Former Square Enix composer Nobuo Uematsu, the self-taught musician who's created some of the most iconic video game music ever made, sees some developers forming a dangerous habit. Their music is getting boring.
"Frankly speaking, there's less 'weird things' now," the Final Fantasy composer says in a recent interview with Japanese entertainment site Real Sound, translated by Automaton. Seeing the news reported by our friends at PC Gamer, Baldur's Gate 3 publishing lead Michael "Cromwelp" Douse agrees in a post on Twitter.
"The fear in games of polarisation means that nothing is made for anyone in particular anymore," Douse writes. "(Except shareholders)."
But Uematsu maintains that things don't have to be so… beige. Take Elton John as an example, he says: "Despite having to be mindful of commercial success, [John] still continued making good music even after releasing his masterpieces in the 70s. In that sense, I think there's still many things we can do."
Some game directors will just have to relax first. Try a deep tissue massage or something, because Uematsu says "directors and producers hold too much power in their hands even when it comes to the music."
He worries that overbearing bosses make game composers feel like they "aren't in a position to speak their opinion freely, and no matter how much musical knowledge or technical skills they possess, they're still in a position where it’s difficult to speak their mind." Thus, original ideas fade. They're replaced with songs you've already heard.
"There are almost no game producers who are well versed in worldwide entertainment and are familiar with a wide variety of musical genres," Uematsu laments, "so anything goes for them as long as you make it sound like a John Williams movie soundtrack."
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