Nobuo Uematsu, highly acclaimed Japanese musician who has worked on several "Final Fantasy" games, will not be coming back to work on the PS4 remake of "Final Fantasy VII." According to an interview Uematsu recently had with Jeuxvideo, the famed composer himself stated that he was not working on the game's soundtrack.
Uematsu did work on the original game's music and it is likely that the original soundtrack will be updated from its MIDI origins to a more orchestrated arrangement while still retaining the beats of the original. In this regard, Uematsu will still be credited for composing the original music.
However, re-working that music into a full orchestrated version will now fall into hands of a new music director. Square-Enix will also be likely to have someone compose new music for the game as it is expected to be much larger compared to the original.
As pointed out in a report from IGN, it is not clear if Square-Enix has even approached the composer to return for the remake or if the company went straight to someone new. It is possible that the company may have approached him only for Uematsu to decline given that he is no longer an employee for Square-Enix.
It is also unclear at this point who will be working on the "Final Fantasy VII" remake soundtrack, although there are several likely candidates such as Yoko Shimomura, who has worked on "Final Fantasy XV"; Masayoshi Soken, who has worked on "Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn"; or Masashi Himauzu who worked on "Final Fantasy XIII."
The soundtrack of "Final Fantasy VII" is noted for being one of the most critically acclaimed and popular even to this day, with songs such as "One Winged Angel" and "Aerith Theme" being played and covered numerous times. Uematsu's band, The Black Mages, has also done their own arrangement of several "Final Fantasy VII" songs.
"Final Fantasy VII" remake is set to launch for the PS4, although no specific release date has yet been announced.
