How to Write Transitions || Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 

Final Fantasy Tactics Adavance's soundtrack had no reason to go this hard, but I'm glad it did. Hitoshi Sakimoto, what a madlad.

For covering this game, I love you.

Noticing the FFTA thumbnail in my feed: "A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one"

Man I remember sinking so many hours into this game. Until one day I decided to throw away some bread to clear up my inventory, then I needed it for a story mission and no bread giving missions ever came up again. I hope the end game was fun for those who got to it!

I'm back in my bed, at my parent's place, it's 2004, I'm 12, and I'm up at 2am playing this game... The first RPG I'd played since Super Mario RPG, and carried alot of weight for me. Still does. To me, this soundtrack is my childhood. It is nostalgia incarnate and it probably one of the few things that make me tear up with fondness and joy.

This is one of those games with an OST that I could listen to forever and I could recognize anytime. The moment you hear the initial crescendo in battle of hope you 100% get the chills every time and it perfectly communicates: "dude this next battle is the real deal". It's so cool to get all of these insights on why it works, nice video.

I always thought the FFTA OST was incredibly majestic. Turns out, anything can be given majesty simply by announcing its arrival. Absolutely brilliant. I was extremely stoked to hear you cover Undeniable Anxiety, but Amber Valley is another personal fave from that soundtrack, and it's absolutely another example of a piece that's more transition than not.

‘4 bar blocks’ while showing Tetris is the kind of polish for which I come here.

Not just Tactics Advance, but really every game set in the Ivalice universe has an amazing soundtrack worthy of examination- I'd love to hear your analysis on the other titles some day

FFTA was the game that made me start paying attention to music in games, there really was something special about that soundtrack!

The music in this game did something to my brain as a kid, man. I remember playing for so long in a sitting that I would hear the battle music on loop long after I turned off my gameboy. Not even like the catchy melody line of a pop song, I actually had the full composition playing in my head. Freaked me out enough that I would get out of bed to make sure that I turned off the console. Great game though, one of my favorites.

This soundtrack was my first Square Enix music experience, they still influence about how I think about videogame music to this day

I had always wondered why Mr. Sakimoto's music sounded so different from a lot of things I had heard before, either in video games or real life, and why I always felt there was something a bit more... sophisticated to their presentation. I suppose I subconsciously took to mind those transitions in classical music, which Sakimoto uses in many different places throughout his works, but had no idea what was actually going on, musically. Exploring FFXII or FFT for a follow up one of these days to listen to more indepth explanation of Sakimoto's choices would be a real treat.

yeahhhhh, this is one of the most necessary videos for myself as I tend to just hard cut into different sections. Thank you so much for this! I also deeply appreciate the Tactics love. Would love to see you delve more into the O.G. Tactics OST with Hitoshi Sakimoto since his orchestral writing is phenomenal.

Octopath traveler has very good transitions specificaly to battles too. A little intro with one of the eight themes of every character and then transitions to the mandatory battle theme.

I've spent hundreds of hours playing this game! and the music will never get old. The art style, the story, the characters and music all blend together as a great masterpiece.

This game was my life back in the day! The music is so nostalgic I never even though of it critically. Great stuff!

I'm pleased to see Painful Battle mentioned here. It's one of my favorite tracks in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2.

Ever since I first played Ogre Battle on the SNES I've loved Sakimoto's roller coaster pastoral bombast. It's cool to listen to the Gradius V soundtrack just to hear him do something a little bit different while still having lots of familiar phrases.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! This game is so important for me, can't believe that's been covered from you! Love the whole soundtrack, finally for the theory noob that I am, I can have a deeper understanding. Thank you from the bottom of my heart

Someone actually analyzed the music from this game after 20 years. I can’t say thank you enough.

Someone, somewhen, *had* to have explored writing a piece that was Oops All Transitions~ If I were a song writer, this video would have had me go explore that realm immediately!

FFTA is one of my favorite games of all time and the music is a large part of that. Thank you for covering this game

I've always found it interesting how effectively Sakimoto writes orchestral music (and a large number of his soundtracks are purely orchestral) when according to him his biggest musical influences are techno, prog rock and jazz fusion. Incidentally, my favourite Sakimoto transition is probably 0:48 to 1:03 from Battle on the Bridge (FFT)

Battle of Hope is my absolute Goddamn favorite song on the OST. I'm a sucker for a good 5/4

Haven't watched the video yet but I just got goosebumps as I saw the title. Having studied video game music for over 15 years, this is one of my all-time favorite soundtracks with some of the catchiest melodies I've ever heard. For a composer who is so into electronic music, Sakimoto's classical music throughout the tactics ogre and final fantasy series is incredibly rich. A great diversity of textures, use of instruments not commonly featured in VGM, and a unique feel that contrasts military march rhythms with meloncholy melodies, are all elements of this soundtrack. You're one of my favorite channels thank you so much for what you do.

Amazing episode - FFTAs score definitely deserves some deep dive analysis and here we have one!

FFTA holds a super special place in my heart. I have played through this game countless times, and the art style, along with this OST, still holds it up to modern day tactics games today. Hilariously this is one of my favorite Co-op games, too! My buddy and I would couch co-op this with his GBA player for his Gamecube. I spent so many mornings drinking coffee and grinding out skills for our favorite units in this game.

Hitoshi Sakimoto is a master of his craft. Thank you SO MUCH for covering him! 11:55 - 12:02 God, I love that bit so much

I am BEGGING you to cover the original FF Tactics too, the Square sound team's use of leitmotif in that game is simply masterful

This game was a huge part of my childhood. Seeing this pop up in my feed was such a treat I spent the rest of the work day absolutely vibrating in my seat. Thanks so much for this!

I remember having a party so great before the final boss... including the dad and a really strong main character that had ninja and fighter skillsets, as well as many other decked out characters. I poured so much time into the game and I was nearing completion without even realizing it on my first playthrough. That's when I decided that I wanted my friend to try the game. I let him create a second save on my account. Well, once he was playing and he gave it back to me and I thought I had clicked "Load" on the menu when really I had clicked "Save" and selected my own save and overwrote the save data... I have never since (almost 15 years later) gone back and got as far as I did then, and I have always felt broken hearted about it. Great game. Stupid me. Maybe one day...

I am SERIOUSLY happy you did a video on this game. This is absolutely my very favorite non-numbered FF game EVER. Throughout my life, I've probably put well over 1,000 hrs into this game.

Saving this for another time because I'm SURE I'm gonna cry. This is my favorite game ever and its music lives rent free in my heart

Ooooooo needed this to spice up my arrangements and originals! 🧐🧐❤️❤️

Yessss I love this game, and nobody ever talks about this game I feel.

Be prepared for millions of questions my dude. I would consider this games soundtrack renaissance worthy

I love this game so much and it still has one of my favorite soundtracks of all time. So glad to see it covered

One of the most helpful channels on RU-vid for a composer, thanks for everything you do

Im going to cry Im so happy someone on youtube has finally acknowledged this game and how amazing and moving its music is

I love that soundtrack, guess i should've added it to my collection a long time ago... This thing about transitions is something I see in 13 sentinels aegis rim's soundtrack but there it was made to transition both back to the loop and to the next loop dynamically A to T to A A to T to B and A to B may happen depending on progress Its a more evolved version of what pokemon emerald and FFTA did in the GBA, where the composer had to predict movements in progress through the piece assuming you would reach the Climax in the song when at the Climax in game 13 Sentinels added it to the program and the soundtrack was expertly made to be able to transition forward and back in the piece ending with a satisfying yet sudden ending

Oooh! It would be awesome if you could do a video on Hades' "In the blood" talking about how Austin Wintory orchestrates the rock style of Darren Korb....for orchestra! I know you've talked about both composers, but I think it would be awesome to talk about their collaboration

Wow! I’ve never heard of this game but I love the music!!

dang i wish this video was 5 times longer! such a gem you covered and your way of conveying the intricacies of music theory always intrigues and edifies me! thank you!!

HYYPEEEEEEE!!!! Two videos about two of my favorite games and OSTs (and my request!!) back to back from my favorite channel! Best presents I got for my birthday by far. Fantastic video, I would have never thought of this as the topic and it's actually so fitting. Transitions are something I struggle with more than anything else in my own writing so this is just too perfect. Thanks!

I loved this game so very much when it came out, and the soundtrack has stuck with me ever since. It's really an incredible treat to have a chance to revisit and learn about these pieces through this video. Thank you for making superb content (as you always do) that allows many of us to rediscover and better understand pieces of music that connect to our warm memories!

The two-bar transition for the battle theme goes all the way back to the first Final Fantasy's battle theme, and all of the main Final Fantasy games for a time had that two-bar intro.

Your video scripts are so well written in a way that is so rare on RU-vid and I just really want to say thank you!

THANK YOU for making a video on my favourite game and game score of all time! I was so shocked to see this as the topic for the newest video and it made me so happy

Expertly presented as always. :) I am quite a fan of this game. I had never considered the musical transitions that occur, but there is something lovely about how the characters themselves are also in a constant state of personal and emotional transition throughout this game's story. Maybe I'm reaching, but the material you present mirrors the spirit of the game so strongly, at least in my opinion.

Final Fantasy Tactics OST is one of the best ever. one of my favorite pieces of music since I was a kid. the writing is so good!

You have a great talent in explaining musical composition in the clearest and simplest terms. Thank you

This is one of my favorite games of all time, I am ecstatic that you gave it this kind of attention.

Pleaseee I needed this video. Ive been playing piano for 5 years but its only recently I've started composing and this is my one weak pointt. Thankyou so much

Thank you so much for covering this game! I feel like it is so underrated and doesn't get covered enough, so thank you!

Glad to see so many nice comments about FFTA. This game is my favorite of the tactics series, and the soundtrack is certainly a big part of that. Great video!

I'm actually tackling this exact problem on a piece I started this week, so the timing on this video is incredible.

Connecting ideas together and making them flow together naturally is the part I struggle with the most. Nice to get a video on this. Wouldn't mind a part 2.

I've played this game so many times I'm playing the sound effects in my head over the music as the gameplay goes on

God I just love listening to you talk and actually making sense of it. Wild.

My favorite video yet, really great explanations.

Very good video. Even though I don't understand everything yet I definitely start to get some of the gist of how all of this works. I started to learn music theory to understand this channel and improve my own videogame music composing and I start to understand more things and even be able to understand your videos, slowly.

This was really fun - thanks for walking us through it!

Amazing that you cover the music of one of my favorite games! Many people outright forget FFTA exists when talking about Tactics, and they're missing in a fun game with incredibly deep soundtrack!

Yessss, thanks for covering this hidden gem! I knew the soundtrack was amazing, but your analysis gives me an appreciation for it all the more! What a phenomenal soundtrack for a GBA game!

FF:TA is one of my favorite games and OST’s ever. Thank you for making a video about it!

Thank you for covering this. One of my all time fav OSTs.

Wow upping my theory thru VGM..unthinkable! Thank you!! That 6/4 5/4 switch up tho…😲I really enjoyed the chord breakdowns too

Yooooooo this old but gold game 😍 love this channel so much

Oh dear god I forgot how much I absolutely adore this soundtrack. Amazing video, and I gotta go get this soundtrack now

Hell yeah! Been waiting for someone to cover FFTa. All the battle songs I could listen to for hours.... Because I did.

Learned so much from this one. Thanks for all you do, 8-bit! ❤️

I never imagined someone could turn me into a FF fan. You’re brilliant man, love the channel 👏

So glad to see this being covered! :D

This one was a really great one. It might be useful to occasionally have the piece in its entirety for us to listen to after some of the analysis (in this one, the very last example might have been nice). Keep up the great work!

A video on youtube about my favorite game of all time which also happens to be kinda obscure? Count me in!

Very nice video!! I played this game long time ago for the first time and I loved the story, the gameplay and the music. Still to this day I sing this music when I'm working or bored in my house xD I knew the music was amazing but I didn't know that it was this complex.

Here within the first hour! A video covering one of my favourite GBA games ever? Bless!

this game was one of my favorites and definitely developed the tactical part of my brain

thank you for covering this!

A video about exactly my problem right now composing a song (Different tempo in different sections) showing up randomly in my recommended, and it's Final Fantasy related? It's all perfect. 2:15 I love that you showed that battle theme without the transition as well, sounds like a musical problem I have a lot

Thanks for covering FFTA, such a lost and forgotten gem

My favorite channel by far

Very cool. The reharminization in “Under The Stars” was always my favorite in the original soundtrack

Just started replaying this game. Perfect timing!

Hard to believe how amazing the music is to match how great the game is. Always great to hear how awesome composers can be and the incredible things they can accomplish

Thanks! This was really informative.

I cheer whenever I see a new 8 bit music theory video, I'm a music theory addict.

Thank you for finally covering sakimoto, hes such a freakin genius

wow thank you for creating this video! coincidentally I'm playing final fantasy tactics a2 right now :)

Incredible video & OST. I'd enjoy seeing more videos on Sakimoto's compositions!

This video has been an absolute eye-opener. For context: I was a classical pianist growing up. (Thanks for making me hear that damn Mozart piano sonata again, lmfao.) Played from when I was five onward. Didn't touch any other genre until 13, when I joined the high school jazz band. (My band director found it amusing I could play inventions and sonatas, but couldn't get the feel of syncopation for off-beat chord hits, lmao.) When I started composing at about fifteen, I started by studying the scores to our concert band music.. and by playing piano transcriptions of video game music. But, for some reason, I couldn't really figure out classical music. I would see transition sections and either think they were a continuation of the A section or the start of the B section, and I would always try to figure out "where is the melody?" or "why these chords?" and always find myself confused.. classical felt like an unconquerable beast that I could never analyze (and therefore never emulate/duplicate). All my compositions pretty much go from theme to theme with little to no transition. If there was a transition, it was usually 2-bars, max, and it was just to "let it breathe". I never really fully understood or embraced this concept until now. Truthfully, I stopped playing piano before I really got into music theory and composition as more than a hobby, so that's probably why I never could figure out the connection between that classical pieces I was forced to practice two hours a day as a kid.. and why modern pieces feel more "rushed".

Love your content so much!

That's actually a really good point you made at the end. We think of pop music as breaking the rules harmonically and is more free than classical but classical breaks the rules structurally more often than pop music.

I'm a big prog fan, so this will help me in my endeavors to attempt to write something.

hit the thumbs up before the video started, excited to watch it later

oh my gosh the music.... the nostalgia flowing in >~

what a good video, as always

Nice visual congruence at 6:50. Scooped up indeed.

I absolutely adore the FFTA soundtrack. I highly recommend anyone who enjoys it to check out all of the other Final Fantasy games that borrow the "Ivalice" world as they are all composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto - FFXII, the original Tactics, and Tactics A2. There are also a ton of re-orchestrated songs from these games in the FFXIV Stormblood (and a couple in the Shadowbringers) soundtrack, although I believe these were updated by Masayoshi Soken's team and not by Sakimoto himself.