Square Enix has released two news trailer for SaGa Emerald Beyond. The first introduces Diva No. 5, one of the game’s six protagonists, while the second acts as the game’s “Final” trailer.
15.03.2024 - 19:01 / rockpapershotgun.com / Square Enix / Nobuo Uematsu / Ios
Developers happy to mimic the style of Hollywood blockbusters in their video game soundtracks are stopping video game music from advancing, one of the best to ever do it - Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu - has said.
Uematsu, who I probably don't need to tell you has written some of the most iconic pieces of all time in the likes of Final Fantasy VII’s One-Winged Angel, Final Fantasy VIII’s Liberi Fatali and Final Fantasy X’s To Zanarkand, told Japanese outlet NewsPicks (translated by Automaton) that the industry had become “satisfied with movie soundtrack-like music in games”, which risked reaching a point where “game music cannot develop further”.
The veteran composer reflected on how hardware limitations had inspired creativity in his early career, with the rudimentary memory limits of the NES and SNES - the latter of which was restricted to using eight sounds simultaneously - and even the loading time of CD-ROMs on the first PlayStation influencing his approach to composing tracks with compressed samples that wouldn’t result in longer loading times when, say, encountering a random battle.
By comparison, the expanded capabilities of the PlayStation 2 and onwards sparked an era “where we could pretty much do everything”, resulting in Uematsu’s experimentation with different genres from rock to jazz - as can be heard in FFX’s heavy metal standout Otherworld.
It’s this freedom and willingness to experiment that has led to music to stagnate, Uematsu implied, stressing that “people need to have more freedom when creating [video game music]” and try to produce something new.
“Game music will become more interesting if composers consider ‘What is something only I can do?’ and use their own knowledge and experience to be truly creative.”
Unsurprisingly, the composer doesn’t think that using AI to spaff out a load of soulless crap (as is the AI way) is the answer, either, as creating music that connects with players requires “reaching deep down inside yourself to find aspects unique to you and then expressing them”. He would know, after all, because he’s Nobuo-friggin’-Uematsu.
As an example of what great, original, human-made music can achieve, Uematsu pointed at the era of 8-bit games where “music played the role of oxygen”, delivering emotional weight and capturing the immersion and atmosphere of worlds such as that of the first Final Fantasy when visuals and voice acting were severely limited or impossible by the hardware.
Having scored the entirety of every Final Fantasy game from its 1987 debut - for which his now-iconic music was first rejected by series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi - through to Final Fantasy X, as well as continuing to contribute themes to the rest of the series since, Uematsu
Square Enix has released two news trailer for SaGa Emerald Beyond. The first introduces Diva No. 5, one of the game’s six protagonists, while the second acts as the game’s “Final” trailer.
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We’ll say this up front for those of you still exploring Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s vast world: there are no late-game story spoilers here. As seen in its pre-release debut via a new trailer late last year, the action RPG’s theme song “No Promises to Keep” is performed in-game by Aerith. Behind the scenes though, the track was composed by Nobuo Uematsu, the legendary composer behind the iconic soundtracks for much of the Final Fantasy series, including Final Fantasy VII Remake. The song’s vocals were performed by American singer Loren Allred, who brought her spellbinding singing voice to the track, augmenting the beautiful—yet tragic—world of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and the epic story told within it.
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