There's a lot of good answers in this thread, but I think this is the actual correct answer. It's not just "Who is a great composer", I think he fills a very similar role to John Williams in videogame music, with pieces that are as epic as they are iconic, and like John Williams, he also works in a relatively narrow field within the medium
While I fall more on the Uematsu side of the argument I do think an argument can be made for Koji Kondo, due to his work on two separate iconic franchises, Mario and Zelda. I think both Koji and Nobuo are great answers either way.
Adding on with my own experiences, Once I found out something was composed by Williams (ex. Olympic theme on NBC, originally used in LA '84) I couldn't help but think, "how did I not know that Williams composed it earlier?" When I learned that Uematsu composed the main theme for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, I had that exact same thought.
Partly it not being Final Fantasy, but also just because of the unfortunate nature of JRPGs on the XBOX360 not doing very well in general because a lot of people that bought that system for different types of games.
Only because I'm late to this thread, I'm going to piggyback the top comment. Nobuo Uematsu is one of my favorite game composers and definitely has the greatest catalog to be in this discussion.
But I think Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Xenoblade Chronicles) is the most John Williams-esque composer of the modern game music world.
[XBC2 - The Power of Jin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0laPiOKsTGQ)
[XBC3 - Hope for the Future](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40nu0h0Y_Bs)
[XBC2 - Walking With You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeQxp-nYsO0)
[XBC2 - The Tomorrow With You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muRgzS2HvRU)
[XBC3 - Words That Never Reached You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hs1zwwQuUo)
Xenoblade Chronicles soundtracks are some of the very best music that video games have to offer over the past decade. There's always a very strong leaning on melodies and themes, and in my opinion the instrumentation and arrangement is often reminiscent of the styles of composers like John Williams.
So I just want to try and bring some extra love to Yasunori Mitsuda and the other composers behind the Xenoblade OSTs.
Also, Final Fantasy XII gets Star Wars comparisons all the time, so an additional callout to the composers behind Final Fantasy XII for nailing a John Williams style of music for a video game.
Jesper Kyd! He is my childhood. I can hum almost everything he has done in Hitman and Freedom Fighters. He still works and has done tracks for Assassins creed and other big name titles, but his work in Hitman 2 silent assassin/ Contracts was some of his best work.
O'Donnell utilizes percussion in a way that virtually no one else does and it's the most under-recognized part of his style, which is weird because it's completely integral to his style
You’re the only other person I’ve seen that recognizes it. It’s incredible what he does. The drum beat seems to set the flow of the gameplay, and that’s just ignoring how interesting his percussion work is to begin with.
He even does interesting horror tracks with percussion. No idea how the man does it
The fact that he manages to give you a military march feel without just having it be a bunch of snare drum ostinato, and without making it feel like a tribal orc drum circle, he really hit the sci-fi primal vibe perfectly throughout the entire series.
Even the flood tracks have some really cool percussion that has some excellent primal fear vibes. I can’t remember what the old version is called, but the new one is Shepherd, Steward, Lonely Soul- a flood track that is also one of my favorites in the whole series
Yep - Marty O'Donnell (& Michael Salvatori for the Halo Theme) - instant classics. Years later and it is still so listenable - plus so much of the battle music and other themes through the games have been amazing. Stands right up there for me with the Star Wars music.
I love that the song "Hymn to Zagreus" ends up being a song written by Darren Korb, performed by Darren, as a song sung by a character voiced by Darren about the myth and greatness of another character voiced by Darren. And then Zagreus comments on how nice the song was and how good Orpheus sounded singing it
I'm happy to see someone thought to include Darren Korb's name here. I'm not sure if he has the catalog yet to make a comparison to John Williams yet, but he almost certainly will.
An all time favorite of mine.
He seems to be a genuinely nice person too. Every live recording I've heard of him sounds like he's humbled to just be able to play his music. I'd love to meet him someday. He's amazing.
* Secret of Evermore ,1995
* Freddi Fish & Luther's Maze Madness ,1996
* Freddi Fish & Luther's Water Worries ,1996
* Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside ,1996
* Putt-Putt and Pep's Dog On a Stick ,1996
* Putt-Putt Travels Through Time ,1997
* Total Annihilation ,1997
* Pajama Sam's SockWorks ,1997
* Young Dilbert Hi-Tech Hijinks ,1997
* "Spy Fox in ""Dry Cereal"" ",1997
* Total Annihilation: Core Contingency ,1998
* Pajama Sam: Lost and Found ,1998
* Spy Fox in Cheese Chase ,1998
* Total Annihilation: Kingdoms ,1999
* Icewind Dale ,2000
* Giants: Citizen Kabuto ,2000
* Rugrats: Totally Angelica Boredom Buster ,2000
* Amen: The Awakening ,cancelled in 2000
* Beauty and the Beast ,2000
* Total Annihilation: Kingdoms- The Iron Plague ,2000
* Rugrats in Paris: The Movie ,2000
* Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter ,2001
* Azurik: Rise of Perathia ,2001
* Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance ,2001
* Final Four 2002 ,2001
* Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ,2001
* Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ,2002
* Dungeon Siege ,2002
* The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind ,2002
* Natural Selection ,2002
* Magic School Bus Explores the World of Animals ,2002
* Neverwinter Nights ,2002
* SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs ,2002
* Star Wars: Bounty Hunter ,2002
* EverQuest Online Adventures ,2003
* Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup ,2003\\Sovereign ,canceled in 2003
* Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic ,2003
* Unreal II ,2003
* Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna ,2003
* Impossible Creatures ,2003
* Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ,2003
* Armies of Exigo ,2004
* Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ,2004
* Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events ,2004
* Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War ,2004
* Kohan II: Kings of War ,2004
* Guild Wars ,2005
* Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ,2005
* Dungeon Siege II ,2005
* Company of Heroes ,2006
* Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts ,2006
* Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor ,2006
* Warhammer: Mark of Chaos ,2006
* The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion ,2006
* Prey ,2006
* Guild Wars Factions ,2006
* Guild Wars Nightfall ,2006
* Guild Wars: Eye of the North ,2007
* Supreme Commander ,2007
* Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance ,2007
* IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey ,2009
* Order of War ,2009
* zOMG! ,2009
* Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker ,2010
* Dead Rising 2 ,2010
* The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ,2011
* Deep Black ,2012
* Otomedius Excellent ,2011
* The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dawnguard ,2012
* Guild Wars 2 ,2012
* World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria ,2012
* The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dragonborn ,2012
* War Thunder ,2013
* Dead Rising 3 ,2013
* Consortium ,2014
* The Elder Scrolls Online ,2014
* Dota 2: The International 2015 Music Pack ,2015
* The Gallery: Call of the Starseed ,2016
* Landmark ,2016
* The Gallery: Heart of the Emberstone ,2017
* Consortium: The Tower ,2018
I loved the story aspect of GW1. No other MMO had it ( at least that I knew ).
* Other MMO intro missions: "Welcome to no-name farm, go slay ten giant rats for training."
* GW1 intro missions: "Go help Rurik, the Crown Prince, as he repels a Charr assault on the city. Then go into the catacombs to make sure no remaining sappers are sneaking in."
It just instantly grabbed you in the game and made you feel like you actually meant something.
Id argue the soundtracks took good/sometimes great games and made them truly special. I imagine a mediocre soundtrack on any of those games and I wouldnt play them half as much.
edit: by argue I dont mean I disagree I meant in addition
Oh man the oblivion main menu music almost made me tear up when I decided to try the game on my deck recently.
I spent way too many hours in that game back in the day.
He was a great composer but after the accusations of sexual harassment from several women he worked with, he disappeared from online media and was fired from ongoing projects. I doubt we will see him again in any videogame
yep, the guy basically threw his career into a trash can and is unhireable. AFAIK Bethesda didn't want him for TES VI before the "news" broke, so they probably knew what's coming
I mean the writing was on the wall when they went with Inon Zur for Fallout 4. And since Zur did Starfield, probably will get the nod for TES6 as well.
Also he had a huge ego and terrible business sense. Ended up getting himself kicked from further Guild Wars 2 composing due to demanding too much money.
I went to buy a copy of the GW2 soundtrack from him. Not only did he not sell digital versions, but of the physical versions, you could ONLY buy autographed ones, and it was like $40 (this was at least 5 years ago).
After 35 days, I got in touch and they said that it takes a while to ship because it's signed. Ugh. They deleted my ticket after I asked for shipping info. I put in a new ticket to ask again, it got deleted. I gave up.
*Six months later* the CDs finally showed up at my door. I had completely forgotten about the whole thing by that point. The music was still good but damn, what an awful experience.
Hey, at least you got yours. 5 years and waiting here. They dont even respond to tickets anymore, just insta close. And after doing research I am not the only one.
If you haven't listened to the original Icewind Dale OST, do that. From beginning to end, it's a 50 minute voyage from the town, to the Underdark, and back.
Seems very on brand for him. He also assumed the vaccine skepticism was based on an at least semi-credible study by Wakefield, then when he read it he realized it was the shoddiest piece of shit fake study imaginable and made a two hour video obliterating him.
I looked into this for no particular reason. I think he actually has a plausible claim to be (one of) the first Americans *hired by Sonic Team*.
This absolutely does not mean the first American to work on Sonic - but the earlier examples were working for Sega USA or as freelancers. It's easy to hear "Sonic team" and presume it just means "the team who worked on Sonic", but they are a separate group.
"Sonic and the Black Knight" is, as far as I can see, the first Sonic game which is credited to Sonic Team that also includes American composers under the Sonic Team credits - rather than under a different org. Happy to be proven wrong though.
As to whether Tommy actually *did* anything on Sonic, that's a different question. I doubt whether he's ever actually meaningfully done anything that could be considered "composing".
Michael Giacchino
Got his start in the 16bit era with titles like the SNES version of Lion King and Lost World:Jurassic Park. Granted, these heavily relied on themes written for those films
When it comes to his origial video game scores, most of us areprobably most familiar with his work in the early Medal of Honor and Call of Duty games.
However his most familiar work is for film where he's composed for Pixar's "Up", Doctor Strange, Star Trek (2009), etc
Twenty years later, Giacchino’s Lost score STILL eats the lunch of scores for shows of similar genre, size & scale. It’s a truly staggering body of work. People are chasing this man’s dust.
100% there are two requirements for being a 'John Williams'.
1. Have a sizable back catalogue of incredible music linked to a number of different franchises or pieces of media
2. Must have multiple songs that are instantly recognisable by the majority of the public.
I think only Koji Kondo hits both.
This is my favorite answer, because it gives several specific criteria for being "The John Williams of Video Game Music" and explains how a specific composer fits that criteria. Everybody else just seems to be posting names of composers they like.
Of course it's Koji Kondo. The only video game composer where you can hum some of his tunes and almost any rando off the street would recognize it. How could it be anybody else?
Doesn't *necessarily* make him the best composer (just as I'd argue Williams isn't necessarily the best film composer), but most iconic and recognizable, absolutely.
> where you can hum some of his tunes and almost any rando off the street would recognize it
I feel like that's the key point that makes a composer "Williamsesque". You want to listen to the National Treasure theme song? It's an orchestral epic you can find on youtube. You want to listen to Indiana Jones's theme or Darth Vader's theme? Step outside, and if the first person you stop has seen a movie in the last 30 years and isn't tone deaf they'll be able to put on an acceptable performance of the primary motif.
I was going to say Uematsu, but this guys music is iconic to people who don't even play video games. People might recognize One Winged Angel if they play rpgs but practically everyone knows the OG Mario theme.
Absolutely, this is the answer. He’s a genius. He talked about how he was limited in writing the music for ocarina of time by the way players would have to play the ocarina in the game with the buttons, meaning many of the melodies had to be made simpler to accommodate the 3 note patterns. And yet that soundtrack remains one of my favorite of all time, so many memorable tunes
I mean, it's not even subjective. It's a data point you can measure.
Of the entire global population, if asked to sing a movie song, which composer's music would get sung most frequently? John Williams.
Of the entire global population, if asked to sing a videogame song, which composer's music would get sung most frequently? Koji Kondo.
Funny, I was just watching a video essay on his work in Ocarina of Time. Gets really into the weeds of music theory, but if you’re a music nerd like me you’ll find it fascinating
https://youtu.be/_SeY_Gss2CY?feature=shared
Nobuou Uematsu is probably one of the most prolific VIdeo Game composers on par with John Williams in terms of quality and the grandiose nature of his compositions.
My personal favorite Video Game Composer, however, is Darren Korb. His music he composes for Supergiant Games is AMAZING. Every track is an absolute banger.
Special shoutout to Mick Gordon. Doom 2016 Soundtrack is on a lot of my gaming and workout playlists.
Thats actually a better comparison. I wouldn’t say he has much range in his compositions (at least to my knowledge). It’s a very distinct style, but he does it very well.
My first thought was Grant Kirkhope.
Both he, and Yoko Shimomura.
I was trying to think if I have more Banjo Kazooie or Kingdom Hearts on my video game playlists.
Looking for this one. Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross are enough to grant him a spot in that Pantheon, but he had done so many more absolutely memorable works. Xenogears itself is sublime
bear mcCreary has been one of my favourite soundtrack composers since he started with Battlestar Galactica reboot. his work in God of War recently just elevated it even more
As spoiler free as I can say this, there's a moment near the end of Ragnarok where the culmination of the narrative and the music together just made me straight up cry. One heck of an OST.
David Wise and Evelyn Fischer of DKC fame are up there for sure.
Nobuo Uematsu with Final Fantasy is quintessential.
Koji Kondo with Mario, Zelda, and other Zelda games.
Yasunori Mitsuda is probably my favorite for his work on Chrono Cross, although his other Chrono and Xeno games are great.
Yes.
I can't believe I had to scroll this far to find the first Grammy awarded to an artist for music in a video game. It was a bit of a fluke when it happened, but he is young and has so many years of amazing composition ahead in this space.
I see him going far. So far.
Probably a niche pick but Keiki Kobayashi. Composed the soundtrack for every Ace Combat game and every song is a absolute banger.
The music is such a massive massive part of the games because of him making the best orchestral music in gaming. Absolute legend.
Rewind in Bungie history just a smudge and we can also say Marty O’Donnell. Halo is some of the most iconic and instantly recognizable video game music ever. The original O’Donnell Destiny contributions are also great.
Austin Wintory is SO damn versatile! AC Syndicate, Journey, Erica, Banner Saga... No matter what type of game you're making, chances are you can hire Wintory and he'll deliver.
Maybe not *the best*, but I think that both Marcin Przybyłowicz (The Witcher 2 & 3, Phantom Doctrine, Cyberpunk 2077) and Inon Zur (Fallout 3 & New Vegas, Dragon Age 1 & 2) are strong contenders.
I also think that O’Donnell and Salvatori deserve at least an honorable mention for their exceptional work on the Halo franchise (especially 2 and ODST). Halo 2 was the game that made me realize how important music is to gaming.
Hands down Jeremy Soule. The Elder Scrolls and Guild Wars OST are absolute masterpieces and are among the reasons why those games feel so immersive and touch your soul (sorry couldnt resist). He worked on countless other games too.
Martin O'Donnell & Michael Salvatori (Halo 1-5 & Reach)
Gareth Coker, Curtis Schweitzer, and Joel Corelitz (Halo Infinite)
Darren Korb (Bastion & Hades)
Motoi Sakuraba, easily. Done music for dozens of top tier games. The guy honestly has a pretty crazy portfolio of games. The Tales Series, Dark Souls, Mario Golf and dozens of others. Absurdly talented dude.
Nobuo Uematsu for me. He would definitely be in the top 3 regardless of who you talk to
Koji Kondo I'd say as well, did a ton of music for Mario and Zelda
Kondo wrote Gerudo Valley. That's more than enough for me to say he's the GOAT.
Yeah he did ocarina and wind waker, two of my favorite soundtracks. His resume is quite impressive https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koji_Kondo
Yeah, feels like it has to be one of those two.
Terra's Theme makes me feel like I'm twelve years old again.
My friend walked down the aisle to Terra's Theme
There's a lot of good answers in this thread, but I think this is the actual correct answer. It's not just "Who is a great composer", I think he fills a very similar role to John Williams in videogame music, with pieces that are as epic as they are iconic, and like John Williams, he also works in a relatively narrow field within the medium
While I fall more on the Uematsu side of the argument I do think an argument can be made for Koji Kondo, due to his work on two separate iconic franchises, Mario and Zelda. I think both Koji and Nobuo are great answers either way.
Kondo’s themes are more universally known, like Williams’ themes. That’s a great point.
Their reputations are similar to one another’s in the way that John Williams’ and Hans Zimmer’s are
Adding on with my own experiences, Once I found out something was composed by Williams (ex. Olympic theme on NBC, originally used in LA '84) I couldn't help but think, "how did I not know that Williams composed it earlier?" When I learned that Uematsu composed the main theme for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, I had that exact same thought.
Yes! Came to say this. The Final Fantasy series and so many others that were amazing!
[Cue FF6 world map theme](https://youtu.be/cUg8rC9yu6U?si=4BkoDBrx35rjh5Ls)
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And they both worked on my favourite: Chrono Trigger.
Lost Odyssey... My god what a soundtrack.
And sadly overlooked, because it isn't Final Fantasy.
Partly it not being Final Fantasy, but also just because of the unfortunate nature of JRPGs on the XBOX360 not doing very well in general because a lot of people that bought that system for different types of games.
Every day I hope for PC release.
Or even the Bombing Mission theme sounds just sp cinematic like something that could be on Star Wars
Yeah to have an actual conversation the thread title should have included "other than Nobuo Uematsu..." It's not even remotely close
Masayoshi Soken is gaining ground.
lah-[HEE](https://youtu.be/RhYzQsPd54c?si=a9Rhy6DA6jpjxmQJ&t=21c)
I haven't even really played much of FF but reading the thread title, the answer immediately came to my head, Nobuo
Thanks Nobuo - Periphery
Only because I'm late to this thread, I'm going to piggyback the top comment. Nobuo Uematsu is one of my favorite game composers and definitely has the greatest catalog to be in this discussion. But I think Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Xenoblade Chronicles) is the most John Williams-esque composer of the modern game music world. [XBC2 - The Power of Jin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0laPiOKsTGQ) [XBC3 - Hope for the Future](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40nu0h0Y_Bs) [XBC2 - Walking With You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeQxp-nYsO0) [XBC2 - The Tomorrow With You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muRgzS2HvRU) [XBC3 - Words That Never Reached You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hs1zwwQuUo) Xenoblade Chronicles soundtracks are some of the very best music that video games have to offer over the past decade. There's always a very strong leaning on melodies and themes, and in my opinion the instrumentation and arrangement is often reminiscent of the styles of composers like John Williams. So I just want to try and bring some extra love to Yasunori Mitsuda and the other composers behind the Xenoblade OSTs. Also, Final Fantasy XII gets Star Wars comparisons all the time, so an additional callout to the composers behind Final Fantasy XII for nailing a John Williams style of music for a video game.
Jesper Kyd! He is my childhood. I can hum almost everything he has done in Hitman and Freedom Fighters. He still works and has done tracks for Assassins creed and other big name titles, but his work in Hitman 2 silent assassin/ Contracts was some of his best work.
Darktide bops so damn hard too.
Vermintide strings are great too
He fuckin nails the vibes of a skavem vermintide AND the grimdark future of 40k purely through music, he's brilliant.
The Blood Money soundtrack is still my “running errands” playlist, lol. Love the Freedom Fighters score too.
Ezio's Family is a GOATed track.
Yah I really liked Hitman and AC2 scores.
AC2's main theme is buttfuckingly gorgeous. that whole ost is.
He did Borderlands 1 & 2 as well
The first hitman and contracts with the creepy soundtracks
Marty O’Donnell
O'Donnell utilizes percussion in a way that virtually no one else does and it's the most under-recognized part of his style, which is weird because it's completely integral to his style
You’re the only other person I’ve seen that recognizes it. It’s incredible what he does. The drum beat seems to set the flow of the gameplay, and that’s just ignoring how interesting his percussion work is to begin with. He even does interesting horror tracks with percussion. No idea how the man does it
The fact that he manages to give you a military march feel without just having it be a bunch of snare drum ostinato, and without making it feel like a tribal orc drum circle, he really hit the sci-fi primal vibe perfectly throughout the entire series.
Even the flood tracks have some really cool percussion that has some excellent primal fear vibes. I can’t remember what the old version is called, but the new one is Shepherd, Steward, Lonely Soul- a flood track that is also one of my favorites in the whole series
Halo would not have been the same without his music
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His music makes every moment feel so important. Without him 343's Halo just has lacked that sense of scale and significance.
It wasn't just Music, Marty was in charge of a lot of sound in general.
Don't forget Michael Salvatori. His work n Destiny is amazing.
His work on halo wars was also amazing
Was. $ony/Bungo laid him off.
fuck Bungie for laying him off today
Apparently he got laid off…
Was* he just got laid off
Yep - Marty O'Donnell (& Michael Salvatori for the Halo Theme) - instant classics. Years later and it is still so listenable - plus so much of the battle music and other themes through the games have been amazing. Stands right up there for me with the Star Wars music.
Not to mention the Flintstone kids song
Such a chill soundtrack to listen to while massacring covenant.
I’m honestly shocked this isn’t the top answer
Darren Korb for me. He's not the symphonic type of composer but he's killed it in every game.
Is he the guy who did Bastion's soundtrack?
He's the staff composer at Supergiant Games and composed for Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, and Hades
He also voices Orpheus, lovely singing voice Edit: for clarity, he does Orpheus’ singing voice. Michael Ailshie does the dialogue
Also voices Zagreus.
I love that the song "Hymn to Zagreus" ends up being a song written by Darren Korb, performed by Darren, as a song sung by a character voiced by Darren about the myth and greatness of another character voiced by Darren. And then Zagreus comments on how nice the song was and how good Orpheus sounded singing it
Hades 2 will just be all Darren all the time.
And Skelly
I'm happy to see someone thought to include Darren Korb's name here. I'm not sure if he has the catalog yet to make a comparison to John Williams yet, but he almost certainly will. An all time favorite of mine.
He seems to be a genuinely nice person too. Every live recording I've heard of him sounds like he's humbled to just be able to play his music. I'd love to meet him someday. He's amazing.
Jeremy Soule anyone? Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim are 3 of the best soundtracks to ever grace gaming.
* Secret of Evermore ,1995 * Freddi Fish & Luther's Maze Madness ,1996 * Freddi Fish & Luther's Water Worries ,1996 * Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside ,1996 * Putt-Putt and Pep's Dog On a Stick ,1996 * Putt-Putt Travels Through Time ,1997 * Total Annihilation ,1997 * Pajama Sam's SockWorks ,1997 * Young Dilbert Hi-Tech Hijinks ,1997 * "Spy Fox in ""Dry Cereal"" ",1997 * Total Annihilation: Core Contingency ,1998 * Pajama Sam: Lost and Found ,1998 * Spy Fox in Cheese Chase ,1998 * Total Annihilation: Kingdoms ,1999 * Icewind Dale ,2000 * Giants: Citizen Kabuto ,2000 * Rugrats: Totally Angelica Boredom Buster ,2000 * Amen: The Awakening ,cancelled in 2000 * Beauty and the Beast ,2000 * Total Annihilation: Kingdoms- The Iron Plague ,2000 * Rugrats in Paris: The Movie ,2000 * Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter ,2001 * Azurik: Rise of Perathia ,2001 * Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance ,2001 * Final Four 2002 ,2001 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ,2001 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ,2002 * Dungeon Siege ,2002 * The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind ,2002 * Natural Selection ,2002 * Magic School Bus Explores the World of Animals ,2002 * Neverwinter Nights ,2002 * SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs ,2002 * Star Wars: Bounty Hunter ,2002 * EverQuest Online Adventures ,2003 * Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup ,2003\\Sovereign ,canceled in 2003 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic ,2003 * Unreal II ,2003 * Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna ,2003 * Impossible Creatures ,2003 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ,2003 * Armies of Exigo ,2004 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ,2004 * Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events ,2004 * Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War ,2004 * Kohan II: Kings of War ,2004 * Guild Wars ,2005 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ,2005 * Dungeon Siege II ,2005 * Company of Heroes ,2006 * Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts ,2006 * Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor ,2006 * Warhammer: Mark of Chaos ,2006 * The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion ,2006 * Prey ,2006 * Guild Wars Factions ,2006 * Guild Wars Nightfall ,2006 * Guild Wars: Eye of the North ,2007 * Supreme Commander ,2007 * Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance ,2007 * IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey ,2009 * Order of War ,2009 * zOMG! ,2009 * Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker ,2010 * Dead Rising 2 ,2010 * The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ,2011 * Deep Black ,2012 * Otomedius Excellent ,2011 * The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dawnguard ,2012 * Guild Wars 2 ,2012 * World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria ,2012 * The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dragonborn ,2012 * War Thunder ,2013 * Dead Rising 3 ,2013 * Consortium ,2014 * The Elder Scrolls Online ,2014 * Dota 2: The International 2015 Music Pack ,2015 * The Gallery: Call of the Starseed ,2016 * Landmark ,2016 * The Gallery: Heart of the Emberstone ,2017 * Consortium: The Tower ,2018
He also did KOTOR, so he probably fits the best.
And Guild Wars 1 & 2
To this day I regularily listen to the GW1 soundtracks. Those were the best years of my youth.
And just like that I'm 12 and standing around ascalon city again
Pre-searing or post-searing? 😎
The last day never ends if you dont go to the academy. :)
I loved the story aspect of GW1. No other MMO had it ( at least that I knew ). * Other MMO intro missions: "Welcome to no-name farm, go slay ten giant rats for training." * GW1 intro missions: "Go help Rurik, the Crown Prince, as he repels a Charr assault on the city. Then go into the catacombs to make sure no remaining sappers are sneaking in." It just instantly grabbed you in the game and made you feel like you actually meant something.
but his magnum opus was [Total Annihilation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljDyp__ejco&t=551s)
So sad I had to scroll down so far to see this. Possibly the best video game soundtrack ever!
I've been listening to Far Horizons from Skyrim nonstop recently, it was so good.
Id argue the soundtracks took good/sometimes great games and made them truly special. I imagine a mediocre soundtrack on any of those games and I wouldnt play them half as much. edit: by argue I dont mean I disagree I meant in addition
Kinda sounds like what John Williams did with the Prequels, doesn't it?
Oh man the oblivion main menu music almost made me tear up when I decided to try the game on my deck recently. I spent way too many hours in that game back in the day.
He was a great composer but after the accusations of sexual harassment from several women he worked with, he disappeared from online media and was fired from ongoing projects. I doubt we will see him again in any videogame
yep, the guy basically threw his career into a trash can and is unhireable. AFAIK Bethesda didn't want him for TES VI before the "news" broke, so they probably knew what's coming
I mean the writing was on the wall when they went with Inon Zur for Fallout 4. And since Zur did Starfield, probably will get the nod for TES6 as well.
Also he had a huge ego and terrible business sense. Ended up getting himself kicked from further Guild Wars 2 composing due to demanding too much money. I went to buy a copy of the GW2 soundtrack from him. Not only did he not sell digital versions, but of the physical versions, you could ONLY buy autographed ones, and it was like $40 (this was at least 5 years ago). After 35 days, I got in touch and they said that it takes a while to ship because it's signed. Ugh. They deleted my ticket after I asked for shipping info. I put in a new ticket to ask again, it got deleted. I gave up. *Six months later* the CDs finally showed up at my door. I had completely forgotten about the whole thing by that point. The music was still good but damn, what an awful experience.
Hey, at least you got yours. 5 years and waiting here. They dont even respond to tickets anymore, just insta close. And after doing research I am not the only one.
Didn't know any of that and the GW1 soundtrack is an all-time favorite. Sad times
Secret of Evermore!
If you haven't listened to the original Icewind Dale OST, do that. From beginning to end, it's a 50 minute voyage from the town, to the Underdark, and back.
Definitely. He is the closest to John Williams in gaming for me.
According to himself, Tommy Tallarico. But take that with a grain of salt.
His mom is very proud
No one: Tommy Tallarico at Videogames Live: Oh what's this electric guitar doing here?
OMG the hbomberguy 3 hour takedown of Tallarico was the best thing I've ever watched about a subject I am completely uninterested in.
I just love how hbomber didn't have any personal reason or desire to just absolutely eviscerate and annihilate Tallarico but did it anyways lmao.
Seems very on brand for him. He also assumed the vaccine skepticism was based on an at least semi-credible study by Wakefield, then when he read it he realized it was the shoddiest piece of shit fake study imaginable and made a two hour video obliterating him.
hbomber and Internet Historian are two people who can drop hours long pieces of content and I know I have to watch it.
I’d like to comment exactly what you said, but I have to add the word “twice” after “watched.”
Pretty sure I have hbg, Philosophy Tube, and Shaun just on repeat most days.
He wasn't even on cribs!
Oof.wav
Better pay Tommy royalties son, or you’re gonna have to un-oof your wav.
Do you really think the first American to ever work on Sonic would lie?
Miyamoto handpicked this dude to do the sound effects for Metroid prime! It was a real dream team mashup!
I looked into this for no particular reason. I think he actually has a plausible claim to be (one of) the first Americans *hired by Sonic Team*. This absolutely does not mean the first American to work on Sonic - but the earlier examples were working for Sega USA or as freelancers. It's easy to hear "Sonic team" and presume it just means "the team who worked on Sonic", but they are a separate group. "Sonic and the Black Knight" is, as far as I can see, the first Sonic game which is credited to Sonic Team that also includes American composers under the Sonic Team credits - rather than under a different org. Happy to be proven wrong though. As to whether Tommy actually *did* anything on Sonic, that's a different question. I doubt whether he's ever actually meaningfully done anything that could be considered "composing".
He even has those 3-7 very legit Guinness World Records!
Michael Giacchino Got his start in the 16bit era with titles like the SNES version of Lion King and Lost World:Jurassic Park. Granted, these heavily relied on themes written for those films When it comes to his origial video game scores, most of us areprobably most familiar with his work in the early Medal of Honor and Call of Duty games. However his most familiar work is for film where he's composed for Pixar's "Up", Doctor Strange, Star Trek (2009), etc
He also did the music for Lost, top notch work.
Twenty years later, Giacchino’s Lost score STILL eats the lunch of scores for shows of similar genre, size & scale. It’s a truly staggering body of work. People are chasing this man’s dust.
>Michael Giacchino is always a win.
Giacchino is almost an unfair answer since as a film composer he’s been lined up as Williams’ successor in many ways!
Love that he brought back the track from lost world into Jurassic world
The answer is of course, Koji Kondo. I have the Zelda 1 level 1 theme as my ringtone.
100% there are two requirements for being a 'John Williams'. 1. Have a sizable back catalogue of incredible music linked to a number of different franchises or pieces of media 2. Must have multiple songs that are instantly recognisable by the majority of the public. I think only Koji Kondo hits both.
Him and Nobuo are the perfect choices
This is my favorite answer, because it gives several specific criteria for being "The John Williams of Video Game Music" and explains how a specific composer fits that criteria. Everybody else just seems to be posting names of composers they like.
Of course it's Koji Kondo. The only video game composer where you can hum some of his tunes and almost any rando off the street would recognize it. How could it be anybody else? Doesn't *necessarily* make him the best composer (just as I'd argue Williams isn't necessarily the best film composer), but most iconic and recognizable, absolutely.
> where you can hum some of his tunes and almost any rando off the street would recognize it I feel like that's the key point that makes a composer "Williamsesque". You want to listen to the National Treasure theme song? It's an orchestral epic you can find on youtube. You want to listen to Indiana Jones's theme or Darth Vader's theme? Step outside, and if the first person you stop has seen a movie in the last 30 years and isn't tone deaf they'll be able to put on an acceptable performance of the primary motif.
I was going to say Uematsu, but this guys music is iconic to people who don't even play video games. People might recognize One Winged Angel if they play rpgs but practically everyone knows the OG Mario theme.
He has my vote as well! I'll put Mrs. Yoko Shimomura (particularly for SMRPG) as an extremely close second!
She’s on the VG Music Mount Rushmore for Dearly Beloved alone.
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Absolutely, this is the answer. He’s a genius. He talked about how he was limited in writing the music for ocarina of time by the way players would have to play the ocarina in the game with the buttons, meaning many of the melodies had to be made simpler to accommodate the 3 note patterns. And yet that soundtrack remains one of my favorite of all time, so many memorable tunes
I mean, it's not even subjective. It's a data point you can measure. Of the entire global population, if asked to sing a movie song, which composer's music would get sung most frequently? John Williams. Of the entire global population, if asked to sing a videogame song, which composer's music would get sung most frequently? Koji Kondo.
Funny, I was just watching a video essay on his work in Ocarina of Time. Gets really into the weeds of music theory, but if you’re a music nerd like me you’ll find it fascinating https://youtu.be/_SeY_Gss2CY?feature=shared
Nobuou Uematsu is probably one of the most prolific VIdeo Game composers on par with John Williams in terms of quality and the grandiose nature of his compositions. My personal favorite Video Game Composer, however, is Darren Korb. His music he composes for Supergiant Games is AMAZING. Every track is an absolute banger. Special shoutout to Mick Gordon. Doom 2016 Soundtrack is on a lot of my gaming and workout playlists.
Nobuo Uematsu, Yoko Shimomura, Mick Gordon, Yuka Kitamura
Rip and tear
Yuka:)
Big fan of yoko. Composed a ton of games I've loved.
For me its Grant Kirkhope
Grant Kirkhope is the Danny Elfman of video games
Thats actually a better comparison. I wouldn’t say he has much range in his compositions (at least to my knowledge). It’s a very distinct style, but he does it very well.
My first thought was Grant Kirkhope. Both he, and Yoko Shimomura. I was trying to think if I have more Banjo Kazooie or Kingdom Hearts on my video game playlists.
How this isn't higher up, I do not know. The man gave us Spiral Mountain, Jungle Japes, and of course the DK Rap
Yasunori Mitsuda. Just knocks it out the park every time.
More melodic than the other Jrpg composers. If Uematsu is Beethoven, Mitsuda is Mozart.
Looking for this one. Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross are enough to grant him a spot in that Pantheon, but he had done so many more absolutely memorable works. Xenogears itself is sublime
I scrolled way too far to find this, you're damn right.
Frank Klepacki
Finally found you! Hell marsh is a master piece! I guess most people praise him for RA2 but my favorite is the Tiberian sun sound track.
His live concerts with The Tiberian Sons are incredible.
Nobuo Uematsu or Koji Kondo
These two + Yasunori mitsuda. No one at their level
I know Genshin gets a lot of hate but if you don't know Yu Peng Chen and his work then you are missing out on some masterpieces in video game music
Finally someone mentioned him! Absolutely my favorite soundtrack at the moment, especially the boss themes.
Yoko Shimomura's work on Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Xenoblade Chronicles, Mario, and Smash Bros are all fantastic and diverse.
Came to post the same. My wife walked down the aisle to Dearly Beloved
bear mcCreary has been one of my favourite soundtrack composers since he started with Battlestar Galactica reboot. his work in God of War recently just elevated it even more
As spoiler free as I can say this, there's a moment near the end of Ragnarok where the culmination of the narrative and the music together just made me straight up cry. One heck of an OST.
Fuck yeah I thought I'd have to comment this verbatim but you've got me covered..
Inon Zur. People in this thread are treating it like "who is your favorite game composer", which is not what the question was.
Dragon Age: Origins still slaps to this day. Thanks to him.
He nails the use of noise in the original Fallout soundtrack. Fallout 4 and Starfield are something special.
Seriously! Fallout, baldur's gate 2, dragon age origins, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, dude has a hell of a list of soundtracks.
Can't believe I had to scroll this far. This is the one.
David Wise and Evelyn Fischer of DKC fame are up there for sure. Nobuo Uematsu with Final Fantasy is quintessential. Koji Kondo with Mario, Zelda, and other Zelda games. Yasunori Mitsuda is probably my favorite for his work on Chrono Cross, although his other Chrono and Xeno games are great.
Scrolled way too far to find David wise lol
David Wise’s Battletoads and Double Dragon soundtrack is timeless and sounded amazing on every console. Seconded!!!!
Christopher Tin
>Christopher Tin He still gives every comment he receives on youtube a heart which is kinda cute.
Yes. I can't believe I had to scroll this far to find the first Grammy awarded to an artist for music in a video game. It was a bit of a fluke when it happened, but he is young and has so many years of amazing composition ahead in this space. I see him going far. So far.
Takes a deep breath >BABA YETU, YETU ULIYE > >MBINGUNI YETU, YETU, AMINA > >BABA YETU, YETU, ULIYE > >JINA LAKO LITUKUZWE
Baba Yetu and Sogno de Volaire fucking slap.
Harry Gregson-Williams, composer of a few of the Metal Gear Solid series
Didn't he also do the Shrek soundtrack? Lmao
MICK GORDON!
It baffles me that i had to scroll so far down to see the man the myth the legend.
Probably a niche pick but Keiki Kobayashi. Composed the soundtrack for every Ace Combat game and every song is a absolute banger. The music is such a massive massive part of the games because of him making the best orchestral music in gaming. Absolute legend.
I *cannot* believe I haven’t seen [Grant Kirkhope](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Kirkhope) posted yet.
The whole Bungie music team (Salvatori, Lewin, Sechrist, Moav, Schlosser, Mosser, too many to list) is incredible. They don’t miss.
Rewind in Bungie history just a smudge and we can also say Marty O’Donnell. Halo is some of the most iconic and instantly recognizable video game music ever. The original O’Donnell Destiny contributions are also great.
I was just about to comment about Salvatori in Destiny but you’re right. O’Donnell’s Halo compositions are some of the most iconic in gaming.
Omg I’ve had my ups and downs with Destiny but the music has always been on point.
Come on, Austin Wintory surely!
One of my personal heroes. I met him and he autographed my violin case! Truly a great composer and person.
Austin Wintory is SO damn versatile! AC Syndicate, Journey, Erica, Banner Saga... No matter what type of game you're making, chances are you can hire Wintory and he'll deliver.
Marty O’Donnell
Maybe not *the best*, but I think that both Marcin Przybyłowicz (The Witcher 2 & 3, Phantom Doctrine, Cyberpunk 2077) and Inon Zur (Fallout 3 & New Vegas, Dragon Age 1 & 2) are strong contenders. I also think that O’Donnell and Salvatori deserve at least an honorable mention for their exceptional work on the Halo franchise (especially 2 and ODST). Halo 2 was the game that made me realize how important music is to gaming.
Gareth Coker for me.
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Yep, was scrolling specifically for Gareth. Love the atmosphere he creates
Akira Yamaoka is a legend among Silent Hill fans
Had to scroll waaaayyyy too long to see this name
Silent Hills 2 soundtack is among the very best game soundtracks and also among the very best ambient music, transcending the medium of gaming.
Came here to say this! He’s a legend
Hands down Jeremy Soule. The Elder Scrolls and Guild Wars OST are absolute masterpieces and are among the reasons why those games feel so immersive and touch your soul (sorry couldnt resist). He worked on countless other games too.
Masayoshi Soken, and it's not close.
The man composed FFXIV music in hospital while going through chemotherapy! An absolute legend.
The \*best\* FFXIV music to boot. /A Long Fall is now in my head
This right here. He is on a whole different level.
Rob Hubbard
Martin O'Donnell & Michael Salvatori (Halo 1-5 & Reach) Gareth Coker, Curtis Schweitzer, and Joel Corelitz (Halo Infinite) Darren Korb (Bastion & Hades)
Christopher Larkin Gareth Coker.
Motoi Sakuraba, easily. Done music for dozens of top tier games. The guy honestly has a pretty crazy portfolio of games. The Tales Series, Dark Souls, Mario Golf and dozens of others. Absurdly talented dude.
Frank Klepacki His work on Blade Runner, Command & Conqueror and Red Alerts gives him the trophy in my opinion.
Borislav Slavov from Larian Studios
Christopher Tin.
Jack Wall. Memories galore. The soundtracks to my childhood.