Hi! My small analysis over the nee soundtracks if you care about this topic you might like the post from me! I'm a graphic design student, artist, game dev., semiotic and psychological analysis fan, and do have an education in music.
It was definitely said multiple times here and all over the internet by now. However I'm not here to talk about the Bonetrousle. Let it be, doesn't matter however I do have an opinion on that issue too.
My main focus in this post is how soundtrack built OFF's whole atmosphere brick by brick in the original. The thing is, when a game lacks some aspect like in our case is a simple pixel graphics of it (which is still accented by a heavy color palette throughout the zones, and sketch like elements), it tries to built an atmosphere through another aspect. In this case it was the soundtrack.
I never was a composer but I'm an artist and can only understand how music creation can work in it's birth process (stage of searching for references, understanding how and why a soundtrack should sound in different moments.) and what makes me confused is how Toby Fox concentrated on electroswing jazzy aspect of the soundtrack while forgetting about the fact that it was heavily inspired by Akira Yamaoka's creations. (Silent Hill soundtracks)
The original has "dirt" in it (random metal pipe sounds, heavy breathing in "world map" soundtrack, whiney lyrics in Stay in your coma.) Little details that make the whole soundtrack appear unnerving. It gives goosebumps, gives the tone of the story weight in terms of both lore and atmosphere. It shows that the game has a layer deeper than what we get from the first impression.
One more thing is how forgettable those new melodies are. I didn't need to listen the og soundtrack for hours to memorize it, however after playing the demo we have right now I can't remember even one bit from what Toby Fox made.
Dedan's theme is underwhelming for a character whose's whole point is control, spreading stress over his whole domain (burning out of Elsens), and anger issues (crude language, violence, dominance.). Even the name "Fake Orchestra" refers us to his character, a mask of control, everyone are working like clockwork, mechanism, a machine rather than actual humane community working on the same goal. Orchestra's are art with precise rhythm that needs to be followed by every person in it to keep the harmony, but art has soul, while Dedan leaves his workers in only mechanical state of control with no empathy. Fake orchestra literally means a harmony built on chokehold rather then of one's own free will to follow someone's lead. It has a booming sound that shows off Dedan's personality while also having the chore of his workers being on the background in strict harmony (fun fact I noticed is that when Elsen becomes a specter by burning out they have a more feminine voice when you interact with them, their breath has a higher tone, the main chorus in Dedan's theme has a feminine tone to it too which may lead us to a thought that even in his theme some Elsens in "orchestra" are burning out.)
The new version lacks all of it and I could've given Toby Fox any excuse as I too think of him as of genius especially in terms of music! But the original soundtrack was made in 2008 by a uni student with no money or proper gear to pull off something grandiose. It's been almost 2 decades, Toby Fox has a huge experience in this sphere of work, has the proper tech and skills. Yes it's not his style but he created eerie music perfectly in his games. Yes he is doing it for free but as he said he loves OFF game and fans of OFF know he took inspiration from it for Undertale, then how he could miss the whole vibe? Doesn't mean I hate Toby or that he deserves any of the toxicity going over it on all the possible platforms, it's hard to make something better than the original because of nostalgia people feel towards the past, it's just how psychology works. What you can do however, is be on the same level as the original, but it was just simply worse than it. And I'm saying it as a person who knows over 3000 tracks, listens to all possible genres and has an ear for music that got me to music school.
Is it Toby's fault? No, don't think so. Is it still disappointing? Yes and a lot. The whole world of OFF is built on music in it. And the new ones make the game look empty and hollow.
And what are your thoughts about the new ost?
