Why I don't like Toby Fox's music

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]Toby Fox is a good musician. I know, I know, it's a really weird thing to open with, considering this is literally a video essay bashing his musical style, but I wish to make it clear I do genuinely like some of his music.

[00:00:14]However, as a fellow musician and game dev, I want to address the flaws I see in his style of composition.

[00:00:20]And my apologies to those of you who clicked because of the clickbait thumbnail. I like to do these as a joke.

[00:00:25]Please remember you're entitled to have your own opinions of Undertale and Deltarune as games, just as I'm entitled to fanboy over the inherent philosophical beauty of Xenogears. Don't go harassing people in the comments cuz they have different opinions than you.

[00:00:38]And without further ado, let's get into it.

[00:00:45]>> [music] >> The concept of a motif in music has been around at least since the Middle [music] Ages, and probably even before that. A motif is what helps us to recognize a song get stuck in our heads. When you hear the first four notes of Beethoven's Symphony [music] No. 5, you immediately recognize the motif and thereby the song.

[00:01:09]Music as a concept is primarily based around two complementary [music] aspects, melody and harmony. Melody is what drives the song forward. It's the aspect of music that gives rise to motifs and such. Harmony, however, is the underbelly of the song, the iceberg beneath the surface. It's the synchronization of the bass and treble that fleshes a song out and gives it depth.

[00:01:30]Ideally, all music should be a perfect mix of both melody and harmony. [music] This concept also extends into the realm of video game soundtracks as well.

[00:01:40]Now, I as a composer view video game music in its purest [music] form as an extension of classical music and other genres. There's a solid video that explains this concept [music] very well, which I'll tag around now.

[00:01:50]But essentially, modern video game music is and always has been a means by which to put the great melodies and harmonies to use in a story medium which enables perfect immersion of said music into the actual story of the games themselves.

[00:02:05]To demonstrate how this has been a concept since the very beginning, let's take the example of a popular NES game, Mega Man 2.

[00:02:12]It features one of the most recognizable soundtracks in all of gaming, primarily because it attempts to transcribe the [music] majestic riffs of rock music into a piece of hardware with only five sound channels. It accomplishes this magnificently. The result is some of the greatest video game songs ever. You've all probably had some Mega Man music stuck in your head at [music] some point, probably without realizing it.

[00:02:32]This is the mark of a great soundtrack.

[00:02:35]Now, as established before, classical music primarily entails the synchronization of melody with harmony.

[00:02:41]So, if video game music is meant to be an extension of [music] this concept, surely the use of motifs is not a bad thing, right? And to that I [music] say yes, but also no. There's a methodology to how leitmotifs should be used in music.

[00:02:55]If we examine the construction of a classical piano sonata, for example, it's generally divided into three parts.

[00:03:01]The first part introduces the theme, the second builds upon that theme, and the third part brings that theme into a climax and a conclusion. The motif does not remain stagnant, rather it is built upon, harmonized, [music] transposed into other keys, sometimes even inverted, in order to expand upon a given theme and give it depth.

[00:03:21]Now, to give an example of a leitmotif properly used in video context, let's look to another retro classic, Chrono Trigger. This game is a near perfect representation of the idea of classical music in video games.

[00:03:33]But, let's look specifically to the song Secret of the Forest. This song has a central motif, which ironically enough has become synonymous with the composer, being dubbed the Mitsuda leit.

[00:03:44]But, within the span of this 2-minute and 13-second loop, the motif is introduced, expanded upon, and climaxed, afterwards [music] being brought around again for a loop. At the climax of the song, the motif is complemented by repeated crescendo and decrescendo to harmonize. Ultimately, giving the song such an effect that while the echo motif remains almost identical to its original form, the harmony gives it a different feel and allows it to be properly brought to completion.

[00:04:10]This, my friends, is how you do a leitmotif. Now that we've established what a good use of this looks like, I wish to look at two different Toby Fox songs. One that does a leitmotif poorly and one that does it well.

[00:04:22]Now, you may be asking, "Square Circle Games, what song do you think is a sufficient representation of the misuse of leitmotifs?" Surely, it can't be a popular song. And to that, dear viewer, I say, "Weep and cry." Because we're going to be bashing no less than Big Shot today.

[00:04:41]You may not brutalize me in the comments.

[00:04:44]Now, Big Shot is inherently a banger. I won't deny it. The problem is not that the song isn't catchy or anything. No, the problem is that there's no variation in this use of its five leitmotifs. Big Shot begins with blasting the Spamton theme in an uber bit crushed orchestra hit. Then it moves into the freedom motif with Power of Neo as an undertone.

[00:05:03]There's no expansion on either of these motifs. They're almost word for word, or note for note, I guess, plugged straight out of their original songs and slapped together here.

[00:05:12]Then later in the song, the Mad Dummy motif from Undertale is introduced for no apparent reason. Again, with no variation of any sort.

[00:05:22]The use of leitmotifs in this song is staggeringly wrong. And what's funny to me is that this is arguably one of Toby's most famous songs. In my mind, this is akin to as if Michelangelo, while painting the Sistine Chapel, decided to take cutouts of his old paintings and plaster them onto the roof rather than painting a new fresco. It's bizarre to me that he's praised for this decision when he put in almost no work to compose the song. It's literally just the same motifs repeated.

[00:05:47]Now, so that I can get the song out of my head and in the interest of the video, let's move on to what I view as a Toby Fox song that properly uses the leitmotifs, that being Hammer of Justice.

[00:05:57]Deltarune Chapter 4 arguably has the best display of songs that properly use leitmotifs. So, what better to represent them as a whole than the secret boss music? Hammer of Justice features four leitmotifs [music] to my knowledge, Undyne, Ruins, Gerson, and the freedom motif. The song begins with an offbeat version of the Spear of Justice melody, which transitions [music] into a triumphant rendition of the Ruins theme.

[00:06:20]Again, the variation here is bizarre and offbeat, but it's welcoming and a good fit to Gerson's character in general.

[00:06:26]Speaking of Gerson, his theme [music] is present in a banjo riff in the interlude of the song before kicking back into a triumphant banjo solo and the freedom motif, which varies in the three and four measures before the song loops.

[00:06:39]It's a magnificent song. I could listen to this all day. It's catchy, it's a perfect complement to the story, it follows all the rules of the use of leitmotifs. If Toby could keep this up, could keep writing gems like this, my delight would be immeasurable cuz this is a genuinely awesome song.

[00:06:56]All right, that about wraps up everything I wanted to say. Please like and subscribe if you like this. Follow me on Twitter to catch all my music and video game stuff when it releases.

[00:07:05]Till next time, gentry. Godspeed to you all.