OP
OP
I loved those game's soundtracks. Just had the music really stuck in my head as I'm playing the game currently. How did you find Ys VIII as a whole?
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Why are western games OST underwhelming compared to Japanese's?
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I loved those game's soundtracks. Just had the music really stuck in my head as I'm playing the game currently. How did you find Ys VIII as a whole?
While I think, at this point, most of the other posters have already stated that this is likely secondary to taste, from personal experience:
There are, of course, exceptions on both sides of the pond.
- Japanese game music, to me, tends to focus more on melody. There is an emphasis on the melodic character of each piece and leitmotifs are structured to be memorable.
- Western game music, to me, tends to be more atmospheric. I find there is less emphasis on a central theme and more of a general, non-specific sense or emotion.
There are, of course, exceptions on both sides of the pond.
you made a clickbaity/inflammatory title so the combination of factors did make me wonder the proportion of games you had actually experienced from both regions
Eh, some of the most memorable videogame music ever written is literal "random Hollywood music" from the father of generic Hollywood music.
(This video has 9 million views. Crysis 2's music certainly resonated with people in a rather interesting way.)
But leaving that aside, there are a LOT of generalizations being made in this thread. One thing I would point out is that a lot of composers in the AAA scene are not particularly interested in making music for people to whistle. You can't whistle the theme of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. You're not supposed to. It's still really, really good.
Also, context is considered pretty darn important. In many Japanese games, there's a tendency for random melodies to play at completely inappropriate moments. Or even vocal songs to start playing for no good reason. Remember Xenoblade Chronicles 2? That's an example of that tendency to treat the music as something you rudely plonk on top instead of trying to blend it all together.
Listen to this one Ys track, worth the effort.
I still think Tim Follin made the best ambient track I've ever heard in my life, so japanese vs western music fighting is stupid in my eyes
User warned: Attacking another user, negative generalizations about Japanese games
Probably cause you are a weeb op.
Japanese videogame music tends to be extremely cheesy, like it was composed by a robot.
Japanese videogame music tends to be extremely cheesy, like it was composed by a robot.
The most important thing to remember is whatever music you think is great, others think is terrible (same is true about games). And the second most important thing to remember is whatever you think you know about music, you're uninformed compared to someone else who has different tastes in games.
Once you accept those two things, your opinion on the subject is more relevant.
Once you accept those two things, your opinion on the subject is more relevant.
That Y's track was horrible.
But out of all the examples in this thread, the western games sound pretty similar
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Japanese OSTs come off more varied to me. I play a lot of fighting games, and cannot think of one track from MKX that stuck out for me the way that certain tracks from SFV do. I just went through the more MCU focused OST from MVCI and the Marvel side's tracks kind of just blend. I didn't even realize each character had their own theme until I looked up the OST.
But out of all the examples in this thread, the western games sound pretty similar
Bastion was lit tho
Japanese OSTs come off more varied to me. I play a lot of fighting games, and cannot think of one track from MKX that stuck out for me the way that certain tracks from SFV do. I just went through the more MCU focused OST from MVCI and the Marvel side's tracks kind of just blend. I didn't even realize each character had their own theme until I looked up the OST.
OP
OP
Rhetorical or? While I have to admit I played more Japanese-developed games overall, I did play decent amount of western titles, and for me, Witcher 3 is still one of my all time favorite game. I also think God of War PS4 is fun, but I didn't care for its OST so far. Not very far into the game to judge its entire soundtracks.
Putting Hans Zimmer on any piece of music will guarantee the millions of views. It's in the mind of a lot of people that film music is superior to VGM in every way. I wish Hans Zimmer would move out of the video game industry forever.
I mean the track is lovely but it sounds like elevator music to me. I think this whole thread is about taste and how different it can be from one person to another.
I wanted so much to like it, but I just couldn't. So many things just pulled it down for me (granted, I haven't tried it after the patch (it's out now right?)) But mainly the music, it just, ugh. No. Too much stuff, all the time. I felt like if they had just chilled a bit with all the guitar solos and stripped it down a little, it would be far better.
Not really.
Specially when tracks like this are better then his very popular ones.
That's just because NRS music is ass, though. I wish they'd sort it out, there's no excuse when Killer Instinct's soundtrack is right up there with some of the best from fighting games. Or close to it, at least.
Yeah, I don't mind this.
You've got a hell of an elevator ride, then.
Modern Warfare 2's soundtrack is extremely watched over youtube, obviously
I disagree. IMO most Japanese scores are loud and obnoxious. I do love some Japanese soundtracks, but not nearly as much as say the soundtracks from TLOU, Witcher 3, Skyrim, God of War, and Halo.
This place fucking sucks
Yep. Marty on Halo and Destiny. Mick Gordon in KI and Doom. Both amazing.
Eh, I would agree with you last gen maybe. Both have their fair share of duds. Especially JRPGs, which tend to have generic music in general. As for big franchises? l always thought DMC and Yakuza had pretty underwhelming OST. Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, CDPR, and Santa Monica have really made some of the most memorable OST in a while. The Witcher 3 soundtrack has stood out to me as one the greats. It's up there with FF VII as the most memorable to me. It honestly just comes down to the games you end up playing.
Like I said, anything you think is great, others will think sucks. Anything you think sucks or is lacking others will disagree. And anything you think you know, you don't, next to someone who has different tastes. You just can never win, all of the time.
I guarantee you I can have no trouble finding people who hate whatever tune from Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy whatever or anything else you think is the best OST in gaming.
But the OP is asking why western OSTs aren't more catchy or have memorable melodies, but they do, and there's a ton of them, you just need to look harder.
I think that's a good point, you need to look harder. I think indie games are absolutely great on that front and are overlooked, but people in this thread are linking some Call of Duty, Uncharted or Horizon that are simply not catchy even with their context, they accompany a scene but they are truly unremarkable.
But I think 90% of the opinions presented here are not divorcing the context from the games they like. Which just makes it a proxy games I live vs games I dislike thread rather than an earnest discussion about VGM. Even if the thread title is pretty stupid by itself.
"Magic mirror, on the wall; who's the weebiest of them all?"
"Famed is thy weebiness, OP. But hold, a greasy otaku I see. Wafuku cannot hide his cell-shaded grace. Alas, he is more weeb than thee."
While this thread is mostly just people reaching in their assholes and pulling out some opinions to present as fact, there sure are some sweet tracks being linked up in here.
I'm having a great time with my headphones over here.
"Famed is thy weebiness, OP. But hold, a greasy otaku I see. Wafuku cannot hide his cell-shaded grace. Alas, he is more weeb than thee."
While this thread is mostly just people reaching in their assholes and pulling out some opinions to present as fact, there sure are some sweet tracks being linked up in here.
I'm having a great time with my headphones over here.
OP
OP
Context matters why the hell would slower paced games use something like ys8 energetic tracks
Shit like this works because it carries the energy the game itself has
Shit like this works because it carries the energy the game itself has
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This sounds more like the OP's limited perspective than any actual fact. The claims that it's because Western games try to be more "cinematic" don't even make sense. Movies don't have amazing soundtracks?
OP
OP
This is solid argument, but energy can be generated from soundtracks instead of relying on just the gameplay.
Gaur's Plain can do just that. Calm environment elevated by pure enthusiasm from the sound.
Because Western AAA games tend to chase the cinematic experience, that includes the soundtrack. Indie games often have more memorable and melodic soundtracks.
A lot of Western games use soundtracks that remind me of the same scores from movies and TV shows. Just seeing what people have listed confirms this to me. Japan tends to be more daring with most of their games. Just play P4/P5 or the DanganRonpa series and they're quite different and unique. The closest comparison I can think of is Danny B's music. All a matter of personal preference.
I think that Ys track is unbearably bad. Sorry. Different tastes and all.
I find the generalisations about western video game music i often see on this forum to be so mindnumbing. Japanese and western video game music is incredibly diverse.
I find the generalisations about western video game music i often see on this forum to be so mindnumbing. Japanese and western video game music is incredibly diverse.
The division
Elder Scrolls games
Star Wars
FarCry
Bioshock
and Dragon Age? These OSTs are trash holy shit lol nothing memorable
Elder Scrolls games
Star Wars
FarCry
Bioshock
and Dragon Age? These OSTs are trash holy shit lol nothing memorable
This is how I feel about it too. A lot of times Western tracks are too passive to get noticed but soundtracks like the one OP linked from Ys fall on the opposite end.
I wont comment on which any better becasue anyone has their own preference but those people said JRPG tend to have generic music clearly need to check their ears and listen more becasue most of composer from jprg has really distinct style of using intrusment and create melody . Even i dislike Hamazu , his music also pretty unique
I cant post alot of example but here some from 2 composer, if they are generic , they already sound the same.
Noriyasu Agematsu
Hitoshi Sakimoto
I cant post alot of example but here some from 2 composer, if they are generic , they already sound the same.
Noriyasu Agematsu
Hitoshi Sakimoto
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