In describing my feelings concerning this soundtrack, it is proving increasingly difficult to come up with new superlatives. Brilliant, amazing and awe-inspiring no longer seem adequate to describe the masterpiece that is the FFV OSV.

The main difficulty encountered by the FFV OSV to today's listener is not the inferior sound quality of the synth as the scores speak for themselves and transcend this...No the difficulty is that the FFV OSV was followed by the FFVi OSV, which many consider the definitive work for VG music.

The actual scores of FFVI may surpass those of FFV for technical difficulty and ability but it is my opinion that Nobuo's abilities as a game music composer are greater highlighted by the FFV OSV, for it is in this effort that we see his most raw, simplistic arrangements but for all their simplicity they make up for in pure emotion.

The best example of this is 'Lenna's theme' which I hold to be the pinnacle of the FF series on a singular piece basis but it also holds the title of being one of the most simplistic in actual arrangement. 'Lenna's theme' never fails to bring a tear to my eye and is an indication of the sorrow that is to be portrayed by this soundtrack, for the best pieces of those of sad mood. The simple but sorrowful method is used constantly by Uematsu in this and can be observed in two other great pieces 'Nostalgia' and 'As I feel you feel' which although overshadowed by the brilliance of 'Lenna's theme' hold their own and have every right to be considered classics by themselves. “Nostalgia” is basically a simple line of melody repeated to great effect and the quality of the synth is a very pleasant surprise. A similar line is taken by “As I feel you feel” a repeated line of melody coupled with a simple scale of an octave being played in the background with broad simplistic chords. These simple arrangements probably won’t appeal as such to the more complex music enjoying fans of the PSX final fantasy generation.

The soundtrack had quite possibly the best opening in a FF soundtrack in 'ahead on our way' which is epic, upbeat and gives the listener a real feeling of adventure to come in the later tracks and is given a musical facelift in 'the dragon spreads its wings' that is quite possibly even better and a favourite amongst dedicated FFV fans. Both pieces have amazingly high quality synth that is almost enough to convince you that there’s an orchestra playing! Also both pieces take part of Lenna’s theme’s melody and use it to great effect and Uematsu is once again able to take the most upbeat of pieces and put into it mournful and sorrowful overtones.

But not to worry, despite the album’s main focus, the album as a whole is not totally mournful although the best tracks appear to follow this mood, Uematsu does do some wonderful work in the most upbeat pieces such as 'Pirates Ahoy' which is another firm favourite amongst fans and once again has a deceptively high quality of synth coupled with a wonderfully catchy melody and the very experimental, but successful "Critter Tripper Fritter" although these may not be to every listener's taste.

The depth in quality of the soundtrack is reaffirmed by the quality of some of the lesser songs such as 'My Home, Sweet home' which is full of the power and the feeling of loss that is come to be expected of this soundtrack and is able to be played well as an acoustic arrangement. 'Music box' which is at best a jingle, also works well as a break before the more upbeat tempos of 'the airship' and such. The battle theme itself in an interesting one, as it doesn’t seem to elude to any danger at all in mood and would probably have served better as an airship track in all truth. The fact that the FFV battle theme is relatively poor being sandwiched between the greater efforts of FFIV and FFVI is not particularly important due to the fact that this soundtrack isn’t about battle themes really.

The tracks such as “Tenderness in the Air”, “Cursed Earth” and “Fate In Haze” although brilliant in this soundtrack standing alone, were to play an important role in the future of Final fantasy music. These tracks contained the more complex melodies and greater use of instruments that would be the base of, in particular, the FFVI OSV. One of the most important and recognised pieces in the FFV OSV is the 4 minute+ long piece “Presentiment” which would also be the base for one of the greatest FFIX tracks “Sacred Grounds-Esto-Gaza” and is very moody piece that stands out particularly well.

The high quality of these tracks is shown by the heavily dependence upon the FFV melodies in the two Final fantasy vocal albums and it is there FFV tracks that are the standout pieces on the albums, such as “My Home, Sweet Home”, “Tooihino Nagori” (Quite possibly the best FF vocal track ever) and “Mon Petit Chat”.

This highlights another strength of the OSV, the actual arrangement of the tracks makes the listener able to relax and trust the order of the music for similar tracks are distributed throughout the soundtrack and are not all thrown together. When coupled with the fact that the album tells a story through the arrangement, it becomes clear to see why this is such an easy listen.

Soundtracks shouldn't normally be compared directly to each other but it is very difficult not to group the soundtracks FFIV-FFVI together and compare them as the 'SNES generation' and each of the soundtracks does have it's strengths, FFIV had a mix of strength in depth and quality pieces, FFVI had possibly the strength in depth without having so many standout pieces, So what does FFV have? The FFV OSV has the standout tracks in abundance, containing quite possibly most of the top 10 Uematsu songs in its soundtrack but there are problems with the depth of quality. A lot of the pieces just don't cut it musically though for every one of these 'poorer songs' Uematsu comes back with another fantastic piece.

In conclusion, I personally hold the FFV OSV in the highest possible regard as an example of Uematsu's work as a composer although I believe one of the reasons listeners hold a negative opinion against this soundtrack is that it struggled as VG music, in game. It didn't work as well as other soundtracks had done for Uematsu but for pure emotion and feeling of music, I struggle to find a soundtrack that can match it piece for piece.

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Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy Dissidia
Ehrgeiz
Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy XIII
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