Overall, Final Fantasy XV represents a major upgrade to the audio of any previous Final Fantasy game I've played (FF 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 13). The implementation seems to me to be very much more clever and well-designed than any of its predecessors. Final Fantasy XV has a car radio and a Portable MP3 Player that allow for player choice of music during much of the gameplay. This isn't the first time that a Final Fantasy game has had the ability to play the soundtrack in the game; Final Fantasy Legend II had an in-game jukebox. Soundtracks from the previous Final Fantasy games are available for purchase at a relatively cheap price (100 gil) compared with many of the other stores' wares. Listening to these soundtracks is one of my favorite parts of the game and at times I have to remind myself to listen to the Final Fantasy XV soundtrack! (PS- Driving around in a car listening to Final Fantasy soundtracks is literally my life turned into a virtual game.) While putting on these older tracks stirs up nostalgic properties, it also changes the feel of the gameplay dramatically. The intensity of tracks like Jenova from FF VII or the emotion of FF VI Celes Theme change the feel of gameplay in virtually opposite directions.
Interestingly though, these soundtracks aren't complete. For instance, the Final Fantasy Original Soundtrack in-game in FF 15 has the following tracks: Prelude, Opening (I think of this as the main theme), Main Theme (I think of this as the Overworld theme), Matoya's Cave, Battle, Mount Gulg, Airship, Sunken Shrine, and Castle Cornelia. Missing are numerous themes including Garland's Castle, Town, Ship, Floating Castle, Ending Music, Castle Shrine, Menu Music, Sleeping, and Game Over music. I can understand why several of these wouldn't be included, for instance game over, sleeping, and menu, music would be out of place. However, I wonder if some of these are missing because of gameplay mechanics. For instance, while there are a few airship themes included, perhaps there's no sailing ship theme because there's no sailing ship. Also, I must note that despite the in game listing these as "Final Fantasy Original Soundtrack," these are not truly original, but rather updated soundtracks from more recent remakes of the games. I do miss those true, old school, out of tune sounds. Here's a list of all the music you can hear on the Final Fantasy car radio/ MP3 player.
Another standout audio moment for me was nearly immediate in the gameplay. As the heros push their broken down car down the road while Stand By Me plays, although it's not the classic Ben E. King recording we all know, but rather a 2016 version recorded by Florence and the Machine. As far as I'm aware, this is the first time licensed music has appeared in a Final Fantasy game I've played. I wonder: is this the first time for licensed music in an FF game, ever?
Another of my favorite audio moments happens after some battles when Prompto sings the Final Fantasy victory fanfare on a nonsense syllable. The victory fanfare also plays when the player levels up by resting overnight, but Prompto occasionally sings it out on the field immediately after battle. When the victory fanfare plays in Final Fantasy XV, it's in the key of C, the most commonly repeating key for this fanfare in the series; Prompto sings it in the highest key for Final Fantasy yet to date, E. I wonder if there was a given starting pitch for the voice actor, Robbie Daymond's, singing or just a direction the voice actor to "sing the theme" without giving a starting note and consideration of how this line would fit into the game's tonality or the franchise's musical lineage? Prompts also sings "I want to ride my chocobo all day" to the tune of the Chocobo Theme. Not only is it a clever throwback to use this famous theme again, but in my gameplay, Prompto began singing this shortly before I had access to the chocobos, making it a teaser for what was to come. I'm fascinated at the idea of players making up their own lyrics to game audio, something I've done since a young child, and love this homage to the many fans who have created their own words and sing their favorite game audio.
Am I gushing too much? Another favorite: the way that the designers implemented musical layering into the gameplay. I don't recall that being a trait of previous FF games I've played. For instance, in previous games, there's no different in the musical sound depending on the speed of your chocobo. But in Final Fantasy XV, when you ride the chocobo fast, the music is in a much fuller mix than if you're just standing on your chocobo in place or walking slow. These aren't groundbreaking techniques, rather similar to a variety in the audio depending on your racing position in Mario Kart 8. FF 15 uses the same technique again in the towns, with different areas having slightly different mixes of the same theme as you wander around. In fact, my favorite audio in the game so far is in the town of Lestallum. I love the Lestallum theme!
But of these variations that are heard as the player meanders about, my absolute favorite is when you really get into the thick of the market in Lestallum. The music here sounds like a Mariachi band is playing during a night out at a Mexican restaurant and I LOVE it!
That said, the audio's not perfect. There's a pretty clunky implementation issue at times when the player dismounts the chocobo-- an awkwardly long silence and then a jarringly loud restart of the music. But that's a small, technical point. And making up for it are clever moments like the "'Professor's Protégé" side quest where you have to capture frogs and the easiest way to find them-- at least for me with a surround sound set-up-- is following their sounds. Overall, this is by far the most impressive audio implementation I've ever seen from the Final Fantasy series and a much needed upgrade for the franchise. Given all the music there is to hear, I can say I'm about 35 hours in and beginning to hum a few of Yoko Shimomura's melodies. Am really hoping more of them grab me and become memorable hits of their own on the radios of future Final Fantasy games.
Are you playing Final Fantasy XV? I'd love to hear your thoughts about the audio.
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