so its great to know he did a ton of soundtracks for games .

 

[Nimby]

The only Western OSTs I listen too are oddly all licensed music or from the PS1/N64.

 

[danwarb]

I can remember almost nothing of the music from Western games aside from Halo (1 to 3) and the Morrowind theme.

Played hundreds of games and all the themes and ambient tracks that come to mind are from Japanese composers, and mostly for SEGA games.