And considering the Final Fantasy series has been around since roughly the mid-Triassic period, that means Square Enix just added a lot of soundtracks. We’re talking as far back as the original NES Final Fantasy, all the way up to the dozens of songs from Final Fantasy XIV. Whatever genre of video game soundtrack you wanted, it’s probably in here somewhere. Several of the track listings are in Japanese, which is tricky if you’re looking for something specific — but then again, if you’re feeling lucky, you could close your eyes, click a couple of times, and stand a good chance of hitting a great song. None of these albums has been officially available on either Spotify or Apple Music — or any digital service I can think of — before. Square Enix hasn’t given a reason for this release, though I suspect it might have something to do with the rumor that we’ll be seeing more of the Final Fantasy VII Remake at E3 this weekend. I skimmed the entire catalogue on Spotify, and the only main-ish game I couldn’t find was Final Fantasy X-2; I also couldn’t find the soundtrack for the film Advent Children. Also, it’s not officially a Final Fantasy game, but I’m a little bit sad FF-adjacent Square Enix JRPG Bravely Default isn’t among the cohort because that game’s soundtrack is a blast. Other than that, the gang’s pretty much all here: Crisis Core, Spirits Within, Dissidia Duodecim, even Brave Exvius (that bizarre mobile game that costarred Ariana Grande). Most of the soundtracks are written by longtime series composer Nobuo Uematsu, though one of my favorites has to be Yoko Shimomura’s score for Final Fantasy XV. If nothing else, it reminds us just how long and rich the history of Final Fantasy is. This is a game series that’s not only managed to survive since the 1980s, but thrive — and not just because of childhood nostalgia, but because most of the games have been consistently good or at least interesting. And heck, even if you hated the entire Final Fantasy series, I find it hard to believe you couldn’t listen to this beautiful music. One thing, at least, is especially clear to me right now: Nobuo Uematsu is a legend and we owe him (and his successors) a debt for these tunes.
