Final Fantasy turns 35 years old on December 18, 2022, and celebrates the anniversary with a concert tour among other events. MeinMMO author Irina Moritz attended a concert in Berlin and was able to speak with one of the organizers.
Gaming is a relatively young medium compared to other entertainment genres, with its growth starting only about 50 years ago. Many gamers from the early days have grown up alongside their favorite franchises.
The JRPG series Final Fantasy by the Japanese developer Square Enix is one such long-lasting franchise, celebrating its 35th birthday on December 18, 2022. Square Enix has often accompanied the round anniversaries of its flagship series with special events.
- For the 25th anniversary, there was a special box set containing all main entries of Final Fantasy and other goodies.
- The 30th anniversary featured a large exhibition in Japan showcasing the history of the series.
For the 35th anniversary, the company has planned several events. One of these was a worldwide concert tour where the music from the 15 main games was played on piano.
The original composer of Final Fantasy, Nobuo Uematsu, is considered a music legend and laid the foundation for the excellent soundtracks that are a must for every FF game. As Uematsu stepped back from his role, talents like Yoko Shimomura and Masayoshi Soken followed.
Their music was performed at the anniversary concert “Crystalline Resonance” on December 3 in Berlin on a grand piano.
A Cozy Evening, Smaller Than Expected
I make no secret that I adore the music of Final Fantasy. Aside from the many memories attached to the soundtracks, they also offer very good music on their own.
Therefore, the “Crystalline Resonance” concert was not my first video game music concert. Just for MeinMMO, I have already attended Video Games Live and Final Fantasy XIV: Eorzean Symphony. Privately, I have been to quite a few more.
The difference, however, was that the concert was significantly smaller than typical Square Enix shows like Distant Worlds or Kingdom Hearts Orchestra, which are usually held in large philharmonies and with much effort. In Berlin, Crystalline Resonance took place in Babylon (via Wikipedia), which is actually a cinema but is also used for cultural events.
For a concert meant to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the FF series, it was surprisingly small. Anyone expecting a large concert in the style of the aforementioned ones, complete with a show and merchandise stand, would be disappointed.
Selected pieces from the 35 years of Final Fantasy music history were performed, accompanied by a video show. Relevant scenes from the games were projected onto a screen:
- For “Bombing Mission,” the opening of the original FFVII for PS1 was shown.
- “Suteki Da Ne” was accompanied by scenes between Tidus and Yuna from FFX.
- During “Answers” from FFXIV, the legendary destruction of Eorzea by Bahamut, which preceded the reboot of the MMORPG, was shown.
The nostalgia and emotional music had their effect as always. With “To Zanarkand” or “Aerith Theme,” some of the audience had tears running down their faces.
The only downside was probably the location and its acoustics. While I myself didn’t notice it, other audience members told me that the sound quality diminished in the rear rows.
“Piano Concerts are Much Harder to Execute”
After the concert, I had the opportunity to speak with the show’s producer, Julien Mombert. He is the founder of La Fee Sauvage, the concert organizer, and has been collaborating with companies like Square Enix, Disney, and Bandai for several years. The company specializes in bringing the music from video games, animes, and films to the big stage.
I was interested in how much work goes into the production of such a piano concert, and Julien explained that it is often more difficult to arrange the pieces for a piano.
It works differently than with an orchestra. Because an orchestra has many more instruments, it is usually […] easier to execute. With the piano, you have to replicate the entire spectrum of sounds from the other instruments used in the original soundtrack.
It is therefore significantly harder to create pieces just for the piano compared to an orchestra.[…]
Julien further explained that for Crystalline Resonance, he gathered feedback from all the composers whose pieces were played, foremost Nobuo Uematsu, who originally composed most of the tracks. But also Masayoshi Soken, Naoshi Mizuta, Yoko Shimomura, and others were closely involved in the process.
Thus, a lot of communication was needed with the respective composers and also Square Enix during production. The accompanying videos on the screen were also checked to ensure they perfectly match the length of the pieces and well represent the atmosphere of the music.
Julien also noted that fan reactions vary depending on the concert. Games like Kingdom Hearts and animes like One Piece tend to attract a younger audience, while Final Fantasy has more adults in the audience.
It also depends on the show itself. For example, if it is Final Fantasy XIV, then everyone or almost everyone in the audience has played FFXIV. One does not go to the concert if one does not know the game […]. At concerts like this one, where music from FFI to XV is played, not everyone in the audience will have played every one of those games.
You are not only reviving one story but 15. People are usually more emotional about individual IPs because one can focus entirely on it for 2 hours instead of just 10 minutes.
In the end, I asked Julien for some tips. Like many of you, I have friends and family members who have nothing to do with gaming. I wanted to know what he would recommend to music fans who want to convince their family to attend such a concert.
We sometimes have people in the audience who […] come only because they were “dragged along.” These are family, friends, or even business partners who came because they received a free ticket.
I have never seen anyone leave saying “Oh, that was stupid.” Even people who have never heard the music themselves or never played the games […], who are not within this universe, can still enjoy a good show […]. Our shows are often about 2 hours long, and most people say ‘Oh, it’s already over.’
Julien is thus convinced that even complete gaming and anime novices can enjoy the beautiful music. So the next time you consider how to get your loved ones involved in your hobby, feel free to ask if they’re interested in a classical concert.
Another event currently keeping the entire gaming community busy will take place on the night of December 8 to December 9. Here you can find out everything about the Game Awards:
Game Awards 2022 Live Ticker: All leaks, announcements, and trailers
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