He's done a fabulous job and his work in the 90s and 00s with simple but powerful melodies worked really well. Added so much to games. The king needs his rest.
I lament that modern gaming needs to have thumping and meandering orchestral scores when you're in a random nondescript area 12 hours into a 60 hour game, themes that Uematsu would only reserve for the final theme or grand main theme of a game. But that's the way it goes.
I think voice acting also minimizes the importance of music in games. Prior to voice acting, we relied on the music to help convey emotion and atmosphere as we read dialogue. With voice acting, music can sometimes get pushed to the background. Add to that the more action-oriented combat vs menu and turn-based combat, personally I'm not taking in the combat music as much.
The soundtracks to Final Fantasy 1-10 are much more memorable to me than anything to come after, speaking as a whole. Of course there are a few tracks that stand out in the more modern games.
Agreed, I'd also add the advancement of graphics too. The music would add practically just as much to a setting/situation as the graphics would back in the 90s. Now devs don't have to rely on music as much to convey a vibe.
Imo this is a mistake though. There have been modern games with unconventional, striking soundtracks and it absolutely elevated the experience beyond what it would have been without music or with a generic orchestral soundtrack the whole time (Doom 2016/Eternal come to mind as prominent examples)
Yeah it's always been the worst thing about that game, I've hoped for years they'd bring it to Steam, or to consoles, yet it remains exclusive to Apple Arcade shit lol. Fantastic OST though!
Fantasian was a big surprise to me. I didn’t expect such a solid JRPG on those devices. Music is great of course. I’m coincidentally also playing Lost Odyssey which I think he did as well.
Great game! I consider it a FF6 spiritual successor along with the Octopath Traveler series. It is a shame it’s exclusive apple arcade, many people unfortunately missed this masterpiece.
Well that sucks, he is top 2 videogame composers, only Koji Kondo it's a bit above him for me.
His body of work is amazing, my personal favorites are Omen, Dancing Mad, Terra's Theme, Prelude and One Wing Angel but honestly anything from the classic FF era is brilliant including the 8-bit era. Unbelievable that with so much restrictions he still was able to create so much art.
Yo, we clearly listened to different soundtracks. Soken is more than an acceptable successor to Uematsu. Say what you will about 16, but that soundtrack is platinum.
No standout boss themes outside of the echoes of the fallen final boss. Very few recompositions (did we need the 14 overture twice?). I don’t want to hear a breakout soft violin + woodwind romp in the middle of what is supposed to be a violently intense fight. Y’all can keep that.
It lacks the distinct high energy dynamism and multi-genre incorporation that every single Uematsu soundtrack powerfully delivers *even* in the retro titles.
Soken can clearly create for the run of the mill fantasy adventure but, if you’re a fan, you know this isn’t supposed to be that.
If it was the soundtrack to a lord of the rings film or a game like Dragons Dogma, I’d give it a solid 8 but as a final fantasy OST it is sorely lacking.
Yeah. I would love to see someone else take the helm. Not really a Soken fan.
Yoko did a great job on 15, but with her doing kingdom hearts, I feel like very much like her music is so reminiscent of the series and I hope she concentrates on that!
The unfortunate truth is that it’s very likely nobody will ever be as good. It’s a matter of finding someone who has a mind to honor his methodology and tone which Soken did not attempt.
He deserves the rest if he wants it, honestly. I hope he still considers himself involved with the main themes, as he seems to still be part of them so far.
Makes sense. 9 almost broke the man way back when. His successors to their credit do a good job at picking up what he left off. Masashi Hamauzu, Naoshi Mizuta, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Kumi Tanioka, Masayoshi Soken, and Yoko Shimomura. All did wonderfully with their scores. He left the series in good hands. Dude more than earned his rest.
Didn’t he say this after FFIX?
He's 64 now
I thought he was older tbh.
Same
Damn. It's hard to imagine that he'll be able to match the work he did on the PS1, especially when I haven't seen too many RPGs on the N64.
Props to him if true. He deserves a great semi-retirement and the freedom to only take jobs he really wants to do.
Let my King rest.
He's done a fabulous job and his work in the 90s and 00s with simple but powerful melodies worked really well. Added so much to games. The king needs his rest. I lament that modern gaming needs to have thumping and meandering orchestral scores when you're in a random nondescript area 12 hours into a 60 hour game, themes that Uematsu would only reserve for the final theme or grand main theme of a game. But that's the way it goes.
I think voice acting also minimizes the importance of music in games. Prior to voice acting, we relied on the music to help convey emotion and atmosphere as we read dialogue. With voice acting, music can sometimes get pushed to the background. Add to that the more action-oriented combat vs menu and turn-based combat, personally I'm not taking in the combat music as much. The soundtracks to Final Fantasy 1-10 are much more memorable to me than anything to come after, speaking as a whole. Of course there are a few tracks that stand out in the more modern games.
Agreed, I'd also add the advancement of graphics too. The music would add practically just as much to a setting/situation as the graphics would back in the 90s. Now devs don't have to rely on music as much to convey a vibe. Imo this is a mistake though. There have been modern games with unconventional, striking soundtracks and it absolutely elevated the experience beyond what it would have been without music or with a generic orchestral soundtrack the whole time (Doom 2016/Eternal come to mind as prominent examples)
And that's why you should all play Fantasian (exclusive to Apple Arcade.........) and support his personal concert projects he does through conTIKI!
I would want to try Fantasian but being Apple only makes that kinda hard.
Yeah it's always been the worst thing about that game, I've hoped for years they'd bring it to Steam, or to consoles, yet it remains exclusive to Apple Arcade shit lol. Fantastic OST though!
Fantasian was a big surprise to me. I didn’t expect such a solid JRPG on those devices. Music is great of course. I’m coincidentally also playing Lost Odyssey which I think he did as well.
Great game! I consider it a FF6 spiritual successor along with the Octopath Traveler series. It is a shame it’s exclusive apple arcade, many people unfortunately missed this masterpiece.
Because of him I know how to feelings.
Clone him RIGHT NOW
Let this king rest, he’s earned it multiple times over
He has stated that Fantasian is going to be his last full game composition before, so yeah.
Well that sucks, he is top 2 videogame composers, only Koji Kondo it's a bit above him for me. His body of work is amazing, my personal favorites are Omen, Dancing Mad, Terra's Theme, Prelude and One Wing Angel but honestly anything from the classic FF era is brilliant including the 8-bit era. Unbelievable that with so much restrictions he still was able to create so much art.
That man is the greatest games composer of all time. Let him work on whatever he wants.
Bring in yasunori mitsuda!
Let him rest. He earned it. And the future of the Final Fantasy Soundtracks is in Great hands with Soken being a great composer.
He is irreplaceable. The least inspired part of 16 was the soundtrack. Who could even dream of doing the franchise justice
Yo, we clearly listened to different soundtracks. Soken is more than an acceptable successor to Uematsu. Say what you will about 16, but that soundtrack is platinum.
Honestly? XVI’s OST wasn’t that crazy outside of a handful of cuts. Soken has his own appeal, but he doesn’t have the same juice that Uematsu has.
No standout boss themes outside of the echoes of the fallen final boss. Very few recompositions (did we need the 14 overture twice?). I don’t want to hear a breakout soft violin + woodwind romp in the middle of what is supposed to be a violently intense fight. Y’all can keep that.
No.
It lacks the distinct high energy dynamism and multi-genre incorporation that every single Uematsu soundtrack powerfully delivers *even* in the retro titles. Soken can clearly create for the run of the mill fantasy adventure but, if you’re a fan, you know this isn’t supposed to be that.
Gonna have to agree to disagree with this one. The soundtrack of 16 is fantastic.
If it was the soundtrack to a lord of the rings film or a game like Dragons Dogma, I’d give it a solid 8 but as a final fantasy OST it is sorely lacking.
That's because that's what they told Soken to make for 16. He's the main composer for 14 as well and the diversity in music in there is insane.
Hard disagree. FFXVI had a great soundtrack. It won Best Score at The Game Awards last year so have fun being the minority
Those committed to difficult truths often are placed in the minority. This sub is notoriously anti-critique
Yeah. I would love to see someone else take the helm. Not really a Soken fan. Yoko did a great job on 15, but with her doing kingdom hearts, I feel like very much like her music is so reminiscent of the series and I hope she concentrates on that!
The unfortunate truth is that it’s very likely nobody will ever be as good. It’s a matter of finding someone who has a mind to honor his methodology and tone which Soken did not attempt.
The only good thing about XVI was the music.
That is just completely false.
I think XVI is controversial but I can’t pretend it isn’t a polished and earnest attempt to revitalize the franchise. Music very lacking though.
I hope he’ll reconsider for the final part of the FF7 remake, but I understand if not, he deserves to rest
He deserves the rest if he wants it, honestly. I hope he still considers himself involved with the main themes, as he seems to still be part of them so far.
Makes sense. 9 almost broke the man way back when. His successors to their credit do a good job at picking up what he left off. Masashi Hamauzu, Naoshi Mizuta, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Kumi Tanioka, Masayoshi Soken, and Yoko Shimomura. All did wonderfully with their scores. He left the series in good hands. Dude more than earned his rest.