Music is an incredibly important part of video games. Unfortunately, outside of names like Final Fantasy's Nobuo Uematsu and Dragon Quest's Koichi Sugiyama, most game composers aren't particularly well-known. While this may have made some sense back when the medium was still young, gaming is fast-becoming the biggest entertainment medium in the world. As such, it seems strange that more of the musical talents behind the industry aren't recognized in the way that film and TV composers like John Williams and Hans Zimmer are.
With that in mind, it's time to look at five composers who have worked in the medium and what makes their contributions unique. Some have worked in the industry since the 1980s ,while others are relative newcomers, but what they all have in common are their distinct styles and impressive bodies of musical work.
Shoji Meguro
Nowadays, Shoji Meguro is best-known for crafting Persona 5's acid jazz-inspired soundtrack. However, Atlus' resident composer is capable of so much more. Each new Shin Megami Tensei game has its own unique musical style, and Meguro has risen to this challenge every time. Responsible for everything from the harsh rock, dark ambience and militaristic orchestration present in various mainline games to the more vibrant and energetic themes of Persona and other spin-offs, it's fair to say that Meguro is a man of many musical talents.
Meguro joined Atlus in 1995, first composing for the original Persona on the PlayStation and, appropriately, was also a director on its PSP remake. While this remains the series to which he is most strongly attached, he also composed for Catherine, Trauma Team, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey and many other projects. He is also said to be involved in Atlus' upcoming Project Re Fantasy. What music style this game will employ of course remains to be seen, but given how good Meguro is at crafting rock, jazz, classical, electronic and orchestral music, it's probably safe to say that it'll be another smash hit.
Trevor Morris
Trevor Morris has mostly worked in film and television, but he branched out into video game projects throughout the 2000s. His first game soundtrack was EA's Need for Speed: Carbon, and he continued to work with the publisher on games like Command & Conquer, Army of Two and, perhaps most famously of all, Dragon Age: Inquisition. More recently, he composed the soundtrack to Netflix's excellent Castlevania series, and left his mark with a fantastic rendition of "Bloody Tears" and the exemplary song that plays against the show's final antagonist.
In contrast to most of the other composers mentioned here, and perhaps surprisingly given his work on more action-orientated games, Morris' award-winning style is distinctly orchestral. This comes across best in both his Dragon Age work and his contributions to TV shows like The Borgias. However, his Need for Speed work also demonstrated a strong command of more electronic sounds. A lot of his music has an impressively dark undercurrent, which makes it the perfect companion to scenes of political backstabbing or just creating the ideal ambience for a great city's seedy underbelly.
Hitoshi Sakimoto
Active in video game music since the late '80s, Hitoshi Sakimoto has built an impressive career from working on a wide range of different titles. From shoot 'em ups like Gradius V, fighting games like Tekken Advance and even survival RPGs like Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, it's safe to say that Sakimoto's resume is nothing to sneeze at. Little wonder then that the man now has his own music production. Since 2002, Sakimoto's Basiscape has provided music for both games and anime, and has grown into one of the biggest names in game music production.
Sakimoto was influenced by techno and Japanese synthpop group Yellow Magic Orchestra, though it might be hard to tell given how different his own music is. Having so many different experiences can make it hard to pin down exactly what defines the man's style. However, it's fair to say that he's best known for his work on strategy games. Sakimoto's music is a big part of the words of Tactics Ogre, Valkyria Chronicles and Final Fantasy's Ivalice series, all of which are filled with classically dramatic melodies and several more sinister pieces to underscore both the triumph of heroes and the horrors of war.
Motoi Sakuraba
If you've so much as looked at a JRPG in the last 20 years, odds are you've also heard Motoi Sakuraba's work. Sakuraba is best-known for his distinctive progressive rock style, which comes across best in the heart-pounding battle themes of games like Star Ocean and Bandai Namco's Tales series. However, his magnum opus is generally regarded to be his work on the Baten Kaitos series, which is full of hard rock combat music, sweeping classical pieces and plenty of more experimental tracks.
While he hasn't always gotten to show off the range of his talent, Sakuraba is also adept with more traditional styles. Eternal Sonata features many softer pieces along with fantastical renditions of the work of composer Frédéric Chopin. His work on the Dark Souls franchise, which began shortly after, exemplified this part of his talent. From the glorious terror of Ornstein and Smough's theme to the hauntingly iconic "Nameless Song," the Souls series proved once and for all that Sakuraba's music is so much more than fancy guitar riffs.
Inon Zur
Like Trevor Morris, Inon Zur started out composing for films and television. However, he's arguably much better-known for his video game work. Entering the industry in 2000 with a number of Star Trek games, Zur went on to compose for franchises like Fallout, Baldur's Gate and even a Naruto game on Xbox 360. Some of Zur's most memorable work thus far also includes the first two Dragon Age games, where his music perfectly captures the franchise's blend of heroic and dark fantasy by utilizing both soft, otherworldly pieces and more dramatic war anthems.
Zur's work is often orchestral, and he cites the likes of Beethoven and classical Russian composers like Sergey Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky as his inspirations. In a 2017 interview, he described his philosophy that video game music should be "felt" more than heard, explaining that, "When you're playing video games, you don't need to notice the music but it needs to be part of the whole experience on an emotional level" -- and that's an outlook that comes through in his work.