During our separate hands-on and hands-off demos of Final Fantasy XIII-2 at E3 2011 last week, there was a lot of music to hear. While the game pretty much controlled the same way as Final Fantasy XIII, it sounds like Masashi Hamauzu (confirmed to be working on the title) has a number of tricks up his sleeve to make sure the game’s soundtrack provides something familiar yet refreshing.
We heard a number of pieces throughout the demos, but what stood out most were the battle themes. We heard four in all, and I think you’ll be surprised by what you’ll be hearing. Hit the jump for more!
The demo opened with a battle between newly revealed main character, Noel, paired with Lightning’s little sister, Serah, against an ethereal hand called Atlas Paradox. This is a battle that isn’t meant to be won, and ended at a fixed point after a few rounds, but I was immediately excited by what I heard. Among the groovy bassline and drum ‘n’ bass style percussion was some hip-hop style rapping, almost on the vein of titles like MadWorld. The productive values were amazing, and while it may not sound–at least in words–that it belongs in a Final Fantasy game, I loved every second of it.
While exploring the demo area, I encountered the regular battle theme. It features a more synth rock oriented style with chugging electric guitars, abandoning the strong orchestral rock style that was so prominent in “Blinded by Light” in the original Final Fantasy XIII. I loved the foreboding bell tolls, and Hamauzu tied in a rich Asian influence with some occasional string work as well.
The final battle of the playable demo with Atlas was more ambient in style, sounding dangerous with some ominous synth work and glitchy, clicking percussion. Based on the sheer size of Atlas, the music really accentuated the feeling of being in a dangerous situation, although the overpowered characters in the demo tore threw him in a matter of a few rounds. I did want to mention that the victory fanfare was reused from Final Fantasy XIII, so I am curious to know how much music will be reused in Final Fantasy XIII-2.
Lastly, there was the hands-off demo that was shown behind closed doors, and was not available on the show floor. This featured Lightning in her new plate mail outfit, riding on Odin, and battling a creature called Chaos Bahamat as the camera circled around the action. The music here was much more epic, matching perfectly with the scenario on the screen. I detected a light arrangement of “Blinded by Light,” and for the most part, I’d say that this battle theme sounded like an action hero theme with its bombastic strings.
The last thing I want to mention is sound design. I was a big fan of the way unopened treasure chests whirred as to alert you of their presence in the game’s 3D world, and that element is still intact. A new addition, however, was Serah’s accompanying moogle, who turns into weapons for her to use and provides comic relief in the way of its various “Kupo!” and “Kupo kupopo!” phrases. I have to say that the high-pitched, whiney nature of the moogle’s voice was a bit grating, but we were told in a separate interview session with title director Motomu Toriyama that they’re still decided on what direction to go with regarding the moogle’s voice.
Well, that’s all we heard this time around, but I think there’s certainly a lot to look forward to. For long-time Final Fantasy fans who are into the heavier-handed battle themes, this game is looking to be like a dream come true. Watch for more coverage of the game and its soundtrack as well as our full interview with Motomu Toriyama regarding the game’s audio in the coming weeks.
What do you think of the emphasis on new battle themes in the Final Fantasy XIII-2 demo at E3? Do you want more of the same from Masashi Hamauzu, or are you excited about his new direction?
God, did you hear the official E3 trailer music (possibly the battle theme)? It’s amazing! It’s similiar to “Blinded by the lights” and seems to incorporate the game’s main theme in some way. it’s stuck in my head ever since i heard it! Here it is in HQ:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWPz10bIt8w
was this playing during the Odin fight, Jayson?
and to answer your question:
somehow i’m sad to hear apparently less orchestral stuff, since FFXIII’s OST was breathtaking (do i really need to mention “Born Anew”?), on the other hand: why not try out something new? I’m the last person to criticize someone for being creative and reinventing himself! Though, the rap parts in the E3 videos somehow take getting used to. Not that i dislike rap, i’ve always loved HipHop. Still, it just doesn’t sound especially well done and not really like a native english-speaking rapper, which makes it sound kinda cheesy, in my ears. But hey, we should wait and hear the final product for ourselves before we hate 😉
There will be more composers than just Hamauzu, according to a foreign interview I skimmed, but they haven’t revealed them yet. Given what you mentioned in this article, it seems likely that Takeharu Ishimoto and Tsuyoshi Sekito are involved in some regard and some of their music was most likely featured in the demo.
True. Toriyama confirmed that staff composers would be involved, but wouldn’t elaborate on who. Still, I think most of what we heard was Hamauzu. We’ll have to wait and see what they reveal.
What I disliked about FFX-2’s soundtrack wasn’t the change in style, but that there was like *zero* reference to the original FFX score. As long as XIII-2 retains some of XIII’s vibe (which, as we see, it clearly does), the new music is likely to please as well. It’s Hamauzu’s whole “variation on a theme” thing, which is what has made for some of his best soundtracks (SF2, FFXIII).
Great reporting on this, Jayson. Most of the XIII-2 writeups on other sites give the music little more than a sentence. The in-depth coverage here is great.
Wow, that trailer piece is really beautiful. I didn’t hear that first portion before.
And no, that battle theme was not featured in the demo at all as either the regular battle theme or the Lightning/Odin versus Chaos Bahamut portion either. Sounds completely different.
I wonder how much orchestral music will be made for this? I really loved the live performances of XIII, but I have faith that this new sound will be great! Hamauzu usually pulls through for me!
Actually, I’m pretty sure the second part of the trailer music (the battle theme) is used in the Lightning vs Chaos Bahamut battle. The quality is really bad because the video isn’t direct feed, but you can hear it pretty clearly in the background here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82UWu0anRjA
I agree, the first half of the trailer music is really beautiful. I guess it’ll be something like FFXIII-2’s version of The Promise?
And I really wouldn’t be surprised if Takeharu Ishimoto is involved; that hip hop boss music reminded me a bit of The World Ends With You.
I can’t believe that somebody actually recorded that. Pretty amazing.
As you can hear in that video, the music sounds pretty grand, and is orchestral. I didn’t pick that up from the trailer. They don’t sound like the same track to me, although I can be mistaken. Perhaps they recorded with a live orchestra some time between compiling the trailer and putting together the demo build? The trailer track sounds so synthy!
Did you see the demo at E3 itself? Is there a recording of the hip hop battle theme somewhere?
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