That's what Miriel said to me the other day while we were on a drive. I have a compilation of FF MP3s that I sometimes play in the car, and she remarked on one of the songs. So what game was it from? VII? IX? XI maybe? Nope, it was FFIII.

Since the very beginning the music has been one of the best aspects of the series. FFI's songs are pretty 8-bit but they are still catchy, but I feel II and III are well beyond their time. I often hum songs from those games as much as I do of the later CD-quality scores, and definitely much more than I do of the most recent games.

So why is that? Is it simply the magic of Uematsu that's missing from FFXII and XIII? Is it a degradation of game music in general? Or is it just another sign that I'm getting older?