FINAL FANTASY XII Original Soundtrack (SVWC-7351~54)
 

http://www.gmronline.com/info.asp?Ca...r=SVWC-7351~54

So this is where the dozens of comments will go about the music.

As usual for this forum, no trading discussion, and no worthless posts. I will delete offending posts on site. Keep the discussion intelligent.


I've only heard the PSF rip and the Symphonic Poem "Hope" so far, but it's good stuff. More comments to come from me later.

I'm listening to it now and the difference between the OSV and the psfs is often quite astonishing. The percussion in particular is far more pronounced in the OSV. More thoughts later...

That tracklist is something of a revelation; I had no idea that Uematsu had composed more than one track, nor that Iwata or the others had done any.

Since I don't want to hear the entire OST until I've played the game, the only thing I have to go on is the 45-min "Best Of" compilation. From what I can tell, the music looks to be quite complex and densely orchestrated, even by Sakimoto's standards, with great synth quality. The only downside to this is that the themes, such as I have heard them, are complex enough not to be as immidiately memorable and catchy as some of Uematsu's best work on the series.

I just wish they'd kept Sakimoto on for XIII. The one thing the series needs right now is consistency.

Technically, the only new track composed by Uematsu for this soundtrack is, "Kiss Me Good-Bye". Everything else he is credited as composer for, are just arranged versions of older FF tracks arranged by Sakimoto. So, no new content from Uematsu here, besides the vocal theme.

The sound quality really is amazing, especially compared to the PSFs.
Just listen to the difference between "Boss Battle" on the PSFs (track 036 I think) and on the OST... it almost sounds like an entirely different track.
I already loved what I heard on the PSFs, but this quality really adds so much to it.
Also, I don't think Abyss by Matsuo on the second disc was in the PSF2 set... it's a kickass track though.
Matsuo seems to be a very underrated composer.. his tracks in the game all kick ass. (especially Rebellion)

I'm actually not sure I like the OST version of "Boss Battle." Maybe it's because I'm so used to the mixing on the PSF version. I have similar qualms with the final boss piece.

On the other hand, "Nalbina Fortress Underground Prison" sounds FANTASTIC on the OST, the added percussion really adding to the tone.

The "Ending Movie" track is lovely. It was the only piece I hadn't heard in the PSF set and the quality is very high. The second half has an orchestrated version of "Destiny" that sounds... well, awesome. I can't wait to hear it in the game.

This is quite possibly my favorite FF soundtrack (up there with FF6).

Just for clarification, did the PSF set even use the original driver?

Oh, and is the OST Boss Battle a different track from the FFXII demo rip Boss Battle track? I no longer have that MP3, but the OST Boss Battle is excellent, whereas I remember the demo one being merely okay.

I think the PSF set used the FFX driver. Don't quote me on that though.

As for the Boss Theme, the demo had a shorter version of it. The final game adds a second half that makes all the difference.

Quoted for truth; that's the best part.

I'm a bit miffed that the "Symphonic Poem" track on the OST only includes the 1st, 2nd, and 5th movements, but it's still a lot better than nothing.

Yeah, it sounded edited to me (probably to fit in the main credits, along with "Kiss Me Goodbye"). They could have at least slowed down the credits to fit the whole thing in there. :p Ah well...

I think Symphonic poem works well like that - besides the full version is avaliable on the single - I just wish that it was just one track instead of five

oh and btw

Esper Battle is absolutly amazing!! I really makes you feel like you're fighting a collosal summon monster! It's simply epic - it's starts of with the strong percussion beat, then kicks off with the vocal synth!

I'm only through the first disc so far in listening (had to collapse last night afterwards, but the rest shall be listened to this morning!) but so far this is brilliant work. Definately Sakimoto's best and most diverse soundtrack on just the first 1/4. I'll be sure to post a much more complete review once I've finished listening to it all :) 5 hours of music, sheesh! :D

I've listened through the soundtrack 2 times now, and so far only 3-4 songs stucked to my mind, which is rather dissapointing.
But it is what I expected from Sakimoto, its always rather dull and the only soundtrack by him that I liked is Vagrant Story.

You have this soundwall sound as always. Im not saying all songs are like that, but they dont really stick to your mind and makes you want to sing along like Uematsus work always did, even at first time hearing them.
I think the worst thing is that I dont even know the FF12 theme by now. I just cant remember it like all other FF themes just went right into the head at first time.

I will probably get flamed by a lot of Final Fantasy and / or Sakimoto-fans, but this is just what I think. Its not "Final Fantasy" for me, its not that I dont accept changes, I do, but this is not a possitive change in my opinion.

With that being said, Im sure the soundtrack can fit well in the game, while playing, giving an atmosphere, but as a standalone album its not that great.

^
Lol, no, you are entitled to your opinion of course.

After a couple of listen throughs, these are some of my favorite tracks:

Disc 1: Boss Battle, Penelo's theme, Naivety, Little Rascal, Rabanastre Downtown, The Garamsythe Waterway, Rebellion

Disc 2: The Princess' Vision, Clash of Swords, Abyss, Battle Drum, Barheim Passage, Sorrow (Liberation Army), Upheaval

Disc 3: Esper Battle, Desperate Fight, Jahara, Ozmone Plains, Eruyt Village, White Room, The Phon Coast, Destiny, Near The Water

Disc 4: Cerobi, Esper, Zertinan Caverns, To The Place Of The Gods, and everything that follows after that track.

Really awesome overall, probably my favorite OST of this generation, along with Silent Hill 3.

Veq:
I agree wholeheartedly. The music just doesn't strike me like previous FF OSTs. Umatsue's themes always stick, and further Hamauzu's brilliant work in FFX really made the serie's music come to life. I really enjoyed just about every track that Hamauzu wrote in FFX. I am sad to see that he hasn't returned in FF12. I'm not saying FF12's music is bad, it just isn't that great. Don't get me wrong, SOME of the tracks are good. But thats just some though and as entire work the OST failes where FFxs succeeded. It works in the game, it works ok for listening, but like most movie soundtracks (not saying that it is one, I am contrasting between the two genres) today, it just doesn't strike me as being interesting enough to be memorable.

If you ask me, the final fantasy series needs people like Hamauzu and Sakimoto - a variation in style. Uematsu's compositions may be memorable, but I get bored of Uematsu's classics (don't get me wrong I love them to bits) but I have hardly listened to the FF soundtracks for nearly six months. I think that Sakimoto does need to vary his style a bit - perhaps if he where to work on a genre that he may be less comfortable with (i.e. something that isn't medievil).

I have found quite a few tracks memorable in this collection (though I'm still downloading the last quarter of it and I want to give it a proper listen through)

He does; just not enough. Go check out Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter, Gradius V, or even Radiant Silvergun.

For FF12, this style is perfect, since it's in the Ivalice universe and is a Matsuno game.
Nothing could fit FF12 better, and it works extremely well.
If you want more unconventional Sakimoto, wait for Mistwalker's ASH on the DS... he probably won't be composing in the FFT/VS/RS/FF12 style on that.

I think I'll agree with that (or at least with the second half :D ) - I don't know, what SquareEnix trying right now with the FF-series musically-wise, it seems they just want for every game a new composer (and a totally different style) ... I must admit i don't like the general idea very much, I like consistency. (and Sakimoto wouldn't be a bad choice actually, because he also scored FFT & FFTA so far ;) )
... I also think that Sakimoto's is very good, but the music just doesn't sound like "final Fantasy"-music to me. The only "new" composer to the FF-series which created music that sounded like "Final Fantasy" to me, was actually Naoshi Mizuta with all his FFXI-stuff. :)

Ok, but now to FFXII... I haven't listened to the OST yet (it still needs some time to download), but I've listened to the Best of and the PSF-set, and I'm glad to read, that the sound quality on the OST is better (or at least different from the PSF's) because I don't liked the sound quality from the PSF's at all but I was very impressed by the sound quality in the "Best of"-tracks.

I must say, I like the way Sakimoto uses his Main theme in his tracks, it may be not so catchy or impressive than Uematsu's previous Main themes, but I think, it's quite good, and I like the way the theme appears here and there in the OST. ;)

So far my favourite tracks would be probably "Theme of the Empire", "The Strike of Blade" and the Final Battle, but I'm sure I will add more tracks to the list after listening to the OST.

I haven't listened to the whole soundtrack yet, only part of it. But personally I think it's some of the best work Sakimoto has ever done. I know some FF-fans will be disapointed in this OST, because it's not typical "FF-music" with all it's themes and stuff we've all come to love. But IMO change is good and judging the soundtrack on it's own, it's a very different style of music. I like it. You don't always need a lot of memorable tunes to have a great soundtrack.

Sakimoto's strengths don't usually lie in his melodies. It's his textures and instrumentation choices that fascinate me. If you're looking for static, pretty melodies that stick in your head, you probably won't find this soundtrack very memorable. It's more like a film score than anything else (as is most game music these days), a progression that I welcome.

I finished listening to the whole thing earlier this morning, and I'm definately sold. My early impressions remain, that it's an amazing soundtrack. Full review still coming (I plan to do it track-by-track).

I think one thing I'd like to add to the discussion however, is that there are many more elements of music other than melodies that a composer can utilize to create attraction and memoribility. Two of the biggest factors in Sakimoto's personal style and music are those of interesting rhythmic figures and ways to use interesting chord progressions to take a melody and twist it into many different connotations. He does this masterfully with the three main themes used in FFXII, also blending in a good dose of atonal wandering and thematic uses of instruments (such as relating esper-related music with the choir, and certain less-orchestral instruments with the "primitive" races).

I have heard nearly all of Sakimoto's Soundtracks - there isn't one track I don't like - it would be nice to hear a bit more techno, but I have waited since 2004 for this soundtrack - I'm not dissapointed

Regardless of what has gone before Sakimoto's instalments, this IS an epic

Relating to the demo version of the game, the tracks labeled for each area are completely different, and the track for the Miriam stage is now associated with an area toward the end of the game. Anyone find this odd at all?

Having listened to the PSFs for 2 months, this is like a completely different soundtrack. I can't say if it's better or worse, just different.

For me its not the memorable melodies that get me, though I do like a nice melody, it does not define greatness in a soundtrack. Rather it is interesting texture and interesting tonalities/instrumentation. All of which I do not think is present in FF12. The writing is very good, but I think it's too safe and too stock. I really like Hamauzu's writing because of these "textures". In FFX he stepped out of the FF norm as far as sounds go, but somehow it still retained an FF feel. I really liked that. Hamauzu's work never dissapoints me just listen to Dirge of Cerberous, Brave Fencer 2, and FFX. His writing is fresh, tonally, melodically, and the sound quality is always a step above the rest. I was kind of hoping for this in FF12 however what is there will do, I was just a little miffed at the overall staticness of the general sound in the OST. The sound quality of the samples are dissapointing too, me being an orchestral musician.

So, my bittorrent download is complete. I've been listening (I'm only a few songs in) but the first track that I've heard that really kicks ass (other than the East Dalmasca track, which I've already heard, and which kicks the most ass of all of them so far) is "Naivety". what a nice, bouncy, and well orchestrated track! So many layers, but they all work well together. My favorite part is the part between 0:50 and 1"15. The bass sounds very bouncy indeed on my Grados.

Edit: "The Skycity of Bhujerba" is very nice. Many layers and very soft and floaty. Giza plains is great as well.

I agree PiccoloNamek about "The Skycity of Bhujerba".. one of the few tracks I really like on the album.

Another track i really enjoy is "The Phon Coast", very nice uplifting song.

I think the opening movie track is very well done, the fact that it is done with a real orchestra doesn't hurt it either:)

As I listen to this OST more I find some use of real instruments or very good samples mixed in with the so-so samples, I just wish they were all that high quality.

I haven't downloaded the entire soundtrack yet, but from what I hear I love. This does have some awesome orchestration and some nice themes. This definately fits the profile of an epic fantasy film score. However, I don't think it impresses me as much as anything from Hamauzu from Dirge of Cerberus (which is one of my favorite FF scores). I find that although Sakimoto does stick to the orchestral scores, he also has a potential that only those who listen to his experimental works can enjoy (i.e. Gradius V, Radiant Silvergun, Breath of Fire V). He is quite versatile, but always provides a perfect mood to a game. So I do love this soundtrack quite a bit so far. I will be more precise on my comments once I finish listening to the score in its entirety.

But as for FFXIII, Hamauzu will deliver a soundtrack worthy of FF fame. I have faith in him and I really hope he becomes more involved in the FF series (perhaps as a successor to Uematsu :)).

You know, I really do like Sakimoto's composition however, I think the reason it sometimes does not sound that interesting is because it is being held back by synth instruments. His style of writing does not shine unless performed with a real symphony orchestra. Just listen to the track "abyss" and imagine it with real instruments, and then just think about how much the midi instruments, or synth or whatever they are using is holding the composition back. It is too intricate and requires individual performers nuance to make his writing sound "right". This is where I think Hamauzu shines in FFX, he can manipulate synth and midi and write for it so that it sounds natural.

Abyss wasn't written by Sakimoto, it's by Hayato Masuto. In general, Masuto's tracks used much less quality samples than Sakimoto's tracks it seems.

Personally, I found the sample quality to be exceptional with just a few duds. The velocity change between the "soft" and "brassy" on the French Horn section always is very rough and often tinny. Additionally, there's one or two notes in the Harp sample set that are more plucked and buzzy than they should be.

The woodwinds and strings, however, are almost always top notch, especially the solo Clarinet and Flute samples. The percussion when used is also very nice. The choir samples, whenever they show up, either as the "classical choir" or the "ethnic choir" sound very cool.

I don't know why this is a battle between Sakimoto and Hamauzu. They're both very talented composers with very different styles. People prefer one or the other. I love both, but have a stronger affinity towards Sakimoto since his direction is usually where my own writing leads me.

I've listened to maybe 1/4 of it so far, but this stuff is fantastic. I can't wait to hear this in the context of the game.

Hamauzu's biggest advantage is that he often mixes real instruments into the synth. It helps more than you'd think. When my ears hear a real instrument, they're often tricked into thinking that the rest of the piece uses them as well.

It doesn't hurt that he's one of VG's finest composers.

Let me start off by saying this: Ive ALWAYS (yes always) hated almost all of Sakimoto's work. Only song that ever got me at all was Truth from vagrant story. I was horrified to find out that he was composing the next numbered FF game. Well after hearing this i can now say.... that im a fool. This is probably my favorite FF soundtrack to date. So far i have not found 1 song that I havent liked. Im going to have to listen to some of his older works to see if maybe ive just been deaf all this time.
(Ill post more tomorrow, just got off of a 12 hour work shift and i need sleep)

I got it yesterday and I have to say that I already know it all =) I'm playing in FF XII for 90h+ so every song is familiar with me. As for the OST it self I have to say it's genius and mixing it with Vagrant Story type songs was awesome and for only this thing I can give 10/10 for it.

Nice that some of the songs are a little changed then in game but still overall view is very good. I love it!!

Even though there is a lot of synth instruments in this soundtrack, they could sound a lot worse (like Michiru Naruke's trumpet midi's from Wild Arms 3, Alter Code F - they needed some live sound!!)

I have found a few tracks that I'm unsure about, but the thing is I will grow to love these as I listen to them more.

I never really noticed Vagrant Story's Music when I first played it (first time hearing Sakimoto) except when I heard the Efreet battle theme - then I went and bought the sountrack and loved it. But I got it about the time I played Breath of Fire V - without realising it was Sakimoto's work until I heard the lift and first battle theme - another soundtrack I had to buy!!

I'm still waiting for my copy of FFXII OST

I like how there is slightly more piano stuff in the OST - and heck, Sakimoto has been known to compose some poor final battle themes in my eyes (Vagrant Story's Heteromorphic Person...so-so, but not great) but I LOVE Battle for freedom (even if it does use the ff theme in it - it makes it sound heroic after all the urgent atmosphere you get from the middle of the track - as the beginning leads up to this).

I'm sure Hamauzu's composition for XIII will be epic - in some eyes, better than XII, but I know ppl who hate Hamauzu (crazy ppl - I LOVE HAMAUZU!) and ppl who hate Sakimoto (because he composes for ambiense and atmosphere in a game) - which will work well in the game because after all this music wasn't composed to stand on it's own.

Don't you mean "An Odd-Looking Creature"?

And it kicks ass. :)

I've always considered VS's first final battle theme to be stronger than the second. In the game, I felt they should have been reversed. ;)

"Battle for Freedom" is great. Works wonderfully in the game too. I'm surprised they looped the battle part of the track. It's quite lengthy. ;)

Yea I guess you're right. I didn't check the ID3 tags:) Either way this soundtrack would have benefitted from more real players. There's just no substitute for it. You can take pretty much every track and find places where it sounds dull because the composition doesn't shine on synth instruments. Imagine listening to a Mahler symphony on midi. You know what I mean? This is why I really was captivated by the FF12 opening cut scene music (which was played by a live orchestra), but when the next track came up I felt compelled to press the skip button.

Fair enough. I will agree that there's no substitution for live instruments and orchestra when you're dealing with such. However, given the massive ammounts of music that's here (just under 5 hours), it would have been impossible to do the whole soundtrack live (without having a recording budget the size of, something really big.)

There's also certain things that you're able to do when dealing with digital audio as opposed to live recordings. This doesn't apply to FFXII, but for example in Vagrant Story.. you're able to have a dynamic cutscene background that can transition seamlessly into looping battle music and then back into more cutscene, with hit points as soon as you advance the dialogue, as done in the opening sequence.

Additionally, and this is from personal experience, but when you're working with an orchestral palette that you know won't be performed live, you have the freedom to try things that wouldn't necissarily be playable in reality.

So could there have been more live tracks? Yes, definately. They could have, in my opinion, cut Symphonic Poem Hope from the budget entirely and relegated those funds to recording more of Sakimoto's pieces. However, I don't think the quality is so bad that they render their composition and effectiveness null.

I think I have to take back what I said about this soundtrack. I gone from, not liking, to think its pretty okay, to enjoy more tracks, to love it. The more I listen to it, the better it gets, and I find little things in most tracks thats just great.
I still think it could been a little bit more variation is some songs, but overall, it's very good!
The soundtrack also inspired me to experiment a lot more with orchestration of this kind myself in my music.

Feeling a bit ashamed for my first negative comments about it :)

Regarding synth quality, most of it sound pretty good, but there are some instruments that really annoy me. Take the song "The Skycity of Bhureja" for example, it start out with really nice quality, but at 00:24 this very ugly string section comes in, it sound way too synthisized.

Off topic: Hey Cobalt Katze, checked through your site and listened to some of your stuff, you're very talented! Very nice work there.

Yes and it's often places where mulitple articulations sucjh as staccato combined with lagato on one instrument, or marcato and so forth that the ugliness comes out the most as this is the shortcommings of most samples, that they cannot correctly combine or even emulate these articulations acurately. In this case the strings are unable to do fast articulate lines well, they wash way too much.
I do have to admit, much of the OST is growing on me more, but I still stand on most of my initial judgement.

This is in regards to Veq's comment as I got beaten by spatula (no double meaning intended)

For those of you who've got the first press, what bonus items do you get? I know about the 28 page book and the special cover. What else? I just ordered and I've got a feeling won't get the first press. ;__;

A shiny box, really. The 28 page booklet isn't anything special, just the concept renders we've seen many times over along with photos, a statement by Sakimoto, and a conversation between him and the other composers on the album.

And thanks, Veq :) Appreciated.

The 28-page booklet as you mentioned, featuring artwork, comments from Sakimoto and an interview with Sakimoto x Kawamori x Okamiya.

The case is part of the limited edition also, as are the picture-labeled discs.

Btw, will we get a translation of this interview (or even some parts of it)? I think we have an explanation of why a such big difference between the in-game sound and the OST in this interview.

I'm not sure I agree. If you count looping, there isn't much more than two and a half hours of music here. There are many film scores that are that length and considering the budget that the average FF game has, I don't think there was a good excuse (aside from inexperience).

I finally got my copy of the soundtrack today and have listened to the entire album all the way through. I must say that I am very impressed with the finished product. I feel that this is one of Sakimoto's strongest outings yet and that is surpasses both Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story. "Esper Battle" and "Giza Plains" are two of my favorite tracks on the soundtrack. "Godly" would be a nice, fitting descrption for those two compositions. Also, his 2 arrangements of the chocobo theme (1 is an unused tracks) are really nice.

I don't have many gripes. I'm not feelin' "Boss Battle" all that much. For a boss battle theme, it's a pretty weak sauce to me. Of course, that could change once I have an opportunity to play the game. Also "Clash on the Big Bridge ~FFXII Version~", a track was a greatly anticipating, didn't rock me as much as I'd hoped. It's a good piece, but doesn't reach the greatness of the original, IMO.

Hayato Matsuo and Masaharu Iwata didn't have many contributions to the score but they made good on what they did have. Matsuo's "Seeking Power" and Iwata's "The Feywood" both have a decidedly epic feel that left an impression on me immediately. The vocal track, "Kiss Me Good-Bye", is the strongest of all the vocal themes in a FF game yet. I just love Angela Aki's voice.

Overall, this is a great soundtrack. If people give it a chance, and don't get stuck in their "Uematsu or bust" ways, they'll realize that too.

EDIT:

After listening to "Boss Battle" a couple times, and hearing the part where it really picks up, I'm beginning to like it more now. So, that's one less gripe I have I guess, heh.

As of now, I'm a little more than half-way through the soundtrack, and one track that has struck me as being particularly awesome is "The Phon Coast". What a nice, uplifting track! It starts off strong and has a wonderful buildup and an interesting and heavily layered instrumentation. The entire composition of the song immediately gives it away as a Sakimoto track. I can imagine flying over a pristine rocky coast with ocean spray and strinking blue sky while listening to this track. Nothing this complex was ever heard in any Uematsu piece. (Although I still love Uematsu.)

So far, this is shaping up to be one of the nicest soundtracks I've heard in a while.

I just finished downloading this about 5 minutes ago, and I'm already in love with this OST. First off, I wasn't a big fan of FFX or FFXI because that's when Square started to change composers, meaning they changed music that had a definite melody to just intrumental arrangements. FFXII is definitely a step forward in that regard.

Notable songs are the remakes of "Final Fantasy" from FFIV and "Clash on Big Bridge" from FFV. Nostalgia will always win me over. It really helps that they really did good to rearrange these. Can't really say much else about the OST since I haven't had much of a chance to give it a good listen. But from what I've heard so far, "I'm a lookin' and I'm a likin'!"

Maybe after I'm done with the current batch of releases, depending on if I have the time, and if someone doesn't do it already.

Well, I didn't listen to much of the PSF set (I was in Sakimoto overload at the time, playing through Dragon Quarter and FFTA), and didn't play the demo more than once, so this was pretty much my first real experience with the music at hand. And it's sorta...well. Maybe a metaphor will help.

There's this clockmaker in town, who makes timepieces of all sorts. Exotic, decorative, utilitarian, antique. When he makes an exotic one, it's a doozy. But more often than not, he prefers to make the quaint antique models that are his signature style. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. It's his personal taste, and what's the difference so long as it tells time?

Eventually his talents land him an order from a high-profile client, and with more than two years to fill said order, the town buzzes in anticipation of what is expected to be the crown jewel of the clockwork king's career. The big day arrives, and both the client and townsfolk are present to witness the unveiling. The curtain finally rises, revealing...

...dozens of quaint antique clocks.

Maybe I'm just spoiled by Dragon Quarter's unique qualities, or the extra creative touches which elevated Vagrant Story above most of his other, er, clocks, but FFXII seems lacking. Some tracks are very nice (Rabanastre, Eruyt), some are admittedly pretty bad (Barbarians, Speechless Battle), but most of it is sadly nondescript. Sakimoto has made plenty of good music in his career, but I want to hear him challenge himself more. There's no room left on my shelf for another quaint antique clock.

There was only a handful of good songs, sadly.

Opening Movie, Ending Movie, The Skycity of Bhujerba and Nalbina Fortress Underground Prison were the only standout pieces by Sakimoto, which was something to be expected by him. He did a "standard Sakimoto work" on this, but I was kinda hoping for something exceptional, on the level of Vagrant Story's OST. Sadly, he didn't deliver that.

The other composers' tracks really stand out from the mass by being better and different, alive and organic.

The Gilgamesh battle theme was a funny homage, but didn't really pack the same punch as the original - one of Uematsu's best battle pieces ever. Victory Theme seemed cheesed down, but the Prelude and Final Fantasy main melody weren't as raped as I feared they could've been.

This just doesn't feel like a Final Fantasy, more like a side game following the lines of FFMQ and FFT, having a completely different tone and most likely the game will be such too.

3/5, because I actually wasn't repulsed by anything. Just bored.

Well, I've listened to the whole thing, and now I will list some of my favorite tracks from each disc. These are songs that I find myself listening to more than others, the ones that I keep coming back to the most.

Disc 1: Opening Movie, Secret Practice (these short, "bouncy" songs always get me), The Dalmasca Easterland (easily one of the best songs on the whole soundtrack), Naivety, Coexistence (Imperial), Giza Plains, The Garamsythe Waterway, Nalbina Fortress Town Ward.

Disc 2: Clash of Swords (Woo!), Abyss (Matsuo), Nalbina Fortress Underground Prison, Chocobo version 1, (Haha, awesome!), The Skycity of Bhujerba,

Disc 3: The Sandsea, Esper Battle (One of the best songs on the soundtrack), Desperate Fight, Ozmone Plains, The Golmore Jungle, Eruyt Village, The Salikawood, The Phon Coast (imo, the highlight of the entire soundtrack, better than even The Dalmasca Easterland), A Moment's Rest Near the Water, The Mosphoran Highwaste (!).

I'll add Disc 4 later, right now I have to get read for church. Like any Sakimoto, it will take me time to get to "know" this one, but I honestly think it could be one of my favorites.

I find that the more emotional tracks are very strong.

Stuff like "A Moment's Rest" (one of my favorite tracks on the soundtrack), both "Sorrows", "Time for a Rest" and "White Room" are simply gorgeous.

The town themes are equally as good. Hell, the entire thing is just outstanding.

I havent listened all of the tracks, but I must say Hitoshi Sakimoto's composition is really classical and grandiose on this OST. my only favorite so far is 125 Giza Plains.

None of the tracks are memorable. I eventually got sleep already when listening to the CD.:(

I've listened to Disc 1, and just as I thought, I'm not digging it. Sakimoto's music is too ethereal and his instrumentation sounds the same all the time.

in short... overrated?

I wouldn't go as far as saying that, but it's certainly not my cup of tea.

The thing with Sakimoto is that all his works usually shine really well upon closer inspection. It's really easy to find them unmemorable at first, because they're not exactly melodically pronounced, but familiarity can be really revealing. I remember listening to FFTA, Soukyugurentai, and Sword Maniac at first, often regarded as his worst soundtrack releases, and not being impressed, yet then one day, for each and every one of them, it clicked; I fell in love with them and decided to review them all in some detail. Given these were his least remarkable works, imagine what digesting the giants -- BoFV, VS, FFT, and Legaia Duel Saga -- did for me. His work is very hard to digest in large amounts, but the intricacy in all his individual compositions is unparalleled and his phrasing is simply delicious.

I haven't dared to listen to FFXII all the way through in one sitting yet, simply because I know that I won't take it all in and won't appreciate it initially. Yet, I'm digesting it, part-by-part, having now completed numerous listens of the first disc, and am slowly falling in love with the score. I can't exactly say that this slow but steady approach will work for everyone, but Sakimoto's music is remarkable and great, just not immediately appreciable.

People often say Sakimoto's music is hard to appreciate. I tried FFT, FFXII, Gradius V, but I'm still not fond of his work. I dig some of his "heavy" orchestral themes (such as the second part of the FFXII Loop Demo and Esper Battle), but I don't enjoy his other music that much (though there are exceptions such as the great "Lost Forest" from Legaia Duel Saga).

Yes. This is exactly what I meant when I say it takes time to get to know a Sakimoto work. When I first downloaded the VS soundtrack, I really thought it quite sucked. But over time, one song after another began to reveal its intricacies to me, and it became one of my favorite soundtracks of all time.

It will take just a long, maybe even longer, to get to know this one, but I have already found so many songs that it like that I think my purchase of the soundtrack was well worth it.

I'm almost done listening to the soundtrack and I have to say, I really have only been looking forward to the non-Sakimoto works. It's not that I don't thoroughly enjoy his pieces, it's just that many of them have the same motivic elements that I've heard in other games like FF Tactics and let me tell you, it's getting old. Sakimoto has some good ideas in his thematic development, but they're the same ideas that they were 5 years ago. And this is speaking from a seasoned videogame music veteran and composer.
It's not that I don't really enjoy this soundtrack regardless. I would still highly recommend it to anyone. It's just that in many of the tracks, it's like I've already heard the music before! Get some new ideas Sakimoto, and for the love of all that is holy, some new string synths for the fast runs. Ew.

Edit: Now that I've finished the soundtrack, I was delighted to find that the final 6 tracks of the 4th disc are worth the purchase of the album alone. It's like a non-stop joyride that you don't want to get off of once you reach those final 6 tracks :). There are other tracks that are notable throughout the soundtrack, but other people have made mention of them already. Overall, very highly recommended! (but I still stand by my Sakimoto comments!)

I just wanted to point out that the full version of Symphonic Poem "Hope" actually plays during the ending credits for the game (just watched my friend beat the game earlier today). The 4th movement is hard to mistake, so I know it's not just the PV ver. Would it have killed the OST producers to use 4 more minutes (of which was in fact available) to fit the entire thing on? I know this is likely because of the single, but it seems stupid to have a 4-disc OST and not include one of the game's hi-light songs.

The version of Symphonic Poem that is on the OST is the one for the English dub version trailer

I suppose it's a way of making you go out and buy the Symphonic Poem single

I agree with you. Usually I appreciate certain soundtrack after listening them twice (DoC, Unlimited Saga). I guess you couldn't treat Sakimoto's work as melodious as Uematsu. I'm sure I will appreciate this soundtrack later as the time being, after listening for two or three times.

I basically agree with you, though I guess those that bought Symphonic Poem "Hope" would have been mighty peeved if the full thing turned up on the FFXII OST after all. Partly commercialism, but also probably intended to avoid provoking a backlash of some kind.

It takes me a lot longer than two listens to really begin to appreciate a Sakimoto soundtrack, but I'm glad you basically agree. I hope you warm to it. ;)

I quite like this soundtrack, despite the fact that only a few melodies have sunk into my head. I'm going to listen to them some more though, so that I can truly appreciate it.

Currently, my favorite track is Penelo's Theme. It's so light-hearted and sweet. And 'Parting With Penelo' proves how well the song can sound on the piano. Has there been any talk of the FFXII Piano Collections yet?

As I've obviously not played the game yet, but do have the torrented version (haven't listened to 4th disc yet), I'm looking at the listings and it says for the last track
"20 Symphonic Poem "Hope" ~FINAL FANTASY XII PV ver.~ 3:53" as found on the link on the first page. So basically they didn't include Road of Hope in the OST? What the hell? That's honestly one of the first songs I've heard of FFXII and IMMEDIATELY fell in love with it. Correct me if I'm wrong here. I hope throughout the game that perhaps a few scenes here and there will contain it, but perhaps not, looking at the order of listing of tracks. =/

The Refrain is there. The OST version is identical to the Hope trailer version, if youve seen that.

Yes I have, I think. There's been quite a few FFXII trailers I've seen so I'm sorta getting lost which one now, but I can obviously remember the music.

While I've mentioned many times before that I'm not a big fan of Hitoshi Sakimoto (So far I've only enjoyed his score for Vagrant Story and it's the only OST of him that own....nope, I'm forgetting I also have his Breath Of Fire V score, since it's part of the Breat Of Fire I-V special boxset)...I cannot deny that the FFFXII OST is absolutely magnificent!

I had many doubt, since both the FFX and FFXI OST's didn't really rock my world (while also having a handful of spectacular tracks) and I didn't expect the FFXII to be any different....especially coming from a composer that I didn't really care much about.
I did like most of the pre-released tracks and the music heard in the demo (that came with Dragon Quest VIII), but I wasn't expecting the rest of it to be so good.

So far I have to disagree with a lot of people here.
~ The monotone soundscape heard in FF Tactics (and a bit in Vagrant Story) which people are talking about isn't apparant at all in this OST.
I actually hear many kinds of spectacular and varied instrumentations!!
I'm also highly impressed by the overal sound quality of this OST....especially since it sounds so much better then in the game and as the PSF's (like many people here have already mentioned before).
~ As far as I'm hearing, this OST has more then enough melodic substance.
Maybe not to the same degree as mr. Uematsu compositions, but it all sounds memorable enough to me.
(and I'm guessing this will be even more the case when I'll finally be able to play the full game)
~ The synth instrumentation on the FFXII OST sounds spectacular to my ears and all the whining about this subject by some people here really irritates me.
This is videogame music.....just listen to moviescore's or other "live" compositions if you want to hear "real" instruments!
I understand that these people probably aren't the people who fell in love with VGM when simple 8-bit/16-bit chiptunes played on the console's and probably haven't noticed VGM untill very recently (when games didn't rely on chip-tunage anymore).
But a videogame is a videogame and "synth" just belongs in a videogame, even if it might try to mimic certain instruments in a way you might not like.
I consider it to have it's own unique identity/quality, even if it makes certain mimiced instruments sound somewhat artificial!
Sure, I love that more and more VGM score's include orchestral compositions, but I definitely wouldn't want it to completely overtake synth music.
(I love both equally)

I completely disagree here, if only because his writing lends so naturally to real instruments. If you're going to write for synth, you don't write things that sound bad on synth! As stated before, there are quite a few tracks that are adversely affected by poor synth quality, and this could be avoided if Sakimoto had the synth limitations in mind while writing. Now, I imagine he wasn't the sound engineer on the project, and that he had quite a few other people programming the music into the game after he wrote it, so some quality is lost in that process. But still, throwing out a final product that has sudden random dynamic punches and unsynchronized instruments is just dissapointing (and unappealing to the ear!).

I had a listen to it, and REALLY wondered what seriously happened to that. Road of Hope (movement #3) is my absolute favorite, but I'm very surprised they did it in the order of the Overture and then March of the Wisemen then the Refrain, interesting, but somewhat saddening.

I can't say there was really much that stuck out to me on this soundtrack, so I guess it was a little disappointing for me. However, I've thought that about soundtracks before and then after listening to them more, they grew on me. So, maybe my opinion will change eventually.

On a strange note (no pun intended), I don't know if someone's already said this, but "Basch's Reminiscence" (disc 2, track 15) has an odd resemblance to the theme of Halo.

It was used at PV(Promotional Video) featured on DVD bonus that comes with Final Fantasy XII Symphonic Poem "Hope" Single ~ limited edition album (which was ridiculously short, only 8 minutes total on a cd). I've bought 3 FF12-related albums including FF12 ost, FF12 Hope, & Angela Aki's "Kiss-Me Goodbye" (plus Angela Aki's "Kokoro no Senshi" which has FF12 "Kiss Me Goodbye" english PV version + Aki's rendition of FF8's "Eyes on Me") and wondering if only they just put all 3 of it in one album instead of separating it. Also kinda weird since the ending credit plays the full version of "Hope" instead of the PV version (I ripped the movie and watched it).

Indeed, very weird. I aslo had a listen to Kiss me goodbye, and I really didn't like it. Eyes on Me still tops the FF vocal charts, IMHO. Eyes on Me has that certain instant romantic feel that I think no other song can quite replace. It has the natural "Squall and Rinoa" stamp on it and it's honestly the first image that pops into my head, besides Julia and Laguna. Perhaps I haven't seen Kiss me Goodbye with a visual presentation so I'd have a different opinion rather than just listening to the music sans any CG. =/

Well, the thing about the "love themes" in previous FF titles is that they always had some sort of role in the storyline as well. (Excluding FFX's, which just played during the underwater makeout scene.) In FF8, the love theme debut, it was the song Julia wrote for Laguna, which translated into Squall and Rinoa's love since it was a relationship they never had. In FFIX, it was a song that Garnet always sang. So, I guess, there wouldn't be as much impact with a song that probably isn't involved in the storyline (debunk me if I'm wrong), as well as one that doesn't show up anywhere else in the soundtrack as a main theme. It was mainly the producers saying hey we need to retain some ammount of tradition with an Uematsu love song.

Been listening to this soundtrack on the way to work and back (two hours to and two hours from... still took me two days to get through the OST!). Will probably keep on listening it for the coming couple of weeks at least. It's lovely, absolutely lovely. I used to dislike Sakimoto because his soundtracks, more than most others, remind me of movie scores, in the sense that I could never really appreciate the music until I'd seen the movie/played the game. I hated the FF Tactics and Advance soundtracks until I played the games.
But something's change since then. I don't know what, because his style of music still sounds the same to me, but this soundtrack just 'has it'.

Holy cow, how taxing is this for your car gas bills?
On a related note, I'm still proding through and am working on disc 4 right now. Still, it's a real shame that the short version of the Road of Hope (basically Refrain) was used instead. Still the best track I've heard of the OST and Symphonic Suite.

If there are any MIDI experts in this thread, would you care to hazard a guess about what libraries they're using here? I'm randomly clicking on tracks and the MIDI samples are incredible, at least to my ears.

Might this be the work of EWQLSO ? That's the highest quality library I can think of at the moment.

I'm not certain that it's a commercial library. The woodwinds often sound like whatever Jeremy Soule uses though, which may or may not be EWQL or VSL. I personally use EWQL Gold, and get pretty similar results, so it's possible. Some of the tracks sound a little lesser in quality though, so it may be a mixture of things.

Holy crap, that software is amazing. Sorry for off-topic, but I'm curious. Cobalt, do you use the legit? The price of that software is ridiculous. Now finally I understand how VGM composers use synth in their work.

Aye, I own several libraries legit. Not the one he linked, though. The standalone Gold is much less. It's still pricy, but worth it, if you're aiming to make a living at it ;)

I don't want to drag this thread too off-topic though.

You guys... the string sounds in this soundtrack are of a fairly low quality IMO. The only good sounds come from the lower strings, and even those aren't that great... the high strings are painfully bad! And the oboes/clarinets are tinny-sounding... you can get better sounds from Reason! I don't know why people are so amazed at the synths.

Edit: However the BRASS and PERCUSSION are excellent! Probably the best sounds I've heard in a long time. It's too bad that the more important string and woodwind sounds are... lacking in every aspect.

Edit #2: In case you would like a comparison between the FFXII synths and MODERN-day synths (in other words, what SHOULD be used in such a high-profile game as Final Fantasy), I have uploaded a sample song from the Vienna Symphonic Library. Click here to get the file.
So, why didn't Sakimoto use these sounds? They're readily available (I have access to them and I'm a lowly college student). Thoughts?

It hasn't bothered me. I've been too busy listening to the music to bother analyzing the quality of the synth. (Which doesn't seem that bad to me, certainly not bad enough to comment on.)

Apparently, most of the technical work on the soundtrack was done at Hitoshi Sakimoto's home, not a recording studio. He apologises because of the additional noises (not too evident, IMO) in the liner notes.

Overall, I thought Keiji Kawamori did a good job with the synth and definitely seems to have a great future ahead of him (as bassist, arranger, and composer too). Excluding Dirge of Cerberus, I'd say the synth is the best of any Final Fantasy score, though I agree the string samples are a little weak.

The in-game synth is a regression relative to the score, which is remastered. Because Hitoshi Sakimoto's work is so complex, it was impossible to implement it in its finest form in a PlayStation 2 score. Though some will disagree with me, I'd simply love to hear a pre-recorded full-orchestral Sakimoto soundtrack one day.

Still digesting the soundtrack... It's definitely been 'yummy' so far.

Agreed as well. I also compare the string used in this album with Unlimited Saga, which IMHO, more superior. Your post make me realized that it's true Sakimoto dont use a real high quality sample for this album, which might resulting this album doesnt show its real potential.

The harp, and flute instruments synth samplings are better, though.

Please name a track in this score that demonstrates these poor samples. I've only listened to about 10 tracks total; I am not familiar with this soundtrack.

Try the 128 Giza Plain. It's my favorite track in the entire album. But I admit that, the quality of the string is low.

I personally think the issue has less to do with the samples themselves and the lack of using many articulations of said samples.

It's easy to do really good brass and percussion because when they're used in this soundtrack, it's usually for a purpose: to be somewhat agressive and punchy. If you have good punchy brass and percussion samples, you're golden in that respect. Even Vagrant Story on the PS1 had excelent brass and percussion synths, and that wasn't pre-recorded audio. Strings and woodwinds on the other hand require lots of meticulous articulation work if you want to get them to sound especially realistic and alive.

Well, let me say, the sample you provided is excelent sample operation. However, I'm taking a guess by saying that it was created with the full ~$5,000 VSL, and probably took more time to mock up than at least a dozen tracks combined on this OST. Now, there's a line one has to draw somewhere. If Sakimoto had to do this whole soundtrack in his own home studio, which was the case, he had to work with what he's got, and probably under a high time constraint. Given those factors, I'm not surprised at the quality, and regardless appreciate how good it sounds because of the strength of the composition.

Here's an example of something realistically put together in one's own hypothetical home studio after about 3 days of work using a modern sample library (well, several.) You don't have to like it, but I think it's a more realistic approximation of how things could sound using a relatively accessable library. And you'll notice, not too different. (Though the orchestral thing doesn't start until after halfway through.)

So, anyways, I think the debate over synth quality is silly. (Especially because they're not synths anymore, despite all the technical talk about synth operators.) As Piccolo said, what we should really be discussing is the music ;)

By all means. But in my opinion I think discussing the method of the music's creation is an important aspect of the music, especially for those interested in entering that field, and I wasn't about to start a new thread about it. Anyway sorry! :shh:

You do have a point there. I was unaware that all of the work was up to Sakimoto! Given the time constraints and the sheer enormity of the task, he did an excellent job putting it all together. I was actually thinking he used those synths because it would give it more of a "Tactics" feeling, but that explains it. I guess it just makes the idea of a "symphonic" recorded album more appealing anyways!
I believe the reason we're discussing the "synth" sounds (it's easier to refer to them as synths, although we could say "samples"), was because that was the ONLY detriment to Sakimoto's music. Absolutely wonderful soundtrack except for that. Unfortunately, it's a big detriment because it is the way the music is protrayed to us. I've heard it said that 50% of the music comes from the performance (something I tend to agree with somewhat), and here it's lacking.

I'm kind of lost in the discussion since I'm not exactly very music literate ... but as far as I'm into the soundtrack, it sounds really amazing! It has the whole grandeur feel there is to FFXII. I think FFXII has an amazing huge world just like that of FFXI and I think the music complements the settings perfectly! It's very unlike other FFs whereby there are some repeats of common themes but I think nonetheless, the feel of the music is right!

Though I would have appreciate if they had used the piano more though. I'm a sucker for piano versions of the music! It's so light yet so sad!

Still, the Final Fantasy XII soundtrack is amazing. It's close to 100+ tracks and I think most of them sound really pretty. Too bad I have no imagery but I can picture it's the perfect fit. The only complain though I have is that the mood of the music in the OST seems to be too consistent except for the occassional battle themes and tracks. I would expect more ups and downs as with previous versions of FF.

Love it so far, especially the remix of the FF5 track. :)

At the moment I listen to the OST and in my opinion it was good for the Final Fantasy music that the composer has changed. Hitoshi Sakimoto did a very good job! Nothing against Uematsu-san but Sakimoto-san gives fresh air to the Final Fantasy Sound Adventures... *g*

Wow, I was profoundly impressed by this soundtrack. I had never heard any complete score by Sakimoto, except the occasional Vagrant Story track (but not enough to grasp distinctive features of this author.)

My take on this album is that it's simply fabulous. And I say that even though I have yet to listen to its entirety. It is grandiose, epic, very dense. I have really appreciated this pompous feel it creates and, given the unconventional nature of XII, I'm certain it provides a very moving soundtrack to the narration.

Two tracks I like to great extents so far are Boss Battle, Little Rascal and Phon Coast. Boss Battle is simply gorgeous, especially the part beginning at 0:56. Little Rascal and Phon Coast feature lovely melodies and grand orchestrations.

What I really love about this score (I've been listening to it nonstop for several hours at work) is how effectively it evokes grandeur and liveliness. It's quite a spirited score and the original melodies are very inspiring. The term grand is definitely appropriate for this music.

This just keep getting and better whenever I listen to it. The final battle theme, words cannot describe its beauty. I can just imagine having a party fighting some truly epic battle, and have that song play at the same time. That must be pure bliss. That part from 4.13 to about 4.50 has got to be one of the most beautiful bits of music ever composed.
Other faves: the boss battle, Secret Practice, Penelo's theme, Rebellion, Ozmone Plains, the FF V song, Mosphoran Highwaste, and Kiss me Goodbye.

Why are they making us wait so long for the PAL release? *pout* Wanna play now!!

I travel by, *gasp*, bus, train, another train, and another bus... and vice versa to get back home. Company pays my public transportation bills, though, so it doesn't cost me a penny, and, even better, it gives me four hours of pure relaxation every day with minimal interruption. Ideal for watching stuff on my video iPod and listening to VGM. :)

Say, did anybody else notice that the main drumline in the final battle theme is exactly the same as the drumline in Ultima the Nice Body?

I was thinking EXACTLY of that battle theme listening to the battle music, mainly because both of them deal with basically the final battle. I'll listen again for the similarities, but I personally like the FFT final theme better. Just to be sure, the final battle is "Batte for Freedom", do I stand correct?

Indeed.

I said it before but I'll say it again, I'm really enjoying this soundtrack :). Sakimoto's orchestration is dense enough that after 4-5 playthroughs, you still notice things you missed the first time. And that is something that really contributes to the overall experience, because while you're playing the game you're gonna hear this music repeated several times anyways. I enjoy this technique; some composers (like the ones who contributed to the FFXI soundtrack) make tracks very long and drawn-out in order to avoid repetition. But in this case, the tracks usually repeat at around the 1:30 mark, making a whole lot of motivic ideas and developments occur during that short amount of time. I think this is why many people are turned off at first to his music, because they simply cannot understand the millions of things going on in that short amount of time. It's really a treat figuring out how all of his music works together and still finding new things in his music after so many playthroughs.
To sum it up, great soundtrack, amazing orchestrational technique (and counterpoint!), and you really need to listen to it at least 5 times in order to truly understand it.

How very well put. I fully agree with this description. It's such.. different music from, for instance Uematsu's and Mitsuda's. I find it harder to find 'instantly memorable' tunes in Sakimoto's work, but if you really give the soundtrack a chance, and you listen to it a number of times, every single song may actually stand out by its melody.
I'm utterly awed by this soundtrack. So much, in fact, that I may have to track down his Vagrant Story OST and give it another chance.

Btw, by the end of day when I last posted on this thread I have finished listening to it. Disc 3 was beginning to bore me, but disc 4 picks up the pace really quick and it ends great. Haven't got the chance to listen to it again, but I'll plan too (and many times...).

Too bad I never got the chance to finish this Vagrant Story (only plays a bit) that has being compared in this thread and so I'm totally unfamiliar with its ost. Maybe someday I'm gonna give this game a try to find out it's bgm collections. Well... I'm not really a fan of dungeon crawler games, so I'm not really sure about this...

I think what the people above me have mentioned is really true. There aren't really any instant memorable tunes in the Final Fantasy XII soundtrack except maybe the few exceptions that were heard for the Final Fantasy XII promotions like "Nalbina Fortress Underground Prison", "Theme of the Empire" and "The Dream to be a Sky Pirate". Overall, I consider the soundtrack really outstanding (just as how it felt with Final Fantasy XI). The soundtrack really extends for a much longer period of time so that eventually, when the soundtrack does loop in the game, you don't sense the difference and it seems amazing how the music can just keep going on and on without you getting bored of it!

I think Sakimoto did a really great job on the instrumentation and on first listen, I did get bored of the soundtrack because of the entire "grandeur" feel I got from it. I was on the look out for those beautiful piano pieces that were present in many of the Final Fantasy games (the only track that seems to intensively use the piano for the Final Fantasy XII Soundtrack is the theme song Kiss Me Good-Bye) but nope, couldn't find it anywhere. However, on second and third listen, it gets better and better. You start to appreciate the music much more and I think the soundtrack really complements all your in-game sound and music perfectly! It gives you a great view of how the world of Ivalice is constructed and what Sakimoto wants you to feel about the place as you step into it.

So ultimately, thumbs up! But so far, it's been the hardest Final Fantasy OST to unravel and get into. Maybe I'm just not used to this style. Final Fantasy XI still had some light go along tracks but the Final Fantasy XII OST, yar, you need time to listen to it. It can only get better on more listens!

Guess I'm the only one who was automatically attracted by Sakimoto's video game scores. :(

I was a Uematsu fanboy until listened to FFTactics' OST in 2001. After that, everything was changed. His music never seems boring to me, as I can repeatedly listen to a whole Sakimoto OST for a few times, every time with different thoughts and discoveries. Even listening to those extremely ambient like 'Catacombs' in Vagrant Story can be enjoyable. I enjoy EVERY work he composed.

When I first heard that FFXII was developed by Matsuno's team, I was so excited, but what's more excited was the fact that Sakimoto was creating the score, and the result, as I can see now, is very satisfying. It's sort of like every work he has composed combined, yet largely magnified. I just can't find a single filler track in this score. Guess because of my fanboyism... hehe

I think this is probably the best post-SNES-era Final Fantasy original soundtrack (excluding DoC:FFVII maybe). The only thing that I would complained is the quality of the trumpet and french horn sample. VS did a better job than this. :(

Sorry for my belated replies, but

There is no explanation except 'OST includes the stuff before sequenced inside PS2', in that booklet.
In short, it's so hard to play luxurious music like FFXII on PS2 which has only 2 megabyte of sound memory.
Indeed, it's revealed they wanted to stream music because Sakimoto had used too many channels.

I'm not a MIDI expert, but Sakimoto and Kawamori mentioned it in a magazine.
Yep, mainly wood winds were taken from QLSO(Perhaps Platinum!), but strings and brass were respectively from Sonic Implants and Project Sam.
Then, some trumpet samples were from other library I can't remember the name now.

I have seen many dissatisfied with strings. Are Sonic Implants so bad samples?

I don't understand why they can't stream the music. Hamauzu (or rather, his genius sound programmer) did it with Dirge of Cerberus, which is probably even more chock-full of movies.

This same thing happened with Final Fantasy X; the developers whined about having to sequence the tracks, but I don't see why they had to do that.

Though I'm not a game developer, my thought is as stated below:

Streaming music brings the slower speed of loading data than sequenced music.
I haven't played DoC yet, but that was FPS game they could put an entire stage date on memory.
But FFX was RPG whose battle datas couldn't always be on memory.
In the case of FFXII, PS2 had to load and handle dates incessantly 'cause this game features a seamless transition from exploration to combat mode.
They would not be incompetent but prefer less loading time, to the better sound quality.

Still, I personally guess FFXII music was spoiled after sequenced in PS2.
Sakimoto was supposed to be able to compose simpler music.

On the other hand, DQ8 also had streaming music and they proved the technology was possible with such a large RPG.

Honestly, I don't know why they didn't stream FFXII's music. Disk space might have been an issue. FFXII had four times the amount of music as DQ8 and twice the amount of DoC.

Yep, as you say, foreign edition of DQVIII and Star Ocean 3 have both streamed music and the fast loading time.

However, FFXII has over 1.0 GB of free space.
I don't know how much size it require to compress 120 to 130 tracks into ADPCM files, though.

if that helps, I draw the comment of a staff on this from a guidebook.

Understandable, considering the quantity of music compared to other games that streamed redbook tracks. That would probably explain why they used Sonic Implants strings as well. They're less harsh when it comes to using their sounds when stored internally and used by sequence. EWQL tends to get really uppity when it comes to using their sounds in any other way than a redbook recording.

And of course, they could have made it a dual-layer disc. Then again, I can't think of many PS2 games that have been dual-layer...

Hmm...Sakimoto dared to use worse samples.
Certainly, I heard some say he used better strings in Stella Deus which streamed music from disc.

At least, it takes longer time to read dual-layer disc than single layer.
I hear many movies scenes of KH2 was cut off because of running out of disk space.
In this instance, staffs also preferred less loading time and comfort to the density of story.

Really? Do dual-layered take longer to read? That's interesting... Might explain why there's so little dual-layered games out there. Xenosaga is the only one I can think of...

Still, I spoke of bog-standard DVD-Drives for PC.
By some chance, PS2 drive can have the same speed (4x) for dual-layer disc.
(Rather, I hear old models have a problem with even recognizing dual-layer disc...)

It's off topic.
The biggest reason most of games has been released in a single-layer is simply because they haven't needed so much capacity.
Actually, what hog disc space most in low resolution game are voice and pre-rendered movie.
While Xenosaga has the both too much, FFXII still features some pre-rendered movies and voice,
but most of event scenes are rendered in real time.


Btw, when will any FFXII arrange albums be announced?
I'm craving for orchestra album.

To be honest, my first listen of the FF12 OST didn't exactly evoke feelings of greatness. It was definitely good, epic and grand but didn't leave as strong as an impression as I'd hoped. For one, I thought the sountrack could have been more varied in terms of style and instrumentation at several spots (same complaints I have with some of Soule's work). More piano would have been nice. But with a few more listens, I must say the soundtrack is starting to grow on me.

I still gripe a bit about how the instrumentation could have been more diverse but now appreciate the care implemented into many of FF12's tracks. I guess Sakimoto's FF12 outing might not be as catchy as Uematu's classics but they have a bit more depth that takes time to recognize and enjoy. I also like how the soundtrack is very cohesive and thematic. The use of the wonderful FF12 main theme is great and really helps to create a more memorable listening experience in the end.

The battle themes are generally nice and sound pretty solid but I particularly liked the final battle theme. Definitely one of the better ones I've heard of late but I'm having some trouble adjusting to the brass sample used; I actually like the one in the psf version more. I'm also wondering if "Esper" (402) is a battle theme as well because it appears to be a slightly more exciting version of "Esper Battle." That and it's very reminiscent of several battle themes from Vagrant Story, particularly the percussion.

Speaking of which, there were quite a few moments of deja vu with FF12. Even with some of Iwata's tracks, I couldn't help but be reminded of FFT in many instances. And then there's of course the Vagrant Story throwback. Despite that, FF12 manages to create its own identity fairly successsfully. But I do kind of miss the stuff Sakimoto did in BoF: Dragon Quarter and Legaia 2: Duel Saga. I guess it's too much to ask considering the somewhat medievil setting of FF12 but I really liked the refreshing changes he introduced into Dragon Quarter.

Oh yes, then there's the obligatory vocal song. I found it a bit odd that the theme doesn't appear anywhere else in the soundtrack. It's pleasant as vocal songs go and a good effort by Uematsu but I imagine it would make a stronger impact if it had made more appearances. One reason why I felt "Melodies of Life" was very effective at FF9's conclusion was its many incarnations in the game, from the overworld theme to Garnet's song, which lent more weight and attachment to "Melodies of Life" in the end. But maybe "Kiss Me Good-Bye" will work out eventually. Many games have also resorted to using a previously unheard vocal song when the credits/ending sequences roll and some of those have been rather effective.

On a somewhat unrelated note, the Vienna Symphonic Library samples are very, very good. I didn't think it was possible to put so much character into synth. Well, actually, with a lot of work, it could be done, I guess. But I imagine Sakimoto's FF12 score would certainly benefit greatly from better synth in some spots. :P

I'm a bit amazed how big the difference is between the psf2 file and the real stuff. I just listened to it. It just changed my vision about this OST in a good way...

I'm starting to enjoy this soundtrack. like many of you, I didn't like it at first, but it's definitely a grower. also, on the love theme, I had to listen to it a couple of times to enjoy it. but I really do like it now. although it may not be as great as the love themes of ff8 or 9.... maybe I'll like it more after I've played the game.

My first impression of this OST is that its different and beautiful, but ultimately pretty boring and uninteresting.

Most of the songs all feature the same musical idea. A wall of strings without much in the way of melody, going for more of an environmental type of sound rather than something more structured. Having some of the music like that would've been great, but its almost all like that. Some diversity would've done wonders.

I feel there's too much reverb on the sound. While they may have been aiming for a sound that's as close to an orchestral hall as possible, sometimes it sounds like its being played in a cave. A much crisper sound would've made things better. As it is, it makes things sound too messy and jumbled, and softens the impact it would've otherwise had.

The drums and percussion feel very weak and boring. They mostly serve as background filler, rather than adding a sense of attack or power to songs that would've benefitted from it.

Perhaps a few more listens will change some of my opinions (playing the game wouldn't hurt either I suppose), but as it is now, I'm not impressed at all. It may serve the game well, but as a stand-alone listen without much knowledge as to what situations they apply to, its all too similar and blah.

If you can't pick out any of the many wonderful and diverse melodies, you have some serious problems.

As for the reverb, I fear that too little reverb would make it sound nasty and ugly, like the Vagrant Story remaster that we recently released.

Well, it was my first listen through, so what I posted was merely first impressions. I stick by the idea that many of the songs are too similar and the melodies aren't strong on that fact.

Too little reverb can make things sound too artifical (unless that's what's intended), and I agree that killing it all would be a bad thing, but this album is saturated with it.

Reverb will always be a subjective thing. There's also a difference between using it generally to apply ambiance, as well as proper mixing of it to simulate a virtual location.

One of the differences I noticed from the PSF version of the soundtrack to this OST version, is that the mix on the PSF was all done with generic ambiance reverb. It's slapped on either via the audio engine or the samples' release trails and often gives a generic ambiance that we're used to in sequenced music. What's apparent on the OST version is that the instruments are mixed for depth as well, in that the ratio of wet vs. dry sound is different depending on where that instrument would be sitting in a room. While this adds to realism, it also adds more size to the virtual space and hence the reverb. Additionally, some instruments aren't as well-mixed as others and tend to pop through in a grating manner at times. All in all, it's a tricky business trying to create a virtual space, especially one that can fool our ears succesfully while at the same time fooling our ears still with the instrument sample quality.

And simply, regarding the repetition, it's been done a lot lately in RPG soundtracks to, actually, provide variety. What other games have done in the past is simply use one track for one theme and keep bringing it back over and over again when it's necissary. By having the composer write variations on the theme, that element can keep coming back but under different guises and have different connotations. Such as the tracks Coexistance labeled "Imperial Ver." and "Liberation Army Ver." - They take a similar piece, and then thread the imperial or rebellion themes into it so as to relate better to the scenario. Just one example of many :)