Kanno-sama, where art thou?

by C_Bohemian 

I do like today's RPG music, really. It's just that no one soundtrack as a whole stands out. Even the "big names" in game composing, those who I've always looked to for consistent greatness, powerful compositions, originality and quality, have been dissapointing me lately. Uematsu is amazing, he's one of the best out there in my honest opinion, yet he seems to be slacking lately - after hearing the overall majesty of Final Fantasy VII and VIII, the music for the series' 9th installment was like a degrade in quality. It was good, mind you, but I'm afraid only a few songs managed to really capture my attention, and a great deal of it seemed very uninspired. Mitsuda is someone who I like just as much, yet is in the same situation. Chrono Trigger and Xenogears have some of the finest songs I've ever heard anywhere, much less an RPG, but Chrono Cross just seemed like a pale imitation of the latter's soundtrack. Those are only a couple of examples, but I think you get the idea. Music in RPGs today needs something fresh, something completely new and innovative. This is where Yoko Kanno comes in.

If you're an anime fan like I am, chances are you're familiar with some of her work. She's done music production for series such as Tenkuu No Escaflowne and Cowboy Bebop (the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack alone, in fact, puts her in the position of my favorite composer of all time. It's that good). Aside from the quality of her pieces, what's most amazing about her is her versitality. She can and has done pretty much everything in terms of style - orchestra, jazz, rock, J-pop, you name it. I feel this aspect of her talent alone would make her an excellent composer for an RPG. Plus, her works always fit a scene perfectly; dramatic pieces like Rain being used during a conflict between old comrades, and songs like Green Bird used for flashbacks of a character's painful past. Kanno has done production on game music before (her first professional works were for games, actually) for Koei's Nobunaga's Ambition and Uncharted Waters series on the Genesis in the late 80's. But of course, that was ages ago, and I for one would love to see her come back to video games, and produce a wonderful score for a new RPG.

In short, I think Kanno would bring some much needed innovation to music in role playing games. Game developers out there looking for someone to compose an amazing musical score for their next RPG should definitely consider her, she has more than enough talent to produce great results.