I would say that “Prelude” (the theme of the Crystal) and “Final Fantasy” (the main theme for Final Fantasy) are two very important and memorable pieces. When you look back on the franchise, what do you think of as the most memorable and important songs? Are there any that you draw inspiration from? I don’t think I would be exaggerating if I said that in the case of the Final Fantasy series, we look for the flavor of that spice - the emotions we want to impart on users - and that determines the overall sound in Final Fantasy. A game’s soundtrack is a wonderful spice that drives the emotional control of the gameplay experience. I am sure this applies to any game, but I believe sound is integral and inseparable element of video games. I was eventually assigned to supervise sound on Final Fantasy XIV and then took over composing with A Realm Reborn. I was often asked to create musical tracks as well, so I would compose music for these projects on the side. Shortly after joining the company, I began to oversee small- to mid-scale sound projects for our titles. Generally, multiple people would handle these things, but I really wanted to achieve something specific with my ideal sound, so I enjoyed doing these tasks alone. When I first came to Square Enix, my main responsibilities focused on sound effect creation, sound schematic designs, and other sound engineering work. How did you get involved with the Final Fantasy franchise? Soken-san is responsible for almost all of it.
Earlier this year, it broke the Guinness Book of World Records when it reached 384 unique songs - and that was before the June 2017 Stormblood expansion. The game rebounded and maintains a thriving community to this day. He served as sound director of the original FFXIV while franchise regular Nobuo Uematsu composed the music, but when Square Enix rebranded a rebuilt version of the game as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Soken-san assumed the role of sound director and lead composer. The critical response to the original FFXIV was nothing short of disastrous, spurring Square Enix to rebuild the game entirely, including the music, which is where Masayoshi Soken came in.
Most Final Fantasy games are single-player RPG experiences, but FFXIV, much like FFXI before it, is an MMORPG akin to World of Warcraft in which players create characters and assume roles in a massive online fantasy world.
In many ways, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is an oddity for the broader Final Fantasy franchise, but it’s one that made the Guinness Book of World Records thanks almost entirely to one man: Composer Masayoshi Soken.
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