Music : Final Fantasy, Vol. 12

Rating: - Fairly good, but not near as good as some of the other FF soundtracks.
The soundtracks for Final Fantasy have recently taken a turn in Squaresoft recruiting new people to do the game soundtracks. Nobuo Uematsu has been the main individual doing the Final Fantasy soundtracks up until recently, where for FFX-2 it was Noriko Matsueda and for FFXI it was Naoshi Mizuta and now Hitoshi Sakimoto. This change in composers has reflected in the form of where Square has been taking their Final Fantasy games. Final Fantasy 1 to 10 being somewhat the same kinda game, Final Fantasy 11 being an MMORPG, FF 10-2 being more "mission based" and now Final Fantasy 12 changing a lot from the previous final fantasy games, being more like 11 in my opinion.

As far as the soundtrack, it's fairly good but not as good as previous soundtracks in my opinion. In my opinion, Nobuo Uematsu is a better composer, but this soundtrack has a few really good songs (see disk 2 track 13, disk 3 track 13, among a few others). The entire soundtrack is much like that of an orchestral performance. This is an interesting change from the previous soundtracks.

Is this soundtrack worth buying? In my opinion it's not bad, and you may like it. If you're an avid game-soundtrack listener though this may be a bit of a disappointment over the previous soundtracks. I can't really comment on how well this soundtrack meshes with Final Fantasy XII, because I really haven't played the game as of yet. Hopefully my feelings of the soundtrack will improve with playing the game, as it stands now though - it's an OK soundtrack, just not fantastic.

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Rating: - Beware of Bootlegs
This is a great soundtrack with incredible arrangements and songs. My experience was ruined by one thing.. I bought this soundtrack for $50, came home, started listening. The quality of the recording was pretty good, but I noticed that the casing was not very high quality. I thought that this was just because it was from Japan.. then I noticed the pictures of the actual cd case and I started to get suspicious. Turns out I bought a counterfiet copy, made by "Miya Records", a pirate company based out of Tiwan. The lesson here is to buy only from dealers you trust.

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Rating: - Final Fantasy Music On a Grand Scale
Nobuo Uematsu didn't compose the score for Final Fantasy XII. In fact, the only track composed by him on this entire album is "Kiss Me Goodbye." While Uematsu, the veteran composer of the first eleven Final Fantasy games, didn't compose this soundtrack, it still sounds wonderful. Hitoshi Sakimoto composed these tracks. Some of them also rearranged from what Uematsu did, and of course, it sounds fantastic. Final Fantasy XII has a fantastic soundtrack. Just enough to get you excited about the game! Enjoy over 100 tracks and five hours of Final Fantasy goodness!

There's not much difference between the collectors edition and the original edition. The Collectors Edition has a better box. That may not seem like much, but the box is taller and unfolds like a collector's edition DVD. There's also a fantastic booklet to flip through. Other than that the difference isn't huge. The disc contain the same music soundtracks and they're of the same length. For Final Fantasy collectors, this is a pretty neat package to get a hold of.

Below is a track listing if you're interested (track listings provided by wikipedia.org).

Disc One (1:13:35)

1. "Loop Demo" (1:36)
2. "Final Fantasy ~FFXII Version~" (1:16)
3. "Opening Movie (Theme of Final Fantasy XII)" (6:57)
4. "Infiltration" (3:09)
5. "Boss Battle" (3:23)
6. "Auditory Hallucination" (3:13)
7. "Secret Practice" (2:09)
8. "Small Happiness" (0:08)
9. "Royal Capital Rabanastre / City Upper Ground" (5:27)
10. "Penelo's Theme" (2:56)
11. "Dream of Becoming a Sky Pirate" (0:35)
12. "Little Villain" (3:03)
13. "East Dalmasca Desert" (4:02)
14. "Level Up!" (0:06)
15. "Naiveté" (3:01)
16. "Coexistence (Imperial Version)" (2:47)
17. "Signs of Change" (2:21)
18. "Mission Start" (0:07)
19. "Rabanastre Downtown" (2:40)
20. "Mission Failure" (0:12)
21. "Peaceful Determination" (3:32)
22. "The Dalmascan Westersand" (1:34)
23. "Clan Headquarters" (2:46)
24. "Small Bargain" (0:08)
25. "Giza Plains" (4:42)
26. "Separation with Penelo" (0:30)
27. "The Garamscythe Waterway" (2:54)
28. "Sign" (2:47)
29. "Riot" (2:57)
30. "Nalbina Fortress Town Area" (2:22)


Disc Two (1:13:33)

1. "The Princess' Vision" (3:18)
2. "The Strike of a Blade" (2:35)
3. "Victory Fanfare ~FFXII Version~" (0:28)
4. "Abyss" (3:24)
5. "Dark Clouds (Imperial Version)" (2:00)
6. "Promise With Balthier" (0:36)
7. "Game Over" (0:22)
8. "Nalbina Fortress Underground Prison" (4:34)
9. "Barbarians" (2:28)
10. "Battle Drum" (2:46)
11. "Theme of the Empire" (7:49)
12. "Chocobo FFXII Arrange Ver. 1" (2:49)
13. "The Barheim Passage" (3:51)
14. "Sorrow (Liberation Army Version)" (3:35)
15. "Basch's Reminiscence" (0:57)
16. "Coexistence (Liberation Army Version)" (2:50)
17. "The Skycity of Bhujerba" (3:48)
18. "Secret of Nethicite" (3:24)
19. "Dark Night (Imperial Version)" (2:00)
20. "Speechless Fight" (2:32)
21. "The Dreadnought Leviathan Bridge" (3:53)
22. "Challenging The Empire" (3:19)
23. "State of Urgency" (3:15)
24. "Agitation (Imperial Version)" (3:13)
25. "The Tomb of Raithwall" (3:35)


Disc Three (1:13:32)

1. "Large Sandsea" (2:21)
2. "Esper Battle" (3:23)
3. "Sorrow (Imperial Version)" (2:49)
4. "Seeking Power" (3:13)
5. "Fight to the Death" (2:44)
6. "Jahara, Land of the Garif" (4:58)
7. "Ozmone Plain" (2:30)
8. "The Golmore Jungle" (3:50)
9. "Eruyt Village" (4:13)
10. "You Really Are a Child ..." (0:13)
11. "Chocobo ~FFXII Version~" (2:03)
12. "A Nearing Threat" (2:44)
13. "Clash on the Big Bridge ~FFXII Version~" (2:46)
14. "Abandoning Power" (2:36)
15. "The Stilshrine of Miriam" (3:23)
16. "Time of Rest" (2:10)
17. "White Room" (3:44)
18. "The Salikawood" (2:37)
19. "The Phon Coast" (3:58)
20. "Destiny" (2:57)
21. "The Sohen Cave Palace" (3:38)
22. "An Hour of Rest" (4:31)
23. "Neigbourhood of Water" (3:12)
24. "The Mosphoran Highwaste" (2:49)


Disc Four (1:13:52)

1. "The Cerobi Steppe" (3:13)
2. "Esper" (2:44)
3. "The Port City of Balfonheim" (2:14)
4. "Nap" (0:14)
5. "The Zertinan Caverns" (3:22)
6. "Ground of Recollection" (4:01)
7. "The Forgotten Capital" (4:16)
8. "The Feywood" (4:14)
9. "Ashe's Theme" (5:30)
10. "Giruvegan Enigma" (2:39)
11. "To the Place of Gods" (3:24)
12. "Beginning of the End" (3:37)
13. "To the Summit" (1:49)
14. "The Sky Fortress Bahamut" (3:21)
15. "Shaking Bahamut" (0:41)
16. "Battle for Freedom" (8:51)
17. "The Battle's Conclusion" (1:14)
18. "Ending Movie" (6:19)
19. "Kiss Me Good-Bye -featured in Final Fantasy XII-" (4:59)
20. "Symphonic Poem: "Hope" ~Final Fantasy XII PV ver.~" (3:54)
21. "Theme of Final Fantasy XII (Presentation Version)" (3:05)

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Rating: - Final Fantasy composers have done it again!!
I just received this excellent soundtrack from FF XII, and let me say....it is different!! I have always been fascinated with the Final Fantasy series, starting with seven. I must admit this soundtrack is not the usual game music your used to from Fantasy, but more like orchestrated war music. The game is based off of a war crisis theme and the music goes perfect with it. For all you Final Fantasy Soundtrack listeners, this is a perfect collection to add to your others. I am dying for the game to come out, which will make me enjoy this soundtrack even more. Makes me feel like I am a part of that world when I listen to it, and I hope you get the same experience out of it too. Oh, and also buy this limited version, it has all sorts of cool pictures, especially on the CD's, it is truly a work of art. Enjoy!!

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Rating: - great soundtrck
The music on these CDs is very cinematic. It's not very "game"y sounding. Listening to the soundtrack is a wonderful experience and I can't wait for the game's release.