After we caught up with the FFVII remake recently, one thing that really stood out was the excellent score. It’s totally reimagined from the original 1997 game, with updated pieces and new ones too.
For the excellent Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2022), the second instalment in the remake series, there’s another fantastic neoclassical score. Very impressive stuff indeed, with old pieces merged with new concepts.
The Glorious FFVII Rebirth Score
As with Final Fantasy VII Intergrade’s new soundtrack, it’s a massively polished take on the original score by Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu. For Rebirth, he wasn’t involved. Masashi Hamauzu and Mitsuto Suzuki took over the expansive new score.
It’s a huge soundtrack. There’s about 40+ hours of gameplay in Rebirth, so there’s plenty of room for new and old pieces (there are 175 compositions). The above is a favourite from the original.
However, below we have the Junon Region theme that has a propulsive quality to it. Hamauzu and Suzuki haven’t held back in this series, they go all out for the pomp and ceremony in grand fashion.
There are plenty of new pieces, too, such as the Gongaga Region theme. It’s a jungle area in Rebirth, taken from the original FFVII where it’s a tiny little area. Here, it’s a dense and lively region of forest (it reminds us of the Grassland Groove music in DKC: Tropical Freeze).
And then there’s the Cosmo Canyon piece, adapted from the original game.
Special treat here, as there’s a live recording of this one with the FFVII Rebirth Orchestra world tour from back in September 2024. This performance was in Munich.
But it’s the melancholic heart of the game we think that’s won so many fans over since 1997.
Pieces like With a Heavy Heart capture the essence of it all. In FFVII, there’s a sense of the passage of time, the natural loss that brings with it, reflecting on the past, whilst considering the future.
A fine example of melancholic nostalgia, then, which works perfectly alongside the core theme of desperate rebellion and environmental loss. The characters are fighting to save the planet, discover themselves, and all whilst dealing with considerable personal loss.
ADDENDUM ALERT!!! Here’s the FFVII Rebirth Chillout Corner
The piano and strings (plus, flute) version of Cosmo Canyon is all rather relaxing. Set as it is to Cloud Strife walking around the beautiful location.
Away from that, fans have put together chillout compilation sup on YouTube. There are for study, focus, sleep, and ambience. Well worth a listen if you want to hear more of this soundtrack.
