The Music Of Final Fantasy 16: Part 4 – The Sound

gameinformer.com:

For my money, one of the most interesting aspects of a game’s creation is the composition and orchestration of its music. With Final Fantasy, that’s doubly the case because for me, and I imagine for so many others, its soundtrack is one of its best parts. Be it lo-fi channels, new arrangements, compilations, piano versions, or something else, Final Fantasy music makes its way into many of my playlists. 

That’s why I was so excited to chat with composer Masayoshi Soken about his score for Final Fantasy XVI. You might recognize his name as he’s also the composer of Final Fantasy XIV. Still, if you don’t, there’s a chance it’s a name you come to remember following the release of FFXVI because after spending more than three hours of hands-on time with the game in Square Enix’s Tokyo, Japan, office, I’m confident we’re about to get a banger of a score. 

In talking with Soken, I wanted to speak to him about some of the major themes and melodies of any Final Fantasy game – things like the Prelude, the main theme, the Victory Fanfare, and more – and he had plenty to say. In this four-part series, I’ll be breaking down different aspects of the music that excite me and hopefully you too. 

Be sure to catch up on the first three parts here: 

Plenty of thought goes into creating key parts of a Final Fantasy score, like the Prelude and Victory Fanfare (you can read about that here), but just as much thought goes into the instrumentation of each of the 200-plus tracks in the soundtrack. I was curious about what musicians were playing to create the sound of FFXVI, how Soken went about this curation, and how the game’s themes play into these choices. 

“I think for a lot of the themes for the Eikons, you’re going to get a lot of male