Final Fantasy XIII official site open (streaming music)

[JAMMAPARTS]

Square Enix Japan has opened the official site for Final Fantasy XIII (http://www.square-enix.co.jp/fabula/ff13/) and has included two streaming music tracks by FFXIII composer Masashi Hamauzu.

I like what I hear!

[hero501]

thanks for news

[Blitz Lunar]

Ahh that sounds really pretty. I'm certain Hamauzu will do a good job with this score.

[LiquidAcid]

Looking forward to hear the entire score. Sounds very promising :)

[mrnutz]

This is very satisfying news. Sakimoto is still my favorite, but Hamauzu is fantastic in his own right. I'm sure he will do this installment justice.

Everything that I've seen regarding FFXIII so far has me salivating.

[JAMMAPARTS]

A new trailer is now up at that site now too...looking very good!

[spiral cheese]

as long as it's not Uematsu...for me after 4 the only great FFs musically or otherwise come in 3s...6, 9, 12. The soundtrack to 7 was mediocre at best and every single thing about 8 just made me want to slam my head against a wall...and this was even without dealing with Square's still-lackluster translations during that period. granted I never played 10...lets just say i didin't hear good things about the voice acting, and after Grandia II's infuriatingly bad acting coming after loving the Japanese PS version of the first game to death, that's reason enough to stay away.

[Blitz Lunar]

I haven't played FFX either (haven't played any FF game actually - oops!), but I really like Nakano and Hamauzu's contributions to the score - both of them write some brilliant music. I'd recommend it based on that, though other people I've spoken to have said Uematsu's tracks are weaker than his earlier scores (I'm not the best judge.)

[Mika]

Uematsu's prime was SNES. Only highlight after that is 9.

10 as a whole is quite a mediocre score, including Hamauzu's and Nakano's work as well. Lots of stinkers in that album.

So yeah, I'm quite glad that Sakimoto did 12 and Hamauzu will do 13.

[spiral cheese]

that actually sounds pretty good. even though the style is different (and i would honestly say more sophisticated) the title track really captures the feeling of the old Uematsu scores. and the trailer music sounds great in a totally FF Tactics meets Soul Calibur sort of way. did Sakimoto, Iwata, and this guy all go to school together or something?

on a related note, how do you mod the current generation of consoles to play imports? i liked the trailer a lot and felt like i recognized some seiyuu, and anyway it just seems so much more coherent when everything is both directed and acted from a Japanese perspective. i've been all English since i went on a several year video game hiatus as a teenager and let my Japanese go to shit - especially my kanji - and there are so many games i want to play (primarily RPGs: Tales games, FF) that i just refuse to deal with american voice acting on. in fact that's probably one of the big reasons i've abandoned RPGs and have been playing almost exclusively shooters, tactical espionage and action adventure the last few years.

[JAMMAPARTS]

on a related note, how do you mod the current generation of consoles to play imports?

I took the easy-yet-expensive route...I bought a Japanese system. Then, playing imports is a breeze :D

and there are so many games i want to play (primarily RPGs: Tales games, FF) that i just refuse to deal with american voice acting on. in fact that's probably one of the big reasons i've abandoned RPGs and have been playing almost exclusively shooters, tactical espionage and action adventure the last few years.

I agree too, and have held off on several RPG's lately for a lack of a Japanese language track. BTW, the upcoming Japanese demo disc for FFXIII is supposed to be region-free, so anyone can play it.

Also, everyone should check out the soundtrack for Lost Odyssey (http://vgmdb.net/album/5137) if you haven't already. I felt Uematsu really did a great job with the composition...there are some great battle themes too. I especially like "Howl of the Departed" from disc 2 (final boss battle)...it really brings to a peak the tension that has been building the whole game!

[spiral cheese]

cool, thanks. i dont really have money for that though. as for the OST will check it out.

[mrnutz]

on a related note, how do you mod the current generation of consoles to play imports?

For the PS3, my understanding is that while blu-ray supports region encoding, it's not often used. I don't think you need any modification to play Japanese PS3 games on an American PS3.

And I feel duty-bound to say that Final Fantasy X is an first-rate game. Incredible in every sense. The soundtrack is also excellent. For reference, my other favorites are IV and V.

[layzee]

on a related note, how do you mod the current generation of consoles to play imports?

PS3: Region-free for games, not region-free for Blu-Ray (but USA and JPN shares same region)
Wii: Not region-free, will need some kind of modification like WiiKey or a Freeloader disc (which may be negated by updated official firmware)
XBox 360: Depends entirely on the game itself. Play-Asia probably has the most regularly updated compatibility list.
NDS: Region-free.
PSP: Region-free for games, not region-free for UMDs.

[spiral cheese]

cool thanks 4 info