You have to give credit to Masashi Hamauzu for stepping up and really delivering the music Final Fantasy deserves. He had some big shoes to fill, Nobuo Uematsu is not any easy composer to replace. It was a shock to hear that after nearly 20 years Nobuo Uematsu decided his time was done.

Masashi Hamauzu was first hired on to assist Nobuo Uematsu with the score for Final Fantasy X.  He was lead composer for Final Fantasy XIII’s soundtrack. Masashi was also the main composer for Dirge of Cerberus , which was performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. As of January 20, 2010, he has left Square Enix. What a short lived but phenomenal career. Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 are among my new favorite gaming soundtracks.

So who composed Final Fantasy XIII-2s OST? The Star Onion’s bass player Naoshi Mizuta. He is well known for composing the music for Street Fighter Alpha and Rockman & Forte. Naoshi quit Capcom to work for Square Enix after seeing a recruitment ad. His first job was to compose for Parasite Eve II. Later, Naoshi was tasked to compose along side with Nobuo Uematsu for Final Fantasy XI. He is now the main composer for the game.

Naoshi did a great job with the new OST. The soundtrack does have a few pop songs, but it’s not bad… just different. Reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy X-2. I haven’t been able to listen to the full soundtrack but so far I adore the opening title song, Wish.

What do you think about the changes Square Enix has made?