I've had the pleasure of seeing the Final Fantasy VI opera scene performed live at the Distant Worlds concerts. It's a thrill every time, because it always brings back the feeling I had when I first witnessed/heard the videogame masterpiece.
Seeing this work from Eliot Hagen does a similar job. He gave the opera a huge upgrade. First off, upscaled and reanimated the original scene to 1080p resolution and a 19:6 aspect ratio. Then he replaced the original 16-bit score with a performance by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.
This is so good that I think Square Enix would be proud. I know composer Nobuo Uematsu would be proud. With Square Enix's permission, I think Dear Friends should use this video with their performance.
Hats off to Hagen. This is brilliant.
Be sure to click the video and watch it on YouTube in 1080p for full effect.
Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools.
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@Codysseus You dont really have to grow up in the early day's to appreciate it but you just have to have an open mind but I see what you mean seeing as I am in the same boat as you I still love games like this one of the main reasons I play with emulators :}
This was awesome. Eliot Hagen clearly loves the game. BUT, I think he changed to much of it. For example, the video didn't include the part in which Maria dances with Draco on the balcony, and he changed the duel between Ralse and Draco. Still amazing, though. I had never heard the opera score preformed by an orchestra before.
Awesome! I like the Black Mages arrangement as well, but now I can understand what the hell they're saying. I miss not hearing the narrator voiced, though.
Very awesome. I prefer the arrangement with the Japanese singers (I think Draco had a deeper voice) but this is still great. Part of me wishes they would do an updated version of FFVI but an ever greater part of me hopes they never do because I know a lot of the "magic" would be lost in SquareEnix meeting rooms. Hell, I'm still pissed about the PS1 and GBA versions messing up the music timing for the epic ending.
I am in pure nostalgic, music-nerd heaven right now. Even though I always end up singing along to the original SNES lyrics instead of the remade version. :3
FFVI has the best damn soundtrack of any video game and I will fight tooth and nail whoever claims otherwise. This still gets me all misty-eyes even though I've seen the scene (and have actually heard this specific orchestrated arrangement) many, many times already.
That was awesome. Final Fantasy 6 is my favorite in the series, and the opera scene was one of the most memorable parts of the game. Thank you for sharing this.
The best scene from the absolute best Final Fantasy. I'll never be able to decide whether FFVI, Chrono Trigger, or A Link to the Past has the best game soundtrack of all time.
@Monodi, I sort of agree with you but at the same time, I'd argue that the days in which video game music could play such a outright prominent role has sadly since passed.
A masterpiece indeed that was beautiful I never really cared for Opera but oh man this was amazing thank you for posting this my favorite video in youtube now!
eeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...it makes me all fuzzy inside knowing that people have such a passion for this scene, but...meh. everything was great aside from the aria itself. i refuse to accept a voiced 'aria di mezzo carattere' remake unless it's in italian.
"Am I too much of a dork for thinking that they got the voice casting for Draco and Ralse backwards?"
Actually, BulletMagnet, this is very typical of operas. The male lead is usually cast as a tenor, and the male villain is usually a bass register. Same pattern goes for females: soprano = protagonist and alto = villain.
Eh. The upscaling was nice, seeing FFVI in full 1080p glory. However, being a massive opera buff, I have to say the performance wasn't the best. The version recorded with Svetla Krasteva was better, both in terms of technical accuracy (all three singers in this one appear to have fairly flimsy control over their vibrato) and also just in the spirit of the piece (there are two languages that virtually never work well for opera: English and German. Aria di Mezzo Carattere, being in Italian, is practically better by default).
If Anna Netrebko were to ever be involved in a performance of this, I think I may just jizz my pants right off.
Working within the constraints of ffVI wouldnt it be that the characters arent the best at opera singing? as its a slap dash effort to put a plan through.
That and it sounded awesome in english, i dont see how making it incomprehensible would of made it better.
I think they fudged the story! Wasn't there supposed to be an octopus and a thie....treasure hunter fall on Draco and Ralse and then save Celes? For shame!
@Courtney Roberts
I don't speak for everyone, but for me there are just some things certain languages do better than others. This isn't to say that one language is better than another as a whole, just that some are more aptly suited for certain situations. Also, as far as I know, the original FFVI opera was written in Japanese and I think the music better punctuates those lyrics than the English version.
I'll tell one thng you don't need to upscale to enjoy the details prepare to up close and personal as I prepare my own personal opera as I stick it up a entire box of cheesy warm hot pockets it's good to be king baby
@Ace
totally agree with your point on using the Italian lyrics, but I prefer opera in a language I don't understand. For some reason it sounds better and means more that way IMO.
@SWE3t - If this is the case then I find it even more interesting that Draco was given the lower "voice" in the original game...did Square not know about the convention you mention, or did it just not care?
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Contest:
5:00 PM on 08.16.2010
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What have your composers done today, developers?
FFVI has the best damn soundtrack of any video game and I will fight tooth and nail whoever claims otherwise. This still gets me all misty-eyes even though I've seen the scene (and have actually heard this specific orchestrated arrangement) many, many times already.
But everything does, really.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ohLUei-WgU&fmt=18
or maybe i'm just an unpleasable fanboy...
Actually, BulletMagnet, this is very typical of operas. The male lead is usually cast as a tenor, and the male villain is usually a bass register. Same pattern goes for females: soprano = protagonist and alto = villain.
If Anna Netrebko were to ever be involved in a performance of this, I think I may just jizz my pants right off.
Working within the constraints of ffVI wouldnt it be that the characters arent the best at opera singing? as its a slap dash effort to put a plan through.
That and it sounded awesome in english, i dont see how making it incomprehensible would of made it better.
And how did that go?
@Courtney Roberts
I don't speak for everyone, but for me there are just some things certain languages do better than others. This isn't to say that one language is better than another as a whole, just that some are more aptly suited for certain situations. Also, as far as I know, the original FFVI opera was written in Japanese and I think the music better punctuates those lyrics than the English version.
totally agree with your point on using the Italian lyrics, but I prefer opera in a language I don't understand. For some reason it sounds better and means more that way IMO.