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Michiru Yamane sucks at scoring music for Castlevania now. (Read 909 times)

Started by #Shaun, July 15, 2009, 11:06:23 pm
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#Shaun

Michiru Yamane sucks at scoring music for Castlevania now.
#1  July 15, 2009, 11:06:23 pm
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I'm listening to some music from Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia and I gotta admit...it's not up to snuff. In fact, outside of a few tracks from Lament of Innocence it seems like nothing sounds as good as the production and arrangement of Symphony of the Night. It's not that her later incarnations are bad music per say, it's that it seems.....forced. And hack.

This has nothing to do with the unfortunate overrating of everything Symphony of the Night either. There's a moment in time when a group conceives a project and everything in that project is right. Once one 'raises the bar', one is expected to go the distance with each incarnation. Unfortunately, I don't think Yamane has achieved that. Aria of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin.....I mean, they have some nice tunes and all but the purity of the 'wow' factor is just non-existent.

Am I crazy?

InterRage

Re: Michiru Yamane sucks at scoring music for Castlevania now.
#2  July 18, 2009, 12:41:00 pm
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no that's just the cd quality music you were hearing.

#Shaun

Re: Michiru Yamane sucks at scoring music for Castlevania now.
#3  July 18, 2009, 05:14:49 pm
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I'm not talking about the bitrate quality, I'm talking about actual composition.

Nate Nukem

Re: Michiru Yamane sucks at scoring music for Castlevania now.
#4  July 23, 2009, 09:44:27 am
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You're not crazy at all.  I was thinking this not too long ago myself.  Seems pretty obvious FAR more time was dedicated to the soundtrack of SotN than most other games she's worked on.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but SotN was in development for quite awhile wasn't it?  It's no secret games today are rushed for release more often than they've ever been, so surely the soundtracks are going to suffer greatly as a result.  I'm sure there's a correlation here somewhere with Yamane.


Honestly though, I've hardly been blown-away by ANY soundtracks in games since around the turn of the century.  I truly consider the 90's to be the undisputed, official golden age of vgm.  So maybe I'm a bit biased, but it's not like I don't play games anymore... the music is just so damn bland lately.  I'd take Super Castlevania IV's soundtrack over any DS Castlevania any damn day.

#Shaun

Re: Michiru Yamane sucks at scoring music for Castlevania now.
#5  July 27, 2009, 06:15:17 am
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I'm not sure how long SoTN was in development but being pressed for time trying to meet a deadline shouldn't be an excuse, especially considering Noriyuki Asakura's achievements. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt and say the lead designer is calling the shots in having her compositions less par in mustering goose bump emotions from gamers. Meh...her music is getting more hack by the day, just like the entire CV franchise. IGA and Yamane need to take a trip back to '97 and get in touch with their former selves.

Nate Nukem said, July 23, 2009, 09:44:27 am
I'd take Super Castlevania IV's soundtrack over any DS Castlevania any damn day.

*toasting a bottle of Miller High-Life to this bit of truth right hurr

Nate Nukem said, July 23, 2009, 09:44:27 am
I've hardly been blown-away by ANY soundtracks in games since around the turn of the century.  I truly consider the 90's to be the undisputed, official golden age of vgm.

I take it Silent Hill 2 didn't blow you away?
Last Edit: July 27, 2009, 05:14:09 pm by #Shaun

MDI

Re: Michiru Yamane sucks at scoring music for Castlevania now.
#6  July 27, 2009, 09:31:41 am
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Order of Ecclesia's soundtrack was dull as fuck. The only tracks I liked were most of those in Dracula's Castle. Hell, thats how I feel about the game in general..boring as shit until that part.

Shanoa's main theme
Spoiler, click to toggle visibilty
is pretty damn cool and memorable...but otherwise I pretty much fully agree.


Symphony of The Night's soundtrack was great because every song was totally different and original in it's own way. Each track also fit the stage it was made for. For example, the library song sounded like..well...a library song! While the Clocktower theme was a kick-ass heavy metal track. But both were awesome in their own way, and thats what made the soundtrack so great!

But it seems like ever since the PS2 titles, the music in every Castlevania game that she's done simply has a certain style for every song. I mean, listen to Lament of Innocence's tracks. They're all just generic chapel music for the most part.

Portrait of Ruin had a kind of gothic Mega Man feel to it, and as I said OOE was just overall dull.


But overall my main point is that she just seems to be making generic songs now to fit the stages, but at the same time making sure they all have a consistent style. Consistency can be good, but when you compare it to the way SOTN's soundtrack was done, shes better off doing each track totally different from the other.


Spoiler, click to toggle visibilty
Anonymous said:
Actually you racist ass, rap was a good choice for that particular trailer.

J-chan

Re: Michiru Yamane sucks at scoring music for Castlevania now.
#7  July 28, 2009, 12:03:19 pm
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But I don't see her restraining herself that badly, it's just uhh.... Maybe she has lack of ideas recently or it's the producer's want...
Madness? THIS IS MUGEN!!!!

MDI

Re: Michiru Yamane sucks at scoring music for Castlevania now.
#8  July 28, 2009, 09:01:11 pm
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J-chan said, July 28, 2009, 12:03:19 pm
But I don't see her restraining herself that badly, it's just uhh.... Maybe she has lack of ideas recently or it's the producer's want...

Well, maybe its both.

Either way, as long as they keep putting out these Castleroids/Metroidvanias on portable systems with mediocre sound quality, I'm pretty sure she'll never be able to once again show the skill that she once had.

Not that it is an excuse for her lackluster music, I'm just saying it is another problem. But Hell, even the "original" high quality OOE tracks were pretty freakin' dull..so I dunno..she might just be losing her touch.
Anonymous said:
Actually you racist ass, rap was a good choice for that particular trailer.

J-chan

Re: Michiru Yamane sucks at scoring music for Castlevania now.
#9  August 03, 2009, 04:50:14 am
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 :(

That's sad actually... Maybe she really loses her touch....
Madness? THIS IS MUGEN!!!!
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