Masayoshi Soken, Composer For 'Final Fantasy XVI' Discusses Finding A Theme For The Upcoming Game

Video Games

Jun 8

The Final Fantasy Franchise has always been known for the quality of its soundtracks, from earworms like ‘Rodeo de Chocobo’ to melodic heart-wrenchers like ‘The Promise’. Masayoshi Soken has been talking about his work on Final Fantasy XVI with GameiFormer, giving details about what we can expect from this experienced composer. Production company Square ENIX was very specific about what they wanted for the dark fantasy-inspired instalment of the series. They presented him with a 200-long classical playlist of references. Fans have already heard snippets of music in the trailer and demos, and there are nods to Brahms, Elgar, and Mozart. If you listen closely enough, Soken has cleverly snuck in modern beats and baselines, so don’t be surprised if remixes of the Final Fantasy tracks appear on Tiktok.

Soken says that there is no single theme for Final Fantasy XVI, instead each character will have their own melody, suggesting the plot will centre around the Dominants and their internal struggles. It plays to one of the strengths of Final Fantasy, that it can create relatable MMORPGs in vast epic fantasy worlds. The visuals suggest that Soken will be scoring for massive set pieces, so expect big dramatic numbers as well as light and airy music for normal play.

Final Fantasy XVI is scheduled for release on the 22nd of June 2023 for the PS5.