The reputation of Final Fantasy's music indeed precedes itself. The series has been hailed as a prime example of masterful composing and emotive arrangements. A majority of acclaim is due to Nobuo Uematsu, composer behind the first nine games in the series and his influence and prowess is undeniable. But come his stepping down as lead composer, he would assist with Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XI and later depart from Square in 2004. With this, a new wave of individual composers would take up the mantle for future games, and with Final Fantasy XII, Hitoshi Sakamoto would create one of the finest video game soundtracks.

What really gives the music of Final Fantasy XII its unique identity in comparison to the rest of the series is based on Sakamoto's previous work in the world of Ivalice. Going as far back as Final Fantasy Tactics, the sonic pallet has remained lush and atmospheric, emphasising the space in which these pieces are heard.

I absolutely adore the serenity of "The Cerobi Steppe", with its twinkling harp plucks and woodwind ensemble as well as intensity of "Nalbina Dungeons" as Vaan and gang sneak their way out of the underground prison. Sakamoto does his best with ambient pieces for zone themes, each area having distinct tone to enahance the gameplay and immersion. The Dalmasca Estersand, Phon Coast and Ozmone Plain would seem as grand and illustrious without their respective soundtracks.

Not to mention the character themes doing a fabulous job at capturing each character's essence , with the highlight being "Ashe's Theme", which evolves its meaning along with her journey to power.
Sakamoto has crafted a immaculate soundtrack worthy of a Final Fantasy.

💫HIGHLIGHTS💫: THE ARCADIAN EMPIRE - NALBINA DUNGEONS - ENDING MOVIE - THE CEROBI STEPPE - TCHITA UPLANDS

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When I think of video game soundtracks that perfectly exemplify a games' atmosphere and resonance, Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is the first one that comes to mind. This is such a special piece of art that has had a bit of a resurgence in recent years due to it's rich worldbuilding and genuinely fantastic writing (despite the horrifically janky combat and bugs). While all the praise for Arcanum is well deserved and known, I feel as the soundtrack gets overlooked and mentioned mostly as unique but repetitive. However, I feel Ben Houge has composed one of the best pieces of VGM that has perfectly capture the essence of Arcanum

I honestly stumbled across this game first from a Let's Player back in the day. Whilst the platformer gameplay is definietly not what drew me to the game, the artsitry of it all really got me going. The let's-player in question was particuallry quiet enough for the music to just flow and express it's magnitude. The build up from the tutorial with "Roots", a gorgeous tense and mysterious opener, as Little seed navigates the veins of the wild to find physicality in a small fox. This leads to the jovial and playful "Present", as the fox now leaves the dense forrest into the vast pastoral world! Out coming to a "Creek" where tempo rises to a gallop as the player is able to test the limits of the fox, dashing, jumping and exploring, strings grabing ahold or the reighs and matiching the joy and revelry of running through a field of grass. It was a wonderful moment to watch on screen, I just had to re-experience it myself and bought the game and completed it in about 5 hours.

What especially had my attention with the soundtrack was that it was entirely composed with string quartet (with a few added production for pieces such as "Frozen Lake" and "Dreams").Yann van der Cruyssen spearheaded the composition, creating incredible soundscapes from Spring to Winter, paying homage to Beethovens "Symphony No. 6, Pastoral" and Vivialdi's "Four Seasons" with thier distinct leadings of violas, cellos and violins to represent the land, bloomed and primal. Songs that embody these facets and how they relate to Little seed's journey to keeping the seasons in balance are fabulous. The dangers that Little seed encounter are coupled by daring and ruthless uses of taught strings, emmenating danger and stress like on "Ritual of the Fox" and "First Nightmare", the former especially. Parallel to that, there are many ambient and atmospheric tracks that embody the hand-painted envirmonments our fox navigates such as "Waterfalls", "Foliage" and "The Winds".
The whole sonic accompaniment really out does itself against the actual quality of the gameplay (unfortunately). It is a true delight on the ears.

💫HIGHLIGHTS💫: TITLE - THE WINDS - FROZEN LAKE - DREAMS - RITUAL OF THE FOX

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