Music of Final Fantasy XV
Yoko Shimomura's first Final Fantasy score, spanning a decade.
The music of Final Fantasy XV, the fifteenth mainline entry in the Final Fantasy series, was composed primarily by Yoko Shimomura, marking her first work on the franchise. The soundtrack, built around themes of friendship and filial bonds, incorporates orchestral, bossa nova, and American blues styles, with several tracks featuring Latin lyrics. The game's multimedia expansion brought in additional composers, and English indie rock band Florence and the Machine contributed three songs, including a cover of Ben E. King's "Stand by Me".
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Yoko Shimomura
- Tetsuya Shibata
- Yoshino Aoki
- Yoshitaka Suzuki
- Released
- December 21, 2016 (Japan), February 24, 2017 (Europe), March 24, 2017 (North America)
- Genre
- Video game soundtrack
- Label
- Square Enix Music (Japan), Sony Classical Records (international)
- Producer
- Koyo Sonae
Facts from the source article.
Creation and development
Yoko Shimomura, known for her work on Parasite Eve, Legend of Mana, and the Kingdom Hearts series, was brought on to compose for Final Fantasy XV in 2006, back when it was still called Final Fantasy Versus XIII. She stuck with the project for its entire ten-year development. For this, her first time writing music for a Final Fantasy game, she took a more cautious approach than she had with Kingdom Hearts. As late as 2010, she was still shaping the musical framework, making sure the score fit the game without locking into a wrong impression. Her work before the game was rebranded as Final Fantasy XV was fairly irregular. Shimomura composed roughly 80 percent of the soundtrack; the rest were variations on her pieces and themes from other contributors. Additional composers included Tetsuya Shibata, Yoshino Aoki, Yoshitaka Suzuki, and Mitsuhiro Ohta, with the last two handling arrangements. The first piece Shimomura wrote was "Somnus," which served as the original theme song. It was sung by Aundréa L. Hopkins, with lyrics by original director Tetsuya Nomura, later translated and adapted into Latin by Taro Yamashita and Kazuhiro Komiya. Nomura noted that the title, Latin for "Sleep," matches the game's subject matter and real-world themes. An instrumental version was recorded around the same time. When Versus XIII became Final Fantasy XV, "Somnus" stayed on as the main theme but was no longer the official theme song. Another early track, "Omnis Lacrima" (meaning "All the Tears"), appeared in trailers for both Versus XIII and XV. Nomura attributed the heavy use of Latin to his desire for a dead language that people "won't be able to understand and yet appreciate," aiming for a sense of universal equality.
Albums
The soundtrack for Final Fantasy XV, titled Final Fantasy XV Original Soundtrack, first hit shelves in Japan on December 21, 2016, with Koyo Sonae handling production. It was available in several formats. The standard release, a four-disc CD set plus a single Blu-ray, contained the full in-game music minus the track "Stand by Me," totaling ninety pieces. A limited edition offered two Blu-ray discs and a CD: the first Blu-ray held the complete game soundtrack, the second featured the car radio playlist and a version of "Stand by Me" performed by Welch, and the CD included piano arrangements of select songs by Yui Morishita and Takuro Iga. This edition also came with behind-the-scenes footage from the recording sessions. The piano pieces were played by Yui Morishita, a well-known Japanese pianist. Some tracks were also part of a "Special Soundtrack" Blu-ray in the Final Fantasy XV Ultimate Collector's Edition. The four-disc version saw an international release through Sony Classical Records in 2017, arriving in Europe on February 24 and North America on March 24. Both the Blu-ray and CD editions debuted at number 35 on the Oricon charts and stayed there for nine more weeks. The album earned a nomination for the 2017 Game Audio Network Guild's "Best Original Soundtrack Album" award but lost to the soundtrack for Abzû. Critic Samar Farag of RPGFan praised the album's varied mix, noting that the style shifts captured the road trip feel of the game, though he found "Bros on the Road" more fitting for Sonic Adventure 2. The darker final section, along with leitmotifs from "Somnus," "Valse di Fantastica," and the character track "Ardyn," received particular acclaim. Lucas Versantvoort of Video Game Music Online rated the album 3 out of 5, citing a lack of the cohesive style seen in other recent Final Fantasy scores and describing the contributions from other composers as uneven.
Legacy
The tracks "Somnus" and "Omnis Lacrima" were included in compilation albums of Shimomura's music. "Somnus" was released as downloadable content for Theatrhythm Final Fantasy when XV was still known as Versus XIII; producer Ichiro Hazama decided to include it as it was a widely known song among fans and its inclusion would add to Theatrhythm's purpose as a celebration of the Final Fantasy series for its 25th anniversary. Nomura approved of the song's inclusion. A live concert by the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios on September 7, 2016 featured 12 tracks from the game, with a guest appearance by Shimomura. Selections from the game were played by the Video Game Orchestra in Tokyo on March 25, 2017. Orchestral performances of the instrumental version of "Somnus" and "Apocalypsis Noctis" were included in the album Distant Worlds IV: More Music from Final Fantasy, released on June 30, 2017. An original orchestral arrangement of themes from the game by Shimomura was performed in Stockholm by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at the Symphonic Memories concert.
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