Final Fantasy music legend Nobuo Uematsu thinks modern ‘movie-like’ game music is uninteresting

Legendary video game music composer Nobuo Uematsu says he doesn’t think some modern video game soundtracks are as interesting as those in older games.

Uematsu is most famous for composing the soundtracks for the first nine Final Fantasy games, and working on numerous subsequent entries.

In a video interview with NewsPicks (translated into English by Automaton), Uematsu explained that, in his opinion, games that opt for soundtracks similar to those of Hollywood movies are hindering the progress of game music.

Uematsu initially explained how the limitations of 8-bit and 16-bit consoles forced him to be creative with how he created his soundtracks for the early Final Fantasy games.

He also explained that he continued similar methods in the PS1 era, even though it was capable of CD quality sound, because he wanted to avoid having the game pause to stream new audio every time the game switched from exploration to a battle.

From Final Fantasy X on PS2 onwards, however, Uematsu says game music entered “a period where we could pretty much do everything”, and that it has become “easier for me to express different genres of music (like rock and jazz) within game music”.

This modern period has led to game music becoming less interesting, according to Uematsu, because some directors and producers are “satisfied with movie soundtrack-like music in games”.

Uematsu said he thinks “people need to have more freedom when creating [game music]”, otherwise “game music cannot develop further”.

“Game music will become more interesting if composers consider ‘what is something only I can do?’ and use their own knowledge and experience to be truly creative,” he added.

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Final Fantasy music legend Nobuo Uematsu doesn’t think he’ll ever compose a whole game again

He provided the main theme for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Last month Uematsu said he doesn’t think he’ll be able to compose an entire game’s soundtrack ever again.

“As far as Final Fantasy is concerned, I’m still involved by writing the main themes for the games,” he explained. “But I don’t think I’ll compose music for a whole game again.

“You would have to give it full throttle for two or three years. And I don’t think I have the physical and mental strength to do it anymore.”