Final Fantasy XIII-2: International version’s rapless rap

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We kind of made a big deal about FINAL FANTASY XIII-2’s soundtrack. Dale drew our attention to the weird rap talk featured in “Invisible Invader” which accompanies the Lake Bresha area as well as the crazy metal remix of the chocobo theme titled “Crazy Chocobo.” We’re currently working on an artist profile feature that should be live by the end of the week, but as we were preparing it, we noticed a rather interesting response from music coordinator Keiji Kawamori about these two tracks in particular.

Kawamori notes, “… ‘Invisible Invader’ was the first song that [Naoshi Mizuta] wrote for FINAL FANTASY XIII-2. The fact that it’s a vocal song (rap) makes it a piece that strongly reflects [director Motomu Toriyama’s] desire to have a sound that’s unlike the typical FINAL FANTASY title.” But most interesting of all?  The international version of the game apparently axes the rap portion all together, leaving behind only the musical accompaniment heard above (check Dale’s original post to hear the rap version). In terms of “Crazy Chocobo,” Kawamori comments, “I was asked by Toriyama to make it have a fierce song style and for the arrangement to be like death metal… it’s a Chocobo arrangement that no one has ever heard before, and I think it’s a good hook within the game.”

Do you think cutting the rap vocals from “Invisible Invader” for the international release was for the best? Is “Crazy Chocobo” in fact the most interesting version of the chocobo theme you’ve heard in years?


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