Once a Final Fantasy composer, always a Final Fantasy composer. Music legend Nobuo Uematsu may have expressed plans to dial back on video game projects (alongside sentiments of likely not scoring an entire game’s soundtrack again), but fans can still expect him to hang around for the finale to the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy.
In a recent YouTube video on the Square Enix Music channel, FFVII Rebirth creative director Tetsuya Nomura asked the composer if he would return for the last stretch of Cloud’s reimagined journey. The pair then struck a “gentlemen’s agreement” to work on the yet-to-be-titled game; Uematsu’s involvement isn’t made official just yet, however.
“It’d be my honour,” Uematsu said. “Really, I’m honoured you’re even extending the offer.”
The series veteran’s last full game soundtrack was for 2021’s Fantasian, the mobile-exclusive RPG developed by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. It saw a total of 60 soundtracks, and is likely to be Uematsu’s swansong due to health issues.
“As far as Final Fantasy is concerned, I’m still involved by writing the main themes for the games,” he said in an interview with Zeit Online (via VGC). “But I don’t think I’ll compose music for a whole game again. “You would have to give it full throttle for two or three years. And I don’t think I have the physical and mental strength to do it anymore.”
Uematsu previously served as the sole composer for the first nine games in the series, scoring iconic songs like the recurring main theme, Final Fantasy VII‘s “One-Winged Angel”, and Final Fantasy VIII‘s “Liberi Fatali”. The 65-year-old would later return to compose the main theme songs for FFVII Remake and its sequel — “Hollow” and “No Promises to Keep”, respectively.
Working on the latter also prompted the realisation that it’s perhaps time to pass the torch on, with Uematsu feeling a sense of finality during the process.
“Of course, it’s great to see new people giving this series their all and making great games, but I was happy to get back in the saddle and contribute again,” shared the series veteran. “In 10, 20 years, when it’s my time to go, I’ll look back on this moment with tears in my eyes. That’s just how happy I am with this song.”
In the meantime, Uematsu is looking to recharge his batteries. “For starters, I’m going to take a vacation,” he declared towards the end of the video.
The final entry in the Final Fantasy VII trilogy doesn’t have a release date. However, Nomura has confirmed that the team is “hard at work” on Part 3, which is “off to the races already”.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
