The humble composer reflects on his work.
One of those is composer Masayoshi Soken.
Indeed, these performances werehighlights at the Fan Fest events I attended in 2023.
In person, too, he’s a humble and fun-loving interviewee.
Notably, Soken was secretly battling cancer during development of the Shadowbringers expansion.
You started your career doing a lot of sound design work.
How do you think that affected your approach to composition?
I think that experience is definitely reflected in everything that I do.
I think it is very important.
But I think anyone who wants to go into game composition should learn sound design first.
Do you feel a lot of pressure to live up to his work?
Personally, I think Final Fantasy musicisUematsu-san’s music.
I find it hard to express, but that’s how I feel about it.
What does that commitment look like for you?
Do you feel game soundtracks are more expansive now than they were in the past?
That said, I’m always trying to think of ways that I can achieve that.
And if I think of it in that way, I’m able to achieve a balance.
That is something you would think if you were prioritising music.
All these things we would not necessarily have to do for game music.
I’m always trying to think of what’s needed to create a better game experience.
Your musical tastes vary from classical to jazz to rock to pop.
How would you describe your own musical style?
I think the decisive element is Soken style.
Why do you lean on rock music in particular for inspiration?
In terms of a simplistic answer, battle content really matches well with rock music.
I just think, as a genre, it’s very easy to get involved in.
Who are your biggest rock inspirations?
Rage Against The Machine!
I love how that’s used in the last area of Endwalker.
How important is it for you to have vocal songs as part of a score?
What is, for you, the power of a vocal song?
So that’s why I made that choice.
Another vocal song was Civilizations from Shadowbringers, known as La-hee.
Did you expect that to become such a meme when you composed it?
Were you surprised by the reaction?
How do you feel your compositions have evolved over the course of Final Fantasy 14’s expansions?
Was there anything in Dawntrail in particular that you were able to achieve that you hadn’t before?
So I think that it’s a great example of their work.
Are there any Final Fantasy scores that have proven particularly inspirational for you?
There are way too many!
I mean, all of the random encounter songs, aren’t they all good?
And all the last boss songs, aren’t they all great?
And the field songs are really good as well…they’re all good!
Dawntrail, for instance, takes a lot of inspiration from Final Fantasy 9.
What is the piece of music you’re most proud of?
This interview has been edited for clarity.
