The Final Fantasy series has always had incredible music, and if you were to ask my top three soundtracks from the franchise, Final Fantasy 7 and 10 would probably compete for the number one position. Nobuo Uematsu, the longtime composer of Square Enix’s centre-piece property, disagrees emphatically with the quality of the former, believing it to be a downgrade from his work in prior entries.
In the book Nobuo Uematsu: On The Record by James Mielke, as shared on Twitter by FF7 Music, the storied musical legend goes in on his work for Cloud Strife’s quest to stop Sephiroth. “Apart from the fan favorites, like ‘One-Winged Angel’, most of Final Fantasy 7’s songs are boring compared to the music in prior games,” he says.
“Because of the improvements in the visuals, the music distracts from the gameplay if the melody is too catchy,” he adds. “So I wrote music that doesn’t impose on the focus for the story.”
I would consider that a strength and not a weakness. The soundtrack for Final Fantasy 7 strikes a strong balance between catchy melodies and sitting comfortably in the background of any given scene.
I’ve got ‘Mako Reactor’ playing while I write this, and that’s a good example: it’s foreboding and broody, heightening the feeling of seeing Shinra’s technology suck the life out of the planet. But the cyclical nature of the melody makes it appropriately ambient – it doesn’t demand your attention, but there’s enough going on you could listen attentively, too.
To Uematsu, his contributions were more commanding when Final Fantasy games were on the NES and SNES. “For the Famicom and Super Famicom games, the music played a role in advancing the story,” he explains.
“But by Final Fantasy 7, the visuals are convincing enough to tell the story, so it was better for the music to step back,” he recalls. “I think the revelation that I’m adding music to enhance the visuals started in Final Fantasy 7 and carried on to Final Fantasy 8.”
His work evolved quite heavily across 7, 8 and 9, bolstered by the sound team learning more about the PlayStation’s capabilities. The soundtracks for 8 and 9 are both more orchestral and dynamic than 7’s, but the synth-heavy flavor of the 1997 classic just gives it more charm to me. Agree to disagree, Uematsu – agree to disagree.