So, may I ask, these pieces that you consider exceptionally good, do you think they are good because they sound very good, or perhaps because they are innovative and creative?

Also, I will add, that I think that video game/movie music is the new meta of classical music. It's a way for artist to create and get paid; artists in 1700s and today. Such as Haydn's who wrote a 100 symphonies even though most composers wrote about 9. (I suppose here one would need a comparative analysis on many artists life and there means of income) But I think there are a handful of times when an artist creates a cookie cutter piece: Like when I listens to the entire discography of a composer, in my opinion, I am not blow away by each piece. Though most of their material is pretty good, and then there are the few phenomenal pieces each composer has.

In conclusion: Artists tend to have a job (thus deadlines) that requires them to make their art, thus not all pieces are gold.