Final Fantasy XIII and Dragon Quest Swords!

[Fatigue]

Well, as the news should have already spread by now, Final Fantasy XIII has been announced and with production details. As hinted earlier by the game's producer, Yoshinori Kitase, the director of the game is Motomu Toriyama, with other various production credits below. The music of Final Fantasy XIII will be composed by Square Enix's own Masashi Hamauzu (recently coming fresh from Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus). Naturally, Nobuo feels he should retain his popularity and, again, compose the main theme (whether or not Square Enix decided to label this a 'main theme' when it really is another 'Insert Song' again, is unknown).

But if you thought this was surprising, Square Enix decides to take a step in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII direction and create multiple games for the series. The whole project of Final Fantasy XIII will be called 'Fabula Nova Crystallis' (translated from Latin, it means 'the new tales of the crystal'. Aside from the Final Fantasy XIII main game, three other spin offs will be created, Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII. The composer of the former is famous Yoko Shimomura and the composer of the latter is the infamous Takeharu Ishimoto (responsible for the questionable synthesizer programming of Kingdom Hearts II and Legend of Mana, but did some decent work for Final Fantasy X, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Vagrant Story. Also scored Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis, Final Fantasy VII: Last Order, and the upcoming Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core).

Full news about Final Fantasy XIII and it's siblings can be viewed here (http://www.square-enix.com/na/company/press/2006/0508_1/).

Let's not forget Dragon Quest here! Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors is yet another Koichi Sugiyama project to look foreword too. Full news can be viewed here (http://www.square-enix.com/na/company/press/2006/0508_1/).

I think Hamauzu for Final Fantasy XIII is a great choice, but I'm somewhat hoping for a better effort than Dirge of Cerberus. The score was good, but I'm certainly not going to visit it over and over. A lot of nice ideas, but it's not very accessible.

Anything Shimomura is a winner in my books. Enough said. Ishimoto might not be the best synthesizer operator, but I have confidence in his composing skills. After all, Last Order wasn't too bad and his solo piece he recently composed is nice.

Sugiyama? Automatic <3.

[Jormungand]

When I found out the Hamauzu news I was pretty thrilled. I found DoC amazing. The great thing is, FFXIII has a high probability of being his best score yet: it should retain all the drama and seriousness of DoC (albeit less darkness), yet as an FF score must naturally exhibit a wide variety of moods and (especially in Hamauzu's case) styles. It's going to rock.

As for Shimomura and Ishimoto ... no thanks. I want to know what the heck Nakano is doing.

Sugiyama. Well, I actually have started liking him more since hearing some DQ8 stuff. But he's um... gettin' up there. Cheers to his good health, but writing an entire soundtrack for a game is definetely an enduring process.

[KujaFFman]

I never thought someone human could say "no thanks" to Shimomura... :'(

[datschge]

Come on, it's Jormungand. =P

[Jormungand]

If it makes you guys feel any better, it's not like I'm condemning her. Honestly, I could write an essay on her ... very strong feelings about her music have pulled me in both directions simultaneously and I haven't come across another composer who has so blatantly exhibited sparks of genuine promise and yet at the same time complete oblivion toward musical originality. And maybe I will write that essay someday, but for now, it's just going to have to boil in my head for a while.

[datschge]

While you are at it you could also elaborate on your opinions on Ishimoto and Sugiyama...

[Ovelia]

It may be strange to others, but I can listen to DoC over and over... it's just plain satisfying :p

With the case of Shimomura... I was turned off by the KH series because of the low synth quality (and some rehashed ideas IMO). >_< I just hope that the synth can get better with the next-gen console.

[Jormungand]

While you are at it you could also elaborate on your opinions on Ishimoto and Sugiyama...
There's not much to elaborate on either. I find Sugiyama's earlier efforts to be pretty dull, but as I said, I've warmed up to him a little more with some of his newer work.

As for Ishimoto, all I can go by is that remix he did for Vagrant Story. Nothing special, and thus my having no reason to believe he's any good at composing. After all, if he were, someone would've brought it to my attention by now...

[aznmusikboi]

I"m not at all trrying to start another argument here but I don't think it's right to judge the worth of any composer based on a single work, and a remix at that (which demonstrates arranging skill, not compositional skill. And also, remixes tend to vary in quality depending on how good the original was in the first place, and/or how much the form/structure allowed for tweaking. I've never heard any of Ishimoto's work so I wouldn't be able to say much else either in that area, but if someone could list some I'm willing to give a listen.

[Fatigue]

I've never heard any of Ishimoto's work so I wouldn't be able to say much else either in that area, but if someone could list some I'm willing to give a listen.

Aside from his remix of the opening movie track from Vagrant Story, and his composition, arrangement and lyrics to "Spiral" from the Final Fantasy X Vocal Collection, you won't find any of his compositional/arranging work for legal purchase. Although, you can hear an original composition by Ishimoto here (http://www.square-enix.co.jp/music/sem/page/cm/ishimoto/index.html). For a list of other work he has done, please see my initial post. :)

[Jormungand]

That's the problem, I have no idea where to find any of his work even if I wanted to. So I didn't have a choice but to base it on what I've heard. Let me give that one a listen...

Interesting little vocal. Starts off not too bad, but then it gets to the pop part. I can't honestly commend this as it's the kind of stuff that really doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. The uh...not-chorus section is all I can really say isn't offensive as it certainly has a different feel than the mainstream, but that chorus...bleh.

Thanks for the link regardless, Fatigue. Problem is, this is a bad example of anyone's composing ability... it's a pop-styled tune (what's worse, leans toward punk rock...). Give me something programmatic or otherwise just your average in-game BGM and I'd feel more confident in forming an opinion.

[Mr. Maul]

I'd advise waiting till Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII before making a judgement on the worth of Ishimoto as a composer. Since he was only promoted last year, there's little that can be heard from him, though that solo composition, "Spiral," and Last Order all reveal that he's capable of fairly original approaches, particularly in the rock field, albeit of varying quality. I'm not exactly confident, but we'll have to see. It certainly beats him remaining as a synthesizer operator, though. His manipulation of several pieces from KHII was unbelievably bad.

I hope he appeals on Udatsu's Square Enix Music TV soon. I'm sick of having just a blurred image of him. :p

Also, I completely agree with Jorm about Dirge of Cerberus and the possible worth of FFXIII. Shimomura has also disappointed me at times, though this new project could be promising.

[Fatigue]

The E3 trailer of the Final Fantasy III remake for Nintendo DS has been released on the official website. Check it out here (http://www.square-enix.co.jp/ff3/)!

The arrangement of "Elia, the Maiden of Water" for orchestra is simply astonishing! I do hope that Kenichiro Fukui is working on this title. If not, Sekito in the least!

[KujaFFman]

The arrangers for Final Fantasy III on DS are Tsuyoshi Sekito and Keiji Kawamori. Synth programming is done by Yasuhiro Yamanaka.

Also, Tsuyoshi Sekito will compose and arrange for Seiken Densetsu 4.

[Fatigue]

Thanks for that info Kuja! Square Enix's way of announcing things the shady way. :p

Also, Hirosato Noda is the synthesizer operator for Dawn of Mana. :(

[gamemusicfreak]

Ooooh, that FF III looks so sweet. Can't wait!