Ishikawa commissioned Smile T__T

[Naraku_Diabolos]

I can't stand the singer's voice, it's more screeching than singing.

The song is bad but the singer makes it unbearable.

She was the vocalist for Scream in Pandæmonium.

[OgruMogru]

She was the vocalist for Scream in Pandæmonium.

She wasn't doing the indie-girl "avocaidies" singing in Scream anywhere near as much - a little bit in the early verses and it sounds a bit weak and fluttery there too - Smile just brought out the absolute worst in her voice, which is otherwise rlly powerful and she's a good vocalist - just those fluttery high notes don't suit her voice at all.

[GrizzlyTank]

She knows how to write, but sadly she's not a story director.

Also one of the strengths of the game has been the historically/political writing, which sadly have been pretty much absent since the end Stormblood save for Bozja.

[JRosa]

Tuliyollal was not bad placement. It perfectly conveys how Tuliyollal is a vibrant, diverse, and bustling metropolis. I'd have been bored of a stereotypically Latin American conga or cha cha song.

Yeah because conga and cha cha are the only type of music Latin America does huh?

/s

[Dikatis]

Yeah because conga and cha cha are the only type of music Latin America does huh?

/s

Implying that jazz isn't an incredibly popular and influential form of music that has been a critical part of the North American, Mesoamerican, and South American music scene for decades. It is the progenitor of other forms of Latin American music like Bossa Nova and its history makes it a musical melting pot. It's the perfect genre for conveying Tuliyollal's nature as a vibrant, diverse, and bustling metropolis built on the belief that fellowship can almost always be found through understanding.

Morrow's Might and Morrow's Magic are both fantastic and fitting pieces for the city.

[TheBlueRogue]

Implying that jazz isn't an incredibly popular and influential form of music that has been a critical part of the North American, Mesoamerican, and South American music scene for decades. It is the progenitor of other forms of Latin American music like Bossa Nova and its history makes it a musical melting pot. It's the perfect genre for conveying Tuliyollal's nature as a vibrant, diverse, and bustling metropolis built on the belief that fellowship can almost always be found through understanding.

Morrow's Might and Morrow's Magic are both fantastic and fitting pieces for the city.

Speak for yourself, as someone from a spanish speaking country ANYTHING would've been better than the "jazz" we got.

[Hallarem]

Implying that jazz isn't an incredibly popular and influential form of music that has been a critical part of the North American, Mesoamerican, and South American music scene for decades. It is the progenitor of other forms of Latin American music like Bossa Nova and its history makes it a musical melting pot. It's the perfect genre for conveying Tuliyollal's nature as a vibrant, diverse, and bustling metropolis built on the belief that fellowship can almost always be found through understanding.

Morrow's Might and Morrow's Magic are both fantastic and fitting pieces for the city.

It's just way too farfetched. It invokes the image of a cigar smoke filled jazz-bar from the 50's. I don't think it fits at all, especially if the best explanation for the theme forces you to dig for any meaning from such DEPTHS. Only thing it invokes is the busyness and bustling nature.

But it DOES not invoke any image of the scenery we see, of the vibe of the cultures we see, of the way the people look. Which are the most important parts when you're creating a musical piece for a zone or a place.

[lolnotacat]

She wasn't doing the indie-girl "avocaidies" singing in Scream anywhere near as much - a little bit in the early verses and it sounds a bit weak and fluttery there too - Smile just brought out the absolute worst in her voice, which is otherwise rlly powerful and she's a good vocalist - just those fluttery high notes don't suit her voice at all.

Agreed. When she hit those high notes in smile, I had to turn down the volume. I loved scream but it had a completely different sound.

[chizLemons]

She knows how to write, but sadly she's not a story director.

Also one of the strengths of the game has been the historically/political writing, which sadly have been pretty much absent since the end Stormblood save for Bozja.

That strenght shifted heavily towards great character writing, which she always did amazing at, and that was the main thing that made Shadowbringers so successfully...and that's been completely absent in Dawntrail, and dearly missed. More than the political writing ever was.

The biggest problem with Smile is not the actual song (though it could be far better), but its placement in context, and we had no confirmation that was Ishikawa's decision. We do know that she was very meticulous with music placement during 5.3 when she was the main writer - she even mentioned during Soken's speech at 2020's Fanfest that she kept asking for revisions to To the Edge to fit the cutscenes better - so I struggle to believe that placing Smile during a bomb building montage was her decision.

[TaleraRistain]

It really did feel out of place everywhere except maybe the coronation. But even just having the chorus blasting out at you at that point felt incredibly cheesy. I remember wondering if I was playing a Final Fantasy game or watching a made-for-TV Hallmark movie.

My only gripe with it on the ending credits was that I was trying to listen to Erenville! The song is fine there, I just wish they would have bumped it up a bit so it was playing when the actual credits started and we could hear Erenville. Maybe use a light instrumental version in the background of the cutscene instead like they had started with.