Original Soundtrack (OST) - Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy OSTs (original soundtracks) refer to a collection of original music that is composed for each game in the Final Fantasy franchise, a role-playing game series developed and produced by Square Enix. Until 2001, Nobuo Uematsu was almost entirely responsible for the compositions of each main game in the series until he decided to leave the company to begin his freelancing career. At that point, various other composers took over his role like Masashi Hamauzu and Yoko Shimomura.
Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II
Although composed separately, music for Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II was released together. The official original soundtrack of the first two Final Fantasy games weren't released until October 2002. However, an album titled All Sounds of Final Fantasy I•II is an arrangement of the soundtracks and were composed, arranged, and performed by Uematsu himself. This release contained nearly all of the music from both games and was released under DataM/Polystar’s record label (and later NTT Publishing) on February 28th, 1989.
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy III Original Sound Version was released by Square Co./NTT Publishing in 1991, and is a compilation of almost all of the music as it can be heard in the game. It has subsequently been re-released by NTT Publishing in 1994 and 2004. One year prior to the release of the original soundtrack, an arrangement album titled Final Fantasy III Legend of the Eternal Wind was released. This album features a variety of tracks from the original game that are rearranged into several different genres of music.
Final Fantasy IV
The Final Fantasy IV Original Sound Version is a compilation of all the music in the game and was released by Square Co./NTT Publishing in 1991. It was later re-released by NTT Publishing. The soundtrack of the DS port of Final Fantasy IV was also released in 2008. On October 28th, 1991, a Celtic re-arrangement album of the game’s music was created. This album was called Final Fantasy IV Celtic Moon and featured music performed by Máire Breatnach.
Final Fantasy V
The Final Fantasy V Original Sound Version, is a two-disc album that contains 67 tracks composed by Uematsu that was originally released by Square Co./NTT Publishing in 1992. The album was also later re-released by NTT Publishing in both 1994 and 2004. An arrangement album titled Final Fantasy V Dear Friends was released in 1993 and features a variety of live and synthetic instruments. Overall, the album contains 14 tracks, some of which contain vocals performed in either English or Sámi.
Final Fantasy VI
The Final Fantasy VI Original Sound Version is a compilation of all the music in the game and was released by Square Co./NTT Publishing in 1994 and later re-released by Square Enix in 2004. The album contains just over 60 tracks over three different discs and lasts around three hours. An orchestral arrangement album titled Final Fantasy VI Grand Finale was released in 1994 as well. Although Uematsu composed the music, it was arranged by Shiro Sagisu and Tsuneyoshi Saito.
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII marked a new era for the series, as it made the jump from the SNES to the PlayStation 1, and therefore going from cartridge-based to storage to disc-based storage. This allowed for games to be much bigger, as discs could hold much more data. As such, the soundtracks became larger and more complex. The original soundtrack for Final Fantasy VII contained four discs that included over four and a half hours of music. This album was originally released in 1997, but was later reissued in 2004.
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII’s soundtrack, like all of those that precede it, was composed by Uematsu. It is comparable in length to Final Fantasy VII’s soundtrack and was first released in 1999.
Final Fantasy IX
The music in Final Fantasy IX was the final score that was fully composed by Uematsu. The score was originally released on four discs by DigiCube in 2000, and was re-released by Square Enix in 2004.
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X’s score is the first example of a Final Fantasy soundtrack that wasn’t composed entirely by Uematsu. While Uematsu still composed a majority of the tracks, Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano helped contribute to the soundtrack as well. The score was released on four discs by DigiCube in 2000 and was later re-released by Square Enix in 2004.
Final Fantasy XI
The *Final Fantasy XI Original Soundtrack is a compilation of almost all of the music in the game and was released by DigiCube in 2002. The album was then subsequently re-released by Square Enix in 2004. Although Uematsu is listed as a producer, the soundtrack was mainly composed by Naoshi Mizuta and Kumi Tanioka.
Final Fantasy XII
Hitoshi Sakimoto primarily scored Final Fantasy XII’s music, though Uematsu composed the main theme. The Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack was released on four discs in 2006 by Aniplex.
Final Fantasy XIII
The music of the video game Final Fantasy XIII was composed by Masashi Hamauzu. The soundtrack was released on four discs in 2010 under Square Enix’s own label.
Final Fantasy XIV
The music for the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV was originally composed by Nobuo Uematsu, though he was assisted by several other composers including Masayoshi Soken and Naoshi Mizuta for later expansions to the game. A final soundtrack album for the original release of the game, Before Meteor: Final Fantasy XIV Original Soundtrack, was released in 2013.
Final Fantasy XV
Yoko Shimomura composed most of the score for Final Fantasy XV. The Final Fantasy XV Original Soundtrack was first released in December 2016, but multiple versions were released in the following years.