iTunes - Podcast RSS Feed - Podcast RSS Feed - News RPGFan YouTube Channel RPGFan on Facebook RPGFan on Twitter


RPGFan Social Links
Final Fantasy III OSV

[back cover]
Catalog Number: PSCN-5013 (first print N23D-002, reprint NTCP-5013)
Released On: November 26, 1994 (first print July 15, 1991; reprint October 1, 2004)
Composed By: Nobuo Uematsu
Arranged By: Nobuo Uematsu
Published By: NTT Publishing (first print Square Brand/NTT)
Recorded At: Sunrise Studio
Format: 1 CD
Buy this CD from Play-Asia
Tracklist:

01 - The Prelude
02 - Crystal Cave
03 - Battle 1 ~ Fanfare
04 - Crystal Room
05 - Opening Theme
06 - My Home Town
07 - Eternal Wind
08 - Jinn, the Fire
09 - The Dungeon
10 - Return of the Warrior
11 - The Way to the Top
12 - Cute Little Tozas
13 - Shrine of Nept
14 - Sailing Enterprise
15 - Living Forest
16 - Village of the Ancient Peoples (Time Remains)
17 - Chocobos! (Theme Song)
18 - Big Chocobo!
19 - Tower of Owen
20 - Gysahl's Veggies
21 - Castle of Hain
22 - Battle 2
23 - The Requiem
24 - The Enterprise Flies (Go above the Clouds!)
25 - The Boundless Ocean
26 - Eria, the Maiden of Water
27 - Town of Water
28 - Let's Play the Piano!
29 - Let's Play the Piano Again!
30 - Swift Twist
31 - Theme of Four Guys (Good Ol' Fellows)
32 - In the Hidden Town Fargbird (In the Covert Town)
33 - Giant Metropolis Salonia
34 - The Diving Vessel Nochirus (Deep under the Water)
35 - Beneath the Horizon
36 - Toga and Une's Building (Let Me Know the Truth)
37 - Lute of Noah
38 - Une's Morning Exercise (Good Morning!)
39 - Giant Battleship (Invincible)
40 - Forbidden Land Eureka
41 - The Crystal Tower
42 - The Dark Crystals
43 - This is the Last Battle
44 - Ending Theme (The Everlasting World)
Total Time:
54'24"

Final Fantasy III itself had a larger scope than its predecessors. Uematsu's score, then, it is fitting, is a big step above his earlier work. Between FFII and III, Uematsu had worked on the first SaGa game, and I think that that working for a slightly different style of game helped his music in general. The tones used here have a slightly different sound to them than the previous games, and Uematsu's style began to take a more definite form.

Unusually, Final Fantasy III is often overlooked. The only Final Fantasy game to this date that has not been released in the US, FFIII's score is not given as much attention as its predecessors, due to their 'classic' status, or its sequels. I will state my opinion, although I seem to be in the minority, that in many ways Final Fantasy III has the best score of the first 4 Final Fantasy games.

Final Fantasy III has some of my favorite music of the series' earliest days. The cascading sounds of "Crystal Cave," foreground and background, give the track a unique intangible quality. In fact, many of the tracks here make use of cascading rhythms of some type, such as "Forbidden Land."

The town music in this game is all very well composed, and there is quite a bit of it. "My Home Town" has a beautiful melody: it is not overstated, and despite the limited synth, creates a surprisingly layered piece. Similarly, "Jinn, The Fire" makes impressive and prominent use of the nearly always periphery bass channel. The track's slightly dark, slightly longing tone comes through well.

"Eternal Wind," the main world map theme, makes more use of the cascading sounds prominent throughout this disc, and it is a standout composition that would benefit any soundtrack. Even better however is the alternate world map theme, "The Boundless Ocean." It is used at an important point in the game, and its strained melody clearly depicts musically a seemingly infinite desolation. One of the best tracks on the disc, despite being 21 seconds long, is "Lute of Noah." This is a surprisingly moving melody, and my favorite short track to this day.

Interestingly, the three battle themes on this disc, as well as the excellent ending theme, make use of the percussion channel. The sound this produces is surprisingly good, although it doesn't sound anything like a real drum. It doesn't hurt the tracks certainly, but it doesn't add too much either. "Battle 2" makes the best use of the channel, and is also the strongest piece of the three. With some heavy arrangement, it could make a nice Black Mages piece.

There are several weak tracks throughout, but the majority of the material here is very strong. However, a few of the tracks have high-pitched tones. Anything beyond a certain range sounds very bad on a Famicom synthesizer. "Elia, the Maiden of Water" is a good composition, but the top notes are not handled well by the programming.

One of the strongest soundtracks of the Famicom in general, Final Fantasy III deserves much more attention than it gets. It lacks the general status of 'classic' to garner it automatic attention; luckily, it has the merit to attract it in spite of that obstacle. It's inexpensive, and easy to find. I implore anyone who enjoys video game music from this era to buy it.

Reviewed by: Ben Schweitzer

It's a great OST, it is! This soundtrack is probably the best NES OST you're ever going to find. Right in the end of its age, the NES struck in Japan with Final Fantasy III, a revolutionary game with jobs and classes...Not to mention great music.

The styles of music vary greatly, even in synth. There are jazzy songs, upbeat songs, slow songs, "new age"/modern songs, all kinds of great stuff. My favorite track is definitely track 7 (Eternal Wind), the world map music. That could quite possibly be the best world map music EVER, with Star Ocean 2's coming in at a close second.

Reviewed by: Patrick Gann



Back




Featured Content
Most Anticipated Games 2013
Most Anticipated Games of 2013
Feature
Games of the Year 2012
RPGFan's Games of the Year
2012 Edition
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
Beta Recruitment
Game of the Month December 2012
Game of the Month
December 2012
Lucius Review
Lucius
Review
Random Encounter Ep. 54
Random Encounter Ep. 54
Podcast
Ragnarok Tactics
Ragnarok Tactics
Review