FFXII Music

[Escushion]

I'll start with saying I haven't bought or listened much to the soundtrack yet and I'm not sure I'll be getting it for a while.

For some reason my iTunes is displaying in Japanese and Yen today, and I ended up finding "The Best of FFXII" in there. At first I wasn't going to listen, but then I saw that Hitoshi Sakimoto is the composer and listened to a couple of clips. What I hear of the main theme is waaay too bombastic, but a lot of the other stuff sounds nice. What really appeals to me is how much a couple clips sound like Final Fantasy Tactics battle music, but with actually instruments instead of the synth stuff used in that game--so basically, upgraded FFT. This is awesome to me :D.

Anyone else given it a listen (while playing or otherwise)?

[Daiju]

Well, I actually hosted it online (full) for the loyalists way before, dunno if it is still up... that or the sampler for the regular visitors in this site.

Anyway, yes it is awesome stuff and all, tough so far nothing in there that has really got my attention or that I can concider to be "memorable" like many of the Tactics tracks did.

[Kelly]

I really am enjoying the music of ff12, one of my favorites is the theme to the Giza Plains. THat simple flute melody is just really fun to listen to. It doesn't sound to much like Noubo though, it must be a differnet composer...*looks at Escushion post more carefully*
Oh, so it's some guy named Hitoshi Sakimoto. Can't say I have heard of him/her.

[The Grim Reaper]

It was good....but unfortunatly....none of the battle themes/field themes held much memory with them with the game itself....

[Daiju]

This game's version of Battle in the Big Bridge (for Gilgamesh's special battle) sure brought tears to my eyes ~_~ It would have been awesome if Sakimoto had arranged more of the classic games' battle musics for certain other moments likeZeromus from FFIV (for the Esper.. uh, Zeromus battle), or the Final battle music from FFI (for the Eper Chaos' battle). And I am guessing the Esper Exodus is bassed on X-Death from FFV so his battle theme would have been great as well.

[Viltris]

And I am guessing the Esper Exodus is bassed on X-Death from FFV so his battle theme would have been great as well.

Exodus is based on Exodus from FFTA. Some people claim that Exodus from FFTA is based on Exdeath from FF5, but that connection is questionable.

[Escushion]

Damnit, I can't seem to find this again on iTunes. I know it's there, but I just can't find it.

[bigoleme]

Exodus is based on Exodus from FFTA. Some people claim that Exodus from FFTA is based on Exdeath from FF5, but that connection is questionable.

Upon browsing various internet FAQs concerning the Espers of FFXII, one thing became apparent: many different guides seemed to have many different names for the Espers. Many of them listed Exodus as "Exdeath", which I then was only able to assume that it was Exodus based on the description of the esper and the battle with it, and of course similarities in its name.

I assumed these variances in the names of the Espers were just results from many different language verions of the game being released around the globe.

Here's one Esper list I've seen, and here's the link: http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/final_fantasy_xii_esper_battle.txt
[Storyline Obtainable Espers]
01) Belias
02) Mateus
03) Shumihaza
04) Hashmalim
05) Famfrit

[Optional Espers]
06) Adramalech
07) Exdeath
08) Zeromus
09) Zalhera
10) Queklain
11) Chaos
12) Altima
13) Zodiac

You'll notice a few differences from the American version: Cúchulainn >> Queklain, Exodus >> Exdeath, Ultima >> Altima, Zodiark >> Zodiac, Hashmal >> Hashmalim, Shemhazai >> Shumihaza. Many of them are very similar, which led me to believe they're just translations of their names for a different language version of FFXII. But the fact that "Exdeath" was used perhaps confirms the link between Exodus and Exdeath.

[Viltris]

Fan translations are rarely canon. Some are good (ie, "Kara"), but most are just awful (ie, "Butz").