Composer Nobuo Uematsu has revealed that some of the modern “movie-like” video game music is not as engaging as that in older games.
This information was revealed by Uematsu during an interview with NewsPicks (via Automaton). If you are interested in games from Square Enix, you can check out our other articles here.
Nobuo Uematsu finds modern “movie-like” game music unappealing
Speaking with NewsPicks, Nobuo Uematsu gave his thoughts on current and future game music. According to Uematsu, games that choose soundtracks similar to Hollywood movies are hindering the progress of game music.
Uematsu initially explained how the limitations of 8-bit and 16-bit consoles like the NES and SNES forced him to get creative in creating soundtracks for some of the early Final Fantasy games.
“On the SNES, the capacity was increased and I could use violin or flute samples and compress them repeatedly,” Uematsu says.
Uematsu then continued a similar method in the PS1 era, although he was ultimately only able to produce CD-quality sound. This was because Uematsu wanted to avoid the game being paused when bringing in new audio every time the game switched from exploration to combat.
From Final Fantasy X on PS2 onwards, Uematsu revealed that game music entered “a time where we can do a lot of things” and it became “easier for me to express different music genres (such as rock and jazz) in game music”.
Uematsu then reflected on why game music has become less interesting lately, as the problem may be that directors and producers “settle for music like movie soundtracks in games”.
Uematsu thinks that “people should have more freedom when creating [game music]”, otherwise, “game music cannot develop further”.
“Game music will become more interesting if composers consider ‘what can only I do?’ and use their knowledge and experience to be truly creative,” Uematsu added.
