Is videogame music getting better or worse?

i listen to game music from like the late 80s/early to mid 90s but i don't go around telling other people to listen to that because most people probably can't stomach classic gradius or anything like that
i hate a lot of modern vidya music or just don't care for most of it so in my mind it's worse, but that's just my personal opinion

We need more soundtracks with vocals. It's a pity that only Terry Scott Taylor do those.

you've missed out on several sonic soundtracks apparently

Better. Tropical Freeze is the best game soundtrack of all time

Fair enough. I did. They're still the minority.

Splatoon music is something else

This industry is too goddamn big and it saddens me. Normalfags need to leave now.

I legit listen to Mega Man music and Streets of Rage while I browse here. They are that good.

Honestly I'm sick of all these "jungle music" in urban city games.

It's not really any better or worse than it's ever been. There have always been absolutely phenomenal video game OSTs since the NES days.
That said this gen has had some really great soundtracks for certain. Splatoon has some of the best music Nintendo's ever done.

>soundtracks with vocals
Here's some
youtube.com/watch?v=aBGAYLLkgHk
youtube.com/watch?v=BaP8vgM9BGA
youtube.com/watch?v=xdV_bzJgRxE
youtube.com/watch?v=U3m8GewVWQk
youtube.com/watch?v=3cKy5Qk0QMM
youtube.com/watch?v=nMv9uiQsXvg
youtube.com/watch?v=UkYCUwANaiw
youtube.com/watch?v=eFVj0Z6ahcI
youtube.com/watch?v=hEUOOgNzOv4
youtube.com/watch?v=bdorDPWJeWk
youtube.com/watch?v=PXkgn3QUA2w
youtube.com/watch?v=4OdGvuZZj2E

youtu.be/gre-o_tsumk

i just found impressive how they could pull some god tier timeless shit like street of rage soundtrack with very limited hardware. i think it lost some uniqueness but still pretty good.

The entire Max Anarchy/Anarchy Reigns soundtrack, there is enough music styles on it for everyone
youtube.com/watch?v=iqPT26AH940&list=PLB195451FDFDFB0B5

TWEWY and Jet Set Radio are pretty funky, if you don't have them already.

Some people just knew how to push that old hardware to the limit
youtube.com/watch?v=KZAnUDAj94Y

That's the one with Real Big, right?

Travis Strikes Again had a pretty dope soundtrack despite not having based Masafumi Takada

In the same way that traditional non-soundtrack music production is evolving, video game soundtracks are as well. More access to tools, instruments, audio engineering, and more have created some truly amazing works in the modern era, although they are only the cream of the crop. Unfortunately a big portion of modern OSTs are a bit same-y. In comparison, you can still find some excellent soundtracks from older games that are timeless and impressive despite the limitations of the time.

The resident evil 2 remake is a good example- the PS1 original RE2 was made with only a handful of instruments playing at a time and was purposefully minimalist to enhance the atmospheric horror focus the rest of the game was portraying, and it worked perfectly. Meanwhile the remake version has modern audio production and access to an orchestra but the composer was so caught up on making it bold and epic and action-y that the focus on the atmosphere was lost. Playing with the original OST option made the remake 10x better.

I have high hopes for vidya music. After all, Ys I & II, without hyperbole, changed the video game music industry for the better and the Ys series is still going strong today with standout tracks. Would you believe me if I said these soundtracks released in 1989?
youtube.com/watch?v=pp4NNv8LTmU&index=4&t=0s&list=PL714885386BC83971
youtube.com/watch?v=Z4l4KtzXNUA&index=10&t=0s&list=PL714885386BC83971
youtube.com/watch?v=-glsntzU0Q4&list=PL714885386BC83971&index=13&t=0s
youtube.com/watch?v=xmpgN_kOInI&index=18&t=0s&list=PL714885386BC83971

To be fair, it still had Kass Theme and the Hyrule Castle remix along with the PIANO PLINKS,

I don't love Kass for the record.

It's not only getting better, but it's one of the only industries that can mix so many genres and composing methods so naturally. We could have some beautiful 10 minute long orchestrated songs one day and in the next a really catchy chiptune soundtrack.

youtube.com/watch?v=3KmcSXVyzzM
Etrian Odyssey has some nice music

3DS Etrian Odyssey music is amazing. Nexus in particular did an amazing job remixing the EOIII music.

youtu.be/LU76ObF-zZ0

That guitar at 0:59 sealed it as a way better version than the original. Also the length of the theme is pretty much doubled.

WELCOME TO THE BONE ZONE

youtu.be/UOinmXEvEXc

Videogames are slowy but steady wining over most other genres. Walking simulators are mostly movies, rhythming games are dance music generators and porn games are well, porn.

Movies, music and even books are getting surpassed by videogames. Now this is good AND bad.

It's hard to say, but I feel like there was something special about old PCE soundtracks back in the day, and that "something special" is lost now

youtube.com/watch?v=_Myxcw8lkUo

Listen to the Far Cry 5 soundtrack and then make this thread.