Music of Final Fantasy XII

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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", a "mini-symphony" of songs inspired by Final Fantasy XII, was released by Tofu Records in 2006. A version of the song group was included in the official soundtrack album.

The soundtrack received mixed reviews from critics; while several felt that it was a good soundtrack but lacking in substance, others disagreed, finding it to be an excellent album, though not without a few faults. Common complaints about the album were the large number of "filler" tracks, which seemed to be uninspired and hurt the soundtrack as a whole. However, several reviewers commented on the town and battle themes, finding them to be some of the soundtrack's strongest areas. The singles for the soundtrack were very well received by critics, who found them to be very enjoyable but short in duration.

Contents

[edit] Creation and influence

Hitoshi Sakimoto composed most of the game's soundtrack; Nobuo Uematsu, following his departure from Square Enix in 2004, only contributed the theme song, "Kiss Me Good-Bye", sung by Angela Aki.[1] Uematsu noted that Aki's style of playing the keyboard while singing reminded him of his childhood idol, Elton John, which was one of the reasons he chose her.[2] Angela Aki based her words for the song on the sense of a new journey after a goodbye, which ws the sense she had gotten from Uematsu's melody.[3] Sakimoto experienced difficulty following in Uematsu's footsteps, but he decided to create a unique soundtrack in his own way, although he cites Uematsu as his biggest musical influence.[4][5][6] However, XII's soundtrack also includes other songs composed by Uematsu for previous Final Fantasy games, with new arrangements by Hitoshi Sakimoto.[7] These tracks include "Final Fantasy ~FFXII Version~", "Victory Fanfare ~FFXII Version~", "Chocobo FFXII Arrange Ver. 1", "Chocobo ~FFXII Version~", and "Clash on the Big Bridge ~FFXII Version~". Of these, all but "Clash on the Big Bridge" are recurring pieces used in almost every Final Fantasy game. "Clash on the Big Bridge" plays during the battle with Gilgamesh, as it did in Final Fantasy V.[7] Sakimoto created the music for the game based on the atmosphere of the game and the emotional changes of the characters, rather than the story, so that the music would not be affected by changes in the development of the game.[5]

[edit] Albums

[edit] Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack

Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack cover
Studio album by Hitoshi Sakimoto
Released May 31, 2006
Genre Video game soundtrack
Length Disk 1: 73:15
Disk 2: 73:18
Disk 3: 73:19
Disk 4: 73:25
Label Aniplex
Producer Hitoshi Sakimoto

Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack (ファイナルファンタジー XII オリジナルサウンドトラック Fainaru Fantajī Tuerubu Originaru Saundotorakku?) is the soundtrack album of Final Fantasy XII, containing musical tracks from the game, and was composed and produced by Hitoshi Sakimoto. Additional music was provided by Masaharu Iwata and Hayato Matsuo, who also orchestrated the opening and ending themes. The soundtrack spans four discs and 100 tracks, covering a duration of 4:54:34. It was released on May 31, 2006 in Japan by Aniplex, bearing the catalog numbers SVWC-7351~4. The limited edition of the soundtrack included a 28 page booklet featuring artwork for the game and providing information about the soundtrack.[7]

An album entitled Selections from Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack was released on November 31, 2006 by Tofu Records containing 31 tracks from the full Final Fantasy XII soundtrack. The tracks were the same versions as on the full soundtrack, although some tracks that repeated were cut shorter. The album covers a duration of 73:23 and has a catalog number of TOF-033.[8] Additionally, a promotional digital album titled The Best of Final Fantasy XII was released on the Japanese localization of iTunes for download only on March 15, 2006. The album contains 11 tracks handpicked by Hitoshi Sakimoto, including versions of "Theme of Final Fantasy XII" and "Chocobo FFXII Arrange Ver. 1" that were ultimately not used in the game.[9]

Track listing


[edit] Kiss Me Good-Bye

“Kiss Me Good-Bye”
“Kiss Me Good-Bye” cover
Single by Angela Aki
Released March 15, 2006
Genre J-Pop
Length 19:59
Label Epic Records
Angela Aki singles chronology
"Kokoro no Senshi"
(2006)		 "Kiss Me
Good-Bye"
(2006)		 "This Love"
(2006)
Main article: Kiss Me Good-Bye

"Kiss Me Good-Bye" is the theme song of Final Fantasy XII, and is the third Japanese single by Angela Aki. The only vocal piece in the game, it was set to tunes composed by Nobuo Uematsu, arranged by Kenichiro Fukui and produced by Motoki Matsuoka. The single was released by Epic Records in Japan on March 15, 2006, covering a duration of 19:59 and bearing the catalog number ESCL-2810. A limited edition was also released bearing the catalog number ESCL-2808 featuring a DVD containing the Kiss Me Good-Bye video clip which included both shots of Aki performing the single and clips from the video game.[13] Unlike previous Final Fantasy games, the theme song is sung in English in both the Japanese and North American versions of the game. The version featured on the CD single has a slightly different arrangement and Japanese lyrics; however, the English version that was featured in the game is included as a bonus track. An English version of the single was released as a digital single on May 16, 2006 under the title "Kiss Me Good-Bye [EP]" in North America through Tofu Records.[14]

[edit] Symphonic Poem "Hope"

“Symphonic Poem "Hope"”
“Symphonic Poem "Hope"” cover
Single by Taro Hakase
Released March 1, 2006
Genre Classical
Length 8:45
Label Hats Unlimited
Producer Taro Hakase

Symphonic Poem "Hope" (交響詩「希望」 Kōkyōshi "Kibō"?) is a single released by violinist Taro Hakase that has been described as a "mini-symphony" for Final Fantasy XII inspired by the main theme for the game.[15][16] The single contains five tracks, arranged by Taro Hakase and Yuji Toriyama and produced by Taro Hakase. These tracks were used in a promotional video for the game, and were later included in the official soundtrack release. That version was performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Robin Smith, and was included as a single song on the official soundtrack. Symphonic Poem "Hope" was released on March 1, 2006 by Hats Unlimited bearing the catalog number HUCD-10015.[15] A limited edition of the album was also released featuring a DVD with the promotional video, a folded Final Fantasy XII character poster, and one of three original character stickers.[16]

[edit] Reception

Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack received mixed reviews from critics. Jared's review from Square Enix Music Online cited that the soundtrack "utilizes ambiance, power, intensity and beauty" and termed the album to be "amazing", though he felt that the lack of melody "hurts this soundtrack" and that some of the tracks were "bare of inspiration".[17] IGN considers that the composer was "trying too hard to evoke emotion", though there are certain tracks that "manage[d] to be stirring". They also state that Uematsu's only work for the soundtrack, "Kiss Me Good-bye", is a "strong end to a surprisingly trite collection".[18] Patrick Gann of RPGFan found it to be "a great work", but "somewhat lacking in substance", concluding that he had "a lot of mixed feelings about it", while Ben Schweitzer of RPGFan disagreed, enjoying the soundtrack and finding it to be an "excellent" album, and "better than [he] could have expected".[7] Adam Corn of Soundtrack Central found it to be an excellent album, especially in the realm of town and environment themes, as well as the battle music. However, he felt that the album was marred by a large number of "filler" tracks, which significantly "diluted" the soundtrack.[19]

Symphonic Poem: "Hope" was found by critics to be an enjoyable single, though at only 9 minutes long, reviewers felt they could have "gotten by without it".[15] Kiss Me Good-bye reached number six on the Oricon charts, a major Japanese sales tracker. The album was seen by critics as an excellent single, with both the Final Fantasy XII and non-game tracks holding their weight equally.[13] "Kiss Me Good-bye" was performed by the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra and Angela Aki for PLAY! A Video Game Symphony, a world-wide video game music orchestral concert series.[20] Selections of music from the game also appear on Japanese remix albums, called dojin music, and on English remixing websites.[21]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Niizumi, Hirohiko (2004-11-01). Nobuo Uematsu leaving Square Enix. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
  2. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (2006-03-16). FFXII Jacks Shibuya. IGN. Retrieved on 2006-09-01.
  3. ^ IGN Music (2006-10-27). Twelve Days of Final Fantasy XII: Angela Aki Interview Part I. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.
  4. ^ Interview with Hitoshi Sakimoto (2006). Final Fantasy XII Collector's Edition Bonus DVD [DVD]. Tokyo: Square Enix. Retrieved on 2006-03-10.
  5. ^ a b IGN Music (2006-10-24). Twelve Days of Final Fantasy XII: Hitoshi Sakimoto Interview Part I. IGN. Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
  6. ^ IGN Music (2006-10-25). Twelve Days of Final Fantasy XII: Hitoshi Sakimoto Interview Part II. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.
  7. ^ a b c d Gann, Patrick; Schweitzer, Ben. Final Fantasy XII OST. RPGFan. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  8. ^ Selections from Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack. ffmusic.info. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  9. ^ The Best of Final Fantasy XII. basiscape.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  10. ^ a b c d (May 31, 2006). ファイナルファンタジー XII オリジナルサウンドトラック(Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack). Aniplex. SVWC-7351~4
  11. ^ a b c d Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack. ffmusic.info. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  12. ^ a b c d Taken from the album's iTunes release. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  13. ^ a b Gann, Patrick. Angela Aki - Kiss Me Good-Bye. RPGFan. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  14. ^ Angela Aki Official Web Site (Japanese). Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  15. ^ a b c Gann, Patrick. Symphonic Poem "Hope". RPGFan. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  16. ^ a b Symphonic Poem "Hope" (Final Fantasy XII Main Theme). ffmusic.info. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  17. ^ Jared (2007). Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack Review. Square Enix Music Online. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
  18. ^ Sullivan, Meghan (2006-08-02). FF Tactics composer proves that sometimes more is less. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
  19. ^ Corn, Adam (2008-04-06). Final Fantasy 12 Original Soundtrack. Soundtrack Central. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.
  20. ^ Daiker, Brandon (2006-05-27). Play! A Video Game Symphony. N-Sider. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  21. ^ Game: Final Fantasy XII (PlayStation 2). OverClocked ReMix. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.

[edit] External links

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