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News ► KH - III, II.8, Unchained χ & Union χ [Cross] - Original Soundtrack Track List Revealed



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Face My Fears

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We're missing so much other music that's actually in the game; I hardly think this specific track is of any priority.
It's DEARLY BELOVED! Is nothing sacred anymore!? We need all versions of Dearly Beloved available before other tracks that played for 5 seconds in the game.
 

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It's very interesting to get more insight as to who composed and arranged each track. I think it's easy to hear when Shimomura composes something, but I'm learning that it's harder to know when someone else is arranging it. I could have sworn that Forza Finale was composed and arranged by her, but apparently not.

Ditto with the Data XIII tracks, there were a few that I could have sworn were arranged by Shimomura, but none of them were. I still don't know what extent she assisted on those tracks, outside of creating the original tunes they were based on-- Data Xigbar and Data Luxord have new sections with previously unheard melodies. If these weren't provided by Shimomura herself, I'd say it was awfully bold to expand on her work.

I, like many others, can't enjoy Ishimoto's work on this game. The entire Scala-Final Xehanort section fills me with unimaginable fatigue as the same motifs are hammered into the ground with unrealistic AND unappealing synthetic orchestral sounds. I'm all for crunchy, gamey sounding MIDI music, I really enjoy older samples, but Ishimoto's works sound more like they're striving for realism and falling extremely short, which is odd because there are tons of high quality orchestral sound banks that almost sound real.

Like never before, Yoko Shimomura has really had to share Kingdom Hearts III with other composers, and, to be an annoying purist, that can be felt a lot when playing. Cutscene tracks are amazing, but the long stretches of time without a Shimomura original is kind of disheartening considering how fast and frequently KH1 and KH2 threw new iconic tracks at you.
 
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I, like many others, can't enjoy Ishimoto's work on this game. The entire Scala-Final Xehanort section fills me with unimaginable fatigue as the same motifs are hammered into the ground with unrealistic AND unappealing synthetic orchestral sounds. I'm all for crunchy, gamey sounding MIDI music, I really enjoy older samples, but Ishimoto's works sound more like they're striving for realism and falling extremely short, which is odd because there are tons of high quality orchestral sound banks that almost sound real.

They should have let Yoko or anyone else handle the orchestration, like this version. I mean, just listen to this. It's the final boss theme, but it sounds final boss-y:

 

Xagzan

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It's DEARLY BELOVED! Is nothing sacred anymore!? We need all versions of Dearly Beloved available before other tracks that played for 5 seconds in the game.

But....that's also a Dearly Beloved :p

It's very interesting to get more insight as to who composed and arranged each track. I think it's easy to hear when Shimomura composes something, but I'm learning that it's harder to know when someone else is arranging it. I could have sworn that Forza Finale was composed and arranged by her, but apparently not.

Eh, I'm not that good at hearing her definitively, but FF I think that interview from a while ago gave the impression it was Keiji Kawamori who arranged FF. Turns out we all misunderstood, it was Yasunori Nishiki, who's just banging out these rearrangement masterpieces apparently.

Ditto with the Data XIII tracks, there were a few that I could have sworn were arranged by Shimomura, but none of them were. I still don't know what extent she assisted on those tracks, outside of creating the original tunes they were based on-- Data Xigbar and Data Luxord have new sections with previously unheard melodies. If these weren't provided by Shimomura herself, I'd say it was awfully bold to expand on her work.

Bold but very successful. Elaboration and transformation within the original framework are just what you hope to hear in sequel/remake music.

I, like many others, can't enjoy Ishimoto's work on this game. The entire Scala-Final Xehanort section fills me with unimaginable fatigue as the same motifs are hammered into the ground with unrealistic AND unappealing synthetic orchestral sounds. I'm all for crunchy, gamey sounding MIDI music, I really enjoy older samples, but Ishimoto's works sound more like they're striving for realism and falling extremely short, which is odd because there are tons of high quality orchestral sound banks that almost sound real.

Like never before, Yoko Shimomura has really had to share Kingdom Hearts III with other composers, and, to be an annoying purist, that can be felt a lot when playing. Cutscene tracks are amazing, but the long stretches of time without a Shimomura original is kind of disheartening considering how fast and frequently KH1 and KH2 threw new iconic tracks at you.

It's unfortunate but I guess always happens eventually with such a long running series. And then when we do get new stuff from her, it's brilliant. That she could still constantly outdo herself this many years in is impressive, and maybe it wouldn't be the case if she had sole composing duties. But as long as other composers stick to a KH sort of style, which I think they mostly did in KH3, I'm happy enough.

(but she 10 billion% should've composed the final Xehanort fights lol)
(or at least Nishiki who's definitely proven himself, or perhaps Miyano who did great work on Remind)
 

Wally71551

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It's DEARLY BELOVED! Is nothing sacred anymore!? We need all versions of Dearly Beloved available before other tracks that played for 5 seconds in the game.
That version of Dearly Beloved is on the soundtrack, it's on Disc 2 as Dearly Beloved -Forest Memory-. It played in the secret forest cutscene with Kairi and Lea. I for one am mourning the loss of the two Secret Episode endings. Everything else can be ripped out, but those can't be separated with them being in pre-rendered cutscenes.
 

Face My Fears

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That version of Dearly Beloved is on the soundtrack, it's on Disc 2 as Dearly Beloved -Forest Memory-. It played in the secret forest cutscene with Kairi and Lea. I for one am mourning the loss of the two Secret Episode endings. Everything else can be ripped out, but those can't be separated with them being in pre-rendered cutscenes.
OMG! YES! It is! Thank you!

Maybe that piece of music will be packaged into the Yozora song (when Sora first talks to him)?
 

Wally71551

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OMG! YES! It is! Thank you!

Maybe that piece of music will be packaged into the Yozora song (when Sora first talks to him)?

I could see the intro music being included, but I really doubt the good/bad ending soundtracks are gonna be put in (unless the track is like 10 minutes long). Shame too, because they're really good. Might see how far music-isolating neural networks have come to see if I can get it properly clean or something. There's absolutely no way the data greeting version of Nacht Flügel is on, but that's just a slight rearrangement anyway.
 

Face My Fears

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They should have let Yoko or anyone else handle the orchestration, like this version. I mean, just listen to this. It's the final boss theme, but it sounds final boss-y:

Even though I wanted a brand new song to be the final Xehanort boss theme, I don't get how this song isn't "final boss-y":

It makes me feel like there's a ton at stake, especially the violins make me feel anxious, while the familiar motifs remind me that this is the climax of the KH series.
 

Wally71551

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Even though I wanted a brand new song to be the final Xehanort boss theme, I don't get how this song isn't "final boss-y":

It makes me feel like there's a ton at stake, especially the violins make me feel anxious, while the familiar motifs remind me that this is the climax of the KH series.
It's more the fact that it wasn't orchestrated. It didn't need to be Yoko, but keeping it with Ishimoto's MIDI sounds makes it feel a bit less climactic. And he really should have just gone for more of something new rather than reusing past melodies, there's some great elements to it when he's working on the more original elements of the track.
 

Xagzan

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I wouldn't say it's not final boss-y.

It's just not....final boss-y up to KH's usual high standards lol. That neat orchestration does make it sound nicer, but even then....well, I don't want to constantly spam the same thing every time we're talking about that track. I think I've made my opinion on it pretty clear by now.
 

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Even though I wanted a brand new song to be the final Xehanort boss theme, I don't get how this song isn't "final boss-y":

It makes me feel like there's a ton at stake, especially the violins make me feel anxious, while the familiar motifs remind me that this is the climax of the KH series.

There are parts I like about it and parts I don't, but it's the usage of Rage Awakened that gets me the most. That song is heavily associated with Terra/Lingering Will and shouldn't have been used for Sora's clash with Xehanort.
 

Face My Fears

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There are parts I like about it and parts I don't, but it's the usage of Rage Awakened that gets me the most. That song is heavily associated with Terra/Lingering Will and shouldn't have been used for Sora's clash with Xehanort.
I kind of saw the Rage Awakened aspects to be a reminder of where Master Xehanort's plan really started (with Terra/Lingering Will). I always go back and forth on this, I kind of like that they used it because it links back to Terra/Lingering Will, but then I kind of wanted something unique for Sora's confrontation. I think the reason I rather something familiar is because Sora didn't have much time with Master Xehanort, so there was no real connection.

I don't know, I just remember loving the violins during the fight and being so hyped to reach the last boss of KH III that I didn't over-analyze it. Or maybe I'm just a KH fanboy that accepts everything as perf (even KH2 "He's A Pirate").
 

Xagzan

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I kind of saw the Rage Awakened aspects to be a reminder of where Master Xehanort's plan really started (with Terra/Lingering Will). I always go back and forth on this, I kind of like that they used it because it links back to Terra/Lingering Will, but then I kind of wanted something unique for Sora's confrontation. I think the reason I rather something familiar is because Sora didn't have much time with Master Xehanort, so there was no real connection.

I don't know, I just remember loving the violins during the fight and being so hyped to reach the last boss of KH III that I didn't over-analyze it. Or maybe I'm just a KH fanboy that accepts everything as perf (even KH2 "He's A Pirate").

Oh boy, He's a Pirate. Speaking of my Ishimoto un-fandom, you go right back to where it began lol, with poor synth quality.

Frickin 15 years later and nothing's changed.
 

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Oh boy, He's a Pirate. Speaking of my Ishimoto un-fandom, you go right back to where it began lol, with poor synth quality.

Frickin 15 years later and nothing's changed.
I'd be fine with it, but what gets me is the fact that the other composers/arrangers either used live orchestras or synths that are either really good or practically indistinguishable from live instruments. I know why it happens, because practically every composer works for an outside company and is contracted in, so they can't just share licenses for synths and instrument samples with each other. I know it's really just Ishimoto's Kingdom Hearts work where he makes a lot of use of orchestral instruments, so he wouldn't want to pay the thousands of dollars high quality virtual instruments cost, but it just bugs me how much of a drop in quality there is with samples from everyone else to Ishimoto.
 

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It's DEARLY BELOVED! Is nothing sacred anymore!? We need all versions of Dearly Beloved available before other tracks that played for 5 seconds in the game.
There was a version of Dearly Beloved in DDD's Symphony of Sorcery that never made it onto it's respective soundtrack either. Quite honestly, I think they should put every track on the soundtrack, don't know why they're left off in the first place anyway (especially digitally, so there's no concerns about running out of space on the discs).
 

Xagzan

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I'd be fine with it, but what gets me is the fact that the other composers/arrangers either used live orchestras or synths that are either really good or practically indistinguishable from live instruments. I know why it happens, because practically every composer works for an outside company and is contracted in, so they can't just share licenses for synths and instrument samples with each other. I know it's really just Ishimoto's Kingdom Hearts work where he makes a lot of use of orchestral instruments, so he wouldn't want to pay the thousands of dollars high quality virtual instruments cost, but it just bugs me how much of a drop in quality there is with samples from everyone else to Ishimoto.

I mean, not for nothing but if someone doesn't have the right tools for a job, I don't know if they should be assigned such an important one, like composing the ultimate culminating showdown of a whole game franchise. That's on the music supervisor.
 
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There are parts I like about it and parts I don't, but it's the usage of Rage Awakened that gets me the most. That song is heavily associated with Terra/Lingering Will and shouldn't have been used for Sora's clash with Xehanort.
I remember when people would use the excuse of "it's cuz Sora is really angry"
 

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So FF7R is getting a 4-disc OST Plus with songs that weren't included in the original OST release.


Seems inevitable that KH3 will get the same treatment at some point.
 

Wally71551

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So FF7R is getting a 4-disc OST Plus with songs that weren't included in the original OST release.


Seems inevitable that KH3 will get the same treatment at some point.
Here's hoping, there's some tracks like the other stuff in the Secret Episode and all the Re:Mind cutscene tracks that seem like baffling omissions to me. I wonder how many songs are on FF7R Plus. The timeframe for the Plus release concerns me a bit too. If the December 23rd date is true, then we'd be waiting till mid-next year for the KH3 Plus (if it even happens). At least we wouldn't be looking at a full scale Volume 2 like FFXV had for KH3, in which they released like 120 more songs and still managed to leave out lots of tracks from the game. I'm honestly surprised it never ended up getting a Volume 3 or something to cover the tracks from the main game they still hadn't released as well as the music from Episode Ardyn.
 

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How in the world did I miss this post?!

I love Edge of Existence, I'm just afraid at how hard it's going to be on Melody of Memory if it's even on there.

Oh my goodness :O I never found the name of the Dearly Beloved that's played in Re:Mind when the Xehanort Replica is getting blasted with light. Now I find out it's not even called Dearly Beloved.

AND YOZORA'S THEME HAS A NAME OMG I AM SO EXCITED :D

I ALSO LOVE EVERY SINGLE SONG ON THIS SOUNDTRACK OMG

(yesss we got anti-aqua's theme! :D)
 
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