Johnson felt having short pieces of music that looped without reacting to the player would be a "missed opportunity", and wanted to create music that changed while still containing a composed emotional arc. Creative Director Jenova Chen met with Wintory at the start of the game's development to describe his vision for the project, and Wintory left the meeting and composed and recorded the main cello theme for the soundtrack that night. He continued to work on the soundtrack for the next three years, experimenting and discarding many ideas.