Music of Chrono Cross

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Composer Yasunori Mitsuda Yasunori Mitsuda (2019).jpg
Composer Yasunori Mitsuda

The Chrono series is a video game franchise developed and published by Square Enix (formerly Square). It began in 1995 with the time travel role-playing video game Chrono Trigger , which spawned two continuations, Radical Dreamers and Chrono Cross . The music of Chrono Cross was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, the main composer of Chrono Trigger and Radical Dreamers. Chrono Cross has sparked a soundtrack album, released in 1999 by DigiCube and re-released in 2005 by Square Enix, and a greatest hits mini-album, published in 2000 by Square along with the North American release of the game. Radical Dreamers, the music of which heavily inspired the soundtrack of Chrono Cross, has not sparked any albums, though some songs from its soundtrack were reused in Chrono Cross. An album of arrangements of Chrono Cross songs was first announced by Mitsuda in 2005, and later intended to be released to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the game in 2009; its release date was pushed back several times since then. In 2015, Mitsuda released an album of arranged music from Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross entitled To Far Away Times to commemorate the 20-year anniversary of Chrono Trigger.

Contents

The original soundtrack album has been hailed as an excellent video game music album, while the Chrono Cross Music Selection mini-album has garnered little attention. Songs from the soundtrack have been played at various orchestral concerts, such as the personal arrangements by Mitsuda for the Play! A Video Game Symphony concert series. Chrono Cross music has also been extensively remixed by fans, and such remixes have been included in both official and unofficial albums.

Creation and development

Mitsuda returned as the lead composer for 1999's Chrono Cross after composing its predecessor, Chrono Trigger. After being contacted to compose the score by the game's director Masato Kato, [1] Mitsuda decided to center his work around old world cultural influences, including Mediterranean, Fado, Celtic, and percussive African music. [2] To complement the theme of parallel worlds, he gave the songs for the two worlds of the game, Another and Home, respectively dark and bright moods. [1] Mitsuda was happy to accomplish even half of what he envisioned. [2] Once production concluded, Mitsuda played Chrono Cross to record his impressions and observe how the tracks intermingled with scenes. [2]

Radical Dreamers was a 1996 text-based Visual Novel set as a gaiden, or side story, to Chrono Trigger. It was released to complement its predecessor's plot, and later served as inspiration for Chrono Cross . [3] The music of Radical Dreamers was written by Yasunori Mitsuda. [2] The soundtrack includes several ambient pieces, including the sound of water running in a fountain and wind accompanied by strings. Players can listen to the game's 15 songs by accessing a hidden menu in one of the game's scenarios. [4] The soundtrack has never been released as a separate album.

Several themes and musical patterns from Radical Dreamers were later adapted for Chrono Cross on the suggestion of Masato Kato; many appear unchanged except for new instrumentation. [2] Appearing in Chrono Cross are "Gale", "Frozen Flame", "Viper Manor", "Far Promise ~ Dream Shore" (as part of "On the Beach of Dreams - Another World" and "The Dream that Time Dreams"), "The Girl who Stole the Stars", and "Epilogue ~ Dream Shore" (as part of "Jellyfish Sea"). [2] Other entries in the soundtrack contain leitmotifs from Chrono Trigger and Radical Dreamers. The melody of "Far Promise ~ Dream Shore" features prominently in "The Dream That Time Dreams" and "Voyage - Another World". [1]

Albums

Chrono Cross Original Soundtrack

Chrono Cross Original Soundtrack
Chrono-cross-ost-cover.jpg
Soundtrack album by
Yasunori Mitsuda
ReleasedDecember 18, 1999
June 29, 2005
Genre Ambient, Classical, Downtempo, Electronic, Minimal, [5] Video game music
Length2:53:51
Label DigiCube
Square Enix (re-release)

The Chrono Cross Original Soundtrack is a soundtrack of the music from Chrono Cross , composed by Yasunori Mitsuda. The soundtrack spans three discs and 67 tracks, covering a duration of 3 hours. It was published by DigiCube on December 18, 1999, and reprinted by Square Enix on June 29, 2005. [6]

Xenogears contributor Tomohiko Kira played guitar on the beginning and ending themes. Noriko Mitose, selected for the role by Masato Kato, sang the ending song "Radical Dreamers ~ Unstolen Jewel ~". [1] Ryo Yamazaki, a synthesizer programmer for Square Enix, helped Mitsuda transfer his ideas to the PlayStation's sound capabilities. [2] The soundtrack has been described as having "some of the most haunting melodies known to man". [6] The "Home World" tracks from the soundtrack have been termed "emotional", "driving" and "striking", while the "Another World" tracks are described as "slower", "dreamier", and more "serene" than their counterparts. [7]

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"Radical Dreamers ~ Unstolen Jewel"
A 30-second sample of game's credits theme, demonstrating the voice of Noriko Mitose.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

The soundtrack won the Gold Prize for Sony 's PlayStation Awards of 2000. [8] It reached #72 on the Japan Oricon charts on its first print and #174 when reprinted. [9] [10] It was praised by reviewers such as Patrick Gann of RPGFan, who called it his favorite video game music soundtrack of all time and especially praised the vocals in "Radical Dreamers ~ Unstolen Jewel ~". [6] This high opinion was echoed by Don Kotowski of Square Enix Music Online, who called it "one of Mitsuda's best, both in and out of [the] context" of the game and said that it "surpasses his Chrono Trigger soundtrack". He singled out "Scars of Time" and "Radical Dreamers" as especially worthy of praise. [7] IGN, in their review of the game, termed the soundtrack "a brilliant score" that "does wonders in stirring the emotional strings of the players as they're playing through the game". IGN praised the technical sound quality of the soundtrack as well, though they did comment that for them no specific tracks stood out as especially memorable. [11] In a separate piece about Japanese RPG composers, however, IGN called "Scars of Time" and "Arni Village - Home World" as two of Mitsuda's most memorable tracks in naming him the second best out of ten behind Nobuo Uematsu. [12]

Track listing

Disc one
No.TitleLength
1."Chrono Cross -Scars of Time-" (CHRONO CROSS ~時の傷痕~)2:29
2."The Brink of Death" (死線)2:38
3."Arni (Home World)" (アルニ村 ホーム)3:23
4."Plains of Time (Home World)" (時の草原 ホーム・ワールド)3:26
5."Dances with Lizards" (トカゲと踊れ)2:41
6."Reminisce -Enduring Thoughts-" (回想 〜消せない想い〜)3:25
7."Shore of Dreams (Another World)" (夢の岸辺に アナザー・ワールド)2:22
8."Arni (Another World)" (アルニ村 アナザー)3:32
9."Fleeting Thoughts" (うたかたの想い)2:51
10."Missing Piece" (失われた欠片)3:12
11."Fossil Valley" (溺れ谷)2:00
12."Termina (Another World)" (テルミナ アナザー)2:43
13."The Departed Ones" (去りにし者ども)3:43
14."Shadow Forest" (影切りの森)3:25
15."Viper Manor" (蛇骨館)2:54
16."Victory -Boon of Spring-" (勝利 ~春の贈り物~)0:56
17."Lost in Time" (時の迷い子)3:24
18."Guldove (Another World)" (ガルドーブ アナザー)3:26
19."Hydra Marshes" (ヒドラの沼)3:10
20."Dreamy Shards" (夢のかけら)1:35
21."Sailing (Another World)" (航海 アナザー・ワールド)2:32
22."Ghost Ship" (幽霊船)2:00
23."Mount Pyre" (死炎山)3:39
24."Fort Dragonia" (古龍の砦)3:54
25."Sorrow" (悲愴)0:20
Total length:69:40
Disc two
No.TitleLength
1."Prelude to a Dream" (夢のはじまり)0:42
2."The Bend of Time" (次元の狭間)2:47
3."Termina (Home World)" (テルミナ ホーム)3:38
4."Dragoons" (龍の騎士)3:01
5."Sailing (Home World)" (航海 ホーム・ワールド)3:22
6."Guldove (Home World)" (ガルドーブ ホーム)3:58
7."Marbule (Home World)" (マブーレ ホーム)2:55
8."Zelbess" (ゼルベス)2:42
9."Miraculous & Mystifying" (天晴驚愕大奇術団)1:31
10."Slumber" (まどろみ)0:13
11."Chronomantic" (クロノマンティーク)3:18
12."Peril" (窮地)2:47
13."Paradise" (楽天)2:19
14."Isle of the Damned" (亡者の島)3:11
15."The Dead Sea -Tower of Geddon-" (死海・滅びの塔)3:10
16."Bound by Fate" (運命に囚われし者たち)3:26
17."Light Cast on the Lost" (あらかじめ失われし、ともしび)0:32
18."Earth Dragon Isle" (土龍の島)3:16
19."Gaea's Navel" (世界のへそ)2:59
20."Whirlwind" (疾風)2:00
21."Victory -Call of Summer-" (勝利 ~夏の呼び声~)0:53
22."Marbule (Another World)" (マブーレ アナザー)3:00
23."Fairy Magic" (妖精のくれた魔法)0:13
24."Etude 1" (エチュード1)0:12
25."Etude 2" (エチュード2)0:14
26."Magical Dreamers -Wind, Stars, and Waves-" (MAGICAL DREAMERS ~風と星と波と~)2:02
Total length:58:21
Disc three
No.TitleLength
1."The Garden of Eden" (神の庭)2:45
2."Chronopolis" (クロノポリス)4:12
3."Fates -Divine Destiny-" (FATES ~運命の神~)3:10
4."The El Nido Triangle" (海月海)2:55
5."Burning Orphanage" (炎の孤児院)2:44
6."The Girl Who Stole the Stars" (星を盗んだ少女)3:48
7."Dreams of the Ages" (時のみる夢)4:01
8."Dragon Prayers" (龍の祈り)5:37
9."Terra Tower" (星の塔)2:26
10."The Frozen Flame" (凍てついた炎)2:54
11."Dragon God" (龍神)3:21
12."The Darkness of Time" (時の闇にて)0:42
13."Life -A Distant Promise-" (生命 ~遠い約束~)6:32
14."Reminisce -Enduring Thoughts-" (回想 ~消せない想い~)1:39
15."Radical Dreamers -Le Tresor Interdit-" (RADICAL DREAMERS ~盗めない宝石~)4:25
16."Dreamy Shards" (夢のかけら)2:00
Total length:53:31

Chrono Cross Music Selection

Chrono Cross Music Selection is a mini-album of Chrono Cross music that was released in North America exclusively as a bonus for pre-ordering Chrono Cross. The five-track disc was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, has a length of 15:47 [13] and was published by Square along with the game on August 15, 2000. Although the release of the album sparked rumors that it would be followed by a North American release of the full soundtrack album, Square Enix has not to date published Chrono Cross OST outside Japan. [13]

Patrick Gann enjoyed the album, calling it a "little American gem of VG music", but noted that there is no reason to purchase it now that the full soundtrack is just as easy to obtain, especially given its short length. [13] The five tracks on this album were released on the "Original Soundtrack" with three of the tracks renamed.

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Chrono Cross - Scars of Time" (Also "Chrono Cross - Time's Scar" on the Original Soundtrack)2:30
2."The Bend of Time" (Also "The Brink of Death" on the Original Soundtrack)2:47
3."Chronomantique"3:17
4."Magical Dreamers - Wind, Stars, and Waves"3:33
5."The Girl who Stole the Stars" (Also "Star-Stealing Girl" on the Original Soundtrack)3:44
Total length:15:47

To Far Away Times: Chrono Trigger & Chrono Cross Arrangement Album

In 2005, Mitsuda announced a new arranged album of Chrono Cross music was scheduled for release in July of that year. [14] It did not materialize, though at a Play! A Video Game Symphony concert in May 2006, he revealed it would be out "within the year" and would feature acoustic music. [15] Later in 2006, Mitsuda alleged that the album would actually be released in 2007. [16] In 2008, Yasunori Mitsuda posted a streaming sample of a track from the upcoming Chrono Cross arranged album. [17] Though no official release date was announced, Mitsuda more than once stated that the album would be planned to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the game's original release in 2009. [17] Mitsuda claimed that the album was "nearly done", but that it may not be possible to release it before the year was out. [18]

On a live performance at the Tokyo Dome in July 2015 commemorating the 20-year anniversary of Chrono Trigger, Mitsuda announced that the long requested Chrono series arrangement album, entitled To Far Away Times: Chrono Trigger & Chrono Cross Arrangement Album would be released. This was eventually released by Square Enix Music on October 14, 2015. [19] [20] The album was released on the Square Enix website. [21] A number of the tracks had vocalists to go on top of the score. All tracks were composed by Yasunori Mitsuda.

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Time's Scar" (Arranged by Tomohiko Kira / Lyrics & Vocal: Koko Komine)4:47
2."RADICAL DREAMERS" (Arranged by Sachiko Miyano / Lyrics & Vocal: Sarah Àlainn)5:31
3."Wind Scene" (Arranged by Kumi Tanioka & Sachiko Miyano)4:28
4."Schala's Theme" (Arranged by Yasunori Mitsuda & Laura Shigihara / Lyrics & Vocal: Laura Shigihara)4:07
5."The Frozen Flame" (Arranged by Natsumi Kameoka)3:21
6."Marbule" (Composed & Arranged by Yasunori Mitsuda)4:01
7."The Bend of Time" (Arranged by Natsumi Kameoka)3:35
8."Corridors of Time" (Arranged by Yasunori Mitsuda & Laura Shigihara / Lyrics & Vocal: Laura Shigihara)3:54
9."On The Other Side" (Arranged by Kazune Ogihara & Laura Shigihara / Lyrics & Vocal: Laura Shigihara)4:12
10."To Far Away Times" (Arranged by Sachiko Miyano / Lyrics & Vocal: Sarah Àlainn)4:36
Total length:42:32

Orchestral Arrangement

On September 4, 2019, Square Enix released the album Chrono Cross Orchestral Arrangement, containing eight tracks arranged by Kosuke Yamashita, Mariam Abounnasr, Daisuke Shinoda, and Tomomichi Takeoka, and performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. A box set containing the album, a similar album of orchestral arrangements for Chrono Trigger, and a bonus disc of two piano duet arrangements for each game was also released. The album and box set were reviewed by Tien Hoang of VGMOnline, who found it to be a short album of uncreative arrangements that stuck closely to the original compositions. He found the piano arrangements in the box set to be better, but uneven. [22] [23]

Piano Collections

An album of piano arrangements was published by Wayô Records on February 4, 2021 as Across the Worlds – Chrono Cross Wayô Piano Collections. [24] Wayô licensed the music from Mitsuda's Procyon Studio and funded the production through a June 2020 Kickstarter campaign; the arrangements were done by former Square Enix composer Masashi Hamauzu, Akio Noguchi, and Mariam Abounnasr from Procyon Studios, and were performed by Benyamin Nuss. [25] The album contains seventeen tracks across two discs, with a total length of 1:24:38. It was reviewed by Tien Hoang of VGMOnline, who found it a solid and well-performed album, but was disappointed that the arrangements were not more complex and creative. [24] Patrick Gann of RPGFan, however, praised the "advanced, meandering, and nuanced arrangements" as highlighting the different arrangers' styles rather than straightforward conversions of the melodies to piano, though he found the medleys and track selection to be a missed opportunity. [26]

Legacy

Rony Barrak during the Chrono symphonic suite at the Play! concert VGL Chrono Suite.jpg
Rony Barrak during the Chrono symphonic suite at the Play! concert

Mitsuda has personally arranged versions of music from Chrono Cross for Play! A Video Game Symphony video game music concerts in 2006. [27] Music from the game has also been performed in other video game concert tours such as the Video Games Live concert series and in concerts by the Eminence Orchestra. [28] Music from Chrono Trigger and Cross made up one fourth of the music in the Symphonic Fantasies concerts in Leipzig in September 2009 which were produced by the creators of the Symphonic Game Music Concert series and conducted by Arnie Roth. [29] [30] The concerts featured a suite of music from both games interspersed together with the songs from Cross comprising "Scars of Time", "Gale", "Brink of Death", and "Prisoners of Fate". [31] A suite comprising music from Chrono Trigger and Cross was performed at the Press Start -Symphony of Games- 2008 concerts in Tokyo and Shanghai. [32] "Scars of Time" was played at the Fantasy Comes Alive concert in Singapore on April 30, 2010. [33] A set of three concerts titled Radical Dreamers were performed in Tokyo, Osaka, and Aichi on November 3, 16 and 17, 2019, to celebrate the game's 20th anniversary. [34] Sheet music for Chrono Cross tracks arranged for both solo guitar and guitar duets has been released by Procyon Studio. [35]

Chrono Cross's soundtrack has been heavily remixed by fans, sparking several albums. These include the officially licensed Time & Space - A Tribute to Yasunori Mitsuda, released by OneUp Studios on October 7, 2001 and containing 18 remixes over a span of 1:00:58, with a second version of the album released on June 17, 2003. A related popular album release was Radical Dreamers: Thieves of Fate, an unofficial download-only album release by the remix website OverClocked ReMix on January 5, 2008 containing 15 remixes of the soundtrack to Radical Dreamers, including remixes of the tracks that later appeared in Chrono Cross. [36] Selections of remixes also appear on dōjin remix albums, and on English remixing websites such as OverClocked Remix. [37] "Time's Scar" was featured by NPR in a program about classically arranged video game scores in December 2012. [38]

Related Research Articles

<i>Chrono Trigger</i> 1995 video game

Chrono Trigger is a 1995 role-playing video game developed and published by Square. It was originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as the first entry in the Chrono series. The game's development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, creator of Enix's Dragon Quest series; and Akira Toriyama, character designer of Dragon Quest and author of the Dragon Ball manga series. In addition, Takashi Tokita co-directed the game and co-wrote the scenario, Kazuhiko Aoki produced the game, while Masato Kato wrote most of the story. The game's plot follows a group of adventurers who travel through time to prevent a global catastrophe.

<i>Chrono Cross</i> 1999 video game

Chrono Cross is a 1999 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is set in the same world as Chrono Trigger, which was released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Chrono Cross was designed primarily by scenarist and director Masato Kato, who had help from other designers who also worked on Chrono Trigger, including art director Yasuyuki Honne and composer Yasunori Mitsuda. Nobuteru Yūki designed the characters of the game.

<i>Radical Dreamers</i> 1996 video game

Radical Dreamers is a 1996 text-based visual novel adventure video game developed and published by Square for the Satellaview, a satellite peripheral for the Super Famicom. It forms part of the Chrono series, acting as a side story to the 1995 game Chrono Trigger. A version of the game is included with Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, which was released worldwide on April 7, 2022 for Windows, the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yasunori Mitsuda</span> Japanese composer (born 1972)

Yasunori Mitsuda is a Japanese composer and musician. He is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the Chrono, Xeno, Shadow Hearts, and Inazuma Eleven franchises, among various others. Mitsuda began composing music for his own games in high school, later attending a music college in Tokyo. While still a student, he was granted an intern position at the game development studio Wolf Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masashi Hamauzu</span> Japanese composer and pianist (born 1971)

Masashi Hamauzu is a Japanese composer, pianist, and lyricist. Hamauzu, who was employed at Square Enix from 1996 to 2010, was best known during that time for his work on the Final Fantasy and SaGa video game series. Born into a musical family in Germany, Hamauzu was raised in Japan. He became interested in music while in kindergarten, and took piano lessons from his parents.

Chrono Break is a cancelled third mainline entry in the Chrono series of video games by Square. While never officially announced by the company, commentary from Chrono series developers Masato Kato, Hironobu Sakaguchi, and Takashi Tokita have confirmed early plans for the game, alongside a number of trademarks filed in the game's name. However, the game would ultimately go unproduced, with many members of the internal development team either moving on to Final Fantasy XI or leaving the company in favor of freelance work. The game elicited much commentary from the company and the video game press in the following years, though as of 2021, all trademarks had expired, with no announced plans to work on the game.

Masato Kato is a Japanese video game artist, scenario writer and director. In the early days of his career, he was credited under the pseudonyms of "Runmaru" and "Runmal". He then joined Square, and was most famous for penning the script of Chrono Trigger, as well as Radical Dreamers, Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy XI and parts of Final Fantasy VII.

Music of <i>Chrono Trigger</i> Soundtrack of SNES game Chrono Trigger

The Chrono series is a video game franchise developed and published by Square Enix. It began in 1995 with the time travel role-playing video game Chrono Trigger, which spawned two continuations, Radical Dreamers and Chrono Cross. The music of Chrono Trigger was composed primarily by Yasunori Mitsuda, with a few tracks composed by regular Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu. The Chrono Trigger soundtrack has inspired four official album releases by Square Enix: a soundtrack album released by NTT Publishing in 1995 and re-released in 2004; a greatest hits album published by DigiCube in 1999, published in abbreviated form by Tokyopop in 2001, and republished by Square Enix in 2005; an acid jazz arrangement album published and republished by NTT Publishing in 1995 and 2004; and a 2008 orchestral arranged album by Square Enix. Corresponding with the Nintendo DS release of the game, a reissued soundtrack was released in 2009. An arranged album for Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, entitled To Far Away Times, was released in 2015 to commemorate the 20 year anniversary of Chrono Trigger.

The Chrono series is a video game franchise developed and published by Square, and is currently owned by Square Enix. The series began in 1995 with the time travel role-playing video game Chrono Trigger, which spawned two continuations, Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki, and Chrono Cross. A promotional anime called Dimensional Adventure Numa Monjar and two ports of Chrono Trigger were also produced. As of March 31, 2003, Chrono Trigger was Square Enix's 12th best-selling game, with 2.65 million units shipped. Chrono Cross was the 24th, with 1.5 million units shipped. By 2019, the two games had sold over 5.5 million units combined. The games in the series have been called some of the greatest of all time, with most of the praise going towards Chrono Trigger. The series' original soundtracks, composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, have also been praised, with multiple soundtracks being released for them.

<i>Creid</i> Music from the video game Xenogears

Creid is the arranged soundtrack to Square's role-playing video game Xenogears. It was written by the game's composer Yasunori Mitsuda and performed by a musical ensemble dubbed Millennial Fair. It was released on April 22, 1998, in Japan by DigiCube, and re-released by Square Enix on June 29, 2005. Comprising ten tracks arranged from the Xenogears Original Soundtrack, the album is mostly done in Irish or Celtic music style, with minor influences of Japanese rock according to Mitsuda. Artists from Japan and Ireland were recruited for the project. Four of the five vocal tracks on the album were written by Junko Kudo and sung by Tetsuko Honma, while the title track "Creid" was written by Mitsuda and performed by Eimear Quinn.

The music of the video game Final Fantasy XII was composed primarily by Hitoshi Sakimoto. Additional music was provided by Masaharu Iwata and Hayato Matsuo, who also orchestrated the opening and ending themes. Former regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu's only work for this game was "Kiss Me Good-Bye", the theme song sung by Angela Aki. The Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack was released on four Compact Discs in 2006 by Aniplex. A sampling of tracks from the soundtrack was released as an album entitled Selections from Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack, and was released in 2006 by Tofu Records. Additionally, a promotional digital album titled The Best of Final Fantasy XII was released on the Japanese localization of iTunes for download only in 2006. "Kiss Me Good-Bye" was released by Epic Records as a single in 2006, and Symphonic Poem "Hope", the complete music from the game's end credits, was released by Hats Unlimited the same year. An abridged version of the latter piece, which originally accompanied a promotional video for the game, was included in the official soundtrack album. An album of piano arrangements, titled Piano Collections Final Fantasy XII, was released by Square Enix in 2012.

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The music of the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI was composed by Naoshi Mizuta along with regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu and Kumi Tanioka. The Final Fantasy XI Original Soundtrack, a compilation of almost all of the music in the game, was released by DigiCube in 2002, and subsequently re-released by Square Enix in 2004. Final Fantasy XI Rise of the Zilart Original Soundtrack was released by DigiCube in 2003 after the release of the Rise of the Zilart expansion for Final Fantasy XI, and re-released by Square Enix in 2004. Final Fantasy XI Chains of Promathia Original Soundtrack was produced by Square Enix in 2004 after the release of the Chains of Promathia expansion, and in 2005 Square Enix published Music from the Other Side of Vana'diel, a collection of arranged tracks from the game performed by The Star Onions, a group composed of Square Enix composers including Naoshi Mizuta, Kumi Tanioka and Hidenori Iwasaki. Final Fantasy XI Treasures of Aht Urhgan Original Soundtrack was released by Square Enix in 2006 for the Treasures of Aht Urhgan expansion.

<i>Kirite</i> 2005 studio album by Yasunori Mitsuda

Kirite is a 2005 album composed by Yasunori Mitsuda based on The Five Seasons of Kirite, a story by Masato Kato. Unlike their other previous major collaborations like Chrono Trigger, Xenogears and Chrono Cross, Kirite was never developed and published as a video game, but published as musical album bundled with Masato Kato's story text in Japanese and a collection of artistic nature photographs. The music of Kirite incorporates Celtic music, jazz and ambient noise influences.

<i>Xenogears Original Soundtrack</i> 1998 soundtrack

The Xenogears Original Soundtrack is the official soundtrack to Square's role-playing video game Xenogears. It was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda and contains 44 tracks, including a Bulgarian choral song and two pieces performed by the Irish singer Joanne Hogg. Though the game was released in both Japan and North America, the album was published in Japan exclusively as a two-CD set on March 1, 1998.

The Xenosaga (ゼノサーガ) series is a series of science fiction role-playing video games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Namco Bandai on the PlayStation 2. The series began with the 2002 release of Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht, which was followed in 2004 by Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse and in 2006 by Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra. The music of Xenosaga includes the soundtracks to all three chapters, as well as the music for its spin-off media. These include Xenosaga Freaks, a set of minigames set between the first two chapters, Xenosaga I & II, a Nintendo DS remake of the first two chapters, and Xenosaga: The Animation, an anime series covering the events of the first game. Episode I was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, Episode II was split between Yuki Kajiura, Shinji Hosoe, and Ayako Saso, and Episode III was composed by Kajiura alone. Xenosaga Freaks reused some of the music of Episode I by Mitsuda while also including new work by Shinji Hosoe, Ayako Saso, Masashi Yano, Keiichi Okabe, Satoru Kōsaki, and Hiroshi Okubo, while Xenosaga I & II and Xenosaga: The Animation used new pieces composed by Kousuke Yamashita.

Front Mission is a series of tactical role-playing games produced by Square Enix. The music of the series includes the soundtracks to the main series, composed of Front Mission through Front Mission 5: Scars of the War, as well as the spin-off games, which include Front Mission Series: Gun Hazard, Front Mission Alternative, Front Mission: Online, Front Mission 2089 and its remake Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness, Front Mission 2089-II, and Front Mission Evolved. The soundtracks of the series' installments have been released in album form in Japan, with the exceptions of 2089, 2089-II, and Border of Madness, which reuse music from the other installments, and Evolved, which was published in 2010. The soundtrack to Front Mission was released in 1995 by NTT Publishing, which also published the soundtrack to Front Mission: Gun Hazard in 1996. DigiCube published soundtrack albums for Front Mission 2 and Alternative in 1997 and 3 in 1999. Square Enix published the albums for Front Mission 4 in 2004, and 5 and Online in 2006.

<i>Myth: The Xenogears Orchestral Album</i> 2011 soundtrack album by Yasunori Mitsuda

Myth: The Xenogears Orchestral Album is an arranged soundtrack to Square Enix's role-playing video game Xenogears. It is the third soundtrack to the game, after Xenogears Original Soundtrack and Creid, another arranged album, both released in 1998. Myth was composed by the game's composer Yasunori Mitsuda and arranged by Mitsuda, Youki Yamamoto, Sachiko Miyano, and Natsumi Kameoka. The album contains 14 tracks, including a song performed by the Irish singer Joanne Hogg, and has a length of 51:33. The orchestration was performed by the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Yamamoto. The album was announced in October 2010, and was released on February 23, 2011 by Square Enix. A vinyl record version of the album was released on April 1, 2011, consisting of six tracks from the full album.

<i>Symphonic Fantasies</i> Concert tour of music from four Square Enix video game series

Symphonic Fantasies: Music from Square Enix was an award-winning symphonic tribute concert originally held in Cologne, Germany on September 12, 2009, at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall featuring video game music from Japanese game developer Square Enix. The concert featured symphonic movements based on the Kingdom Hearts series, Secret of Mana, the Chrono series, and the Final Fantasy series. It was produced and directed by Thomas Böcker, with arrangements provided by Finnish composer and musician Jonne Valtonen with assistance by Roger Wanamo. Due to overwhelming demand, a second concert was added at the König-Pilsener-Arena in Oberhausen, on September 11, 2009. Both performances were by the WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne and the WDR Radio Choir Cologne under conduction from Arnie Roth, with guest performers Rony Barrak and Benyamin Nuss joining the orchestra. Symphonic Fantasies was broadcast over radio on the WDR4 station and streamed live video online.

The music for the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV was composed by Nobuo Uematsu, a regular contributor to the music of the Final Fantasy series. Several other composers including Masayoshi Soken and Naoshi Mizuta contributed music for updates to the game. The music for the game's reboot, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, and subsequent expansions, is compiled of a collection of original and remixed songs by numerous composers, namely Uematsu, Soken, as well as others including guest composers such as Okabe of the NIER series. Soken was the sound director for both releases of the game. Music from both releases of the game has been released in several albums. A pair of mini-albums containing a handful of selected tracks from XIV, Final Fantasy XIV: Battle Tracks and Final Fantasy XIV: Field Tracks, were released by Square Enix in 2010 when XIV first launched. A soundtrack album titled Final Fantasy XIV - Eorzean Frontiers, containing most of the music that had been released by that point for XIV, was digitally released in 2012. A final soundtrack album for the original release of the game, Before Meteor: Final Fantasy XIV Original Soundtrack, was released in 2013 just before the launch of A Realm Reborn, and contains all of the music that was composed for XIV throughout its lifetime. The latest soundtrack album, Shadowbringers: Final Fantasy XIV Original Soundtrack, was released in 2019. This album contains the music for the third expansion, Shadowbringers, and music from the previous expansion, Stormblood, that was added to the game via patches after the release of that expansion's soundtrack.

References

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  23. ↑ Hoang, Tien (2020-01-22). "Chrono Orchestra Arrangement Box". VGMOnline. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
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