Moonlighter 2 and Silksong composer reveals the process of ‘hand drawing’ video game music

Video game music is in a weird place. Hideo Kojima borrows pop stars for Death Stranding 2. Sandfall Interactive gave Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sweeping orchestral arrangements with endless variations on themselves — thematically appropriate, but not very game-y. Ghost of Yōei‘s soundtrack is basically the kind of score you’d expect from a film. It’s all quality stuff, sure, but it also seems afraid to acknowledge the fact that it’s intended to accompany a video game. On the other end of the spectrum is a vast swathe of games reveling in their game-ness and relying on retro-styled chip-tunes to make you feel like a kid again, and in between are the soundtracks that are Just Nice And Fine and don’t try to be anything else.