The newest entry to Sq. Enix’s flagship franchise is right here, as is its large soundtrack. Remaining Fantasy XVI made landfall this June, and its Authentic Soundtrack adopted alongside in July. Sq. Enix revealed two distinct variations of the soundtrack: the usual seven-disc Authentic Soundtrack and the eight-disc Final Version. Alongside that last disc, which is included within the scope of this evaluate, the Remaining Fantasy XVI Authentic Soundtrack Final Version arrives with some spectacular packaging design. It additionally seems to be a bodily unique format, with the usual version additionally being made out there digitally (with some unusual re-grouping of songs to suit 4 digital “discs”).

In giving this large, nine-hour assortment of audio my time and a focus, I acknowledged two contexts, two cognitive overlays and filters, that coloured my interpretation of the music. Before everything, I performed by means of the sport earlier than listening to the soundtrack individually, so I already had familiarity with the music within the context of the sport. This invariably influences me, particularly for bigger titles, as I realized as soon as upon a time once I listened to the Remaining Fantasy XII Authentic Soundtrack with out first enjoying the sport and, on the time, discovered little to latch onto. It was solely years later, after enjoying the sport and revisiting Sakimoto’s large soundtrack, that I noticed how a lot of it I actually beloved. So, please think about that my ears and thoughts have been accustomed to this music earlier than I listened to the soundtrack by itself, targeted, uninterrupted.

The opposite context to bear in mind is that I’ve preconceptions concerning the recreation’s lead composer, Masayoshi Soken. His title has change into synonymous with the flagship MMORPG Remaining Fantasy XIV, as he has served as lead composer since model 2.0 (A Realm Reborn) in 2013. Previously decade, Soken has composed authentic compositions and organized tunes from different Remaining Fantasy and Sq. Enix IPs used within the recreation with such frequency and excellent outcomes that it’s really intimidating. At present standing, Remaining Fantasy XIV and its expansions (excluding what’s primarily Uematsu’s work on Earlier than Meteor, or 1.0) have over 42 hours of authentic and organized music. What I’ve gleaned in my many forays into FFXIV music, with out having performed quite a lot of hours of the sport itself, is that Soken and his crew of devoted co-composers (Takafumi Imamura and Daiki Ishikawa, additionally composers for the Remaining Fantasy XVI soundtrack) have developed an unimaginable expertise for working and remodeling motif after motif into their music. These motifs might be newly established ones that they concocted for a recreation or current motifs, primarily from Nobuo Uematsu.

With these overlays, preconceptions, lenses, no matter you need to name them, in thoughts—my major statement concerning the full Remaining Fantasy XVI soundtrack is that Soken takes particular care to weave a number of the most potent and memorable Remaining Fantasy themes into a very powerful items of music. In doing so, he retains the spirit of all the sequence alive. A minor-key variant of the well-known Remaining Fantasy “Prelude” arpeggio is deftly used all through the primary three tracks within the recreation: “Land of Eikons,” “Away (Overture),” and “The Lion and the Hare – The Nysa Defile.” The prelude is used time and again all through the soundtrack, at all times at key moments within the story, usually involving the Eikons themselves. In a single significantly highly effective battle theme, “Management,” the prelude arpeggio is joined by a easy countermelody carried out by a booming blended choir. The accompanying theme created by these few notes, written by Soken to affix Uematsu’s traditional theme, is shortly established as its personal mega-motif. It really works extraordinarily nicely.

Whereas the “arpeggio” half of the prelude seems most, the melodic higher half is used to nice impact in “An Outlaw’s Uncle,” discovered on disc 4, serving because the theme music to one in every of my favourite characters within the recreation. Different Uematsu themes characteristic all through the soundtrack, after all: the sequence “Predominant Theme” (see “Azure Skies” and “Combating Destiny”), the FFI world map theme (see “Bloodlines” and “Mighty Acts of God” amongst others), the traditional victory/fanfare jingle, the traditional bass line opener to the usual battle theme (see “On the Shoulders of Giants”), and a fast look of the chocobo theme in a ten-second jingle. That final bit comes as a little bit of a shock, because the traditional “chocobo” theme has been considerably reworked and emphasised in most entries of the sequence, however right here, there’s merely one little jingle, and that’s it.

All of this emphasis on the music from the primary Remaining Fantasy has a thematic function past that of the music. Sure, it completely summons nostalgia for the sport’s origins and roots for followers of the sequence. However there’s an fascinating plot component (that I can’t spoil) that I believe explains why Remaining Fantasy XVI‘s soundtrack pulls so closely from the unique Remaining Fantasy. Those that performed the sport to completion: simply give it some thought.

Now, whereas Soken and workforce have accomplished a wonderful job utilizing these motifs all through this large soundtrack, they’ve additionally written some unimaginable authentic music and scored it with simply sufficient chamber orchestra devices to recreate the sound of a bigger orchestra. The 15-person choir carries issues a great distance as nicely. The recorded devices permit for some bombastic tunes, equivalent to “To Sail Forbidden Seas” and “Coronary heart of Stone.” Nevertheless, I discover myself much less drawn to the epic battle music and rather more to the delicate city and atmosphere themes. These are straightforward to identify on the tracklist, as they are going to use a splash between a descriptive tune title adopted by the situation (instance: “Forevermore – The Grand Duchy of Rosaria”). The primary two that grabbed my consideration seem early within the soundtrack. “Into the Mire – Stillwind” makes use of most of the instrumentals alongside some lifelike synth and piano/keyboard work. “Pretty, Darkish, and Deep – The Greatwood” is beautiful for the title alone! The ethereal upper-register vocal work paired with easy piano makes this one a lot akin to Monaca / Keiichi Okabe’s work on the NieR sequence.

On the subject of the city music, I’ll go away it at this: when you get pleasure from a number of the background environmental music from FFXIV, you’re certain to get pleasure from Remaining Fantasy XVI‘s city themes as nicely. There are over a dozen of them throughout this soundtrack, and they’re superbly well-developed items of music. Although completely different in tone, they’re comparable in high quality to the world themes in Octopath Traveler II; that’s excessive reward on my half, as I nonetheless maintain that soundtrack as my favourite for 2023.

There are just a few different normal types, or sorts, of tunes to think about throughout this large soundtrack. First, there are the rock and digital tracks. For instance, the seven-minute vocal observe “Titan Misplaced” options vocals and lyrics by Michael-Christopher Koji Fox. FFXIV followers will acknowledge that title. He has had a long-lasting presence as a member of The Primals band. Then there are extra ambient digital tracks, like “A Land in Peril.” These are straightforward to write down off as filler tracks, however at the same time as a comfortable piece that one would possibly affiliate with a Western-developed laptop RPG from the early 2000s, it takes work to craft these tracks nicely.

Then, after all, there’s the sport’s vocal theme saved for the ending, sung by Amanda Achen. “My Star” is a candy, jazzy love ballad pulled from one other period and dropped at life in 2023. Soken is a grasp of reharmonizing, even inside his personal items. He’ll set up a chord development, then repeat with diminished chords, augmented chords, and full substitutions. Cautious listeners may even hear how he does the identical with Uematsu’s themes. Nevertheless, listening to it accomplished inside the identical tune is kind of spectacular. Maybe extra spectacular, although, is Achen’s voice. Her dynamics impress me most, letting the softest, most dulcet tones escape after which interrupting these with powerfully belted phrases because the backing piano and strings be part of within the crescendo.

Lastly, as promised, is that bonus disc for the restricted version. There are some brief incidental items of music opening the disc, most of that are re-used themes from the principle recreation. Takafumi Imamura’s “Previous Buddy” makes wonderful use of one in every of Remaining Fantasy XVI‘s key motifs, with a beautiful solo guitar main the best way. The brooding piece “For the Water Was a Wall” is one which I don’t recall from the sport, however is one in every of my favorites on the ultimate disc. “Away (1987)” is a chiptunes demake of one of many recreation’s key themes, bringing the FFI – FFXVI theme full circle. Lastly, there are eight unused tracks, a few of which seem like early demos for what would later change into extra absolutely realized items of music. Amongst them, my favourite is the primary of the bunch, Daiki Ishikawa’s “The Grand Duchy of Rosaria (Unused).” The flute flourish on this model is beautiful, and never present in Soken’s finalized “Forevermore – The Grand Duchy of Rosaria” (disc three, observe seven). Whereas I believe Soken’s model is finally the superior model, it’s fascinating to see and listen to which songs have been left on the slicing room flooring for the ultimate model of the sport.

Buddies, I daresay I’ve solely skimmed the floor. There may be a lot extra I didn’t converse to, a lot I really feel uncomfortable making an attempt to piece aside with out extra listens and discussions with different eager listeners and followers of the sport. That is to be anticipated with a soundtrack of this measurement and, I believe, for therefore a lot of Soken’s FFXIV enlargement soundtracks. Nevertheless, I really feel the Remaining Fantasy XVI Authentic Soundtrack stands above many — if not all — FFXIV‘s expansions, if solely due to its thematic coherence and excessive price range. I ponder if die-hard XIV gamers would agree or disagree with me.

What I can say for sure is that, in comparison with the sparse packaging of the Blu-ray FFXIV soundtracks, this “Final Version” soundtrack for Remaining Fantasy XVI acquired a superior packaging therapy, with stunning illustrations from Yoshitaka Amano and Kazuya Takahashi and dual-language (Japanese and English) liner notes from key employees, together with Soken himself. The extra value for the entire set makes for a no brainer. After all, the comfort of a less expensive digital launch can also be a great possibility, although followers needs to be ready to shell out cash commensurate to such an extended soundtrack. On the time of penning this evaluate, the iTunes launch sells for $36 USD.

Clive, Jill, Joshua, Cid, Byron, Dion, and plenty of others are memorable characters value celebrating. Their journey, scored by Masayoshi Soken alongside a cavalcade of nice arrangers and performers, shall be lengthy celebrated. Listening to the entire Remaining Fantasy XVI soundtrack in a single sitting, nevertheless, is totally overwhelming; it’s the audio equal of doing a Lord of the Rings trilogy film marathon. I like to recommend listening in smaller bunches or curating subsets of your favourite items into playlists applicable for background learning, driving, or sleeping. There may be sufficient right here to swimsuit many alternative listener’s wants, in any case. Seize a duplicate of this mammoth OST, and also you’ll see what I imply.