Nobuo Uematsu’s had a long history within the games of which any composer would be proud. Having worked for most Final Fantasy games with some capability, has covered a wide range of role hits like Chrono Trigger, Lost Odyssey i The last story.
Recently, he has once again collaborated with the creator of Final Fantasy Hironobu Sakaguchi, working exclusively on Apple Arcade Fantastic to create an orchestrated 60-piece soundtrack.
Speaking to Mobile Syrup for an interview, Sakaguchi revealed that this could be Uematsu’s last fully rated game, saying:
Before we approached him to work at Fantasian, he was going through some health issues and there were doubts about whether he could compose it all or even if it was possible for him to work on it.
I think he hinted that Fantasian is perhaps the latest end-to-end game in terms of scoring an entire soundtrack.
Uematsu never revealed what specific illness he suffered from, previously confirming in September 2018 that he was taking the rest of 2018 to recover. Since then, he has composed individual songs such as Remake of Final Fantasy VII the main issue, so that doesn’t necessarily mean he will still retire.
Turning to a more positive note, Sakaguchi confirmed that Uematsu has given it his all for Fantasian. Speaking more deeply about the soundtrack, he advised that the composer has “poured his heart and soul” into the play, revealing that “it almost made me rip off a bit.”
It’s a shame Fantasian doesn’t get to Switch (at least at the time of writing), as we’d love to see what these two legendary figures have put together for this upcoming role-playing game. Whatever happens next in his career, we will pray for the health and success of Nobuo Uematsu.