Game Music Composers

This week I have been looking for ways to remix the topic of “Developer Appreciation Week” seeing as I participated in the event several times when Scarybooster ran it and similarly when I adopted it as part of Blaugust. It is hard to find ground sometime that you have not already tread multiple times. However this morning I am going to focus on Video Game music specifically. I love soundtracks and as such I am going to highlight some of my favorite composers. With each I will highlight a specific track that more or less explains why I like them so much.

Bear McCreary

I have to admit I first took notice of Bear when the Defiance soundtrack was released. I love “wild west in outer space” genres, and the soundtrack he crafted seemed to fit it perfectly. I am extremely partial to the track Ninety Niners that I am embedded above. It really highlights the anachronism of twangy undertones with synth providing the driving beat.

Notable Video Game Soundtracks

• Dark Void / Dark Void Zero
• Defiance
• Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
• God of War (2018 version)

Sarah Schachner

I first took note of Sarah’s work on the Assassin’s Creed Origins soundtrack and the way that she blended Arabian sounding themes into semi-electronica undertones to provide this auditory tapestry for my exploration of that big open world. However I really love her work on the Anthem soundtrack and I think it is highlighted with Valor the most, aka the Freelancer theme that plays as you are logging into the game. I love the Anthem soundtracks use of synthesized voice as an instrument.

Notable Video Game Soundtracks

• Assassin’s Creed Unity
• Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
• Assassin’s Creed Origins
• Anthem

Jesper Kyd

So Jesper Kyd has this insanely storied career doing Video Game music starting in 1990 and continuing through current projects like Borderlands 3. I have to admit I first took note of his work when playing State of Decay and the deep sense of remorse and melancholy invoked by the music. What better soundtrack for a broken world filled with the undead? A lot of times you latch onto music because of the memories you have associated with it. The above track does a great job of blending all of these different sounds into a theme song perfect for surviving the apocalypse.

Notable Video Game Soundtracks

• State of Decay 1 and 2
• Borderlands Series Contributions
• Darksiders II
• Assassins Creed I, II, Brotherhood, Revelations

Inon Xur

Inon Xur is another massive player on the Video Game music scene, but for me… my taking notice started with the Rift soundtrack. I LOVE the Defiant theme, because I was a steadfast player of that faction. I will absolutely rely on technology over magic and religion any day. This is another situation where I should probably just link to a Wiki page instead of calling out specific soundtracks, but in this case there are absolute favorites that I am going to highlight.

Notable Video Game Soundtracks

• Fallout: New Vegas
• Dragon Age: Origins
• Rift
• Fallout 4

Jeremy Soule

For me at least Jeremy Soule is synonymous with Elder Scrolls. Which is potentially is a double edged sword given that when someone is so identifiable with a specific thing, they often times have trouble breaking out of that mold. My personal favorite version of “the theme” comes from Elder Scrolls Online. He is just as equally recognizable however for Guild Wars fans and while I think it probably needed some tweaking I was pretty partial to his theme for the sadly never to be released Everquest Next. The first soundtrack I probably took note of him on however was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

Notable Video Game Soundtracks

• Elder Scrolls Series
• Guild Wars Series
• Dungeon Siege ½
• Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
• Everquest Next/Landmark Theme

Masayoshi Soken

Soken as he is known by players of FInal Fantasy XIV is one of the most beautiful human beings on the planet. Firstly I love pretty much all of the music he has created for Final Fantasy XIV, but even more than that I love the spirit and excitement that he pours into it. Square releases these super awkward Bluray music discs that you have to connect through a Playstation 4 in order to pull MP3s from… yet I keep buying them over and over just to have an archival copy of his works. I like a lot of the music in FFXIV but my favorite theme will probably always be Garuda embedded above. He has also formed a “metal” band called The Primals where they focus on themes from the Primal fights like Garuda.

Notable Video Game Soundtracks

• Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
• Final Fantasy XIV: The Far Edge of Fate
• Final Fantasy XIV: Before the Fall
• Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward
• Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood

Michiru Yamane

I am going back in and editing the post after originally publishing this morning. In my rush to get out the door I omitted someone that absolutely has to be part of this. Michiru Yamane is responsible for one of my favorite video game soundtracks of all time, Castlevania Symphony of the night. Just prior to that however she was also responsible for Castlevania Bloodlines that did a phenomenal job of pushing the Sega Genesis systems limited FM modulation chip to insane levels. More recently she was brought onto the Bloodstained Ritual of the Night project and also did the soundtrack for Curse of the Moon the 8 bit styled retro game.

Notable Video Game Soundtracks

• Castlevania: Bloodlines
• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
• Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
• Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
• Skullgirls
• Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
• Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
• Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

In Closing

I could probably keep this up for awhile, but I have reached a point where I need to close things out and head to work. I am fairly passionate about Video Game music, and if you are as well then I highly suggest you check out the Battle Bards podcast as they focus entirely on awesome soundtracks to video games. Each show focuses on some theme and a ton of great music sounding it. Also the hosts are pretty great as well.