So I actually played Remake first and then immediately went and played the original afterwards. I loved both and I'm excited for where Remake will go next. I enjoyed the music when I was playing remake, but I've gotta say, after playing the original and understanding the origin of all the leitmotifs, I'm just blown away with how great of a job Remake did. Now to wait 20 years for part II lmao. Well done on this one Mat, loved it!! Also I see you're back to GSF instead of just Fanfare, felt weirdly nostalgic to see it changed back haha. Pumped to watch your stuff no matter what you work on :)
Man, that would've been an experience going back! Expecting certain things to happen, seeing how it just whirlwind rushes you through the whole thing. Yeah, to be honest Fanfare never sat right with me. It felt a little bit disloyal to my audience. At the time I was just feeling a little trapped, that the only thing I could do was video game music even though a) I am by no means an expert in that field and b) I have a wider interest than just VGM. a lot of my imposter syndrome stems from this thought that I might be seen as some fount of VGM knowledge that I'm not, it just happens to be a nice overlap of my interests. But I think I've figured out a way to kind of free myself from that self-imposed prison within the context of GSF. Next video will be indicative of that. I wanna make stuff that excites my audience, not stuff that maybe they might be interested in, you know?
Dude I can 100% relate. I’ve thought about changing my channel name so many times to something more vague that would allow me to make whatever I wanted. But honestly sticking to games and not branching out to other stuff that interests me has sort of forced me to learn and *become* more knowledgeable along the way, ya know? It’s almost like the restriction to a topic enables you to really get to know it well and make something outside the box yet still very much true to your audience. Pumped to see what you’re working on next!
@@GameScoreFanfare Any sense of not being worthy of expectations should have evaporated immediately when you finished the episode on Journey. It was my first GSF video, recommended by The Algorithm. It hooked me on the channel, and IIRC, was the first PS3 game I bought -- which of course meant I had to go buy a PS3. But, any relatively short story told about a game I hadn't heard much (anything?) about that left me with a lump in my throat... that's worth buying a console, I think. Last time I had that kind of emotional reaction to a game was probably FF7.
@VerumRex Bro, honestly just shut up lmao. U clearly don't understand how things work like age ratings when the games dedicated for teens so obviously there will be no blood. If u want blood go play a mature game or maybe Type 0.
My favorite thing about Hip Hop de Chocobo is it's the first one you get by exploring on the map, so it's like a guy just hands you a link to his soundcloud.
That's true! I was meaning with the FF series specifically. But quite fittingly, Chrono Trigger was way ahead of its time. Its whole multi-character attacks wouldn't show up in Final Fantasy until XV! Even then in an inferior way. It blows my mind the amount of cool thing Chrono Trigger did that games just didn't pick up on.
While not unexpected, given a lot of other modern game score OST releases, it really is a shame that VIIR's album has a LOT of music left out. Most of the material is scored-to-picture cutscene music (another modernized aspect to VIIR's score, as scoring-to-picture was usually reserved for FMVs in the original), but there are some gameplay tracks missing as well, such as the Train Graveyard piece that featured the Hurry, Turks, and Shinra motifs. Hopefully SE can release a VIIR Plus album, just as they did for FFIX way back in the day.
Yeah, it's a shame but I get it. The soundtrack is already seven CDs long, eight if you count the jukebox album. You gotta cut some things. But it goes to show just how monumental a task it is to create the music for such a large game.
@@GameScoreFanfare Yeah, a lot of work goes into the dynamics. Apart from the field and battle renditions, as well as boss phases, you have other subtle shifts in arrangements, like how the initial appearance of Tifa's theme and Aerith's Home Again rendition both have these intros that only segue into the main track when you approach the bar and Elmyra's house respectively.
@@Sawngawkuh As well as a continuing rendition of "Cycle of Souls", that plays when you first see Aerith, before getting jumped by Sephiroth; it's short, but I still wish it was added to the track as its finale.
@@Bahamut-bj3bh Indeed. Saw the track list too. It's interesting how, apart from the missing cues, there are familiar tracks reappearing, presumably with missing intros/outros or maybe alternate versions.
Bahahahaha, the Hell house bait and switch was amazing 😂 Great analysis as always; I don’t have the ear for this sort of thing so it really helps me appreciate the music so much more!
one of my favorite part about the music is that the first phases of the boss music often sounds wrong and unfinished teasing you but when the final phase hits it really hits you with nostalgia
Sweet of you to check in. ❤️ Everything is great, just busy! I was overly-ambitious with my next video on Streets of Rage, and am struggling to get anything done within my limited free time at the moment. It's currently half edited! I don't know when I will get it out, I was hoping last month but now I'm hoping this month. We'll have to see though!
That moment when Aerith says "shit" 😂 I really loved this video, it was really interesting hearing such in depth analysis of Remake's soundtrack, which is excellent ❤
FF7 Remake's soundtrack is a masterpiece in and of itself ❤️ "Midnight Rendezvous" is my personal favorite, but the Hell House battle theme and many others are awesome, too
@@GameScoreFanfare Midnight Rendezvous got on my nerves because I kept expecting it to transition into Interrupted By Fireworks and it just never did. But it is geographically right next to my favorite brand new track, which also sounds like some peak Hamauzu despite being Suzuki: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hPYhJYTE_ow.html
I absolutely adore this soundtrack. There’s something about it that’s kept me listening ever since I finished the game a couple of months ago. Was even ready to spend £70 on the physical release but then it sold out and so I got the digital album instead (a much wiser choice now, come to think of it...). I can’t really think of similar soundtracks other than the other FF scores that Hamauzu has worked on and even then, I miss Uematsu’s brand of melodicism. It’s that mixture of dreamy, modern synth heavy production with very strong melodic themes that does it for me. If anyone has any recommendations then please let me know!
Are you a fan of the Kingdom Hearts series? 😊 The composer, Yoko Shimomura, has a beautiful and unique sound that is pretty much on-par with Uematsu. I can suggest a few different songs from her if you'd like?
Awesome video. I hoped you'd mention awesome job Tadayoshi Makino did with the Airbuster and Jenova Quickening boss themes. By far my favorite tracks. I love this OST!
Great video. I love to learn about all the stuff I missed as a novice, when it comes to composing and arranging music. Wouldn't mind a longer format, that goes even more in depth, you seem to know a lot about music production. Still very much appreciate this format though. Have a great day.
I mean I'm glad I managed to convince you I'm super knowledgeable but I'm not, haha. But this so easily could've been well over an hour long video, there is just so much to unpack and discover within the music. But for the sake of my sanity and actually getting something out, I wanted to keep the scope of the video in check.
I bought this album as soon as it was on iTunes it’s amazing ! Unfortunately some songs weren’t included like the remix version of the avalanche theme when cloud Barrett and Tifa went back to sector 7 with Barret holding wedge and Tifa holding the cat .
Damn, I wanna play this game again now. It's all SO GOOD. There's so much love for the original in every tiny piece of it. And, of course, that is one soundtrack I have GOT to get my hands on.
I can't get over how amazing this game's soundtrack is. Not only are the tracks excellently arranged, but the way they're utilized is something to behold. Square outdid themselves beautifully on this one.
Wow. I picked the bits of the Shinra theme in the Remake battle musics where it crops up, but actually never realized that the Shinra theme was hidden in part of the OG battle theme all along. Mind blown.
Final Fantasy 14's Coil's 8 man raid and Crystal Tower's 24-man had that same type of music transition (from normal to battle mode) when fighting normal mobs.
This video is the perfect spiritual addition to the video essay Sidcourse just posted in which you starred in! Once again, I have zero connection to the FF-franchise, but I know how important its music was for video game soundtracks as a whole and hearing the snippets here, I can understand why. Great stuff!
Damn, this music is gorgeous!! Seeing the footage of the old game makes me wonder that if I'd played it and envisioned a bigger world, only to play the remake now, I would have been delighted and amazed, just like a fan! But alas I never grew up with the game...
Hours and hours into the game, I heard The Oppressed and I said to myself this is what I bought this game for... To hear THIS song that is just a banger. And then the battle version came in and was even better. Wow.
Between Sid's video and now yours, I guess I kinda spent one whole hour listening to you gush out about FFVII... Cant say I regret it hahaha Also, happy you came to terms with the channels name, and while I personally like Game score fanfare more, its just a name, I'll be here for it nonetheless :D
not gonna lie, even though it's not one of the tracks that was "remade", as soon as I heard the Piano Collections version of Aerith's theme in the church, a piece I actually learned to play years ago; goddamn that was the best ugly cry I've had in a while...
There are some great references to the piano collections. I really love the little piano bits in the Hideout version of Let The Battles Begin taken straight from the piano arrangement.
Julian Flowers I’ve thought the same during this segment of the video, being a huge fan of the FFXIII-2 score. But in this game, the battle screen is still separate from the field screen, and so is the music: even though there are « aggressive mixes » of the field themes, when the battle is on you get another theme. What GSF made me realize is that FF7R goes even further as it totally blends the field and the battle screens as one and the same: the transition between the two being even more fluid, seamless.
Remake is such an incredible game. FF7 original got me to buy a PS1 and Remake got me to buy a PS5 ... and the soundtrack is what kept me hooked in both. In Remake, i turn down the sound effects and voices a bit so the music pops more and on surround sound, I can't get enough of it. Square killed it. Fingers crossed we don't have another four full years to wait for it's finale ...but... if Square announced that an FF6 Remake the likes of 7's was causing delays, I'd be cool with waiting even longef. ❤❤
I don't agree with you regarding FFXV's battle theme transition. It wasn't jarring at all to me, it signifies that you're now in a fight I guess the first battle theme doesn't have a clean transition but most of the other tracks do it well enough.
Is there a reason why FFXIV wasn’t mentioned when you talked about the previous games and their musical designs? FFXIV has hands down some of the best music currently out there, and their use of each expansions themes constantly evolving as you progress through the game. I’m assuming the reason it wasn’t mentioned was because it’s different from the standard FF formula.
FFXIV is its whole own can of worms. I find it difficult to talk about that game because a) I haven't played it, b) it's so different to standard entries in the series, and C) it's just so big and continues to grow.
Game Score Fanfare the music it has in game is pretty damn epic and they do such a great job when it comes to transitions between overworld theme and entering combat. I totally recommend it even if it’s just to check out its music!
3-5h prologue? My most recent playthrough of I don't know how many is currently happening. 3-5h Midgar in the original is close to speed running. No talking, no exploring, just rushing through the story. I talked with every NPC, did all the little things I can do, took my time to explore little details of every background. (Did you know there's a signboard in S7 with something written by Avalanche, but in terrible orthography? Now look at the S6 wall which's huge graffiti spells »Averlanche«.) If we go by »first playthrough« exploring playstyle, Midgar is more in the range of 8-10h. Analogously, every playthrough of Remake I've seen, including my own, is rather 40-50h on the first one and closing in on 70-90h including Hard Mode. 30h? Haven't seen that with anyone who takes their time to explore. Am not saying your numbers are wrong, lad. Am just providing perspective for other people watching this video and wondering: »Am I slow or is this guy rushing through it?«
Probably playing modded with 3x speed or modified random encounters. The average Midgar run in OG without exploring every nook and cranny un modded is 6/8h. As for remake, I have a save file with 168 hours lol, but that’s for the plat, which requires 3 runs through at least chapters 3, 6, and 9, and a 4th replay of chapter 9 for overlooking a ridiculously minor detail and not wanting to re-start the entire game again and then run thru all of chapter 15 for one freaking trophy. Anyway, long story short, you can get a lot out of both games.
it is great but does not have the same impact as the original soundtrack. It is probably due to Uematsu's missing or just the fact that orchestrated versions aren't nearly as memorable.
»Most epic boss track of the game« Huh, which will it be? Rufus? Nah, too simple in its structure, but I love it. Airbuster? Ehh, it's really neat, but too easy of a choice with its trope-y composition. Certainly not that utterly repetitive chaotic One-Winge Angel, which is nice in-game but ehh as a track to just listen to. Midgar Expressway? Hmm, only a portion of that is the actuall boss, though… Damn, this one's tricky… … Hell House, really. The piece that annoys me to pieces as soon as the stupid staccato choir mess sets in. I mean… yeah, I really like the crazy first half. But really not the rest. As for »choral chanting reserved for Sephiroth«: That was true for the original. Four occasions with choir, all for Sephi. In Remake choir is everywhere and it almost gets tiring. Choir in remake means nothing. Don't get me wrong, I love the soundtrack, with only few exceptions, but the choir? It's just there to feel »epic«. The musical equivalent of »just glue some gears on it and call it steampunk«.
There's definitely an orchestra in there at times and lots of real instruments at others. But yeah, with the sheer amount of music required for the game, I suppose cuts had to be made.
Game Score Fanfare yeah samples have progressed an incredible amount and the person programming them for the game did a bang up job, unfortunately for me it still doesn’t compare to the distant world recordings. jb1980ist I still wish for a game with such a legendary score and with ff15’s Abby road event and full recordings, that they would have figured out a way to record more live orchestral tracks. To me it’s just comes off weirdly inconsistent, just like some fo the graphical choices in the game.
Huh, you're back to being 'Game Score Fanfare'. Giving up on the non-game music stuff? Also, you should totally find some excuse to do something involving the 'Legend of Heroes: Trails...' series music. Falcom Sound Team has done some wonderful work with those games.
It’s interesting how most fans are so open to the music changes and remixes in the game than they are to potential story changes. I for one am actually hoping they do new things with the story (while keeping the spirit and core of the original) the way they have with the music. After all, the original games plot was not really what we loved about the game. It was its world, characters, themes, music, etc. the plot itself was pretty derivative and formulaic. Misunderstood moody protagonist gets his village burned down by antagonist was a cliche even then. The original was more of a world, with an overarching plot to catch sephiroth, and shorter stories in between with all characters. And it worked well. But we can always add more stories, change how certain things pan out. Surprise us! I for one want to feel like I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’ll never get FF7 how it was when I was young. I don’t need it recreated. I play it ever two years. But I can get something new. I look foreword to it.
I'm in a mixed boat i feel most of the original tracks are remade perfectly. But the oppressed hip hop de chocobo and the new wall market theme is some of the worst soundtracks i have heard especially from a final fantasy game. Maybe having more then 1 composer is why i feel like there isn't a coherent sound direction i wish nobou just composed all of it.
If you don't think a game where you play as a group of eco-terrorists trying to take down a mega-corporation profiting off the destruction of the planet, who built a city literally on top of the poor people they are supposedly helping, doesn't have any hints of environmentalism, classism or anticapitalism in it... I don't know what to say to you.
@@GameScoreFanfare It’s fascism, you silly gnit. The government controlling the economy, and military, with full control of society and life is fascism, not capitalism. Capitalism not only allows for the open competition of ideas, it requires it. It is pure ignorance to think of it otherwise, and it’s no wonder you are no good with capitalist ideas, capitalism means you on the things you produce and can profit from them, so if you don’t believe in capitalism pull all your videos down and actually abandon capitalism. You’ve got a love an anti-capitalist begging people for money at the end of their videos for the work they put into some thing that is pure capitalism
Game was... not what I had in mind and I stopped playing. The music? Stunning. Once again, we have a game that doesn't live up to its music - much like FFXV. The music does all the heavy-lifting.
Man, I can't agree with FFXV. It was the car and the 4 boys that did all the heavy lifting for me. Soundtrack was one that didn't do much for me at all, minus a few specific tracks. Too much bombast.
@@GameScoreFanfare I can see that, but alas, too much was shaved-off the game and left out to make me really care. I liked the whole 4 dudes and a car thing and I liked the dynamics there, and the final emotional scenes were good but the worldbuilding, the villain, the lore and the empty open world just stuck-out too much for me. Yeh, the music is a little too bombastic at times, but so were the summons (when they decided to show up) and so were many of the scenes etc. so, I think its a good marriage on that front. All I was left with in the end, was this emotional music over the credits and such and no real emotional associaton. I felt things yes, but for this game? for the characters? not really. the game was too weak overall, and the music felt like it was saying "c'mon, cry!" and I could at the music if I thought of something else, but not if i actually thought of the game itself.
Yeah, I totally get that. I think it's testament to Yoko Shimomura that she nails the emotional delivery of the music despite the game missing it. It's almost like she understood it better than the game's own writers did.
