Ghostwire Tokyo\u2019s composer and director on the importance of a soundtrack: \u201cIt\u2019s like air\u201d Tango GameworksGhostwire Tokyo is one of 2022\u2019s most stylish games, expertly blending Japanese tradition with the futuristic neon hues that people have come to associate with the city of Tokyo. Just like the gameplay and narrative, the soundtrack of Ghostwire Tokyo merges old with new \u2013 and while you won\u2019t always notice it, the soundscape of the game is just as important as those show-stopping visuals. To find out more about how the game\u2019s brilliant soundtrack was created \u2013 and to celebrate its release on vinyl \u2013 we spoke with Ghostwire Tokyo composer Masatoshi Yanagi and director Kenji Kimura. How long did it take to create the finished soundtrack for Ghostwire Tokyo, and would you say it was shorter or longer than most projects like this? Masatoshi Yanagi: This one was pretty long, it took about a year or so, and compared to other titles that\u2019s probably a fairly long time. It was about the same length as The Evil Within 2 in regards to the time it took \u2013 but that\u2019s probably longer than most projects that other companies make. The game merges Japanese tradition with the modern age \u2013 how did you approach this blend of old and new with the music? Were there any unusual techniques you used? Masatoshi Yanagi: I took the traditional musical scales and combined them with more modern instruments such as synthesizers. We tried to make sure that the music matched what was going on on the screen, this feeling of merging that Japanese tradition with the modern age. When I think about unusual techniques, the first thing that would come to my mind would be how we tried to mimic the environment sounds within the city of Tokyo. They don\u2019t have musical scales but I tried to collage them into the music. I think for a lot of casual gamers, the soundtrack isn\u2019t the first thing on their mind \u2013 they\u2019re looking at the graphics and the gameplay. But sound is so essential to the overall experience. How would you describe the importance of a good soundtrack in a video game? Masatoshi Yanagi: It\u2019s literally like air, like oxygen, it\u2019s needed. It can feel different depending on the situation that you\u2019re in. In the emotional scenes, for example, the air will taste a little differently than when you\u2019re in dangerous situations. It\u2019s something that\u2019s very necessary. Kenji Kimura: It\u2019s something that\u2019s there, you just don\u2019t notice it \u2013 but you do notice it when it\u2019s missing. Masatoshi Yanagi: That\u2019s definitely true. You need it. It\u2019s like air. One thing I appreciated when playing Ghostwire Tokyo is that when you\u2019re exploring, there are a lot of quiet moments where you just hear that buzz of Tokyo in the background. How important is it to strip things back and have silence every now and then? Masatoshi Yanagi: It makes us very happy to hear that you noticed that, it\u2019s something that\u2019s true to life within Tokyo itself \u2013 there are sections of the city where there\u2019s a lot of hustle and bustle and a lot of noise, and then there are places that are very serene and quiet. We wanted to recreate that variation that\u2019s in the city and have it be as true to life as possible. So we\u2019re glad you noticed, that\u2019s awesome. Were there any other soundtracks you looked to for inspiration when creating the music for Ghostwire Tokyo? Masatoshi Yanagi: There is a genre of traditional Japanese music called gagaku that I researched a lot, and I listened to a lot of music from traditional dances called noh, which were plays that were performed sometimes as ritual performances for emperors in very old times in Japan. I also looked towards anime like Akira and Ghost In The Shell, which were very important for expressing modern Tokyo, so I look at the music that was used in those forms of entertainment. I love pop music, so one of my favorite collectible songs in the game is Under The Water by DJ Multiverse. It doesn\u2019t really match up with fighting demons, but I would always have it playing in the background. What was the thought process behind including upbeat songs like this for players to listen to? Masatoshi Yanagi: Presentation-wise, for a game, yeah, sometimes having music that doesn\u2019t really match the situation is considered a no-no. But in this case, we were thinking there would be a lot of exploration to do as the city is pretty vast and wide with lots of things to see. So we figured there should be some variety for players to choose from, and even if it doesn\u2019t match the situation, they can still have fun with it. Sometimes players want to take a break with a different tune or melody, so we thought having that variety available would be a good thing for the user experience. Other than Ghostwire Tokyo, what are some of your favorite soundtracks of all time? Masatoshi Yanagi: Can I have an hour to answer that question? [Laughs] Choosing one favorite is so hard, but the first ones that come to my mind are the soundtrack for the first Jurassic Park movie and Big Fish directed by Tim Burton. Game-wise, the first ones that come to mind are Journey and ABZ\u00db, which were both composed by Austin Wintory. They had great soundtracks. Finally, do you have any hopes for a Ghostwire Tokyo sequel or spin-off? If so, are there any elements you didn\u2019t get to include in the first game that you\u2019d like to develop in the future? Kenji Kimura: After the release of the game there were a lot of great reactions from the community and some great feedback that we\u2019ve been hearing about online and elsewhere. I personally would be very happy if we could continue and expand on the franchise and address some of that feedback. The thinking and philosophy of the studio [Tango Gameworks] is always to make the coolest thing we can at the time. So as we move forward, if the coolest thing at the time is to expand with a sequel then maybe it will be that \u2013 but if it\u2019s something else, it will be that. Right now, we\u2019re still trying to figure out what the coolest thing is going to be for our next project. Ghostwire Tokyo is available to play on PS5 and PC, and the soundtrack is out now on vinyl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ghostwire Tokyo\u2019s composer and director on the importance of a soundtrack: \u201cIt\u2019s like air\u201d Tango GameworksGhostwire Tokyo is one of 2022\u2019s most stylish games, expertly blending Japanese tradition with the futuristic neon hues that people have come to associate with the city of Tokyo. Just like the gameplay and narrative, the soundtrack of Ghostwire Tokyo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81101\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}