Nobuo Uematsu Reflects on Final Fantasy III’s Musical Breakthroughs
- ⚡Xe⚡
- Sep 16
- 3 min read
Nobuo Uematsu recently reflected on creating the Final Fantasy III soundtrack, sharing technical discoveries and personal insights on how the project shaped the series’ musical direction.
He explained that the biggest change from the first two games was working with sound programmer Hiroshi Nakamura, which let him achieve ideas that had been impossible before.
“The big change in FFIII compared to FF1 and FF2 was that I had a sound programmer, Mr. Nakamura, working with me. Up until then I had to rely on what the game programmer could do, and I couldn’t communicate detailed requests like vibrato or smooth transitions. With Nakamura, I was able to achieve the sounds I wanted, opening up a completely new level of expression.”
Uematsu also noted that FFIII was when he began to see Final Fantasy as a potential ongoing series rather than a one-off project.
“I didn’t think Final Fantasy would become a series, but with FFIII I started to consider that possibility. That’s why I decided to emphasize recurring music, like the ‘Prelude’ and the ‘Opening Theme.’ I wanted those pieces to act as symbols of the game and carry through in future sequels.”
A major revelation was the accidental discovery of a hidden fifth sound channel on the Famicom. The console was designed for four audio channels, but Nakamura found a way to produce a percussive effect.
“Nakamura said, ‘Mr. Uematsu, I was tinkering around and somehow a sound came out.’ When I checked, it sounded like a kick drum. He didn’t know why it worked and was worried it might cause bugs, but I told him, ‘If it works, let’s use it.’ That’s how we added a proper kick drum to the battle themes, giving them much more drive than the noise channel alone could provide.”
The sound was used in “Battle 1,” “Battle 2,” the “Fanfare,” and the “Final Battle,” and no problems were ever reported despite the unconventional programming.
“We were pushing the Famicom into an area it wasn’t really designed for, but the sound gave so much power to the music that I didn’t want to lose it. Even after 35 years, no one has ever said the game bugged out because of it, so in the end it was a risk that paid off.”
Uematsu also talked about the unusual release history of FFIII’s music. Instead of an original soundtrack, Square initially released the arrangement album Legend of Eternal Wind in 1990.
“At the time, Square’s president Miyamoto said it would be boring if we just did what other companies were doing, so instead of a soundtrack we put out the arranged album. Fans kept asking why there was no OST, so we released it the following year. That showed me how much demand there was for the music itself, not only the arrangements.”
Finally, Uematsu described how the Ending Theme marked his first attempt to approach game music cinematically, scoring it to reflect the flow of scenes and emotions.
“For the FFIII ending, I tried for the first time to think like I was scoring a film. I wanted the music to follow the scenes and emotions in a way that felt larger than just game BGM. That experiment shaped how I approached later games, especially as hardware evolved.”
Uematsu concluded by reflecting on how FFIII allowed him to experiment, take risks, and explore a variety of musical styles, setting the foundation for his approach to RPG music in future titles.
Source:
If you enjoy my Final Fantasy news, be sure to follow xEzNaFF on Instagram, Facebook, X, Threads, Bluesky, Reddit, TikTok, or YouTube so you never miss future updates!
-⚡Xe⚡
About FINAL FANTASY
For over 35 years, the FINAL FANTASY series has delighted generations of gamers and millions of players worldwide through beloved role-playing adventures that are built upon the benchmarks of spectacular visuals, highly imaginative worlds, rich stories, memorable characters, and technical and gameplay innovation leading the industry and earning the highest accolades from around the world. Each mainline game in the series is a completely new experience, and an ideal entry-point to the series. Titles of the series have sold over 204 million units worldwide.
Comments