Everything Is Final Fantasy

We spend nearly an hour and a half setting up our conversation about Ponyo, a silly kids movie where a boy falls in love with a fish! But is it so simple? Let's dive into some themes, chat about why my son LOVES this movie, and break down the insanely deep superstar cast.

We dive into a pair of iconic Final Fantasy pieces of music from FFV - Home, Sweet, Home & Dear Friends from FFV. How does Nobuo Uematsu use relatively simple techniques to evoke such deep emotion and nostalgia? And what do these folk tunes gain and/or lose when translated for large orchestras or paired with vocals?

We continue with FFIX including a battle we totally forgot about, a reunion with Tantalus, a visit to Dark City Treno and more inner-monologuing especially from Dagger and Steiner.
(Apologies for the rough audio on this one, the issue should be fixed in the future)

We listen to and analyze six pieces of music from Final Fantasy XI. With all of us having limited experience with the game itself, we pull primarily from Distant Worlds and New Worlds albums and think on the nature of medieval or renaissance music. Xenogears, Final Fantasy VIII, and FFVII Rebirth all get comparative listens as does the 1996 film The Rock.

We listen to some weird, cooky, odd, strange, silly, and spacey music from the first nine Final Fantasy games. What makes a piece of music weird? What storytelling techniques does Nobuo Uematsu use to upset expectations? And how cool is it when the strange music gets beautiful?
#finalfantasy #videogamemusic