The music of the video game Final Fantasy V was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. The Final Fantasy V Original Sound Version, a compilation of almost all of the music in the game, was released by Square Co./NTT Publishing, and subsequently re-released by NTT Publishing after the game was brought to North America as part of the Final Fantasy Anthology . An arranged album entitled Final Fantasy V Dear Friends, containing a selection of musical tracks from the game arranged in multiple styles, including live and vocal versions, was released by Square/NTT Publishing and later re-released by NTT Publishing. Additionally, a collection of piano arrangements composed by Nobuo Uematsu, arranged by Shirou Satou and played by Toshiyuki Mori titled Piano Collections Final Fantasy V was released by Square/NTT Publishing, and re-released by NTT Publishing.
The music received mixed reviews; while some reviewers enjoyed the soundtrack and found it to be underrated, others felt it was only of middling quality. Several pieces, especially "Dear Friends", remain popular today, and have been performed numerous times in orchestral concert series such as the Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy concert series, named after the Final Fantasy V piece, and the Orchestral Game Concert series. Music from the soundtrack has also been published in arranged and compilation albums by Square as well as outside groups.
Uematsu had originally calculated that the game would require more than 100 pieces of music, but managed to reduce the number to 56. He has stated that he developed the ideas for the music by first reading through the script and creating the titles for all of the tracks, then composing melodies to match the themes of the story and titles. [1] Uematsu felt that the sound quality of the soundtrack for Final Fantasy V was much better than that of IV. He also claimed that this resulted in the soundtrack release requiring two CDs as opposed to the one CD required for the Final Fantasy IV soundtrack. Uematsu has stated that he would have preferred to keep the soundtrack to one CD, in order to keep the price of the album low. [1]
Final Fantasy V Original Sound Version | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Soundtrack album by | |
Released | December 7, 1992 November 26, 1994 (re-release) October 1, 2004 (re-release) |
Recorded | Sunrise Studio |
Length | Disc 1: 60:02 Disc 2: 70:22 |
Label | Square/NTT Publishing NTT Publishing (re-release) |
Producer | Nobuo Uematsu |
Final Fantasy V Original Sound Version is a soundtrack album of video game music from Final Fantasy V . The album contains the musical tracks from the game, composed, arranged, produced and performed by Nobuo Uematsu. It spans two discs and 67 tracks, covering a duration of 2:08:30. It was released on December 7, 1992 by Square and NTT Publishing with the catalog number N33D-013~4, and re-released on November 26, 1994 and October 1, 2004 by NTT Publishing with the catalog numbers of PSCN-5015~6 and NTCP-5015~6, respectively. [2]
A single was released in 1992 titled Final Fantasy V: 5+1, consisting of the "Opening Theme", "Main Theme of FINAL FANTASY V", "Harvest", "Dungeon", and "Battle 1" tracks from the soundtrack, as well as the previously unreleased "MATOUYA no doukutsu" ("Matoya's Cave") from Final Fantasy . It was published by NTT Publishing and had a catalog number of NO9D-012 and a length of 14:46. [3] A single named Final Fantasy V Mambo de Chocobo was also released, containing the "Mambo de Chocobo" track from the game, as well as three unused tracks from the game and a compilation mix track. The single was released by NTT Publishing in 1993; it covered a duration of 16:14 and had a catalog number of NO9D-016. [4] Nine tracks from the soundtrack were included in a bonus CD titled Music From FFV and FFVI Video Games that shipped with Final Fantasy Anthology on October 5, 1999, along with tracks from Final Fantasy VI . [5] The soundtrack was again released as part of the Final Fantasy Finest Box by Square Enix on March 28, 2007 under the catalog numbers FFFB-0002-3 along with the OSTs of IV and VI after the game was ported to the Game Boy Advance. [6] [7]
The soundtrack album sold over 135,000 copies. [8] Critical opinion of the soundtrack was mixed. Some reviewers, such as Ben Schweitzer of RPGFan, found it to be of medium quality, saying it "suffer[ed] from occasional compositional problems" and noted that others refer to it as simply "in the middle" of the soundtracks of IV and VI, but was generally positive to the Final Fantasy V's music in his conclusion. Schweitzer praised the "Main Theme of Final Fantasy V" ("Ahead on Our Way") as "a truly stirring piece of music" and "triumphant, hopeful, and yet almost longing at the same time", but stated that "Uematsu's compositional style hits a sort of early plateau here". [2] Other reviewers disagreed, with Jason Strohmaier of Soundtrack Central finding it to be an underrated album, while Jeremy Althouse of Soundtrack Central felt that it was on par with Uematsu's other works. [9]
Track list [10]
No. | Title | English title [11] (literal translation if different) [12] | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "ファイナルファンタジーV メインテーマ (Fainaru Fantajī Faibu Mein Tēma)" | Main Theme of Final Fantasy V | 2:37 |
2. | "オープニング (Ōpuningu)" | Opening Theme | 4:30 |
3. | "4つの心 (Yottsu no Kokoro)" | Four Hearts | 1:44 |
4. | "急げ!急げ!!(Isoge! Isoge!!)" | Hurry! Hurry!! | 0:44 |
5. | "レナのテーマ (Rena no Tēma)" | Lenna's Theme | 1:58 |
6. | "ダンジョン (Danjon)" | Dungeon | 2:31 |
7. | "バトル1 (Batoru 1)" | Battle 1 | 1:14 |
8. | "勝利のファンファーレ (Shōri no Fanfāre)" | Victory Fanfare | 0:44 |
9. | "レクイエム (Rekuiemu)" | Requiem | 0:28 |
10. | "おれたちゃ海賊 (Oretacha Kaizoku)" | Pirates Ahoy ("We're Pirates") | 2:07 |
11. | "街のテーマ (Machi no Tēma)" | Town Theme | 2:19 |
12. | "おやすみなさい (Oyasuminasai)" | Good Night | 0:07 |
13. | "封印されしもの (Fūinsareshi Mono)" | Sealed Away | 1:48 |
14. | "呪いの地 (Noroi no Chi)" | Cursed Lands | 1:55 |
15. | "幻惑されて (Genwakusarete)" | Deception ("Dazzled") | 1:18 |
16. | "ハーヴェスト (Hāvesuto)" | Harvest | 1:46 |
17. | "銀嶺を行く (Ginrei o Iku)" | To the North Mountain ("Walking the Snow-Capped Mountains") | 1:57 |
18. | "危機一髪!(Kiki Ippatsu!)" | Close Call | 1:22 |
19. | "バトル2 (Batoru 2)" | Battle 2 | 2:30 |
20. | "大いなる翼を広げ (Ōinaru Tsubasa o Hiroge)" | Spreading Grand Wings | 1:49 |
21. | "王家の宮殿 (Ōke no Kyūden)" | Royal Palace ("Palace of the Royal Family") | 1:40 |
22. | "火力船 (Karyokusen)" | Fire Ship ("The Fire-Powered Ship") | 1:40 |
23. | "脱出!(Dasshutsu!)" | Run! ("Escape!") | 0:51 |
24. | "離愁 (Rishū)" | Sorrows of Parting | 2:37 |
25. | "古代図書館 (Kodai Toshokan)" | Library of Ancients | 2:36 |
26. | "回想 (Kaisō)" | Reminiscence | 1:37 |
27. | "ムジカ・マキーナ (Mujika Makīna)" | Musica Machina | 1:49 |
28. | "いつの日かきっと (Itsu no Hi ka Kitto)" | The Day Will Come | 1:53 |
29. | "ん? (N?)" | What? ("Huh?") | 0:54 |
30. | "マンボ・デ・チョコボ (Manbo de Chokobo)" | Mambo de Chocobo | 1:12 |
31. | "はるかなる故郷 (Haruka Naru Furusato)" | Home, Sweet Home ("Far-off Hometown") | 2:42 |
32. | "想い出のオルゴール (Omoide no Orugōru)" | Music Box ("Music Box of Memories") | 1:50 |
33. | "飛空艇 (Hikūtei)" | The Airship | 2:03 |
34. | "覇王エクスデス (Haō Ekusudesu)" | The Evil Lord Exdeath | 2:24 |
No. | Title | English title [11] (literal translation if different) [12] | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "エクスデスの城 (Ekusudesu no Shiro)" | Exdeath's Castle | 2:23 |
2. | "暁の戦士 (Akatsuki no Senshi)" | The Dawn Warriors | 2:16 |
3. | "ビッグブリッヂの死闘 (Biggu Burijji no Shitō)" | Clash On the Big Bridge ("Battle to the Death on the Big Bridge") | 2:29 |
4. | "未知なる大地 (Michi Naru Daichi)" | Unknown Lands | 2:24 |
5. | "モーグリのテーマ (Mōguri no Tēma)" | Moogles' Theme | 1:29 |
6. | "暁の城 (Akatsuki no Shiro)" | The Castle of Dawn | 2:04 |
7. | "深い碧の果てに (Fukai Heki no Hate ni)" | Beyond the Deep Blue Sea ("To the End of the Deep Blue") | 1:46 |
8. | "大森林の伝説 (Daishinrin no Densetsu)" | Legend of the Deep Forest | 2:37 |
9. | "タイクーン円舞曲ヘ長調 (Taikūn Enbukyoku e Chōchō)" | Tycoon Waltz ("Tycoon Waltz in F Major") | 2:16 |
10. | "ボコのテーマ (Boko no Tēma)" | Boko's Theme ("Boco's Theme") | 1:14 |
11. | "新しき世界 (Atarashiki Sekai)" | A New World | 2:15 |
12. | "封印の書 (Fūin no Sho)" | Sealed Book | 1:49 |
13. | "古き土の眠り (Furuki Tsuchi no Nemuri)" | Slumber of Ancient Earth | 2:29 |
14. | "虚空への前奏曲 (Kokū e no Zensōkyoku)" | Prelude to the Void | 3:57 |
15. | "光を求めて (Hikari o Motomete)" | In Search of Light ("Searching for the Light") | 1:40 |
16. | "決戦 (Kessen)" | The Decisive Battle | 4:26 |
17. | "最後の闘い (Saigo no Tatakai)" | The Final Battle | 4:04 |
18. | "静寂の彼方 (Seijaku no Kanata)" | The Silent Beyond | 5:42 |
19. | "親愛なる友へ (Shin'ai Naru Tomo e)" | Dear Friends | 4:02 |
20. | "ファイナルファンタジー (Fainaru Fantajī)" | Final Fantasy | 3:33 |
21. | "エンドタイトル (Endo Taitoru)" | Ending Theme ("End Title") | 8:16 |
22. | "プレリュード (Pureryūdo)" | The Prelude | 1:46 |
23. | "ファンファーレ1 (Fanfāre 1)" | Fanfare 1 | 0:08 |
24. | "ファンファーレ2 (Fanfāre 2)" | Fanfare 2 | 0:12 |
25. | "あたしは踊り子 (Atashi wa Odoriko)" | I'm a Dancer | 0:16 |
26. | "ピアノのおけいこ1 (Piano no Okeiko 1)" | Piano Lesson 1 | 0:12 |
27. | "ピアノのおけいこ2 (Piano no Okeiko 2)" | Piano Lesson 2 | 0:13 |
28. | "ピアノのおけいこ3 (Piano no Okeiko 3)" | Piano Lesson 3 | 0:13 |
29. | "ピアノのおけいこ4 (Piano no Okeiko 4)" | Piano Lesson 4 | 0:27 |
30. | "ピアノのおけいこ5 (Piano no Okeiko 5)" | Piano Lesson 5 | 0:08 |
31. | "ピアノのおけいこ6 (Piano no Okeiko 6)" | Piano Lesson 6 | 0:09 |
32. | "ピアノのおけいこ7 (Piano no Okeiko 7)" | Piano Lesson 7 | 0:08 |
33. | "ピアノのおけいこ8 (Piano no Okeiko 8)" | Piano Lesson 8 | 0:13 |
Final Fantasy V Dear Friends | |
---|---|
Soundtrack album by | |
Released | March 25, 1993 |
Recorded | December 1992 |
Length | 55:48 |
Label | NTT Publishing |
Final Fantasy V Dear Friends is an arranged soundtrack album of Final Fantasy V music containing a selection of musical tracks from the game arranged with live instruments mixed with synth instruments. Several tracks have added vocals performed by Angelit and Ulla Pirttijärvi, in both English and Sámi. The album spans 14 tracks and covers a duration of 55:48. It was first released on March 25, 1993, by Square and NTT Publishing, and subsequently re-released on November 26, 1994, and on October 1, 2004, by NTT Publishing. The original release bears the catalog number N30D-017, the first re-release bears the catalog number PSCN-5018, and the most recent re-release bears the catalog number NTCP-5018. [13]
Reviewers were of mixed opinion about Final Fantasy V Dear Friends, finding it to be of fair quality, though Jason Strohmaier took issue with some of the synthesized instruments and Freddie W. of RPGFan concluded in his review that the album was "a mixed bag of moods, emotions, and ideas that would only appeal to those who loved Final Fantasy V". [13] [14]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Ahead On Our Way" | 5:36 |
2. | "Lenna's Theme" | 4:42 |
3. | "Pirates Ahoy" | 4:43 |
4. | "Critter Tripper Fritter!?" | 3:05 |
5. | "Intention of the Earth" | 4:28 |
6. | "My Home, Sweet Home" | 3:28 |
7. | "The Land Unknown" | 4:26 |
8. | "Tenderness In the Air" | 3:17 |
9. | "Waltz Suomi" | 2:16 |
10. | "Fate In Haze" | 4:05 |
11. | "As I Feel, You Feel" | 5:08 |
12. | "Musica Machina" | 4:07 |
13. | "Music Box" | 2:30 |
14. | "Dear Friends" | 3:57 |
Piano Collections Final Fantasy V | |
---|---|
Soundtrack album by | |
Released | June 21, 1993 |
Length | 46:31 |
Label | NTT Publishing |
Piano Collections Final Fantasy V is an album of music from Final Fantasy V composed by Nobuo Uematsu, arranged on piano by Shirou Satou and performed by Toshiyuki Mori. It was first published by Square and NTT Publishing on June 21, 1993 with the catalog number N38D-018. It was subsequently republished by NTT Publishing on September 24, 1994 under the catalog number PSCN-5009 and on June 27, 2001 with the catalog number NTCP-1002. The album spans 13 tracks and covers a duration of 46:31. [15]
Piano Collections Final Fantasy V was well received by reviewers such as Patrick Gann of RPGFan, who found it to be "amazing" and on par with, if not better than, the piano arrangements for the music of the other Final Fantasy games. [15] He also enjoyed the artistic license taken with several of the pieces, finding the album to be the most "abstract" of the Piano Collections series. [15]
No. | Title | Japanese title | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "A Presentiment" | オープニング | 4:28 |
2. | "Tenderness in the Air" | 街のテーマ | 4:06 |
3. | "Harvest" | ハーヴェスト | 2:30 |
4. | "Ahead on Our Way" | ファイナルファンタジーV メインテーマ | 3:05 |
5. | "Critter Tripper Fritter!?" | モーグリのテーマ | 2:36 |
6. | "My Home, Sweet Home" | はるかなる故郷 | 3:42 |
7. | "Mambo de Chocobo" | マンボdeチョコボ | 2:39 |
8. | "Lenna's Theme" | レナのテーマ | 2:49 |
9. | "Music Box" | 思い出のオルゴール | 2:58 |
10. | "Battle with Gilgamesh" | ビッグブリッヂの死闘 | 3:45 |
11. | "Waltz Clavier" | タイクーン円舞曲へ長調 | 2:56 |
12. | "Dear Friends" | 親愛なる友へ | 5:06 |
13. | "The New Origin" | エンドタイトル | 5:24 |
The Black Mages, a band that arranges music from Final Fantasy video games into a rock music style, has arranged two pieces from Final Fantasy V. These are "Clash on the Big Bridge" from their self-titled album, published in 2003, and "Neo EXDEATH", an arrangement of "The Final Battle", from Darkness and Starlight , published in 2008. [16] [17] Lyrical versions of "Music Box" and "Dear Friends", sung by Risa Ohki, appeared on Final Fantasy: Pray , a compilation album produced by Square. [18] Additionally, lyrical versions of "The Day Will Come" and "Home, Sweet Home", sung by Risa Ohki and Ikuko Noguchi, appeared on Final Fantasy: Love Will Grow . [19]
Uematsu continues to perform certain pieces in his Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy concert series, the name of which is taken from the Final Fantasy V piece. [20] The music of V has also appeared in various official concerts and live albums, such as 20020220 music from FINAL FANTASY , a live recording of an orchestra performing music from the series including "Dear Friends". [21] "Opening Theme", "Waltz Clavier", "Town Theme", and "Main Theme of FINAL FANTASY V" were played by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in their second Orchestral Game Concert in 1992 as part of a five concert tour, which was later released as a series of albums. [22] Additionally, "Main Theme of FINAL FANTASY V" was performed by the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in the Tour de Japon: Music from Final Fantasy concert series. [23] The Black Mages performed "Clash on the Big Bridge" at the Extra: Hyper Game Music Event 2007 concert in Tokyo on July 7, 2007. [24] Independent but officially licensed releases of Final Fantasy V music have been composed by such groups as Project Majestic Mix, which focuses on arranging video game music. [25] An arranged version of "Clash on the Big Bridge" appears in the soundtrack of Final Fantasy XII . [26] A group of remixes of music from the game was released as an unofficial download-only album titled The Fabled Warriors: Wind, by the remix website OverClocked ReMix on September 10, 2010 containing 9 remixes; a further four albums were released as part of the Fabled Warriors set. [27] Selections also appear on Japanese remix albums, called dojin music, and on English remixing websites. [28]
Final Fantasy is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix that includes video games, motion pictures, and other merchandise. The series began in 1987 as an eponymous role-playing video game developed by Square, spawning a video game series that became the central focus of the franchise. The music of the Final Fantasy series refers to the soundtracks of the Final Fantasy series of video games, as well as the surrounding medley of soundtrack, arranged, and compilation albums. The series' music ranges from very light background music to emotionally intense interweavings of character and situation leitmotifs.
The Black Mages were a Japanese instrumental rock band formed in 2002 by Nobuo Uematsu, Kenichiro Fukui and Tsuyoshi Sekito, who were three video game composers for Square and Square Enix. The band arranged Uematsu's Final Fantasy video game series-based compositions in a hard rock style often similar to progressive metal, achieved with the additional use of synthesizers. A year later the band expanded to six members with the addition of Keiji Kawamori, Michio Okamiya and Arata Hanyuda. In August 2010, Uematsu announced the band had been disbanded, but he would continue to perform rock arrangements of his music as a part of another similar band, known as the Earthbound Papas.
The music of the video game Final Fantasy X was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu, along with Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano. It was the first title in the main Final Fantasy series in which Uematsu was not the sole composer. The Final Fantasy X Original Soundtrack was released on four Compact Discs in 2001 by DigiCube, and was re-released in 2004 by Square Enix. Prior to the album's North American release, a reduced version entitled Final Fantasy X Official Soundtrack was released on a single disk by Tokyopop in 2002. An EP entitled feel/Go dream: Yuna & Tidus containing additional singles not present in the game was released by DigiCube in 2001. Piano Collections Final Fantasy X, a collection of piano arrangements of the original soundtracks by Masashi Hamauzu and performed by Aki Kuroda, was released by DigiCube in 2002 and re-released by Square EA in 2004. A collection of vocal arrangements of pieces from the game arranged by Katsumi Suyama along with radio drama tracks was released as Final Fantasy X Vocal Collection in 2002 by DigiCube.
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 mainly composed 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.
Final Fantasy VII is a role-playing video game by Square as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. Released in 1997, the game sparked the release of a collection of media centered on the game entitled the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. The music of the Final Fantasy VII series includes not only the soundtrack to the original game and its associated albums, but also the soundtracks and music albums released for the other titles in the collection. The first album produced was Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack, a compilation of all the music in the game. It was released as a soundtrack album on four CDs by DigiCube in 1997. A selection of tracks from the album was released in the single-disc Reunion Tracks by DigiCube the same year. Piano Collections Final Fantasy VII, an album featuring piano arrangements of pieces from the soundtrack, was released in 2003 by DigiCube, and Square Enix began reprinting all three albums in 2004. To date, these are the only released albums based on the original game's soundtrack, and were solely composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu; his role for the majority of subsequent albums has been filled by Masashi Hamauzu and Takeharu Ishimoto.
The music of the video game Final Fantasy VI was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. The Final Fantasy VI Original Sound Version, a compilation of all the music in the game, was released in Japan by NTT Publishing in 1994 and re-released by Square Enix in 2004. The album was released by Square Co./NTT Publishing in North America in 1994 under the name Kefka's Domain. Selected tracks from the official soundtrack were later released as part of the Music From FFV and FFVI Video Games album that was included with the release of Final Fantasy Anthology, and two EPs were produced containing character theme tracks entitled Final Fantasy VI Stars Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. A special orchestral arrangement of selected tracks from the game, arranged by Shiro Sagisu and Tsuneyoshi Saito, and performed by the Milan Symphony Orchestra, was released under the title Final Fantasy VI Grand Finale by NTT Publishing in 1994 and 2004, and a collection of piano arrangements, arranged by Shirou Satou and performed by Reiko Nomura, was released under the title Piano Collections Final Fantasy VI by Square/NTT Publishing in 1994 and by NTT Publishing in 2001. Additionally, a single containing unused and remixed tracks from the game was released as Final Fantasy VI Special Tracks by NTT Publishing in 1994.
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.
The music of the video games Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu, who would go on to be the exclusive composer for the next seven Final Fantasy games. Although they were composed separately, music from the two games has only been released together. All Sounds of Final Fantasy I•II, a compilation of almost all of the music in the games, was released by DataM/Polystar in 1989, and subsequently re-released by NTT Publishing in 1994. Symphonic Suite Final Fantasy, an arranged album of music from the two games by Katsuhisa Hattori and his son Takayuki Hattori was released by DataM in 1989, and re-released by NTT Publishing/Polystar in 1994. Final Fantasy & Final Fantasy II Original Soundtrack, another arranged album, this time by Nobuo Uematsu and Tsuyoshi Sekito, was released in 2002 by DigiCube and again in 2004 by Square Enix.
The Mana series, known in Japan as Seiken Densetsu, is a role-playing video game series from Square Enix, created by Koichi Ishii. The series began as a handheld side story to Square's flagship franchise Final Fantasy, although most Final Fantasy-inspired elements were subsequently dropped, starting with the second installment, Secret of Mana. It has since grown to include games of various genres within the fictional world of Mana. The music of the Mana series includes soundtracks and arranged albums of music from the series, which is currently composed of Final Fantasy Adventure and its remake Sword of Mana, Secret of Mana, Trials of Mana, Legend of Mana, Dawn of Mana, Children of Mana, Friends of Mana, Heroes of Mana, Circle of Mana, and Rise of Mana. Each game except for Friends and Circle has produced a soundtrack album, while Adventure has sparked an arranged album as well as a combined soundtrack and arranged album, Legend of Mana has an additional promotional EP, and music from Secret and Trials were combined into an arranged album. For the series' 20th anniversary, a 20-disc box set of previously-released albums was produced, as well as an album of arrangements by Kenji Ito, composer for several games in the series.
The music of the Final Fantasy Tactics series, composed of Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Advance, Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, and The War of the Lions, was primarily composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto. He was assisted by Masaharu Iwata in composing the music for Final Fantasy Tactics. The Final Fantasy Tactics Original Soundtrack, a compilation of almost all of the music in the game, was released by DigiCube in 1997, and re-released by Square Enix in 2006. No separate soundtrack has been released for Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. The soundtrack was well received by critics, who found it to be astounding and one of the best video game music soundtracks in existence at the time of its release.
The music of the video game Final Fantasy VIII was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. The Final Fantasy VIII Original Soundtrack, a compilation of all music in the game, was released on four Compact Discs by DigiCube in Japan, and by Square EA in North America. A special orchestral arrangement of selected tracks from the game—arranged by Shirō Hamaguchi—was released under the title Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec Final Fantasy VIII, and a collection of piano arrangements—performed by Shinko Ogata—was released under the title Piano Collections Final Fantasy VIII.
The music of the video game Final Fantasy IV was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. The Final Fantasy IV Original Sound Version, a compilation of almost all of the music in the game, was released by Square Co./NTT Publishing, and subsequently re-released by NTT Publishing. It was released in North America by Tokyopop as Final Fantasy IV Official Soundtrack: Music from Final Fantasy Chronicles, with one additional track. It has since been re-released multiple times with slight changes as part of the Final Fantasy Finest Box and as Final Fantasy IV DS OST. An arranged album entitled Final Fantasy IV Celtic Moon, containing a selection of musical tracks from the game performed in the style of Celtic music by Máire Breatnach, was released by Square and later re-released by NTT Publishing. Additionally, a collection of piano arrangements composed by Nobuo Uematsu and played by Toshiyuki Mori titled Piano Collections Final Fantasy IV was released by NTT Publishing.
The music of the video game Final Fantasy III was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. Final Fantasy III Original Sound Version, a compilation of almost all of the music in the game, was released by Square Co./NTT Publishing in 1991, and subsequently re-released by NTT Publishing in 1994 and 2004. The soundtrack to the remake of Final Fantasy III for the Nintendo DS, Final Fantasy III Original Soundtrack was released by NTT Publishing in 2006, with revamped versions of the tracks and additional tracks. A vocal arrangement album entitled Final Fantasy III Yūkyū no Kaze Densetsu, or literally Final Fantasy III Legend of the Eternal Wind, contained a selection of musical tracks from the game. The tracks were performed by Nobuo Uematsu and Dido, a duo composed of Michiaki Kato and Shizuru Ohtaka. The album was released by Data M in 1990 and by Polystar in 1994.
The music of the video game Final Fantasy IX was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. It was his last exclusive Final Fantasy score. The Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack, a compilation of all music in the game, was originally released on four Compact Discs by DigiCube in 2000, and was re-released by Square Enix in 2004. A Best Of and arranged soundtrack album of musical tracks from the game entitled Final Fantasy IX: Uematsu's Best Selection was released in 2000 by Tokyopop Soundtrax. Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack PLUS, an album of music from the game's full motion videos and extra tracks, was released by DigiCube in 2000 and re-released in 2004, and a collection of piano arrangements of pieces from the original soundtrack arranged by Shirō Hamaguchi and performed by Louis Leerink was released as Piano Collections Final Fantasy IX in 2001.
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.
SaGa is a series of science fiction role-playing video games produced by Square, now Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System to the PlayStation 2, and like the Final Fantasy series, the story in each SaGa game is independent of its counterparts. The music of the SaGa series consists of musical scores and arranged albums from various composers. Some of these composers have created soundtracks and pieces for other Square Enix franchises including the Final Fantasy series and Mana series. The SaGa series is divided up between the original series, released as the Final Fantasy Legend series in North America, the Romancing SaGa series, the SaGa Frontier series, and Unlimited SaGa.
Final Fantasy is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix that includes video games, motion pictures, and other merchandise. The original Final Fantasy video game, published in 1987, is a role-playing video game developed by Square, spawning a video game series that became the central focus of the franchise. The primary composer of music for the main series was Nobuo Uematsu, who single-handedly composed the soundtracks for the first nine games, as well as directing the production of many of the soundtrack albums. Music for the spin-off series and main series games beginning with Final Fantasy X was created by a variety of composers including Masashi Hamauzu, Naoshi Mizuta, Hitoshi Sakimoto, and Kumi Tanioka, as well as many others.
The music of the video game Final Fantasy XIII was composed by Masashi Hamauzu. Former regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu did not contribute any pieces to the soundtrack. Music from the game has been released in several albums. The main soundtrack album, Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack, was released on four Compact Discs in 2010 by Square Enix, the developers and producers of the game. Selections from the soundtrack have been released on two gramophone record albums, W/F: Music from Final Fantasy XIII and W/F: Music from Final Fantasy XIII Gentle Reveries, both in 2010 by Square Enix. An album of arranged pieces from the soundtrack, Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack -PLUS-, was also released by Square Enix in 2010, as was an album of piano arrangements, Piano Collection Final Fantasy XIII. The theme song for the Japanese version of the game, "Kimi ga Iru Kara", was released as a single by For Life Music in 2009.
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.
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.