I was informed by Yoko-san early on that the music was going to be a substantial element in the presentation of the game, so that was something I definitely kept in mind. As such, it was easy to grasp the intent behind the requests he would make. And so, even when we first worked on the production together, I could provide input and ask questions without having to hold anything back. So, I tried to strike a balance between what Director Yoko Taro requested and the music I wanted to create, while not being able to visualize it.īefore I even worked with Yoko-san in a creative capacity, we were friends, since we graduated from the same college. When I first started writing songs for the original NieR Replicant, the game itself was still in its prototype stage and going through various trials and errors. How much did you know about NieR when jumping into the project 10 years ago? What aspects of NieR and its story did you take most inspiration from when writing? “In the original, we had a Japanese boy soprano sing this song, but this time around, we recorded someone in Hungary, so I encourage you to listen and compare the wonderful points of each version when released.” This helped give it a more unique sort of presence, as opposed to typical vocals. By making the effects of the echo a bit deeper, I feel it allows for the vocals to blend into the space better, so to speak, and make it sound airier. This is so that the vocals won’t stand out in a negative way.Īdditionally, one of the main characteristics of the sound of NieR is the echo. As such, whenever Yoko-san makes a request for voices, like a vocalist or choir to be included, I try to go for more delicate, breathy tones with their own atmosphere, rather than going for someone with more power. Whenever we included vocals into music intended for video games or cinematic pieces, I would always get feedback such as, the vocals overlapping with the character’s voice would make it hard to hear dialogue, or that the lyrics would cause things to be unintentionally implied making it feel intrusive. Were there any significant challenges to composing video game music with so much vocal work back then and, if so, how did you make it work? One of the unique aspects of NieR’s score is the presence of vocals on most of the background tracks. “The piano in the background repeats a similar arpeggio, but the melody develops throughout the song.” The music did not clearly envision happiness, anger, sadness or levity, but instead, was created to give the listener a sense of all the emotions swirling around in the nooks and crannies of their heart-like the faint glimmer of hope amidst the sorrow, or sadness mixed with bitterness. However, with NieR, I placed heavier emphasis on the music fulfilling its role of expressing the unique world or conveying the emotions of a particular character and the feelings trapped in their heart. So, often I would be asked to create flashy music with a momentum to excite you for battle. Previously, I was involved more with arcade games, rather than console games. In what ways was composing for this game a unique challenge at the time?
You have created music for a vast number of games before composing for NieR, one of the works you are most known for. Alongside discussing those rerecording sessions, the composer also gives insight into his creative process behind select game tracks, both original and new. In anticipation of that game’s release on April 23, we had the chance to ask Okabe-san about revisiting that seminal work over a decade on and find out how the game’s ethereal soundtrack is being reinterpreted for this new version. And in a few short months we’ll hear modern-day reimaginings of those classic tracks, created especially for an updated version of the original entitled NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… Outside working on arrangement albums and live concerts, he returned for acclaimed series’ sequel NieR:Automata in 2017. Since then, the 51 year old Japanese composer has revisited that haunting sci-fi world on multiple occasions.
When NieR Replicant launched in 2010, one of the most memorable facets of the PS3 action RPG was its soundtrack, masterfully created by Keiichi Okabe.