Nobuo Uematsu's Original Score: Why was it removed?!

[Wiggles]

I never played 1.0 FFXIV. I forgot it existed until ARR was coming out. I thought Nobuo Uematsu (composer of the FF games from FF1-FFX2, Lost Odyssey), left Square and was doing other things.

After playing ARR I heard that he actually came back to work for Square Enix and composed the music for FFXIV 1.0, but not 2.0.

My question is why the hell was almost his entire score removed?! Certain songs like the Garuda fight music stayed, but most of the music was overhauled. I think it was overhauled for the worse. Not a single song (except Garudas fight music) stuck with me after completing ARR. I was curious and went on youtube looking up "FFXIV Before Meteor" Soundtrack, and found that the original music was just so much better than what we have in ARR. Nobuo's tracks have heart, and a unique feel to them. ARR's all feel generic and are completely forgetful.

...continued in next post...

[Wiggles]

One thing that I always looked forward to with each Final Fantasy release was the soundtrack that went with it. Its just a shame they scrapped Nobuo's work.

Here is an example of what the original 1.0 battle music was just to compare how much more engaging and unique it was to what we have now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v5aNzNfngM

We should have an option to use the original score in ARR!

[NeoZehel]

Huh... I never did think to look at the names of composers for 2.0. I'm ashamed as a Nobuo Uematsu fan That being said I still like the score for 2.0

[Alhanelem]

It wasn't removed. They reused a lot of the music. They didn't just scrap it. (And in my opinion, all the good music is what got reused)
And no, there shouldn't be an option. Because none of that music was made for ARR, not all of it is appropriate or makes sense.

I'm actually amazed at anyone liking the old soundtrack better.

FYI- all the cutscene music is still in the game; the music from the primal battles save titan is the same; many other tracks have been reused. ARR uses a dynamic system for music in the zones, and the old music just wouldn't work. Not to mention the fact that I really didn't care for the La Noscea, Thanalan and Shroud music. Mor Dhona and Coerthas were okay, but with coerthas changing so drastically, I don't think it fits anymore.

The old music that hasn't been reused doesn't fit the new game and its new image. If you want to listen to it, there's youtube or you can buy the soundtrack.

[Leira_Raine]

Soken composed Garuda's fight theme. Just saying.

And if none of the themes have stuck with you in ARR, wouldn't that mean that several of Uematsu's themes weren't memorable to you either? There were plenty of them in the storyline.

[Malakhim]

Look again. Your favorite track(the Garuda battle theme) was actually written by Masayoshi Soken, who serves as 2.0's sound lead, as was a lot of 1.0's later stuff.

The reason Uematsu's stuff didn't stick with the game was because as great as some tracks were, they were an eclectic mess of poorly chosen instruments that rarely if ever fit the area or scene they were used in.

[KimimiAvesta]

My question is why the hell was almost his entire score removed?! Certain songs like the Garuda fight music stayed....

Soken wrote the Garuda music.

Anyway, in my opinion the only "problem" people are really having with the ARR music is that Uematsu didn't write it. There's nothing wrong with Soken's music - it both fits in with the original v1.0 music *and* also makes it's own mark too. I don't mean to sound so irritable, but as a big VGM fan I get a little fed up of blind Uematsu-worship at times :S

[Alhanelem]

If you actually played the game with the old soundtrack for a while, in particular the zone music, since all of it played constantly, started to get on your nerves after a while. The music system for ARR, where music in the cities changes at night and the music in other zones is dynamic, really lessened this effect to me. Weeks in I still don't feel the need to turn on other music.

I don't mean to sound so irritable, but as a big VGM fan I get a little fed up of blind Uematsu-worship at times :S

I'm getting the feeling that's what this thread is. "Oh, bow before Uematsu the Great! No music can be better than his!" The OP has stated he never played 1.0 and thus never really experienced the game with that music in the first place.

[Eekiki]

Uematsu is not a Square Enix employee anymore. He has his own company (SMILE PLEASE) that owns the copyright to the music he composes for games.

Yoshida wanted to make sure players could stream and post YouTube videos of gameplay without having to worry about copyright, and that's why not all of Uematsu's music from 1.0 is used in 2.0.

[Gunblazer42]

All I know is that current boss theme 1 is amazingly epic :3