I am such a geek, but in a good way

[alpharaposa]

Someone uploaded the entire FFVI OST as a playlist on Youtube, so I've been listening to that while reading The Jungle Books. It's made for a pleasant afternoon.

I've been doing some thinking about video game music, as a result. FFXIII marks a significant break from Final Fantasy soundtracks. It sounds like all the other video game soundtracks out there, varying between different sets of Generic Video Game Music themes.

FFVI's soundtrack, on the other hand is rich. It includes jazzy bits for various pubs and towns (Zozo's Slam Shuffle is a favorite). It has a miniature three act Opera in it, complete with an impressive imitation (for 32-bit midi) of human voices carrying the solos. It has pensive themes and action-oriented music. Every major character has their own, very personalized music.

Even other Final Fantasy games that have not quite had such a variety at least plundered the rich themes that already existed in other Final Fantasy games, usually adding a few more to the collection.

I can't help but think that the paucity of FFXIII's soundtrack reflects a poverty on the part of the composer. The soundtrack does not sound like one designed by somebody with a love of music or who enjoys a variety of genres. It sounds like one thrown together by somebody who plays and creates video games all the time.

So, it suffers. Instead of the unique and rich music that fans of Squeenix games expect (Chrono's soundtracks are as impressive as the Final Fantasy ones usually are), we get the same schlock found anywhere else. And that's actually much of the complaint I have about the rest of the game, too. I think about the music in particular because I love music, and it is one of the first impressions that I get from a new RPG.

Comments

[zilvar.livejournal.com]

FFXIII failed for so many more reasons than just bad music. :) IMO, of course.

[xaq.livejournal.com]

I barely made it through Lightning's part at the intro to the game before my brain just screamed "Screw it, go back to PSO." Personally, though, I'm glad I found the PS3 version of the game...I was honestly contemplating buying an XBox 360 for that. X_x


On a side note: Ever notice how much Mezzo di Aria Carattere sounds like Aerith's theme?

[neppyman.livejournal.com]

I happen to have copies of both the Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross OSTs, along with samples from several Final Fantasy games (including the entire FF:Tactics soundtrack). Should you not already have those, and would like a copy, just let me know. :)

[kishiriadgr.livejournal.com]

I have three FFXI OSTs in my iPod. Nice background music and it reminds me of americanstd who played it for many years.