In anticipation of the upcoming HD rerelease of Final Fantasy X (two years in the making!), Sony has uploaded a new trailer showing off the game’s remastered music. The trailer lets us watch Tidus and friends in the middle of a battle itself, showing off the game’s graphics, music, and audio effects.
Now, I know HD remakes are a tad overdone on the Playstation 3, but remaking the music, especially for Final Fantasy X, is a different matter entirely. This was the first FF soundtrack where Nobuo Uematsu sought out collaborators, namely Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano, and it shows from the mark each composer has left on the soundtrack as a whole. While the soundtrack as a whole is not universally acclaimed, many individual tracks are considered highlights in the Final Fantasy oevre.
Now, it doesn’t seem like the remastered music will be pushing the Vita and Playstation 3’s capabilities to the limit. However, the marked improvement just can’t be denied, and I would draw a comparison to hearing something like the Valis soundtrack in the Famicom, and then again in the PC-Engine. It is definitely richer and sounds closer to an actual Black Mages performance.
Credit must also be given to the overall richer audio experience. Individual battle actions have great sounding audio effects, helping draw you in into the experience. If you wanted to play Final Fantasy X again, this would be a good way to experience it.
And therein lies the rub. Do you want to play Final Fantasy X and X2 again just because it’s in HD? Will it be worth the $ 40? Everything about the package screams that it is for the fanboys, and while I would not take that away from them, that may not be you. For the moment, I am reserving judgment until we get more information to sweeten the pot.
