Music is an often overlooked but nevertheless essential part of every great video game. Without it, a game can come across lifeless and dull. However, with the right music a game can often cement itself into your mind long after you have finished it. Why is this the case? There is significant research which indicates that music acts as a powerful mental stimulant for the brain. Playing and listening to music not only improves mood but has been shown to be one of the most powerful tools for memory recall.

According to a scientific report published by the National Library of Medicine, “The ability to recognize music remains relatively preserved,” in patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Furthermore, “a greater preservation of brain areas involved in music processing,“ was also reported. Thus, it is clear that music can certainly be a powerful tool which can be utilized to enhance the player experience and create a lasting legacy for specific titles.

Additionally, just like in movies, video game music can also be used to enhance story beats and create general atmosphere. The best music is often combined seamlessly with the sound design to augment the flow of gameplay.

Now that I have established the importance of video game music, I would like to bring attention to the main discussion point of this article. When I think of the most iconic soundtracks for video games, I struggle to come up with many created by western developers. Of course there are a few standouts such as Halo, Doom, God of War, Skyrim, or The Witcher. Now there are certainly more great soundtracks besides those I’ve mentioned, particularly amongst Indie developers. My favorites in recent years have been Hades and Ori and the Blind Forest.

However, I find that it’s often difficult for many western games to deliver consistent quality music throughout the entirety of the game. This is especially evident amongst Triple A titles. For example, take the Assassins Creed franchise. Apart from the songs  “Earth” and “Ezio’s Family,” a majority of the games have largely forgettable and bland music that is serviceable, but rarely gets me humming along or nodding my head to the tune.

Another series that falls into this category is Call of Duty. The older games, such as Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2, are certainly standouts. There are some truly exceptional tracks here from the epic “Extraction Point” and the pulse pounding “Pentagon,” to the eerie Zombies songs like “Damned.” In recent years, the series has failed to deliver anything worthwhile. Simply taking a glance at the Spotify streams or YouTube view counts for the newer soundtracks indicates the numbers are nothing close to the older tracks. Now you could argue these number are certainly inflated by time. I would agree, if I hadn’t compared MW2 and Black Ops to the Advanced Warfare OST, which came out a solid eight years ago but still has significantly less traction surrounding its music.

Now when I think about game soundtracks from eastern developers, dozens of titles instantly spring to my mind. Developers such as Nintendo, Square Enix, Capcom, Sega, Konami, and Namco, are responsible for many of most iconic themes in gaming history and are still churning out quality soundtracks to this day. Whenever I fire up a game from one of these studios, I’m always impressed by the sheer amount of quality compositions that play during levels, boss fights, or dungeons.

In recent years, Arc System Works newest entry in the Guilty Gear franchise delivered one of the best pieces of music I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing. From Software has crafted dozens of haunting, orchestral tracks for Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls. Capcom’s newest Street Fighter title is shaping up to be yet another standout, soundtrack wise, with a return to the hip hop aesthetic.

Unsurprisingly, the award for best musical score at the 2021 Game Awards went to Japanese developed title, Nier: Replicant. Looking back even further, you can see the last western studio to win for best music was Rockstar in 2018. Now obviously this doesn’t instantly prove western games studios don’t produce good music. However, I do think it is a clear indication of the drop in quality over the recent years.

It’s unfortunate to see this trend taking shape. The last decent soundtrack I’ve heard from a big western title came from Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima, which fittingly takes place in Japan. It’s as though western developer are raising a white flag and acknowledging the wasted potential amongst recent titles.

I for one hope to be proven wrong about this eventually. Music is one of my favorite aspects of playing a game. I want to see more diversity and creativity arise from western game soundtracks as music can truly change player experience, create lasting memories, or even inspire a new generation of fans to pick up an instrument themselves. I think we can all collectively agree that’s a great thing.