Some of the tracks from Ni No Kuni had a Sugiyama-like sound to them, which makes me hopeful that his style could be replicated for this style of JRPG. (example https://youtu.be/ZohoiUdoB9k)
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Koichi Sugiyama, composer of Dragon Quest, has passed away (SEE STAFF POST)
- Thread starter Hayama Akito
- Start date
Some of the tracks from Ni No Kuni had a Sugiyama-like sound to them, which makes me hopeful that his style could be replicated for this style of JRPG. (example https://youtu.be/ZohoiUdoB9k)
seeing as half of DQ11 was tracks from past games, i'd say at least 3/4 of DQ12's soundtrack was done years ago.
And not only were 11's tracks terrible, they were used horribly on top of it. I can think of a few big dramatic moments that had the exact same blaring MIDI songs as always, as if they just didn't have anything else to play. It was completely ill-fitting. Just bizarre how bad it felt.
As someone who's only played 11 (and Rocket Slime a loooong while back, I suppose), it's really hard to take his work being praised seriously when if nothing else, he was currently phoning it in.
Yeah I highly doubt Hisaishi is going to do Dragon Quest
Would be a good fit though.
Don't forget that Square-Enix actually went after mods that replaced the MIDI music. No other company has gone after music mods before. Or the draconian rule that the music cannot be used independently in any review, you had to show the in-game place that was playing it. You couldn't even have Sugiyama's music played out of the scenes it played in without this being hounded on. Sugiyama also represented a significantly archaic mindset to copyright that goes deeper than mere MIDI farts.
My condolences to his family. Can I laud Hatsune Miku for her fantastic work on DQ's music throughout the years now?
...are you implying that the people feeling alright about a horrible bigot dying have never lost anybody close on them and lack empathy? I hope I'm misreading your post, because that would be quite foolish, to use the kindest word I can think of.
Adult behavior: Laughing at queer teens committing suicide
Childish behavior: Laughing at the natural death of a 90-year-old man who laughed at queer teens committing suicide
Jeez, some of that isn't even greed, it's just foolishness.
A total lack of understanding on how the world really works.
oh fuck off
stop acting like he died in a tragic manner
dude lived up 90 years old being loved and celebrated while also being a piece of shit holocaust/war crimes denying asshole while laughing at LGBTQ teen suicide rates throughout his life
I'll never forget the first time I heard DQ8's overworld theme -- it was the eve of my brother's ninth anniversary from a tragic overdose and emotions were understandably running high in our household, and from the first plucks of the harp I was immediately transported to this Jesus artwork my dad found solace in after his death. I'm especially terrible at describing the finer points of music -- an irksome weakness as a writer -- yet the way its boundless beauty summoned an otherworldly surge of emotions that night practically brought me to tears.
I'm hardly a religious individual, but over the next hundred hours I spent with that game, I hoped that with every harpstring and trumpet blare that he was, as I always do, watching over me.
I make no excuses for Sugiyama's activism -- it was especially hurtful that a man so essential to the awareness of game music and who inspired countless others in the industry (Hayato Matsuo, Yoko Shimomura, and Hirokazu Ando) used his fortune to cause great harm to the marginalized. It was a persistent point of guilt in my enjoying Dragon Quest: a series with nary a cynical bone in its body. Needless to say, the world is an objectively better place without him in it and I do hope those subject to his political crusades find their lives that much easier.
I won't even pretend Dragon Quest's musical fiascos measure up to even a tenth of the level of importance as the issues raised within this thread, but even if you were to disingenuously shrug off his abhorrent views and activities, his iron-grip upon the soundtrack and gradual lack of care towards the series negatively impacted the modern Dragon Quest experience. Dragon Quest XI's MIDI instrumentation is an abomination. The 3DS remakes are stripped of their orchestral tracks for the Western localizations. (And while I'm of the opinion DQ7's MIDI is actually solid, I absolutely refuse to play DQ8 without the symphonic score for obvious reasons.) The MIDI tracks recycled across the franchise -- and, by association, represent the series via numerous spin-offs -- frequently fail to convey the original compositions' majesty, not the least in their Smash Bros. cameos undermining the grand DQ11 stage.
I'll readily admit that I don't know the first thing about Japanese copyright law, so it's very possible not all the issues raised above will be solved with his death. But dead the man is, and now with the awful stain of bigotry and nationalism washed off the series, it's my hope moving forward that whoever takes his place not only channels what made his earlier compositions so good, but ensures every one of the iconic pieces that defined gaming music -- be it the unbridled joy of the Main Theme, the endless scope of Adventure, and the ethereal grace of Heavenly Flight -- is treated with the respect and dignity they deserve across the globe.
As Neiteio said, Dragon Quest's music is ours, and as I've done over the past two years, I choose to engage with it in the memory of my brother: a man I guarantee never so much as heard the name "Dragon Quest," yet whose passing reminds me to cherish life every day. The never-ending journey of kindness persists in the series' heart, and where Sugiyama failed, I'll continue channeling that for the sake of my goals.
I'm hardly a religious individual, but over the next hundred hours I spent with that game, I hoped that with every harpstring and trumpet blare that he was, as I always do, watching over me.
I make no excuses for Sugiyama's activism -- it was especially hurtful that a man so essential to the awareness of game music and who inspired countless others in the industry (Hayato Matsuo, Yoko Shimomura, and Hirokazu Ando) used his fortune to cause great harm to the marginalized. It was a persistent point of guilt in my enjoying Dragon Quest: a series with nary a cynical bone in its body. Needless to say, the world is an objectively better place without him in it and I do hope those subject to his political crusades find their lives that much easier.
I won't even pretend Dragon Quest's musical fiascos measure up to even a tenth of the level of importance as the issues raised within this thread, but even if you were to disingenuously shrug off his abhorrent views and activities, his iron-grip upon the soundtrack and gradual lack of care towards the series negatively impacted the modern Dragon Quest experience. Dragon Quest XI's MIDI instrumentation is an abomination. The 3DS remakes are stripped of their orchestral tracks for the Western localizations. (And while I'm of the opinion DQ7's MIDI is actually solid, I absolutely refuse to play DQ8 without the symphonic score for obvious reasons.) The MIDI tracks recycled across the franchise -- and, by association, represent the series via numerous spin-offs -- frequently fail to convey the original compositions' majesty, not the least in their Smash Bros. cameos undermining the grand DQ11 stage.
I'll readily admit that I don't know the first thing about Japanese copyright law, so it's very possible not all the issues raised above will be solved with his death. But dead the man is, and now with the awful stain of bigotry and nationalism washed off the series, it's my hope moving forward that whoever takes his place not only channels what made his earlier compositions so good, but ensures every one of the iconic pieces that defined gaming music -- be it the unbridled joy of the Main Theme, the endless scope of Adventure, and the ethereal grace of Heavenly Flight -- is treated with the respect and dignity they deserve across the globe.
As Neiteio said, Dragon Quest's music is ours, and as I've done over the past two years, I choose to engage with it in the memory of my brother: a man I guarantee never so much as heard the name "Dragon Quest," yet whose passing reminds me to cherish life every day. The never-ending journey of kindness persists in the series' heart, and where Sugiyama failed, I'll continue channeling that for the sake of my goals.
Maybe I'm weird but it seems perfectly normal to wave the international finger of fairwell to bigots.
Your mistake is thinking being the bigger person means a damn thing. When a monster dies the people celebrate. They don't start preaching empathy for the monster's grieving minions or whatever.
Tell me, does the air smell nice high up there on the stilts you've crafted?
Where were you when you saw Anaron's "Then you're not a true Sugiyama fan" reply? Sheeeeesh talk that shit. Frame that post.
I hope dude's passing provides vulnerable people some relief, and that his influence is minimized as much as possible in death. Selfishly, I hope being a fan of Dragon Quest games is a little less complicated going forward. Good riddance.
I hope dude's passing provides vulnerable people some relief, and that his influence is minimized as much as possible in death. Selfishly, I hope being a fan of Dragon Quest games is a little less complicated going forward. Good riddance.
Don't you know by doing so you're only proving that you're the true bigot?!
User Banned (1 Month): Tone Policing in a Sensitive Thread
Some of the criticism in this thread is thoughtfully constructed. Some of the criticism in this thread is teen edgelord twitter-quality garbage. Noting this difference isn't the same as saying criticism is bad. But to each their own.
White knighting for fucking Sugiyama…
I don't give a shit if it's the edgiest shitpostiest single sentence post. He doesn't deserve "thoughtfully constructed critique".
It's pretty clear you're trolling but I lost quite a few close family members over the past two years
They weren't bigoted assholes actively making things worse. So please, shut up and log off this site
You know how it goes, just tapped out of my weekly allotment of eternal empathy for those that advocate against people for the horrible crime of existing. If only this had happened on a Monday.
I love DQ and it's one of my favorite game series of all time. I grew up with Sugiyama's music, so it was definitely disappointing when I later learned he had some pretty reprehensible views. Still, RIP and condolences to his friends/family.
Bigotry is allowed to fester and spread because people default to upholding decorum. In a better world we'd all be celebrating the death of someone who used his wealth to help make life so miserable for so many innocent people.
On one hand I'm sad that I've been playing video games since the Atari 2600 days and even played Dragon Warrior 1 and 2 when they released, but don't know any of this supposed 'legendary' music. I couldn't even hum the DQ theme if you had a gun to my head.
On the other hand, I don't have any nostalgic or emotional attachment to the music.
So fuck Koichi Sugiyama and his damaging, hateful views and actions. I wish proceeds of DQ soundtrack sales could now go towards LGBQT+ groups and services to help individuals with depression.
On the other hand, I don't have any nostalgic or emotional attachment to the music.
So fuck Koichi Sugiyama and his damaging, hateful views and actions. I wish proceeds of DQ soundtrack sales could now go towards LGBQT+ groups and services to help individuals with depression.
Fuck off with this statement entirely.
I've lost plenty of family members, I've mourned them, and if any of them were like this man, I'd say the same thing I said in this thread about sugiyama.
Death doesn't automatically yield respect.
If Level 5 can hire Hisaishi, surely Squeenix can convince him to do DQ lol.
Sorry, what are you talking about? Criticism? Are we sending him this thread for some debating purposes? It's absolutely fine for people to just voice their nonchalance at his passing, since he was a terrible person.
I don't see why that's an issue.
yep. Call for civility in such context ain't slick either.
I hope DQXII has a shitty chiptune on a 30 second loop that you'll hear for hours and hours in honour of this piece of shit.
Seems pretty normal to be happy at the death of an evil man who actively used his status to make life worse for other people.
Seems pretty normal to be happy at the death of an evil man who actively used his status to make life worse for other people.
This has been my thought on the entire matter ever since his politics had become more well-known in the west.
He was innovative, and the core he laid down for Dragon Quest is beyond iconic. However, there was no growth after the first few years. Dragon Quest music has been mostly stale a for a long time.
Once it became known who and what the man was, there was basically no reason for Square Enix to hold onto him like they did except for cynical marketing reasons.
People who actively work to worsen the lives of marginalized people deserve no empathy. Y'all are bordering on the paradox of tolerance.
Lets hope he doesn't get his own holiday or something dumb like that