Masaharu Iwata

Game Music, Japanese, Reviews

STORMBLOOD: FINAL FANTASY XIV Original Soundtrack (Review)

July 8, 2018 | Harry Gill | 1 Comment Share this

Finally, it’s here! The FFXIV Stormblood soundtrack is in my hands. What took them so long? Back in the PlayStation era, I guess it wasn’t exactly rare that a soundtrack release wouldn’t come until a full year after – but now, it usually takes a month.

Regardless, a year has passed since the expansion released – and much and more music has been amassed since then. I’m pleased to announce that the soundtrack contains all tracks added from Patch 4.0 – 4.3; a whopping 105 tracks in total! Does Stormblood really compare to the extremely fitting music of Heavensward?
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Doujin, Game Music

ZODIAC: Final Fantasy Tactics Remixed Now Available

January 24, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on ZODIAC: Final Fantasy Tactics Remixed Now Available Share this

If you’re a fan of the Final Fantasy spinoff games and their music, then Materia Collective has you covered. ZODIAC: Final Fantasy Tactics Remixed is a 63-track mega album devoted to the music of Final Fantasy Tactics and pays tribute to the game’s composers, Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata.

Final Fantasy Tactics was released on the Playstation in 1997 in Japan (1998 in North America) as a spin-off to the main Final Fantasy series. Deviating from the roleplaying of the main series, Tactics instead relied on tactical RPG gameplay. The game’s soundtrack was first released on two CDs by now-defunct DigiCube on June 21, 1997, and was re-released by Square Enix on March 24, 2006. ZODIAC: Final Fantasy Tactics Remixed presents covers of the game’s music in a variety of styles with one hundred artists contributing, including John Robert Matz, Dale North, Doug Perry, Annie Rosen, Sean Schafianski, Laura Intravia, Jack Menhorn, Amanda Lepre and more.

“The Final Fantasy Tactics soundtrack was darker and more atmospheric than other Final Fantasy soundtracks. In some ways, that makes doing straight covers of the songs tricky, so it has been really amazing to hear the interpretations that arrangers have given each piece. Especially for the pieces where the original had an organic, open ended structure, it has been really cool to hear what arrangers have done.” – Stephen Robert Froeber, Producer

ZODIAC: Final Fantasy Tactics Remixed is licensed and is now available for purchase on iTunes and streaming on Spotify

Disclosure: OSV writer Michael Hoffman is featured on ZODIAC as a contributing musician.
Game Music, Reviews

The Boys Are Back In Town: Revisiting the Tactics Ogre Soundtrack (Review)

November 8, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 11 Comments Share this

As you probably know, we’re huge fans of Hitoshi Sakimoto. His long career in the videogame industry has resulted in many excellent soundtracks, and while his recent efforts have focused on more Western-style compositions and collaborations with the Basiscape team, his work at Squaresoft where he was often paired with Masaharu Iwata have long been fan favorites.

That brings us to Tactics Ogre. I remember when this game was released in North America. As the game was released around the same time as Final Fantasy Tactics on the original PlayStation, I found Tactics Ogre to be a bit dated, and didn’t dig in too deep, but from the brief time I played it, I did enjoy the music. This time, Sakimoto, Iwata, and the entire Basiscape team join up to breathe new life into this classic soundtrack with the PSP remake of Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together, and if you caught our unpacking video last week, you already know it contains some surprises.

Hit the jump for our review of the Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together Original Soundtrack! (more…)
Featured, Game Music

OSVchannel: Tactics Ogre Let Us Cling Together Looks Quite Lovely!

November 2, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

We’re back with another OSVchannel update. This time, we’re taking a look at the soundtrack to the PSP remake of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. The four disc soundtrack is being released by Square Enix on November 10, 2010, so we have quite an advanced preview of what to expect from the album next week.

As I mention in the video, I wasn’t planning on doing a feature on this until I actually opened it. I think you’ll be surprised by what’s exactly inside. I’m very impressed with the packaging, and the music is some classic Sakimoto/Iwata material as well. Also, for those of you out there who want to update VGMdb with the arranger/composer info, I’ve included a scan of the back cover just for you.

Check that after the jump, and let us know what you think of the album’s packaging and interesting bonus disc. Will you be picking this up next week? (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Basiscape Rocks Japanese Style With Oboromuramasa Soundtrack (Review)

February 5, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

I’ve been personally looking forward to this one for a long time. Muramasa was released last year, and it was starting to look as though it would suffer the same fate as Opoona without an official soundtrack release. However, December 2009 marked the formation of Basiscape Records, an in-house record label that made Basiscape soundtrack releases all but assured. We already looked at their first release, Kumatanchi, but I know a lot of people want to know more about the 3-disc soundtrack for Muramasa.

It’s definitely an interesting score, relying mainly on traditional Japanese instruments such as the shamisen and the shakuhachi, but the team at Basiscape has done a lot more than just rehash traditional Japanese music, and have injected their own unique styles and embellishments into the mix. Interestingly, to go along with the split stories in the game (there are two playable characters with different stories), many of the songs feature both an “A” and “B” version, providing a variation on each key theme, with the “A” version usually being more abstract and the “B” version being more rockin’.

Well, I’m getting ahead of myself. Read our review of Basiscape’s latest team effort after the jump! (more…)
Game Music

Final Fantasy Tactics in Concert: 61 Tracks and Crazy Love for the Win

December 10, 2009 | Crystal | 10 Comments Share this

[Editor’s Note: We told you about the crazy Final Fantasy Tactics concert that took place in Japan last month, featuring nearly every track from the game. Fortunately OSV’s friend Crystal attended the event and has a great write-up for you (you may remember her massive report from the Joe Hisaishi concert last year). Sit back and check out what you missed on 11/22/09 in Japan!]

This was a free concert devoted to Final Fantasy Tactics music featuring a whopping 61 of the 71 tracks of the FFT soundtrack. First of all, to answer the question on everyone’s mind, yes, permission from Square Enix had been obtained in order to perform these works. As you’re all well aware, concerts like Video Games Live, Distant Worlds, and PLAY! A Videogame Symphony often feature Nobuo Uematsu’s scores from the core Final Fantasy series, which are of course the most popular titles in the series, but this concert being entirely dedicated to a spin-off not composed by Uematsu (Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata scored FFT) seemed impossible.

But it happened! When the news of this FFT-only orchestral concert arose, the excitement spread like wildfire everywhere. There was the usual hope and excitement, but also worry and dread about whether or not they’d be able to pull it off. This was on my mind, and likely the minds of others as I headed to the concert from Tachikawa Station.

Read on to see how the Final Fantasy Tactics concert turned out after the jump! (more…)
Game Music

Final Fantasy Tactics Concert To Feature Nearly Every Track From The Game

November 2, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 8 Comments Share this

That’s right, not only will there be a live concert featuring the music from Final Fantasy Tactics on November 22, 2009 in Japan, but arrangements of 61 songs will be performed in medley form, just ten songs short of the entire soundtrack. It seems that small productions like this are popping up all over Japan after that awesome Final Fantasy VI concert we reported on earlier this year.

Apparently this group of performers put the word out over a year ago, calling for players, conductors, and production staff to volunteer their time with the intent of tailoring their arrangements to whatever ensemble they could get together. But there are saxophones confirmed, which will be an odd accompaniment to the other orchestral elements. Regardless of the instruments they’re able to acquire, and despite the terrible artwork on the above flyer, this should be an amazing show that I’m very sad that I won’t get to see.

What are your thoughts regarding these smaller orchestral productions that we’ve been seeing lately? Is a Final Fantasy Tactics concert the best idea ever?

[via STC]