So I wasn't going to post about this, but I figure if I've been harping on something for weeks, perhaps writing it down is a way to get it out of my system so I stop bothering all my friends with it.Final Fantasy
I suspect many of my readers are familiar with this genre-defining series of games, and if you aren't you can read about it here. Even if you are familiar with the FF series, the number of foot-notes and cross-references in the article might be surprising.
One of the cornerstones of the Final Fantasy game series is it's original scores; orchestrated first on 8 and 16-bit MIDI, and later with full symphonies by the musical genius Nobuo Uematsu (No-boo Uey-maat-su). It would not be much of a stretch to say that a Final Fantasy game without Nobuo's music would not really be a Final Fantasy (which is partly why this author believes FFXII felt a little off).
Even in it's original 8-bit form, you can hear a sense of epic grandeur in Nobuo's work. A feeling that despite the technological limitations, he could hear entire orchestrations under the simple beeps and hums of the first game soundtracks. It's a testament to his musicality and innovation that he would invest so early in such a new artistic medium. A dedication which has paid off tremendously, making him the most recognizable composer for the entirety of an art form.
So it is with great anticipation that I went to see the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in Boettcher Hall in Denver perform Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy. Having been an amateur musician, I understand that a professional symphony may only get a few days to work on a project before they begin performing. But that is standard for the caliber of musicians that they are composed of (some of the best symphonies sight-read their performances!). It is also in the norm of musicians to be rather critical of other musicians, and it can get a bit snobby. So imagine yourself an accomplished musician, you've landed a symphony chair (the holy grail for classical musicians), and your director tells you your next performance will be playing music from a video game. You'd scoff. right? Well, I wouldn't scoff, but imagine if you were 50 (the average age of a symphony musician) and hadn't grown up in the video game age. Pretty easy to shrug off the music as a "piece of cake." I have a feeling that the CSO was surprised by the musicality of what they were trying to play.
Having left the performance, after hearing snares more than 1/2 beat off from the symphony, a guitar virtuoso fail almost completely and a choir that more than likely had no idea what was going on, I was understandably disappointed. I hadn't really realized the full potential of Nobuo's music yet. My good friend bought the CD (which I avoided because I was turned off by the performance), and I later realized that the CD was not performed by the CSO, but the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra!! I begged and he obligingly let me rip the CD so I could listen to it.
Since then, I can not count how many times I've listened to the whole CD, beginning to end. You could tell the Stockholm Philharmonic practiced, and didn't assume the music would be easy. In the CD, the full potential of Nobuo's epic themes comes to life, perfectly represented and faithfully executed by Sweden's finest musicians.
I have since re-fallen in love with Nobuo's work and feel a little guilty that I didn't get in on the whole Final Fantasy craze until college. It's sort of ruined me, my first real RPG (if you don't count Pokemon) was FFVII. The undisputed champion of the genre and one of Nobuo's crowning achievements. I have since been looking for that contender game that can knock FFVII from the top spot: it is yet to happen, and music is one of the deciding factors in my favorite games list.
What have I learned from all this?
- Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra > Colorado Symphony Orchestra
- Nobuo Uematsu = Visionary = Genius
- Author of this blog = music snob.
Colorado Symphony Orchestra - zero.
Nobuo Uematsu - Win.
-Ty
image via music4games
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You know, if you'd ever actually listen to me and play Baldur's Gate II you just may find that game to top FFVII. I'm just saying, maybe you should listen to the person who started playing RPGs when he was 4 years old.
ReplyDeleteI like Final Fantasy VII a lot too, but I am at the point where I just hate hearing about it. If you ask 100 people what their favorite Final Fantasy game is, probably 98 of them would say VII. For so many gamers (like you), it was their first RPG. It was the first 3D Final Fantasy, it had an epic story, solid music, and a major character died before the first disc was even through. What more could you want? People have such strong memories of it that no game, no matter how good it is, will ever top it. Personally, I think the soundtrack (and just about everything else) in VIII and X blow Final Fantasy VII out of the water. That's just one man's opinion though. We do both agree on the genius of Nobuo Uematsu though. Every song on the Distant Worlds CD is musical perfection.
ReplyDeleteI've been playing RPGs since the early Atari one (anyone remember Adventure?) and I absolutely love FFVII. I got the soundtrack for it a few years back and still listen to it. I actually thought the one for X was pretty good too. I'm sorry the symphony didn't do it justice, I would be feeling kinda bitter about it too.
ReplyDeleteTy, if you're ever up for it, I could go on for hours about Uematsu's music for the FF games. (I think Thomas is probably a little sick of hearing about it!)
Fong
Kevsnare,
ReplyDeleteI didn't mean to offend by touting FFVII, I suppose there could be argument for why it is not the best in the series, but I meant only to use it as a jumping off point for my discussion about Nobuo since it's the first FF game I played. I have since played VIII, X, X2, II, and III. and IV is up next. but i have to say, so far, none have come close. I do like a lot of the songs from VIII and X quite a bit, but as an overall game, in my opinion they don't measure up.
I've thought about it for a while and I think it's because I can't take cheese in my epics. I couldn't get past Wakka in 10, Laguna's silly sidekicks in 8, Jansen in Lost Odyssey, every bad guy ever in Dragon Quest and why I couldn't play Kingdom Hearts for more than 20 min.
This is an old argument between you and I, but at least we can agree that Nobuo Uematsu is the win.
to Fong,
I don't think I was alive for Adventure, and if I was I certainly hadn't started playing anything more complex than Duck Hunt. It's a shame I didn't turn on to RPGs sooner as the defining games of my childhood were Donkey Kong Country and TMNT: Turtles in Time. :P
I don't think I can riff for hours on FF music, but a discussion is what these comments are for!
-Ty
I wasn't trying to sound like I was offended. My apologies. However, since you brought up cheese, Barret is the Chester Freakin Cheetah of RPG cheese. I laughed out loud at about half the things he said in that game. I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing though, since I think some lame humor is important to lighten the mood in the otherwise very serious story lines of Final Fantasy games.
ReplyDeletewell, yeah. Barret was funny, if a bit racially stereotypical. But I didn't feel he was eye-roll inducing puke cheesy like Jansen. FFVII actually had quite a few goofy characters, but I never felt like "ohhh my god punch them in the face right now."
ReplyDeletePerhaps Jansen's comedic style wasn't represented very well. Michelle liked him, but I wanted to kick him in the nuts.
-Ty
Did you know Nobuo's favorite FF soundtrack is actually FF9? I read that in an interview and was astonished. Because that's my favorite as well!
ReplyDelete