Out of all the retro VGM composers who went on to pursue other audio-related projects (sound design, production, etc.), Okawa is the one I miss most sorely. His work on the Zero Divide games and Super Speed Racing (CART: Flag to Flag) is among the greatest and most unique this niche has to offer. His soundtracks feature some of the most richly-layered and creative compositions I've ever heard in a video game, despite being entirely synth-based.
Sorry, I know I'm gushing, but I honestly feel that for the most part VGM (both Western and Eastern) is becoming increasingly generic, over-produced, and pandering to the lowest common denominator (outside of certain indie or particularly niche titles).
I can think of very few mainstream games released in the past 10 years with melodies memorable enough to find yourself humming later on (aside from annoying, generic earworms designed to forcefully drill their way into your head). It's all about sleek production, quantization, and chasing trends nowadays [J-pop/J-rock garbage with cringy Engrish lyrics (modern Persona), beautifully orchestrated, but painfully generic circle-of-fifths melodies (anything by MONACA), interchangeable Hollywood-esque scores (fuck, any AAA Western Game in the past 15 years or so) etc.] at the expense of strong, versatile melodies and unique instrumentation, you know, stuff that requires effort and incurs a risk. Sure, in the past there were a lot of "unique" scores that turned out rather janky in places, but they were at least memorable! Where's the Final Fantasy VI soundtrack of the modern era, with a plethora of unique and memorable leitmotifs for each character, location, and event?
Or maybe I'm just a boomer and need to be put in a home or something.
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