Comments from the Devs

[Charismatic]

XII had no memorable themes and overall it was very boring. It was atmospheric, but that's it.

Uh, what!?







and plenty more that I am too lazy to dig up

[Elcura]

I saw this response coming miles away.

[Therin]

I generally dislike most of XIV's music. The only song I really enjoy is the one that plays in the dungeons.

Probably my least favorite one...

@Charismatic: Yeah, none of those really do anything for me. I do like the Rabanastre theme, but XII's music in general is far too cinematic. Cinematic music is usually used for backgrounds and to develop atmosphere rather than evoke emotion and be memorable. It's not bad, it's just not something you want to come back to like the music from most other FF games...

[Charismatic]

I saw this response coming miles away.

You can't shit talk XII music on any forum section I read... it's just an unwritten rule.
And why did I not post Esper Battle?

That's probably in the top 3 of all FF music. Period.

[Alkar]

I don't mind XII's music but it's never up there for me. On the other hand tracks like Blinded by Light, Saber's Edge, Etro's Champion and Last Hunter jusmped right on top of my list the first time I heard them.

[Therin]

I just said FFXII wasn't memorable, not that it wasn't good. It's a fine soundtrack but it didn't work for me as a Final Fantasy soundtrack because it lacked the themes and motifs that Uematsu always put into his music, which makes you remember it years later.

Compare:





See what I mean? The XII song is fine, very well orchestrated, vertical, deep and quite epic. But the VIII theme is much more moving.

[Raldo]

Sometimes it isn't the music that decides whether or not the music is memorable. Sometimes it is what you're doing while the music is playing. That more than likely applies here.

[Alkar]

I don't think OWA is memorable because the fight itself is, because the actual battle is quite forgettable. It's not always the case though, I'm sure Aerith's theme wouldn't have been so popular or memorable if it wasn't for one particular scene.
Either way XII kinda lacks both. It's a fine FF game but there's something missing.

[Insanecyclone]

12 being called shit again alerted me here.

You guys have bad taste in games if you hate 12.

[Niiro]

The music in XII was harder to take in because of the nature of the fights themselves, it was the first FF where you weren't standing in place with the camera at a cinematic viewing angle, watching flashy/stylistic limit break sequences play out to the epic music and background.

The camera was at a close in 3pv and you were wailing away constantly watching what was going on, swapping chars, inputting commands, etc. It was much more hectic and left less attention available to appreciate the atmosphere.

Also as Therin pointed out, the music in XII wasn't necessarily bad, or even sub-par, but it was overall pretty conventional. The Extreme is one of the best examples of weird/trippy music fitting with a weird/trippy fight sequence that made for a really unique experience.

[Adajer]

ozmone plains theme was my favorite from xii. I dont get how you can hate on xii's soundtrack.

[Lordender]

XIV's original ost was one of the most disappointing ost's from a recent FF game that I can remember. If you remember back to alpha/beta the ost had leaked before they picked people to test. Shit XI's ost was a hell of a lot more epic to me than XIV's, the whole rock theme just really doesn't fit in an FF RPG.

It was easily the worst Uematsu works by far. The guy has lost a step to me, has nothing to do with nostalgia, he was the pinnacle of game music for a long time but now I just feel that whole rock like theme just doesn't really fit. I don't think of guitar's blazing when a thundaga is going off, it is just out of place.

[Churchill]

I think of guitar's blazing when a thundaga is going off, anything else is just out of place

[Rionel]

Part of what makes music memorable is it's simplicity. Many of the memorable themes from Final Fantasy are actually quite simple in melody, which is part of their charm I'd like to think.

Final Fantasy XII is by no means has a terrible or "hated" soundtrack. But I agree that I never find myself trying to hum or sing to myself much of it's music. Although it's beautifully orchestrated and played, not being able to recreate an "easy" theme for myself to remember does make it a bit forgettable at times.

Many of it's soundtracks can be complex, maybe even convoluted or even noisy with so many instruments at times. Good, but definitely not the best Final Fantasy has to offer in terms of soundtrack value.

[Therin]

Part of what makes music memorable is it's simplicity. Many of the memorable themes from Final Fantasy are actually quite simple in melody, which is part of their charm I'd like to think.

Final Fantasy XII is by no means has a terrible or "hated" soundtrack. But I agree that I never find myself trying to hum or sing to myself much of it's music. Although it's beautifully orchestrated and played, not being able to recreate an "easy" theme for myself to remember does make it a bit forgettable at times.

Many of it's soundtracks can be complex, maybe even convoluted or even noisy with so many instruments at times. Good, but definitely not the best Final Fantasy has to offer in terms of soundtrack value.

Finally someone else understands it! It's not that it's bad, it's just that it doesn't have the same feel.

Also, I loved XIV's OST. To me it was the best since FFVIII. It has such an original FF feel. It really feels straight out of the SNES era, just with modern sound.

[Elcura]

I don't understand how someone can like XIV's OST so much (which has like 3 good tracks in the original release, and 3-4 ones released later) and hate XII. But to compare XIV with VIII is madness.

OPINIONS! But shit, nothing else to talk about I guess.

[Therin]

Here's a very basic yet very illustrative example of what I mean:



Each game has its own different variation on the chocobo motif, and each weaves its own theme into that motif. If you listen to each and every one of these, when you finally get to XII you'll probably laugh out loud at how ridiculous and unnecessarily complex it is... all for such a simple melody.

I don't understand how someone can like XIV's OST so much (which has like 3 good tracks in the original release, and 3-4 ones released later)

Eh...? There are tons of great songs in the XIV OST. I can agree that it's not on the same caliber as Uematsu's work prior to VIII, but to me it's certainly better than anything that came after that.

[Charismatic]

Finally someone else understands it! It's not that it's bad, it's just that it doesn't have the same feel.

Also, I loved XIV's OST. To me it was the best since FFVIII. It has such an original FF feel. It really feels straight out of the SNES era, just with modern sound.

Dude, you said it is 'boring'.
That is bad, don't backpedal. Stick to your guns fool.

All respect points lost.

[Alkar]

Who said anything about hate? The soundtrack is fine but it's not memorable... that doesn't mean hate in any possible way.
Just play Theatrythm and see for yourself. It probably doesn't help that you hear the field tracks so much because there's no battle theme or even a variation of the same track when you engage enemies.

[Lucavi]

XIV has about 3-4 truly "great" songs. The funny part is that most of them come out of Coerthas.