Final Fantasy XIII

Game Music

Comic Con 2010: Hey Arnie, You’ve Got Some Final Fantasy XIII In My Distant Worlds!

July 25, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 9 Comments Share this

Yes, the big surprise at the Distant Worlds stop here at Comic Con in San Diego was that they performed music from Final Fantasy XIII. That’s not all, but we also got a taste of Final Fantasy XIV along with a number of tracks from the both the Distant Worlds and Distant Worlds II catalogs.

A great venue, great players and performers, a wonderful town (although it was really cold), and Uematsu in attendance made for a great evening. Find out what was played and what we thought of the Final Fantasy XIII and XIV pieces in our concert review after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Masashi Hamauzu Returns: Piano Collections FINAL FANTASY XIII (Review)

July 21, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 8 Comments Share this

Square Enix has fortunately been giving Final Fantasy XIII’s soundtrack a lot of attention. From the amazing original soundtrack released at the beginning of this year, we’ve seen drama discs, the PLUS soundtrack, and even multiple vinyl releases, but we’re just now getting our hands on perhaps one of the most anticipated albums covering the music from Final Fantasy XIII, the piano collections.

I had high hopes for this album given Hamauzu’s background in piano, and as the tracklist was revealed and samples were posted to the album’s official website, I grew even more excited. Those looking forward to the collaboration between Masashi Hamauzu and pianist Aki Kuroda should rest assured that they’ve done an amazing job with this album, tackling many of the themes you’d expect along with a few that come as a surprise and are still executed wonderfully.

Find out which tracks I’m talking about after the jump. (more…)
Featured, Game Music

Final Fantasy XIII OST PLUS: Exclusive English Liner Notes and Commentary

July 1, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

I had a hunch when I was reviewing the Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack -PLUS- album that just listening to the album wasn’t really giving me the full story. The tracks were oftentimes quite similar to their final version counterparts, and I figured the lengthy liner notes and track-by-track commentary written by Masashi Hamauzu in the album’s booklet probably provided the necessary insight to truly appreciate what this CD had to offer. Unfortunately the text was only available in Japanese. That is, until now.

We went about contacting Square Enix’s music department to see if they’d be willing to allow us to publish an English translation of the album’s liner notes and commentary, and they agreed that doing so would probably help fans in the West understand the album better. So here they are, courtesy of Square Enix Japan. We have Hamauzu’s commentary for each track on the album, and I think Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack -PLUS- will make much more sense after reading them.

Read the full commentary and liner notes after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Final Fantasy XIII OST PLUS: More… of the Same! (Review)

June 9, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

We were all a bit surprised when we learned on April 1 this year that Final Fantasy XIII OST PLUS was on its way. I initially thought it would feature international versions of songs along with some remixes, but that’s actually not what the album is about. What we have here is basically an album of trailer music, alpha versions, prototype version, alternate versions, English-vocal versions, and instrumental versions of tracks from the Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack that we reviewed some months ago.

So, the question is whether or not this album is a legitimate entry into the Final Fantasy XIII music catalogue, or whether it’s more of a gimmicky collector’s item. Find out what we think in our review of the Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack PLUS album after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Final Fantasy XIII Piano Collections Coming This July

June 5, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 8 Comments Share this

While many have long suspected it, it’s finally been made official that a Piano Collections FINAL FANTASY XIII album is in the works. A posting was recently added to VGMdb, and it looks like we won’t have to wait long as the release date is listed as July 21, 2010. More so, it seems as though Piano Collections FINAL FANTASY X performer Aki Kuroda will be handling the recording.

Having just finished Final Fantasy XIII yesterday, the timing of this announcement couldn’t have come at a better time! Many of us here feel that the music from Final Fantasy XIII is some of the best that the series and Masashi Hamauzu have to offer, and given his strong background in piano, I for one am extremely excited to hear what they come up with.

Are you at all surprised that this album is on its way? Are you looking forward to hearing Masashi Hamauzu and Aki Kuroda team up once again?

[via VGMdb]
Game Music

Final Fantasy XIII Sound Director Tomohiro Yajima Interview

April 22, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Final Fantasy XIII Sound Director Tomohiro Yajima Interview Share this

Tomohiro Yajima may not be a widely known name among Final Fantasy fans, but he’s been on board with the series since Final Fantasy XI, and also has been credited on both Vagrant Story and Xenogears. As Final Fantasy XIII’s Sound Director, he was responsible for all aspects of audio in the game, including dialogue, sound effects, and implementation of the game’s music, working hand-in-hand with composer Masashi Hamauzu and Director Motomu Toriyama to ensure everything was just.

Yajima joins us now to discuss his role on the project, how he was selected to work on it, his approach to the game’s soundscape, how much of the sound effects he was responsible for recording, and also some background about how he came to work at Square Enix. Sound design is often under appreciated among fans and critics alike, so take some time and find out why Yajima thinks it’s one of the most important elements in the game.

Hit the jump for our exclusive interview! (more…)
Game Music

Original SoundCAST: Episode #001

April 8, 2010 | Joshua Kopstein | 6 Comments Share this Original SoundCAST: Episode #001

We’ve finally done it! After weeks of failed recording attempts, we’re very pleased to bring you the first episode of OSV’s official podcast, Original SoundCAST. Our beneficent and handsome EIC, Jayson Napolitano is joined by Audun Sorlie, Gideon Dabi and myself for a recap of last week’s news and events. Included in this week’s agenda are the leaked Sonic 4 soundtrack, Final Fantasy XIII OST -PLUS-, Blip Fest Tokyo and a recap of my trip to Boston for PAX East. Now, enough reading — Click the link below to download!

Thanks to AdamGetsAwesome for providing this week’s intro & outro music.

Download: Original Soundcast #001