Good games with crappy music.

In DMC4 you only had one battle music! How annoying! gamingqueen

I thought it was 2. One battlemusic is for Nero and the other is for Dante.

[QUOTE="gamingqueen"]In DMC4 you only had one battle music! How annoying! Haee

I thought it was 2. One battlemusic is for Nero and the other is for Dante.

I haven't got to that part yet... don't look at me! I had exams!

Klonoa 2 certainly fits the bill, the soundtrack is high pitched techno pop made by what seems to be the chipmunks along with a bunch of elementary school students on psychedelics. This does of course fit the mood of the game, but it doesnt make it any less painful.

I agree with your call on Devil May Cry 3, its not just the soundtrack that is the problem but the entire sound design. The attack sounds, along with Dante's comments and the horribly repetative music mixed to be AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE and none of it meshes. In fact, Capcom as a company seems bad at sound design because the sound design for Viewtiful Joe and Resident Evil 4 was equally bad. I cant play any of those three games without turning the volume on my tv way down or off even.

Many 8 bit and 16 bit games had horrible soundtracks as well but that was really a different time, and the limitations were much bigger.

Klonoa 2 certainly fits the bill, the soundtrack is high pitched techno pop made by what seems to be the chipmunks along with a bunch of elementary school students on psychedelics. This does of course fit the mood of the game, but it doesnt make it any less painful.

I agree with your call on Devil May Cry 3, its not just the soundtrack that is the problem but the entire sound design. The attack sounds, along with Dante's comments and the horribly repetative music mixed to be AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE and none of it meshes. In fact, Capcom as a company seems bad at sound design because the sound design for Viewtiful Joe and Resident Evil 4 was equally bad. I cant play any of those three games without turning the volume on my tv way down or off even.

Many 8 bit and 16 bit games had horrible soundtracks as well but that was really a different time, and the limitations were much bigger.

super_police

I loved the first game. It was very touching and the music was damn fitting.

Klonoa 2 certainly fits the bill, the soundtrack is high pitched techno pop made by what seems to be the chipmunks along with a bunch of elementary school students on psychedelics. This does of course fit the mood of the game, but it doesnt make it any less painful.

super_police

Many 8 bit and 16 bit games had horrible soundtracks as well but that was really a different time, and the limitations were much bigger.super_police

Dynasty Warriors
All that damn thrash metal... didn't fit it at all.

I'm actually quite disappointed in the musical quality of final fantasy games of the last 10 years. You'd think that with all the production values the series has they'd hire an actual symphony for the audio instead of a cheap-ass synthesizer.UT_Wrestler

I really think synthesized orchetras should be a thing of the past. And you're right, it sounds really cheap. Just about the only game with good synthesized music I can think of is Super Mario Galaxy.

I couldn't get over the music in Excite Truck, it's not.... bad, but the constant EPIC wailing of sub-standard sounding electric guitar got old after a while.

FF9&11, 70% of the radio music in an GTA game.markebici

Why ff9? It has some of the best pieces in all FF games.

[QUOTE="UT_Wrestler"]I'm actually quite disappointed in the musical quality of final fantasy games of the last 10 years. You'd think that with all the production values the series has they'd hire an actual symphony for the audio instead of a cheap-ass synthesizer.Jbul

I really think synthesized orchetras should be a thing of the past. And you're right, it sounds really cheap. Just about the only game with good synthesized music I can think of is Super Mario Galaxy.

Umm... Galaxy actually does have an orchestra for the soundtrack. Some of the tunes that are aiming to be retro use synthesizers I believe, but otherwise it is actual people playing actual instruments.

I'm actually quite disappointed in the musical quality of final fantasy games of the last 10 years. You'd think that with all the production values the series has they'd hire an actual symphony for the audio instead of a cheap-ass synthesizer.UT_Wrestler

Now, the other problem is cost, as in how much it costs to have a live orchestra record /that/ much music for the game, most films don't have anywhere near the volume of music in the games as games like FF does, and they also tend to have larger budgets than games do, making this problem even more difficult, as the audio team tends to get the lower allocation of funding/resources than other teams.

Be disappointed all you want, but realize that given the volume of music in FF soundtracks, and the cost of recording a soundtrack of that size would be rather difficult. The only reason a game like, say, DQVIII had an orchestral score for the US release is moreso because main music for the game recorded independently of the game's production in Japan (the Japanese releaese of DQVIII had sequenced music for the full soundtrack).

And then not all FF were done on keyboard! They did use instruments but perhaps you missed FF games from the past 10 years...gamingqueen

[QUOTE="gamingqueen"]And then not all FF were done on keyboard! They did use instruments but perhaps you missed FF games from the past 10 years...Skylock00

Most of tracks in ff9 and ten aren't! in ff9, there's huge usage of piano and FFX there's also too much usage of piano and other instruments! I could list you the tracks with every instrument used!

[QUOTE="Jbul"]

[QUOTE="UT_Wrestler"]I'm actually quite disappointed in the musical quality of final fantasy games of the last 10 years. You'd think that with all the production values the series has they'd hire an actual symphony for the audio instead of a cheap-ass synthesizer.AtomicTangerine

I really think synthesized orchetras should be a thing of the past. And you're right, it sounds really cheap. Just about the only game with good synthesized music I can think of is Super Mario Galaxy.

Umm... Galaxy actually does have an orchestra for the soundtrack. Some of the tunes that are aiming to be retro use synthesizers I believe, but otherwise it is actual people playing actual instruments.

How do you know? I've beaten the game a few times, and there's too few names in the music credits for there to be an orchestra, and no mention of any outside musicians.

How do you know? I've beaten the game a few times, and there's too few names in the music credits for there to be an orchestra, and no mention of any outside musicians.Jbul

Trust us, all the tracks that sound like they used orchestral music (outside of fanfares for stage endings, IIRC) are done with live orchestras, period.

[QUOTE="Skylock00"][QUOTE="gamingqueen"]And then not all FF were done on keyboard! They did use instruments but perhaps you missed FF games from the past 10 years...gamingqueen

Most of tracks in ff9 and ten aren't! in ff9, there's huge usage of piano and FFX there's also too much usage of piano and other instruments! I could list you the tracks with every instrument used!

But the difference between sampled and real music is becoming more and more subtle. The quality of sampled instruments has really hit a point where, to the average listener, it sounds "real". I think a full symphony for games will continue be a rare occurence, because the costs involved with getting a full orchestra in comparison to a few music composers with good software probably favors the latter. And really, the music shouldn't suffer as a result, it should still sound great.

I think a lot of people forget that as game graphics improve and evolve, so does the audio aspect.

But the difference between sampled and real music is becoming more and more subtle. The quality of sampled instruments has really hit a point where, to the average listener, it sounds "real". I think a full symphony for games will continue be a rare occurence, because the costs involved with getting a full orchestra in comparison to a few music composers with good software probably favors the latter. And really, the music shouldn't suffer as a result, it should still sound great.

I think a lot of people forget that as game graphics improve and evolve, so does the audio aspect.

TheCrazed420

Realistically, from what I've seen in the audio world in games, live orchestral music is going to be /more/ common in games, especially since there has been strides made to make union musicians charge less for game related gigs, and publishers are beginning put more money towards the audio teams behind these projects, since the only real way to match a very expressive, live orchestral score like you have in films...is to use the same sorts of live orchestral scores in games, which involves an increase in live orchestra use, at least in the US/European side of development.

[QUOTE="Jbul"]How do you know? I've beaten the game a few times, and there's too few names in the music credits for there to be an orchestra, and no mention of any outside musicians.Skylock00

Trust us, all the tracks that sound like they used orchestral music (outside of fanfares for stage endings, IIRC) are done with live orchestras, period.

Twilight Princess sure had some cheap sounding music. Though I liked the game, that was one of the biggest disappointments.

Twilight Princess sure had some cheap sounding music. Though I liked the game, that was one of the biggest disappointments.Jbul

In comparison to the rest of the game's production, Twilight Princess's audio was completely lowballed in production, IMHO.

The Crash Bandicoot and Jak games. Naughty Dog just has had AWFUL music in all of their games (haven't played Uncharted ... yet). Darth_Tigris

Uncharted has some great music. There's an example of where it's very obvious that the entire soundtrack was played with real instruments. Bioshock is another good example.

[QUOTE="Jbul"]Twilight Princess sure had some cheap sounding music. Though I liked the game, that was one of the biggest disappointments.Skylock00

In comparison to the rest of the game's production, Twilight Princess's audio was completely lowballed in production, IMHO.

Remember the overworld music? :? Made me cringe. Music is very important in a game to me. Can you imagine if TP's audio got the same care and attention that SMG's did?

The Crash Bandicoot and Jak games. Naughty Dog just has had AWFUL music in all of their games (haven't played Uncharted ... yet). Darth_Tigris