Nobuo Uematsu

[SomethingBig]

Ah, yes, the mastermind behind the musical scores of the FF series. I wasn't really sure to put this in General FF or the VG music, but I put it in General FF because it has more to do with the series than the actual music.

I just finished watching a short, 20 minute(FAR from being long enough for such a titan) biographical show on Nobuo Uematsu on G4-Tech TV and lots of Tech TV staff members were talking about how his music warps you into the FF worlds, which is nothing but true. This is my question: how much effect will Nobu-san's retirement have on the FF series? And when Square finds a replacement, will he be anywhere near as incredible as Nobu?

On the first question, I believe that the FF series will be just as good, but the musical scores surely won't be as good. As for the second question, FFX-2 answers it.

[DJZen]

Square Enix has other good composers they could use. My personal suspicion is that whoever they replace him with will make an effort to re-use the prelude, prologue and victory fanfare as much as possible and try to stay true to the FF vibe whilst adding his or her own personal touch. Otherwise, we can all laugh at Nobuo's replacement.

[Doomgaze]

Mitsuda > Uematsu

[SomethingBig]

No way, Uematsu is way better than Mitsuda. I would choose Liberi Fitali and/or One Winged Angel over all Xenogears songs.

[-N-]

Uematsu is far more innovative than Mitsuda, in my opinion. Besides, Mitsuda is retiring anyways, saying he's tired of the VG industry and was in it for money. But before this turns into that kind of thread...

We'll all miss Nobuo, but seriously, as the series progresses, it evolves and changes. The Big 3 will eventually go, and someone else will rise up to take their place. It would be a rocky transition, no doubt, and it's hard to say whether it would be for better or for worse, but I think that depends on your faith in the company to find the right people and the right interactions. FFXXIII just might be a gem.

[Sefie1999AD]

Uematsu is far more innovative than Mitsuda, in my opinion. Besides, Mitsuda is retiring anyways, saying he's tired of the VG industry and was in it for money. But before this turns into that kind of thread...

We'll all miss Nobuo, but seriously, as the series progresses, it evolves and changes. The Big 3 will eventually go, and someone else will rise up to take their place. It would be a rocky transition, no doubt, and it's hard to say whether it would be for better or for worse, but I think that depends on your faith in the company to find the right people and the right interactions. FFXXIII just might be a gem.

I thought Mitsuda was a freelancer for Square and he quit working with them a while after Xenogears and Chrono Cross. Then he did some work for Monolith Soft, like writing the soundtrack for Xenosaga. Which big 3 are you talking about? Uematsu, Mitsuda and...?

I think Uematsu is a great composer, but lately, he's been doing a lot less work with FF soundtracks. Can we find a replacement for him? FFX had Junya Nakano and Masashi Hamauzu helping him, but I think they were just hindering the soundtrack. FFX-2 had Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi. Their soundtrack was different from the usual FF music, but it was still pretty good, although not even close to Uematsu's quality.

FFXI had Naoshi Mizuta doing most of the work, and Kumi Tanioka and Nobuo Uematsu were doing a few tracks. I haven't played the game yet, so the music is quite hard to rate. Howevever, I think Mizuta's is music is... not bad. Not great either, though. I actually preferred Uematsu and Tanioka's compositions. I heard FFXII will be mostly Hitoshi Sakimoto with some assistance from Nobuo Uematsu. Sakimoto made an excellent soundtrack for FFT together with Masaharu Iwata, but I didn't like FFTA's music. Hopefully FFXII's soundtrack (and the game) will be closer to FFT's quality than FFTA's.

I'd also like to mention one more composer: Yoko Shimomura. She made the soundtracks for Super Mario RPG, Legend of Mana, Parasite Eve I and Kingdom Hearts. Her music is very good and emotional, and it works well in the events where they're played. Legend of Mana and Kingdom Hearts were her best work, IMHO. She could also become a good FF composer because she does very good arrangements for Nobuo Uematsu's themes. Her versions of FF4's boss music and One-Winged Angel were very well done.

[dman]

If it's going to be Hamauzu, Shimomura or Sakimoto, I won't mind.

[Mo-Nercy]

My personal preference after Uematsu would be Eguchi and Matsueda. I thought the music from FFX-2 (and to a lesser extent The Bouncer) was of a great quality. I especially liked 1000 Words, even though it doesn't sound unique since you can hear something similar just by flicking on MTV, it was a beautiful song.

Although I'm sure any composer, when given the head job (oh..gross) will do a fine job of it.

[Trumpet Thief]

I did love Mitsuda for his great work on the OST of Xenosaga, but Xenogears music was great as well.

Although, I thought he was nothing compared to the almighty Nobuo. I do not think they can find an artist equivalent to Nobuo. So many pieces of music I loved from all of the FF games he had worked in. A brilliant man indeed.

[Michiru]

I thought the music from FFX-2 (and to a lesser extent The Bouncer) was of a great quality. I especially liked 1000 Words, even though it doesn't sound unique since you can hear something similar just by flicking on MTV, it was a beautiful song

Don't forget Real Emotion, yeah I know, it isn't a emotional song, however, if you're REALLY, REALLY hyper you might as well dance to it.

:p

[Cz]

FFX had some pretty good music, in my opinion. Nakano/Hamauzu wouldn't be able to match Uematsu, but I certainly wouldn't mind if they continued to work on the series.

[DJZen]

All good points, Square Enix needs someone who can carry the series. I think Shimomura would be able to, but it's unlikely that she'll wind up doing it, regardless of her extensive history with game music composition (heck, she even did the music for Street Fighter II). Hopefully we'll get a good indication of this in FFXII.

[-N-]

Although I'm sure any composer, when given the head job (oh..gross) will do a fine job of it. :p

I thought Mitsuda was a freelancer for Square and he quit working with them a while after Xenogears and Chrono Cross. Then he did some work for Monolith Soft, like writing the soundtrack for Xenosaga. Which big 3 are you talking about? Uematsu, Mitsuda and...?

Big 3 - Yoshitaka Amano, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Nobuo Uematsu. Should have been more specific, sorry. :(

And I thought Mitsuda was part of the Chrono and Xeno teams, like actually a member of a team. And although I'm pretty sure he's not doing XS2, I may have been wrong in saying he's retiring completely from VGM.