When do RPGs stop being fun?

[MeshGearFox]

Too much emphasis is put on "incidental" type sound now that the old-fashioned ST has disappeared.

And this is why I hate Sakimoto's work (except for FFT). Frothy, incidental, and ignorable background music, vaguely classical and vaguely ambient and vaguely hinting at some sort of emotion or mood.

The only two Sakimoto compositions I remember from FFXII and Odin Sphere are Eruyt Village and the one from that one forest area in OS. The former I remember more for how completely it rips of Mitsuda (It has the same intro as Scars of Time, mostly), the latter for how much it grated my nerves.

Hell, I think the music is what MADE some of the classic 16 rpgs so classic.

Honestly, I'm of them mindset that had Chrono Trigger not had such a fitting soundtrack, it wouldn't be nearly as fondly remembered. I'm not saying it's just a good soundtrack -- it's a great soundtrack of course, don't get me wrong -- but it's more than that. Mitsuda's compositions for that game served as some sort of cohesive element, creating an ambiance, tying the world and story and characters and everything in the setting to it, and most importantly, providing a way for players to really latch onto the game.

[Prime Mover]

Honestly, I'm of them mindset that had Chrono Trigger not had such a fitting soundtrack, it wouldn't be nearly as fondly remembered. I'm not saying it's just a good soundtrack -- it's a great soundtrack of course, don't get me wrong -- but it's more than that. Mitsuda's compositions for that game served as some sort of cohesive element, creating an ambiance, tying the world and story and characters and everything in the setting to it, and most importantly, providing a way for players to really latch onto the game.

Agreed. Too bad it was the only great soundtrack Mitsuda ever wrote, everything after that was down hill... and I mean DOWN.

But I agree, Sakimoto's work is incredibly vague. It fits much more closely to the kinds of stuff you hear from wRPGs. I was listening to the Fallout 3 soundtrack (which is rarely heard because I usually play with GNR Radio on) and it's actually quite good in context of the mood, but it is very bland on its own. FFXIIs music was similar in that it's completely forgetable, but works "okay" in context of the game.

This is why I'm thrilled that Hamouzu is doing the ST for FF13. Honestly, Uematsu was not at his best in FFX, and most of my favorite tracks in that game come from Hamouzu... things like "Assault/Attack" (the music you hear while fighting on top of Sin), one of my absolute favorite pieces in the series. The early trailer music for FF13 was in the same vain and I really was really buzzing. The newer trailers aren't quite as interesting, being more in the vain of Uematsu's dark choir work, which I've never really cared for... but I'm guessing that they're just hiring him to do the main theme and that's all.

I never thought I'd say this, but I've not really been all that fond of Uematsu's work since FF9, he seems too bogged down in orchestral and choral soundtracks when I think he's really in his element with rock. Why I love The Black Mages so much, I guess. I love classical music, but the kind of stuff I hear from him and other VG composers I'm not really that interested in. Sakuraba probably being the soul exception.

[blummer]

We've mentioned repetitive gameplay and even visual design contributing to burnout.  But can blah music do that as well?

It can make an already slightly boring experience seem worse. Case in point: While Tales of Legendia annoyed me from time to time, I think the soundtrack is lovely, and some of the most creative music I've heard in an RPG. Even if navigating a dungeon with random encounters every six seconds made me want to scream, at least the background music lessened that emotion, if only a little bit.

Tales of Rebirth (wow, I'm really picking on the Tales series here) had more interesting-looking characters and a unique battle system, but the music was pretty bad in a lot of areas. Oh, there were a few excellent songs, but those songs only made the rest of the soundtrack, which was amazingly bland, stand out all the more. I couldn't help but feel that the vast majority of music in that game was composed of three or four note loops, and the effect is extremely grating over time. I stopped playing Rebirth for other reasons (my Japanese isn't quite good enough to play through the game without a guide, and I got tired of reading the guide as I went along), but I do remember that the music didn't particularly do a great job of making me want to continue the game, as Legendia's did.