Video games are a constantly evolving medium, and, consequently, the expectations of players are ever increasing. Players are continuously exposed to games with increased graphical and audio fidelity, making them more familiar with technology. This in turn allows players to develop more critical opinions of video games, and, subsequently, game music. One such criticism is that over repetition of audio leads to annoyance and reduced immersion for players. This phenomenon originates in psychology research, where Daniel Berlyne defines listener fatigue as the relationship between diminishing appreciation and enjoyment of audio stimuli as exposure increases. While the repetition of musical assets in older games may lead to listener fatigue, I propose that this problem has become more apparent in recent years due to the evolving expectations of players. As a result, contemporary games combat this issue by using more dynamic approaches to music design to reduce repetition, increase in-game musical responsiveness to events, and provide a musical experience closer to what the player expects. Players’ increased expectations become more evident in the advent of an increasing number of remakes of older games, especially where the new musical experience is vastly different from the original. In this paper, I propose that differences in music design between two versions of the same game (i.e., an original and a remake) across multiple console generations can offer a unique perspective for viewing phenomena such as listener fatigue. In this article, I compare the music design of Final Fantasy VII (Square, 1997) and Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix, 2020) to (1) explore how players’ expectations have evolved between titles, (2) outline how game developers historically have understood and managed musical repetition, and (3) offer insights for composers on how to better adapt older, existing soundtracks for modern expectations.
Final Fantasy VII Remake: Music Redesign for Evolved Expectations Across Console Generations
Kyle Worrall is an audio programmer, final-year PhD student with the Centre for Doctoral Training in Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence at the University of York, and Lecturer in Games Programming at Edge Hill University. His research is centered on the creation of machine learning driven music tools that can be used to assist game composers in their creative workflow and improve procedural music in future games without stepping on composer’s toes. Kyle received his MSc degree in Sound and Music for Interactive Games from Leeds Beckett University in 2016, and a BA with Honors in Creative Music Production from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2015. This work was supported by the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Intelligent Games and Games Intelligence (IGGI) under Grant EP/S022325/1.
Kyle Worrall; Final Fantasy VII Remake: Music Redesign for Evolved Expectations Across Console Generations. Journal of Sound and Music in Games 1 October 2024; 5 (4): 34–57. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/jsmg.2024.5.4.34
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