Inon Zur sucks. If Jeremy Soule doesn't come back for TES VI, Bethesda is doomed

[Öykünücü]

Sure, Inon Zur has a decent resume to back his talent. He has experience in both Holywood and in video games. His work can be summed up as ''good enough'' or ''passable'' in my opinion. Nothing bad but quite forgettable. Just bland, generic stuff that's trying so hard to evoke some semblance of emotions but for me it sadly failed.

How many of Starfield's tracks do you remember after you stopped playing for a week or longer? I don't.

Now compare that with Skyrim, Oblivion and Morrowind's soundtracks composed by Jeremy Soule. I still listen to them to this day. Those iconic melodies are perfect for open world exploration. Jeremy nailed it, every single time.

[SpeedFreak1972]

Well Jeremy Soule won't be back ... at least it's HIGHLY unlikely

[Toyosatomimi no Miko]

Jeremy Soule isn't coming back because this industry is full of people who'd rather signal their virtue rather than operate on actual facts and talent of potential hires.

[Berserk Breton]

It's funny, I was thinking about asking other people who enjoy this game: do you happen to play with the music switched off?

I don't even think it's a lack of talent on the composer's part - he has made music for an actual bad game where despite that the score is memorable and worth listening to. I was actually quite chuffed when I heard he was involved.

I think it's somehow gone wrong for this game. It's not that it's unpleasant, but it's "off" somehow. Going by my limited experience, it feels like there has been excessive interference with the creative process "great but don't do that, make this bit sound more like tattooine in star wars. Can't that bit sound more like this kenny G CD I listen to in my prius but on strings, here let me play it. Take out that bit with the interesting time signature it makes my brain hurt" etc.

Partially joking of course, but the bland missteps do scream "design by committee" to me.

[Saii]

I could not agree more.

Still playing the tracks from Oblivion, while I don't even remember a single song from Starfield. I don't even remember Starfield had any songs tbh.

But yeah. Who cares about TES VI anyway. I don't. It's probably going to be the next ESG compliant woke trash with even more loading screens. I'm not holding my breath.

[_oBSOLEte_]

Bethesda's been a shell company since 2017, literally outsourcing everything they do. I highly doubt any single guy could be the savior of this trainwreck. It's just consumer copium.

[Saii]

Originally posted by M4st0d0n:

Bethesda's been a shell company since 2017, literally outsourcing everything they do. I highly doubt any single guy could be the savior of this trainwreck. It's just consumer copium.

Yep, it can't be saved.
The shift has happened around 2017, after that not much fun has been created in the Americas, neither games nor movies.
Almost feels like there's a force sucking the fun out of everything in the USA.

There's some great stuff being made in Japan though. And on the plus side, Japanese software is rarely riddled with bugs.

[76561198013077829]

Originally posted by CMDR Benny:

It's funny, I was thinking about asking other people who enjoy this game: do you happen to play with the music switched off?

I don't even think it's a lack of talent on the composer's part - he has made music for an actual bad game where despite that the score is memorable and worth listening to. I was actually quite chuffed when I heard he was involved.

I think it's somehow gone wrong for this game. It's not that it's unpleasant, but it's "off" somehow. Going by my limited experience, it feels like there has been excessive interference with the creative process "great but don't do that, make this bit sound more like tattooine in star wars. Can't that bit sound more like this kenny G CD I listen to in my prius but on strings, here let me play it. Take out that bit with the interesting time signature it makes my brain hurt" etc.

Partially joking of course, but the bland missteps do scream "design by committee" to me.

i agree. the music is very good but it never seems to fit with wherever i am. i cant blame the composer though, its like they didnt give them any direction while also implementing the tracks BGS did recieve in strange ways.

[A. Silvermane]

Originally posted by Gigansky Chadirov:

How many of Starfield's tracks do you remember after you stopped playing for a week or longer? I don't.

I remember the Constellation jingle that plays when you level up and that's it.

[Ommamar]

A cool mod would be one that added all the previous games music to the soundtrack. I would also like a radio even if it is finding different tablets to play. Maybe some more music from the band Starfield in more areas.

[SerratedTurnip]

Here's the problem with Zur compared to Soule, play me any ambient song from Skyrim or Oblivion without telling me that's what it is and I'm instantly back there, do that with any of the Fallout 3 or 4 ambient music I would have no idea what it was from and would probably think it's the first time I've heard it.

Sitting here I can't remember a single ambient track from either Fallout game, but can pretty much hear the entirety of Skyrim, and a decent portion of Oblivion despite not having touched them in years.

But hey, Bethesda have been messing stuff up for years now to the point that I probably won't even bother with Elder Scrolls VI, so its inevitably bland Inon Zur music won't make a blind bit of difference.

[Sassy Robot]

Soule doesn't have a career anymore. I agree with you that Inon Zur is very overrated. He's not a terrible composer, but certainly not great. Nothing compared to Soule.

[Emphoise]

Soule's theme for TES is basically pirate of the carribean or (insert generic theme here). Very definition of generic, highly recognizable. Usually succesful in movies and medias.

Apart from the main theme, I find skyrims music to be mostly very boring.

Generic is not how I would describe most Inon zur's pieces for Fallout and SF - He focuses a lot more on ambient nuances, less on catchy themes. There is a lot going on however especially in SFs music.

The main theme of both fallout and SF is still pretty recognizable :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yGpoRbwe4s&ab_channel=InonZur-Topic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrO7Nk-t_9o&ab_channel=BethesdaSoftworksMusic

They are actually very close structurally but as you can hear SF has a lot more variations going on after the exposition, with the harmonies, melody and instrumentation

A large part of the music pieces in SF appears to be variations of that main theme. There are a lot of little gems and I find the Sc fi theme spot on.

The music for SF is actually a selling part for me (not the case for Fo3 and 4. The reworked theme for FNV is fantastic tho).

[Lemecc]

I remember the tracks but not really for the right reasons. Not making any accusations here but several tracks sound so close to other composer's pieces for sci-fi media that I can't tell if coincidence, homage, or... well, infringement. I don't really feel great when those tracks come on, as a result.

I do like the main theme though. I think the leitmotif should have been pushed further into more of the tracks to cement an audio identity. As it is, I think you only prominently hear it in one fight track, the level-up jingle, and the main menu. That's surprisingly little.

Originally posted by CMDR Benny:

Partially joking of course, but the bland missteps do scream "design by committee" to me.

I do wonder if this happened. Personally I think the Fallout 4 soundtrack is great, and I would be able to identify it easily. I know which tracks play where and hearing them takes me straight back to the locations.

However with Starfield, that lack of strong core identity in the audio, plus the over-similarity with other composer's works, makes for a weaker soundtrack experience. I think he's perfectly capable of it, just seems like something interfered a bit here.

[Emphoise]

Originally posted by Saii:

don't even remember Starfield had any songs tbh.

You're correct there aren't any songs in that soundtrack. I know at least one piece has vocals in it but it can't be described as a song.

[Emphoise]

Originally posted by Lemecc:

I remember the tracks but not really for the right reasons. Not making any accusations here but several tracks sound so close to other composer's pieces for sci-fi media that I can't tell if coincidence, homage, or... well, infringement.

Can be said for any music composed after Wagner, or some would say JS Bach