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View Poll Results: In an alternate world, who would you choose to compose the FF4 soundtrack?
Ryuji Sasai 5 35.71%
Yasuhiro Kawakami 3 21.43%
Hiroki Kikuta 1 7.14%
Kenji Ito 5 35.71%
Voters: 14. You may not vote on this poll

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  #1  
Old Jun 20, 2014, 05:38 AM
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Default Alternate World Final Fantasy Composer - Part 1, FF4

***This thread series is purely for fun.***

Introduction
Pretend you're in an alternate universe where Nobuo Uematsu was not the de facto FF composer--at any time he could've quit, become a Buddhist monk, or been kidnapped by aliens. What would Square have done? We will look back at contemporary internal staff during the development of each FF title, and think about who could best fit the needs of FF's music.

Why start with FF4?
During the development of FF1-3, Uematsu was Square's only full-time composer. So, no poll is needed for these three.

Things to keep in mind:
-The game itself remains exactly the same.
-Assume Squaresoft only draws from internal staff.
-Pick who you think would fit the role best. For example, my favorite composer of these four is Kikuta, but I feel Kawakami would fit FF4 better.
-If you plan to continue participating in these polls, try to challenge yourself to pick a different composer each time.
-Try to only consider each composers work up until the point of the game's development, but don't disregard their later work. This is obviously a challenge when so little is known about certain composers' early works.
-Try to pick composers for reasons of music style alone. For example, do not discard Ryuji Sasai just because you really like FFLegend 3's soundtrack and putting Sasai on FF4 would mean it would never get made.
-We are assuming only *one* composer will work on FF. Muse about teams if you like below.
-If you don't know a composer, do take this opportunity to familiarize yourself before voting.

So, it's 1991 and the development of the first Super Famicom/Nintendo Final Fantasy entry is full-steam ahead! Who will write the music?

Quote:
Ryuji Sasai (b. 1961) was hired to help ease the growing pressure on Square's small sound staff in 1991. Up to that point he co-composed for Xak and its sequel. Sasai was also, and remains to this day, an active bass guitarist. Sasai is best known for co-composing FF Mystic Quest, focusing on battle and dungeon themes. Sasai's style is highly rock-oriented, leaning particularly toward what one might describe as "fantasy rock". His style borrows heavily from experimental rock groups throughout the 70s and 80s. Mr. Sasai will be around through FF7.

Yasuhiro Kawakami (b. ?) was hired around the same time as Sasai and for the same reason. Up to that point Kawakami composed for several games including Shinobi, ESwat: City Under Siege, Scramble Spirits, Tetris Arcade, and more. Kawakami is best known for co-composing FF Mystic Quest, focusing on town and dungeon themes. He is especially fond of varying his chord progressions and harmony, and his melodies tend to feel very nostalgic. His work in FFMQ and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon 2 is very ballad-like. Mr. Kawakami will be around through FF8.

Hiroki Kikuta (b. 1962) is in the same boat as the above two. Up to that point Kikuta had written music for anime (and also illustrated manga). Kikuta is best known as the composer of Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 2) and Seiken Densetsu 3. He is heavily influenced by progressive rock, particularly Pink Floyd. His harmonic style is especially unique in the game industry, as is his eclecticism in mixing genres. Mr. Kikuta will be around through FF7.

Kenji Ito's (b. 1968) first job was co-composing FFLegend 2. He is best known for his work on the SaGa series. Ito tends to prefer writing fast-paced, synth-driven rock-inspired music, anime-inspired orchestral music and, by his own admission, "easy-listening" music. Mr. Ito will be around through FF11.
Please share your thoughts below!

(this thread will be cross-posted @ RPGamer)
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  #2  
Old Jun 20, 2014, 05:41 AM
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Some contemporary samples to get your brain thinking:

Ryuji Sasai
A mix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe_J...I--a36LPNvq-0r

Yasuhiro Kawakami
Scramble Spirits samples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...PXpKllByJU#t=5

Shinobi samples
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe_J...I--a36LPNvq-0r

FFMQ Town Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7cDQd1L6iA

FFMQ: Wintry Cave
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oodxDEjuu6o

Hiroki Kikuta
One of two demo tracks Kikuta submitted to Square that led to his hiring:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9CNd0zuY7E

Secret of Mana samples
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFN0...CA5500906F0A4B

Kenji Ito
Final Fantasy Adventure/Seiken Densetsu samples
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl3M...2811F62BCA90E2
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  #3  
Old Jun 20, 2014, 05:49 AM
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interesting thread. I'd say Ito would have the best chance of doing FF4, and in this scenario I have him doing all the game's music.

also assuming Yasunori Mitsuda goes straight into composing instead of sound design, I can see him co-composing FF5 with Ito (with Sasai also contributing somewhat), and then Mitsuda possibly doing FF6 alone. this of course means that he would never get to score Chrono Trigger (which would be done by Koichi Sugiyama, as originally intended).
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Old Jun 20, 2014, 10:56 AM
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It seems I mistakenly put this in the album discussion forum, despite being very conscious and careful about not doing so... oh well. Could a moderator move this to the VGM discussion area?

dissident, did you vote yet? Nothing shows for Ito yet.

Also, in this series, composers will officially be added to the options when they officially started composing. So for example, if a person joins Square as a sound programmer or whatever, I won't add them till they have a composing credit. Otherwise Chihiro Fujioka would be on this poll, even though he was hired as a planner and not a composer.
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  #5  
Old Jun 20, 2014, 02:05 PM
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Voted Sasai, then realized I would rather have Kawakami. Can't edit vote now, whoops. I enjoy his works on FFMQ. They're catchy and create a great atmosphere, which is what I would look for in FFIV.
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  #6  
Old Jun 20, 2014, 02:18 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jormungand View Post
dissident, did you vote yet? Nothing shows for Ito yet.
oops, didn't even notice the poll :P

and Mitsuda didn't officially start composing until 1994, so I guess he doesn't count then :P
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  #7  
Old Jun 20, 2014, 04:14 PM
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Phonograph Phonograph is offline
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bah, I don't see kikuta for any ff tbh and I don't see ito either

so probably sasai-kawakami to me (why to change a winning team)
like it's only one choice, I don't vote sorry


edit: I should read all posts, too lazy

Last edited by Phonograph; Jun 20, 2014 at 04:23 PM.
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  #8  
Old Jul 1, 2014, 07:41 AM
GoldfishX GoldfishX is offline
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I've always said Ito is just a weaker version of Uematsu (battle themes similar in quality, WAY behind in everything else). And while I'm a big Kikuta fan, I don't think his sound would be right for FFIV.

When I first played FF MQ, I thought the quality of music was equal to FFIV (just not as much of it). So easy choice.
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Old Jul 1, 2014, 04:45 PM
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I do think Kawakami would have written a good soundtrack and I would want him the most, but Ito totally would have been most likely to get it. And perhaps would have produced the closest thing to Uematsu as well. Final Fantasy V has a melancholy tone to it that Kawakami would do greatly as well. It's too bad he didn't get to do more music.

I'm quite fond of Sasai but I'm not sure I'd give a Final Fantasy to him in its entirety. I wish he too would have had more games though.
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  #10  
Old Jul 5, 2014, 06:29 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldfishX View Post
I've always said Ito is just a weaker version of Uematsu (battle themes similar in quality, WAY behind in everything else).
you what
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