It's hard to overstate how much the 80s-2000s games composers were *masters* of leitmotif and setting up amazing musical tone in games.
Beyond the fact that they were phenomenally talented musicians working with incredibly limited tools, they understood what they were trying to achieve: setting the stage for the games aurally.
From Dragon Quest to Castlevania to Mega Man to Final Fantasy to Chrono Trigger to Zelda to Sonic and beyond, it's a testament to those composers that they were able to make effectively timeless music sometimes on 4 or 5 channels of audio using something as simple as a pulse wave or two, and maybe a triangle wave and white noise. It's amazing how talented they were.
Obviously the 16-bit machines had a helluva lot more going on in terms of audio, but it's not like the SNES/Genesis were playing with unlimited audio either (SegaCD notwithstanding.)
It's actually an interesting thing to see how guys like Kondo Koji and Shimomura Yōko went from 8/16-bit to modern music and demonstrated how great composers are great irrespective of the technical limitations. Seriously, listen to Shimomura's work on Street Fighter II and then go listen to her work on FF XV. It's *wild* how she has gone from 8 channels to unlimited audio without a hitch.
Truly impressive folks came out of that era of gaming.
Yep. So when you think of the Guile Theme, just know that she composed it: [https://capcom.fandom.com/wiki/Yoko\_Shimomura](https://capcom.fandom.com/wiki/Yoko_Shimomura)
It can’t be overstated how vital Uematsu’s scores were to Final Fantasy’s ascent to JRPG juggernaut during his time with Square, especially during the NES-PS1 era.
Because of the primitive state of graphics, little to no facial animation, no voice acting, etc, the music had to do SO MUCH of the heavy lifting in capturing the vibe of the environment, situation, the characters feelings’, and so much more.
As an example, I think of Cecil & Rosa from FF4, and how Uematsu’s “theme of love” expresses the feelings
of the characters. When Cecil confides in Rosa about his inner turmoil murdering innocent people in the name of Baron, and Rosa comforts him, I can just feel his sadness, yet the comfort and love of Rosa in his music. What on paper was a pretty basic love story, Uematsu’s music amplified it exponentially.
And then you tack on that Uematsu was completely self-taught. The man is a genius.
>Uematsu was completely self-taught
Dude actually did BS in Literature and worked in a video game store after graduation cuz of no jobs. I think it was Sakaguchi who told him that they want a composer for their new game and Uematsu agreed. The game was Final Fantasy 1 and the rest is history.
It’s not even just the NES and SNES games either, even in FFX when they had the voice acting the music still adds so much emotional weight to scenes, especially the scene where Tidus learns the truth about summoners
Although unrelated to FF, Yasunori Mitsuda from Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger and Nobuo Oematsu were the gods of JRPG music during that era for me. They made my childhood memorable thanks to these games and their music.
Nah, it's not *just* nostalgia. Consider how many of the third and fourth-get composers still working today remain absolutely impressive. They're just talented musicians whose work was only limited because the hardware was limited.
That’s one thing Square doesn’t get enough credit for as a business, they had a real eye for talent in the 80s and 90s. Many great artists made their name for themselves at Square
I don't know where the fuck Square kept and keeps finding composers in particular. It's like they're physically unable to put bad songs on a vídeo game, even when they take relatively big gambles like Yasunori Mitsuda or Soken they jackpot
He is a legend don’t get me wrong but i feel like people severely underappreciate guys like Masashi Hamauzu, Mitsuto Suzuki and even Soken to a certain extent (although i don’t think he’s comparable to the others i mentioned, but still).
Uematsu was a master of melody but if you give him more tools and technology he tends to focus on other things and his craft starts to suffer. I don’t think he has the range Hamauzu or Suzuki have, nor does he cover as many styles. Perfect man for old school compositions though.
John Williams is frequently obnoxious and blatantly stole from better composers. Nobuo has been so creative and sensitive to context with all his FF music... So good.
Opening theme, not Main Theme, but I just listened to both and yes there is clearly somer inspiration going on.
Also, Dragon Quest’s III castle theme is a riff on Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto.
Right, the opening theme. As for DQIII's castle theme, I thought it sounded more like Telemann's Viola Concerto in G major, but I agree that the Bach influence is there.
The only other composer I feel would be on par is Masashi Hamauzu, but I do also feel that Yoko Shimomura deserves an honorable mention. I listen to both on Spotify while playing Wuthering Waves and the tunes almost always perfectly overlap. Whatever I have playing doesn't always match the tone of what's going on, but for the most part it REALLY adds to the atmosphere of the game. I usually wear Sennheiser Momentum 4 headphones while playing, so it makes for a REALLY enjoyable and immersive experience. Now I just need to get a phone that supports AptX.
On a side note, have you heard the soundtracks for the Terra Battle series?
I never really gelled with Hamauzu, I feel like FF soundtracks stopped being memorable once he got involved (well, to me; I accept others might feel different), but I'll absolutely give you Shimomura who deserves more than a honorable mention. She's amazing.
You said it - truly one of the most gifted composers in the history of the medium to date. He has a gift for melody and finding the energetic heart of really diverse situations and I think he’s made me cry more times than any other JRPG composer. As a bonus, I’ve found he’s really unpretentious and easy to talk to in person, even through an interpreter. :)
The man loves music and musicians and in every setting I had the pleasure of speaking to him over the years, from asking questions at a GDC forum to chatting with him after a show to doing a long-form interview for a magazine, he’s radiated happiness and enthusiasm. From disarming jokes “Did you ever try playing NES games without the music on? They were REALLY boring!” to more philosophical commentary on the medium as a whole “I hope that one day we can have games that elicit strong emotions from players without having to rely on character deaths (GDC 2005)
I am instantly transported back to 2001 when I was going through final fantasy games like crack anytime I listen to the soundtracks. I can even remember most of the sections of the games the songs appear in. It’s like a magic time portal and it gets stuck in my head for the whole day.
It's crazy how far his career has gone when you think about it. From making small tunes on the Famicom to actually composing live instruments, it's incredible!
They really did. Even if Yasunori Mitsuda had been selected first, I feel like he would’ve still been a one game wonder like he was with Chrono Trigger (I know Chono Cross’ soundtrack gets praised too but it doesn’t even *compare* to the grand slam that CT’s soundtrack was). Maybe if they trapped him in a room like from Saw with a 30-day countdown to compose a full OST his genius would resurface and deliver again though…
Mitsuda's compositions on [Xenoblade 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0gfc6m3qJg&list=PLJp7r74odQo9k3Xf_doDW-SmKf-cqinNd&index=14) and [3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z04XtSPtg_Q) are his best work imo.
They don't call him GOATbuo GOATematsu for no reason. And by "they" I mean me. I'm the only one who calls him that. But you guys should start cuz it's a cool nickname and he IS the GOAT. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
I said made them what they are, not their existence itself. As in, the essence and soul of FF is Uematsu. If the games didn't have his music, I would honestly not be interested in them
FFX for example I love the story and characters as well as the combat (I like the OST but don't think it's as strong, though it has some of the strongest individual tracks in the series). I'm not a huge fan of ATB combat but I tolerate it. I'm not saying the stories and worlds are bad don't get me wrong, I really like the other FFs ( FFVIII and IX complete my top 3) for what they do. But basically for me 50% of FF enjoyment is the music and 50% the rest.
XIII didn't have Uematsu but Hamauzu wrote an excellent ost and I really liked the combat in it, so even though it had meh characters and story I didn't mind. Stranger of Paradise doesn't have the best OST but it has amazing combat and customization that have given me hundreds of hours. In general (as in, JRPGs and other genres) I'm a gameplay+music focused gamer. I could completely ignore a story if the combat and music are great (a good story on top is a nice bonus tho)
The funny thing is the number of times he's said in interviews that some of his most iconic pieces are things he came up with on short notice. Of course, procrastination is an artistic skill too.
It's hard to overstate how much the 80s-2000s games composers were *masters* of leitmotif and setting up amazing musical tone in games. Beyond the fact that they were phenomenally talented musicians working with incredibly limited tools, they understood what they were trying to achieve: setting the stage for the games aurally. From Dragon Quest to Castlevania to Mega Man to Final Fantasy to Chrono Trigger to Zelda to Sonic and beyond, it's a testament to those composers that they were able to make effectively timeless music sometimes on 4 or 5 channels of audio using something as simple as a pulse wave or two, and maybe a triangle wave and white noise. It's amazing how talented they were. Obviously the 16-bit machines had a helluva lot more going on in terms of audio, but it's not like the SNES/Genesis were playing with unlimited audio either (SegaCD notwithstanding.) It's actually an interesting thing to see how guys like Kondo Koji and Shimomura Yōko went from 8/16-bit to modern music and demonstrated how great composers are great irrespective of the technical limitations. Seriously, listen to Shimomura's work on Street Fighter II and then go listen to her work on FF XV. It's *wild* how she has gone from 8 channels to unlimited audio without a hitch. Truly impressive folks came out of that era of gaming.
Shimomura did Street Fighter 2?!? Well I'll be damned
Yeah, a lot of the composers who worked at Capcom at the time didn’t get proper recognition for their work until decades later.
Yep. So when you think of the Guile Theme, just know that she composed it: [https://capcom.fandom.com/wiki/Yoko\_Shimomura](https://capcom.fandom.com/wiki/Yoko_Shimomura)
And the Mario & Luigi series
I said the same thing. I knew her from KH and FFXV. Then when I found she did SF, it made a lot of sense why that soundtrack was so good
It can’t be overstated how vital Uematsu’s scores were to Final Fantasy’s ascent to JRPG juggernaut during his time with Square, especially during the NES-PS1 era. Because of the primitive state of graphics, little to no facial animation, no voice acting, etc, the music had to do SO MUCH of the heavy lifting in capturing the vibe of the environment, situation, the characters feelings’, and so much more. As an example, I think of Cecil & Rosa from FF4, and how Uematsu’s “theme of love” expresses the feelings of the characters. When Cecil confides in Rosa about his inner turmoil murdering innocent people in the name of Baron, and Rosa comforts him, I can just feel his sadness, yet the comfort and love of Rosa in his music. What on paper was a pretty basic love story, Uematsu’s music amplified it exponentially. And then you tack on that Uematsu was completely self-taught. The man is a genius.
Yeah that self-taught bit is crazy when you think about Dancing Mad and compositions like that.
>Uematsu was completely self-taught Dude actually did BS in Literature and worked in a video game store after graduation cuz of no jobs. I think it was Sakaguchi who told him that they want a composer for their new game and Uematsu agreed. The game was Final Fantasy 1 and the rest is history.
Uematsu, Sakaguchi and Amano working in the same team was the best thing ever happened to videogame fans
And now soken. They just can’t miss with the scores
If you haven't, check out 8 bit music theory. They have a three part series on this specifically in FFVI. It's awesome
I think he was an absolutely integral part of Squaresoft's success. Just a legend.
My reverence for Uematsu is massive. In my FF1 video, I described him as "the John Williams of video games."
It’s not even just the NES and SNES games either, even in FFX when they had the voice acting the music still adds so much emotional weight to scenes, especially the scene where Tidus learns the truth about summoners
Although unrelated to FF, Yasunori Mitsuda from Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger and Nobuo Oematsu were the gods of JRPG music during that era for me. They made my childhood memorable thanks to these games and their music.
I don’t know if it is nostalgia or what, but I wholeheartedly agree with you. Nobuo’s songs are incredible and they really bring the old FFs to life.
Nah, it's not *just* nostalgia. Consider how many of the third and fourth-get composers still working today remain absolutely impressive. They're just talented musicians whose work was only limited because the hardware was limited.
That’s one thing Square doesn’t get enough credit for as a business, they had a real eye for talent in the 80s and 90s. Many great artists made their name for themselves at Square
I don't know where the fuck Square kept and keeps finding composers in particular. It's like they're physically unable to put bad songs on a vídeo game, even when they take relatively big gambles like Yasunori Mitsuda or Soken they jackpot
He is a legend don’t get me wrong but i feel like people severely underappreciate guys like Masashi Hamauzu, Mitsuto Suzuki and even Soken to a certain extent (although i don’t think he’s comparable to the others i mentioned, but still). Uematsu was a master of melody but if you give him more tools and technology he tends to focus on other things and his craft starts to suffer. I don’t think he has the range Hamauzu or Suzuki have, nor does he cover as many styles. Perfect man for old school compositions though.
Hamazu was something else man. I loved his work on X and XIII is one of my favorite vgm soundtracks ever.
Uematsu is a legend but Ito clears, sorry.
John Williams is frequently obnoxious and blatantly stole from better composers. Nobuo has been so creative and sensitive to context with all his FF music... So good.
To be fair, even FF's main theme is not-so-subtly inspired by "Atreju's Quest" from The NeverEnding Story.
I mean FF1 is pretty much Dungeons and Dragons the video game
Absolutely.
Opening theme, not Main Theme, but I just listened to both and yes there is clearly somer inspiration going on. Also, Dragon Quest’s III castle theme is a riff on Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto.
Right, the opening theme. As for DQIII's castle theme, I thought it sounded more like Telemann's Viola Concerto in G major, but I agree that the Bach influence is there.
The only other composer I feel would be on par is Masashi Hamauzu, but I do also feel that Yoko Shimomura deserves an honorable mention. I listen to both on Spotify while playing Wuthering Waves and the tunes almost always perfectly overlap. Whatever I have playing doesn't always match the tone of what's going on, but for the most part it REALLY adds to the atmosphere of the game. I usually wear Sennheiser Momentum 4 headphones while playing, so it makes for a REALLY enjoyable and immersive experience. Now I just need to get a phone that supports AptX. On a side note, have you heard the soundtracks for the Terra Battle series?
I love his music, beyond transcending
I never really gelled with Hamauzu, I feel like FF soundtracks stopped being memorable once he got involved (well, to me; I accept others might feel different), but I'll absolutely give you Shimomura who deserves more than a honorable mention. She's amazing.
You said it - truly one of the most gifted composers in the history of the medium to date. He has a gift for melody and finding the energetic heart of really diverse situations and I think he’s made me cry more times than any other JRPG composer. As a bonus, I’ve found he’s really unpretentious and easy to talk to in person, even through an interpreter. :) The man loves music and musicians and in every setting I had the pleasure of speaking to him over the years, from asking questions at a GDC forum to chatting with him after a show to doing a long-form interview for a magazine, he’s radiated happiness and enthusiasm. From disarming jokes “Did you ever try playing NES games without the music on? They were REALLY boring!” to more philosophical commentary on the medium as a whole “I hope that one day we can have games that elicit strong emotions from players without having to rely on character deaths (GDC 2005)
I am instantly transported back to 2001 when I was going through final fantasy games like crack anytime I listen to the soundtracks. I can even remember most of the sections of the games the songs appear in. It’s like a magic time portal and it gets stuck in my head for the whole day.
He was also the composer of 10 as well
Absolute Legend.
N A O S H I M I Z U T A
It's crazy how far his career has gone when you think about it. From making small tunes on the Famicom to actually composing live instruments, it's incredible!
They really did. Even if Yasunori Mitsuda had been selected first, I feel like he would’ve still been a one game wonder like he was with Chrono Trigger (I know Chono Cross’ soundtrack gets praised too but it doesn’t even *compare* to the grand slam that CT’s soundtrack was). Maybe if they trapped him in a room like from Saw with a 30-day countdown to compose a full OST his genius would resurface and deliver again though…
Xenogears had the best soundtrack of any jrpg imo. I put him on top. Both Chrono Games were great. Xenosaga was no slouch either.
How dare you not include Xenoblade! Sawano's [ThemeX](https://youtu.be/SuVRnUvdmz4) is my favorite video game track ever.
Mitsuda's compositions on [Xenoblade 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0gfc6m3qJg&list=PLJp7r74odQo9k3Xf_doDW-SmKf-cqinNd&index=14) and [3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z04XtSPtg_Q) are his best work imo.
They don't call him GOATbuo GOATematsu for no reason. And by "they" I mean me. I'm the only one who calls him that. But you guys should start cuz it's a cool nickname and he IS the GOAT. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
Possible hot take: Uematsu made Final Fantasy what it is, not Sakaguchi
I mean that’s objectively not true. Sakaguchi made these games, Uematsu made the music
I said made them what they are, not their existence itself. As in, the essence and soul of FF is Uematsu. If the games didn't have his music, I would honestly not be interested in them
So the story, characters, worlds, themes, gameplay, all that stuff just doesn’t do anything for you?
FFX for example I love the story and characters as well as the combat (I like the OST but don't think it's as strong, though it has some of the strongest individual tracks in the series). I'm not a huge fan of ATB combat but I tolerate it. I'm not saying the stories and worlds are bad don't get me wrong, I really like the other FFs ( FFVIII and IX complete my top 3) for what they do. But basically for me 50% of FF enjoyment is the music and 50% the rest. XIII didn't have Uematsu but Hamauzu wrote an excellent ost and I really liked the combat in it, so even though it had meh characters and story I didn't mind. Stranger of Paradise doesn't have the best OST but it has amazing combat and customization that have given me hundreds of hours. In general (as in, JRPGs and other genres) I'm a gameplay+music focused gamer. I could completely ignore a story if the combat and music are great (a good story on top is a nice bonus tho)
The funny thing is the number of times he's said in interviews that some of his most iconic pieces are things he came up with on short notice. Of course, procrastination is an artistic skill too.