Who will replace Sugiyama?

Koichi Sugiyama has been the sole composer of Dragon Quest series since 1986, no other composer has composed the music other than him since the first time it was released in 1986. We might as well to say that Sugiyama is the main breath of Dragon Quest itself. Without his music, we wont find the same dragon quest music anymore.

Square Enix has cleverly started separating image of Nobuo Uematsu from Final Fantasy since FF X by the assistance of Junya Nakano and Masashi Hamauzu. And as we all know, it's a successful attempt. The final fantasy music we know now is not seen as Uematsu-ish anymore since it is done by different composers like Kumi Tanioka and her brilliant renaissance-like composition for FF CC, or Hamauzu's classical style in FFVII DoC and Sakimoto in FFXII.

But what about dragon quest? 8 games and several spin off, none any of them were done by other composer but Sugiyama. The image of Dragon Quest is just too identical to Sugiyama Music, yet he has been aged. He's 75 years old and to be honest, it's reasonable to think a replacement if the unexpected thing come (hopefully not!).

To be honest I couldn't find any name suitable to replace Sugiyama. Hamauzu is the one that crossed my mind, since he's classical trained, but again, his music has different characteristic compared to Sugiyama. Yoko Kanno might be suitable as well. She's brilliant classical composer. Just listen to any soundtracks done by her, especially the ones with orchestra. You could consider her skill in same level of Sugiyama.

What is your opinion about this? Share your thought here.

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I personally think that, on further consideration, that Shimomura or Sakimoto would make good replacements, though it would be nice to see an unknown get a shot or (wonder of wonders) perhaps Mitsuda.

I think Shimomura music is not suitable for Dragon Quest nuisance, she's just too... techno-ish. No offense. Sakimoto or Mitsuda would be nice choice though.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

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Just curious... why nobody mentioned Uematsu?

How ya doing, buddy?

Hirokazu Ando? What games did he compose for? I just notice his name now.

To be honest, Yoko Kanno is the only name I think could match Sugiyama's classical-ness. She's very classical and capable to write epic in her music.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Josh_1

I just hope that S-E wouldn't do the unthinkable and get Naoshi Mizuta to write DQ. That alone would make me scream in agony.

Err. josh, who is Naoshi Mizuta?

I also hope that SE wont assign Motoi Sakuraba for Dragon Quest, maybe it's just me, but none of his composition suit my taste.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Don't forget to mention Kenji Kawaii. I havent heard any of his works other than the BGM of Fate/Stay Night. But i assume he must be a classical-trained composer. He could be a candidate as well.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by isdapi

It would be a dream come true if Kentaro Haneda was the substitute. He is a classical-trained composer and his works for Falcom and for several anime soundtracks endorse him.

Blesed thy be. I rarely see a person mention the name of Kentaro Haneda. You're the second person I know in this forum after bishop who knows his name. But the chance for Kentaro Haneda would be close to zero. He rarely composed video game music anymore.

How ya doing, buddy?

Hmm... he arranged Ogre Battle Grand Repeat and... Ogre Battle Image Album Enterance? Interesting... he actually arranged both one jewel and one crappiest album in VGM history.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Mr. Maul

Difference is that Nobuo Uematsu really hasn't demonstrated mastery over orchestras. Practically all FF orchestrations (in-game or arranged album) were done by another arranger, most often Shiro Hamaguchi.

Originally Posted by Mr. Maul

Nobuo Uematsu isn't trained in orchestration, whereas Koichi Sugiyama received extensive training and is one of the most technically proficient composers out there.

Quoted for truth. This is also the main reason I dont mention his name in the first post. While he's melodious, his style is radically different with Sugiyama. Uematsu's music is more melodious and play in the simpleness, Sugiyama music is more complex and colored by classical ornament, even Baroque ones (blessed he be). I never heard Uematsu arranged his works himself.

But would be nice to see Uematsu + Hamauzu cope together, though Hamauzu is more brilliant as piano arranger.

Jam it back in, in the dark.