ReMix: Final Fantasy V 'Cursed Pirates of the Sea'
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- Game: Final Fantasy V (Square, 1992, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): Protricity
- Composer(s): Nobuo Uematsu
- Song(s): 'Cursed Place', 'Pirates Ahoy'
- Posted: 2002-02-28, evaluated by djpretzel
Final Fantasy 5! Yes! Boasting one of the cooler title screens, and never officially released in America (a full english translation is available via emulation), Final Fantasy 5 is often overlooked, as it was here until Protricity submitted his first track using Reason, actually made before his last submission - an impressive first outing for using the software, and a perhaps a sign of more FF5 material to come. Beginning with an ambient, distant wind, you can almost hear ships' sails blowing as very nice drums come in, with a twangy bass and flute lead. The basic ingredients for a great mix are established in the first minute, but Protricity goes a step further with a rippin' synth solo at 1'12", with great use of modulation and pitch bend, as guitar chords enter underneath along with pads. Brass takes over later in the second minute, segueing into a nice drum break. There's just a lot of variety here, and it's all good. Wind and thunder return at 2'35", leading us into the storm and then out to a much slower, jazzier piece headed by a trumpet but retaining the pads. Filtered synth bass picks up then, with bell pads shimmering overtop. And the ending is one of the best on the site. Great mix, impressed me, and surely cycles through lots of sounds while maintaining consistency and flow. Definitely recommended. Update: OK, sheesh! - I did know about about the PSX FF Anthology, I just didn't have my thinking cap on - yes, FF5 has been released outside Japan as part of the Playstation FF anthology. But before then, at least, emulation was the only way. Thanks for the update, everyone :)
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the I remember well when this was THE FF5 mix of OCR, i.e. the only
one. Classic stuff from Ari, and one of those strong mixes back in
the early years that ensured I would never skip OC ReMixes even if
I wasn't familiar with the original game. Nothing but a solid,
stylish combination of the two themes, with sound quality that
holds up pretty well today.
- Liontamer on October 10, 2012
- Liontamer on October 10, 2012
As far as Protricity arrangements go, this doesn't really shine at
all. Interesting ideas were applied to unexpanded material, after
which it was all rolled up into a concise pirate ship-themed
concept. While this still sounds pretty good, it didn't explode all
over me like some of the Protricity mixes that would come after
this.
Samples wise, its a very mixed bag. Brass is definately a sore spot and the drums are very Protricty (what else would they be?), but overall I heard nothing grossly plain or obstructive. It's not a tasty collection of samples, but palatable all the same.
Bearing in mind the flaws however, the mix certainly exhibits an admirable level of quality and polish, and is a very enjoyable aural adventure. Prot could have kept at this skill level and still been pretty damn successful in my eyes, though I'm glad he improved from this point as well.
- Marmiduke on July 20, 2009
Samples wise, its a very mixed bag. Brass is definately a sore spot and the drums are very Protricty (what else would they be?), but overall I heard nothing grossly plain or obstructive. It's not a tasty collection of samples, but palatable all the same.
Bearing in mind the flaws however, the mix certainly exhibits an admirable level of quality and polish, and is a very enjoyable aural adventure. Prot could have kept at this skill level and still been pretty damn successful in my eyes, though I'm glad he improved from this point as well.
- Marmiduke on July 20, 2009
Starts out as a rollicking journey of buccaneers on the high seas
that is well done, but a little synthy, but reminiscent of the
original. Life is good for these adventurous seafarers, but a storm
looms overhead. With almost no warning, a fierce storm is upon
them, and the brutal winds push their ship into the no-man's land
of the haunted seas!
Decent mix conceptually, and well arranged, but the samples havn't held up all that well.
- OA on March 26, 2009
Decent mix conceptually, and well arranged, but the samples havn't held up all that well.
- OA on March 26, 2009
I'm glad there's some (quite a bit) of positive feedback for this
remix already. I haven't listened to many remixes yet (mostly RPG
SNES stuff so far) but this one is head and shoulders above many
that I have heard.
I'm glad impressed.
- Naretheos on April 4, 2008
I'm glad impressed.
- Naretheos on April 4, 2008
I always used to completely skip the second half of the song if I
noticed the switch, didn't care for it at all.
Then I played ff5 recently.
Now I appreciate both parts, although ofcourse the first half is more energetic and noticeable :)
I guess remembering the ship graveyard and so on helps to appreciate the second half... musically it doesn't stand out by itself.
- dirtywhitellama on August 14, 2006
Then I played ff5 recently.
Now I appreciate both parts, although ofcourse the first half is more energetic and noticeable :)
I guess remembering the ship graveyard and so on helps to appreciate the second half... musically it doesn't stand out by itself.
- dirtywhitellama on August 14, 2006
Priates are cool(ninjas are better) and FFV was sweet,
its a good mix and brings happiness to my head.
- linkspast on January 14, 2006
its a good mix and brings happiness to my head.
- linkspast on January 14, 2006
Hahah. I love it. The instrumentation is polished. Has a lot of
interesting ideas here. This one indeed sounds very Monkey Island
for me. I usually like when an instrument as the french horn here
is sounding so snes. This with a sorta has 2 songs. Wow. He's
always able properly to make mixes with more than one song; this
was definately interesting to make unique transitions for a song,
jumping from one to another.
This is a purpose of some mixes of Prot. Pretty solid stuff.
- Txai on January 14, 2006
This is a purpose of some mixes of Prot. Pretty solid stuff.
- Txai on January 14, 2006
This is a great piece of masterwork. At some points you can think
that he should had chosen other instruments, but if you concentrate
more on the whole picture, this is truly a masterpiece. It has
average instruments like guitars, flutes and of course drums, but
he can surprise you by unexpectedly throwing in some cool synths
and trombones right in the melody, nice stuff. The walkover to the
next song was a little sudden, he first one faded away and then
changed to a completely different melody. The second one, NO
problems at all, magnificent remixing with nice bells and
trumpets(I think), beautiful and terrifying, this is pirates we´re
talking about, arrrrrent we mateys? Rally-ho to Protricity!
- Bummerdude on October 4, 2005
- Bummerdude on October 4, 2005
This was a great mix from a great game. It is one of my favorite
songs from the game, and Protricity did an excellent job of making
it come to life. My only complaint is that the flute melody at the
beginning is sometimes too soft to be heard. Other than that,
though, this remix was awesome.
- ehsteve on February 16, 2005
- ehsteve on February 16, 2005
my bros started playing ff5 again on an emulator so i always hear
the music. this, 8 and 10 are the only ff games ive actually played
the whole way through and they have the least music here. when i
looked up ff5 i was glad to see it was prot who did the remix. i
was hoping it'd be the pirates theme and it was but i actually
enjoyed the first half of the song more
i love when the stronger drums come in and then i love it again when the synth comes in
but this song wasn't really what i was looking for
7/10
- jordex on December 21, 2004
i love when the stronger drums come in and then i love it again when the synth comes in
but this song wasn't really what i was looking for
7/10
- jordex on December 21, 2004
I loved it. The synthesizer work was fantastic, and it brought back
some memories from when I bought Final Fantasy Anthology and
listened to the included album until my ears bled. This truly does
justice to the original, and improves on it at that.
- Xerus on May 16, 2004
- Xerus on May 16, 2004
It also dissapoints me being that this is the only mix uploaded for
Final Fantasy V. It was an extreemly good game (though I never
finished it). Squaresoft actually TRIED to make a good game, and a
good game is what they got.
As for the peice, damn, this makes me want to go out and buy the sound tract. This was one of my favorite peices in the entire game. The extra drums in the background and the synthisiser used for the main theme was an excelent combo. Makes me want to dance. The convergence to the second part is wonderful. Gives you an entire 'ghost ship' feeling. (which, I belive during the part of the game this was played, you were on a ghost ship). The horn is very pretty. The rising points where if it was drawn out a bit longer, it would sound horrible, but for the short 'blips' it has for each note makes it sound like magic.
9.5/10
- Fira-Flame on October 8, 2003
As for the peice, damn, this makes me want to go out and buy the sound tract. This was one of my favorite peices in the entire game. The extra drums in the background and the synthisiser used for the main theme was an excelent combo. Makes me want to dance. The convergence to the second part is wonderful. Gives you an entire 'ghost ship' feeling. (which, I belive during the part of the game this was played, you were on a ghost ship). The horn is very pretty. The rising points where if it was drawn out a bit longer, it would sound horrible, but for the short 'blips' it has for each note makes it sound like magic.
9.5/10
- Fira-Flame on October 8, 2003
Excellent :)
Rated at 14 out of 10 stars, which is the top rating for a FF5 mix(well, it's the only rating for an FF5 mix, but it's still the best, and I wouldn't call it the worst)
I've had a few ideas for FF5 mixes but lacking equipment/software all I've been able to do is MIDI work. But I was thinking I could put the midi up and let someone else take over the job of turning it into something OCR-worthy(the piece, btw, was of the Ancient Library theme, but I can't find the midi i did)
- Xerol Oplan on September 2, 2003
Rated at 14 out of 10 stars, which is the top rating for a FF5 mix(well, it's the only rating for an FF5 mix, but it's still the best, and I wouldn't call it the worst)
I've had a few ideas for FF5 mixes but lacking equipment/software all I've been able to do is MIDI work. But I was thinking I could put the midi up and let someone else take over the job of turning it into something OCR-worthy(the piece, btw, was of the Ancient Library theme, but I can't find the midi i did)
- Xerol Oplan on September 2, 2003
NICE job. I remember listening to the the original versions of
these songs on the CD that came with Final Fantasy anthology and
greatly enjoying them. I'm impressed by the transition between the
songs in particular. This remix just reaffirms this enjoyment I got
out of the originals and you have my utmost respect as a remixer.
- SamuraiFoochs #Reload on July 31, 2003
- SamuraiFoochs #Reload on July 31, 2003
I agree, we need more FF5 mixes up here. This one is nice, but I
feel it needs a little more punch. The drums and flute are nice,
but perhaps some better guitars, and maybe some stronger drums here
and there would spice it up a bit.
- Gnam on July 16, 2003
- Gnam on July 16, 2003
