ReMix: Final Fantasy X 'Battle in the Far North'
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- Game: Final Fantasy X (Square, 2001, PS2)
- ReMixer(s): The Griever
- Composer(s): Junya Nakano, Masashi Hamauzu, Nobuo Uematsu
- Song(s): 'People of the North Pole'
- Posted: 2012-04-12, evaluated by the judges
Newcomer The Griever sends us an exciting orchestral FFX arrangement, our first this year from the game's soundtrack:
"I chose this track because it's really one of my all time favorites, the lovely melodies get me every time I listen to it. I'm a big fan of Final Fantasy and its music. My idea was to turn this rather calm tune into a kind of battle theme, in fact my remix is telling a whole story! It's about two men, formerly been best friends, fighting on the snowy top of a mountain. It's stormy and you can hear the scream of an eagle watching the showdown. They talk to each other about the past, then they pull out their swords and with the beating of the drum at about 1:10 the battle begins! Both of them are very good swordsmen. At 2:06 they interrupt the exhausting fight for a while and talk again. The melody changes, the clock begins ticking and the rivals realize that only one of them will survive. They're tired now, but force themselves to fight further, at about 3:02 the battle continues! Then, suddenly, with an unexpected move, one of them manages to kill the other at about 3:58. The melody starting at about 4:16 expresses the "winner's" sadness. His best friend from back in the days is now gone forever..."
Very narrative approach, here, with the melody actually de-emphasized in favor of suspenseful accompaniment & forward momentum; OA writes:
"Definitely an expanded take on the source, but still keeping the same spirit, this features a lot of subtle differences, mostly by bringing the chords and atmosphere forward and diminishing the melody. The sfx were generally tasteful, and the additional rhythms and counter-melodies were pretty strong. Though the melody is gone for a lot of this, the rest of the track is very apparent, and though the second hawk cry was a bit much, and I'd prefer more melodic sections, this was well put together with good production, pretty nice sequencing, and an overall classy presentation."
Agreed, esp. on the second cry, BUT it clearly plays into the artist's vision, which involved a very specific story he wanted to tell, and I think the decisions made do support that approach. This is definitely great BGM, and it does feel like the setting of an epic, nearly-even battle between badass swordsmen. I'd like to see the ReMixer play around more with solo part-writing and melodic construction in the future, but I also think this is a solid debut that does an excellent job of painting a picture & setting a scene!
Discussion: Latest 13 comments/reviews; view the This is a well-done piece overall, and I love it!
- Bahamut on September 7, 2012
--Eino
- evktalo on July 24, 2012
- meccaneer on May 16, 2012
The way that you remixed this was impressive to say the least. The diminished melody, along with the entire tense feeling the entire piece had me wondering where you were going next. True, a little more variety and subtle changes may have made this more INTERESTING, but at the very least, this song is going in my playlist as well. You've done a fantastic job. Congrats on your debut! I look forward to hearing more!
- Final Dissonance on May 12, 2012
- audio fidelity on May 8, 2012
You did a great job on telling your story through this song's journey.
- Perigryn on May 8, 2012
- genius11433 on April 15, 2012
Very solid piece man, thanks and great work!
- BlackPanther on April 13, 2012
- Melbu Frahma on April 13, 2012
- Guifrog on April 13, 2012
- Magellanic on April 13, 2012
