(i haven't played hi-fi rush and probably never will fwiw)
something i keep thinking about is how stuck in the past video game soundtracks are on the whole. most AAA games have cinematic soundtracks, usually very hans zimmer in style: epic orchestras, occasional electronics if they're making a sci-fi game. indie games either have throwback music (chiptunes, soundfonts, etc) or sort of abstract electroacoustic ambience in a genre indescribable as anything other than "video game music."
what is extremely rare is video games ever taking influence from pop music. when they do, it's usually a throwback: y2k dreamcast style games with drum & bass soundtracks, or hi-fi rush's early 00s alt-rock. this hasn't always been the case! those dreamcast and ps1 games with the designers republic cover art that people are so fond of borrowing from weren't doing a throwback, they were borrowing from a style of music that was popular and relevant then. despite their limitations, people made music imitating all kinds of stuff: 70s prog rock, early 90s new age, trip hop. now all we can do is imitate their imitations.
the past ten years in pop music have been dominated by hip-hop, specifically trap. hip-hop has obviously been popular for a lot longer than that but it was in the 2010s that even the whitest most milquetoast pop music felt the need to incorporate at least the veneer of hip-hop production or be left behind. i have never heard a video game soundtrack with a trap influence. i've never heard a video game soundtrack with skittering 808 high hats and booming kicks except mine. i can think of very few video games with soundtracks influenced by any style of hip-hop.
and this is really weird! rappers love video games. young musicians in general love video games! the undertale soundtrack has shaped an entire generation of musicians. imagine if the people who made hi-fi rush were in touch with the kind of music actual music-obsessed young people today love? imagine a game like this with a soundtrack featuring artists off a subculture party poster. imagine if any of the people who made music for video games weren't insanely old and/or white?
i've been playing final fantasy 7 again recently and i was struck by just how varied and interesting the music is. to quote my friend @bea on the music that plays on the boat to costa del sol: "people these days don't have the guts to give their games nauseous clown music." jenova's theme is a weird.. orchestral house banger with a john carpenter bassline?
instead of honoring our favorite game soundtracks by aspiring to make something just as weird and personal and unique, instead we're making copies without originals and meticulously recreating the childhoods of millennials.
if you're over the age of thirty and make video game music, or are responsible for hiring people to make video game music, i really encourage you to branch out both your listening habits and production techniques. make video game soundtracks that feel like they're part of a conversation with the rest of culture instead of being walled off. get fl studio and make a terrible drill beat. i promise i won't judge you.
