Final Fantasy IV

Game Music, Japanese, Reviews

Guitar Collections – FINAL FANTASY IV (Review)

November 8, 2018 | Harry Gill | 3 Comments Share this

I’ve had my eyes on FFIV’s Guitar Collections for a long time, and I’m proud to make this my first purchase to Scarlet Moon Records after reading Jason’s articles for so long and thereby being inspired to become a VGM article writer like him. I only wish I wrote as much as he did!

Anyway, I am not familiar with William Reyes, and I’m not sure if I should be. But I really like what he’s done here; Scarlet Moon has surely picked the right man for the job. And what a great, fantastic job it is! In this review, I will cover tracks that stand out to me.
(more…)
Doujin, Game Music

Pre-Order Guitar Collections FINAL FANTASY IV from Scarlet Moon Records

June 28, 2018 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Pre-Order Guitar Collections FINAL FANTASY IV from Scarlet Moon Records Share this

Following up on the Prescription for Sleep: Game Music Lullabies series of albums, Scarlet Moon Records is now releasing a series of live classical guitar arrangements of iconic video game music in their Guitar Collections, starting with Final Fantasy IV.

Guitarist William Carlos Reyes (of The OneUps) arranges and performs Nobuo Uematsu’s iconic themes from Final Fantasy IV to celebrate the game’s 27th anniversary. Key themes such as “Theme of Love,” “Welcome to Our Town!,” and the final dungeon theme, “Within the Giant,” are featured alongside an original composition by Reyes are included in the inaugural album.

I’ve always enjoyed Square Enix’s Piano Collections FINAL FANTASY series, but I have a personal preference for the sound of the guitar. I wanted to produce a series of guitar albums starting with FINAL FANTASY IV, just as the Piano Collections series did. I also knew based on William Carlos Reyes’s past arrangements that he’d be perfect for this project with his ability to layer his performances in a very natural and pleasing way, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. I want Guitar Collections FINAL FANTASY to become a series, so we hope everyone’s as eager as we are to hear more! – Jayson Napolitano, Producer

<a href="http://scarletmoonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/guitar-collections-final-fantasy-iv">Guitar Collections FINAL FANTASY IV by William Carlos Reyes</a>

Guitar Collections FINAL FANTASY IV is currently available for pre-order on Bandcamp and will be releasing on July 19th.
Featured, Game Music

Soundtrack of the Month 08/2011: Final Fantasy IV

August 1, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 10 Comments Share this

I still have a giant backlog of Soundtrack of the Month articles I want to do, but it’s about time I got around to one of my favorite Final Fantasy titles and soundtracks of all time. Perhaps the recent release of the Final Fantasy IV The Complete Collection has brought this one to the forefront of my mind, but I think most fans would agree that this soundtrack is deserving of this honor.

Join us as we take a trip back in time and highlight some of the best that Nobuo Uematsu had to offer with Final Fantasy IV. (more…)
Game Music

OSVchannel: FINAL FANTASY IV & THE AFTER YEARS Sound Plus Unboxing Video

April 26, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

You asked for it, and here it is. As I mention in the video, I wasn’t planning to unbox this one. The packaging isn’t all that elaborate. But when you combine the fact that it does still look quite nice for a limited edition pack-in bonus and the fact that it’s going to be pretty rare, I thought you guys might like to see it in detail.

There are still no plans from Square Enix to release this album separately, but rest assured that we’ll let you know if that changes, and we’ll be sure to ask Izumi Tsukushi and Akio Shiraishi at Comic Con this year if they attend.

What do you think of the scarcity of this album and of the packaging itself? Would you be okay without the packaging and settle for a digital release if it was offered at this point?
Game Music, Reviews

Completely Complete: FINAL FANTASY IV & THE AFTER YEARS Sound Plus (Review)

April 20, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

If memory serves me right, I had asked Square Enix’s Izumi Tsukushi and Akio Shiraishi to release the music from The After Years as some sort of bonus release. Well, they’ve done just that, and while fans who picked up the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection limited edition are surely happy, fans abroad who will likely never get their hands on the album are more than distraught.

Beyond just offering a few tracks from the game, the disc contains all of the music Junya Nakano wrote for The After Years along with selections from the original soundtrack, and even a few bonuses. Oh, and of course there’s Masashi Hamauzu’s arrangement of the opening theme.

Hit the jump for our full review. (more…)
Game Music, Miscellaneous

Piano Games Vol. 1: A Book For Video Game Piano Players

March 17, 2010 | Audun Sorlie | Comments Off on Piano Games Vol. 1: A Book For Video Game Piano Players Share this

Andrew Fisher, a music graduate who has studied classic music in Vienna and Chicago, credits most of his musical influence to videogames. He went into the world of music hoping he could contribute and give back to the industry that influenced him so much. He also wanted to create something to create enthusiasm for musical performance for newcomers who feel intimidated by classical pieces. His first steps towards doing so are now available to the public in the form of a book called Piano Games Vol. 1! The book includes multiple arrangements written for piano from NES and SNES games.

Some of the games you’ll find arranged here is Batman for the NES, Super Mario RPG, Tecmo World Wrestling, Earthbound and Final Fantasy IV. It is built up as if you were playing through the levels, with the art in the book taking you through the level as you play the arrangements. There is also a piece written by Daniel Brown featured for experts. Daniel Brown released his Castlevania EP earlier this year. A few hard copies were produced with a poster, but it is now released to the public through a PDF.

You can it download at Bossies.org.
Doujin, Game Music

Meet Hyadain Part 1: Final Fantasy IV – The Dreadful Fight

December 31, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

While Hyadain’s amazing remixing skills are known to many game music fans out there, I thought it’d be appropriate to talk about some of our favorite arrangements that he’s done for those of you who haven’t heard of him. Quite honestly, not much is known about Hyadain, an incredibly talented remixer from Japan. He’s very secretive, and nobody knows his true identity, but his many remixes and original tracks based on games have earned him a large following on sites like Nico Nico Douga in Japan and now on YouTube.

This particular arrangement of “The Dreadful Fight,” or the theme of the four fiends from Final Fantasy IV is my favorite Hyadain remix. Not only is the arrangement itself solid, but the lyrics are hilarious. Again, Hyadain is supposedly responsible for all of the fiends’ voices as well as all the music. I think that’s an impressive feat. He’s created a lot or remixes, many of which are listed as favorites on the OSVchannel, so I recommend checking them out, or you can always wait until we feature them here if you’re too lazy to hunt them down.

What do you think of his take on the four fiends theme? Are there any tracks that you’d like to see Hyadain tackle in the future?