In an interview with The Guardian, Final Fantasy XVI composer Masayoshi Soken touched base on the emotional punch behind the game’s soundtrack, as well as walking readers through his philosophy on creating music for the game. Specifically, he discussed how sound is important in enhancing the experience while attaining the investment of gamers.
My personal philosophy is that the sound aspect of a game is an essential seasoning to enhance the game experience and to get players excited. However, this seasoning has a direct impact on the heartstrings of the player. Using it incorrectly can cause major accidents. In other words, starting with musical theory causes accidents. You have to compose in a way that ensures the gameplay experience at each and every moment is the best it can be for the player.
To achieve this, Masayoshi-san says you need to “properly analyze things about the content, and what kind of effect different music would bring to it.” Thanks to his experience with playing the Final Fantasy games over the years, he took his inspiration from loving the series and applied it to Final Fantasy XVI’s emotionally epic score. Be sure to check out the interview here.
Final Fantasy XVI was released exclusively on PlayStation 5 on June 22, and you can read our full verdict here. Despite Square Enix’s claims of the game underperforming in sales, the series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi recently declared Final Fantasy XVI is the Ultimate Fantasy.
Source: The Guardian