Now right here’s an thrilling compilation of organized music! SQ Music Collections combines all the catalog of Sq. Enix’s “SQ” music collection in a single helpful launch! That’s eleven albums, mixed as a digital-only launch. This launch is freely streamable and is purchasable as a digital obtain for about 40 USD at varied on-line distributors.
Earlier than digging into what this expansive assortment contains, I’d like to the touch on what it excludes. Before everything, this assortment comprises not one of the content material from bonus albums (Uncommon SQ, Village/Vanguard and Tower Data bonus discs, the limited-edition bonus discs of Beer SQ and Battle SQ, and many others.). I believe this is sensible: the entire level of these bonus discs was to advertise gross sales of the bodily CD releases at brick-and-mortar retailers all through Japan. Whereas I’d have appreciated to have them included on this set, I get why they’re not right here. It’s additionally honest to notice that, whereas there are some gems on these discs, a few of the weakest tracks are additionally on stated bonus discs.
Subsequent up: there are a handful of lacking tracks that one would anticipate from this set. Particularly, 4 tracks. Right here’s what didn’t make it into the gathering:
SQ Chips: Closing Fantasy XIII “Blinded by Mild” (Hidekazu Tanaka)
Cafe SQ: Chrono Cross “Goals of the Ages” (Manami Morita)
SQ Chips 2: Chrono Cross “The Woman Who Stole the Stars ~ Fragments of a Dream” (Hidekazu Tanaka)
SQ Swing: Kingdom Hearts II “Group XIII ~ The thirteenth Battle ~ Fragments of Sorrow ~ Dearly Beloved” (Hidehiro Kawai / fox seize plan)
I’m not sure as to why these tracks have been reduce. It truly is a disgrace concerning the Kingdom Hearts II medley from SQ Swing, as I believe that’s one of many strongest tracks from that album. My suspicion relating to the 2 SQ Chips tracks can be that Sq. Enix is distancing itself from disgraced intercourse pest Hidekazu Tanaka.
So, that cuts us down from 123 tracks to 119. Observe that whereas Apple Music/iTunes lists SQ Music Collections throughout three digital “discs” (partitions), different platforms (Steam, Spotify) record the album as one large, cumbersome 119-track assortment. Both approach, it’s the identical 9 hours of wonderful music!
Now then, let’s stroll via this set, one album at a time. Fortuitously, all eleven albums have been reviewed beforehand on RPGFan, so I’ll be offering hyperlinks to those evaluations for extra in-depth protection. That stated, these evaluations, of which I wrote many, date again to every album’s launch, so I’ll have some new insights about every album as we go ahead. With none additional ado…
Launched in 2009, the primary album within the SQ Music Collections is each a pioneer and an oddity. I doubt Sq. Enix Music had an concept of the place they have been going with this collection on the time, or whether or not they even supposed to flesh out this collection of organized albums the way in which they finally did. Love SQ covers music from the primary seven Closing Fantasy titles, in addition to Legend of Mana, Chrono Set off, and Romancing SaGa. In contrast to future entries within the collection, there’s no cohesive musical style or model preserving this one collectively. It’s only a assortment of attention-grabbing preparations from varied artists. As famous in my assessment, I believe the stand-out monitor from this album is Pia-no-jaC’s medley of battle themes from Closing Fantasy V, VI, and VII (“Battle on the Large Bridge ~ Dancing Mad ~ One-Winged Angel”). Piano, raucous percussion, and the occasional shouting make for one of many coolest preparations for these unforgettable battle themes.
Do you “love” what you’re listening to? Let’s “chill” out earlier than we go any additional. A full decade earlier than “lofi hip hop radio beats to chill out/examine to” turned its personal subgenre, Chill SQ laid down some lo-fi roots for Sq. Enix, mixing recorded devices with present samples and the ever present vinyl file artifact noise. My solely grievance with this album is its size: seven tracks throughout 35 minutes. On the time, I needed a lot extra of this. And admittedly, I nonetheless do. Fortuitously, Sq. Enix has produced extra music of this nature with their Chill Out Association album collection (entries embrace the Round 80’s Combine, Closing Fantasy XIV, and NieR). If I needed to choose a favourite from this album, I’d most likely give it to Kenmochi Hidefumi’s masterful guitar-focused Closing Fantasy Journey medley. Uyama Hiroto’s FFIV “Theme of Love” can also be stable.
Undoubtedly, Extra SQ has the least cohesive method among the many SQ Music Collections. I really feel like this one was mainly Sq. Enix saying, “Hey, who desires to rearrange a few of our music? Any takers?” And a few performers confirmed up. The triumph of Extra SQ is that it might present path for future albums. The Kuricoder Quartet makes their debut on this album with “Closing Fantasy Primary Theme,” and this group would later be the supply of all the recorder-centric album Treatment SQ. Vocalist Miyuki Hatakeyama and the jazz group Yusuke Hirado Trio recorded an unbelievable rendition of Closing Fantasy IX‘s “Melodies of Life” right here that will be later republished alongside quite a lot of jazzy tracks on the album SQ Swing. Different artists on this album (RE:NDZ, Sasakure.UK, JABBERLOOP) go on to rearrange and carry out for future SQ albums. All that being stated, I do suppose this is likely one of the weakest albums within the assortment. I do have a passion for the avant-garde jazzy association of FFVIII‘s “The Excessive” by artist “mouse on the keys.”
Bow down, peasants. Musical royalty has arrived. When you have even the smallest affinity for chiptunes, SQ Chips might be a pure delight. There’s a spread of purity to this album: some tracks keep on with sq. waves and restricted channels (FFXII “On the Riverbank,” SoM “Meridian Dance”), others characteristic chiptunes with a extra sturdy electronica backing (FFA “The Closing Battle~The Mana Temple,” CT “Character Medley”). You get 16 tracks right here, which could be very spectacular. I stay enthralled by this album over a decade after its launch.
There’s a lot to like on this album, supposed to be music one may get pleasure from whereas having fun with a cup of espresso or tea on the native cafe. One can discover a wholesome mixture of acoustic and digital all through this album, with star entries together with Pesama’s “Music Field – Dwelling, Candy Dwelling” medley from Closing Fantasy V and Duke of Pianeet’s 11 minute “Xenogears Suite.” There isn’t a lot I can say that Jerry didn’t say in his assessment (linked above). He provides an additional nod to the Chrono Set off tracks and the capstone “Troian Magnificence” (FFIV) by artist Schroeder-Headz.
“Flip up the bass!” Had been you anticipating a rock album? Nicely, you’ll get a little bit of that with Battle SQ. However for probably the most half, that is an intense, dubstep-infused organize album launched on the peak of dubstep reputation in 2012. Listening to it once more in 2025, I believe this album has really aged properly. There are some killer preparations right here. Certainly one of my favorites is Miss Modular’s LIVE A LIVE medley “KNOCK YOU DOWN! – Victory Highway.” The primary half comes with breakneck-pace drum fills. The latter half comes with a cool groove, superior voice samples, and that candy modulated bass we all know and love. Additionally discovered on this album are deep cuts like “The Spirit Chaser {SURLENT)” from Rudora no Hihou (Treasure of Rudra) and “Hope – Dance of the Baying Hound” from Sigma Harmonics. Even if you happen to’re conversant in this album, I like to recommend revisiting it at this time. It’s fairly the deal with!
“Maintain my beer.” That’s what artist RF stated (in my thoughts) after they produced the LIVE A LIVE association for “WANDERER” on Beer SQ. The experimental jazz quartet performs quick and unfastened, with the acoustic guitar on melody. The bass line is recent as could be, and people drums all the time preserve me guessing. And that’s simply one of many eight very unusual, very fantastic tracks on this album. Räfven presents up a giant ol’ Klezmer association of the Closing Fantasy “Primary Theme.” Blue Moon Quartet brings a soothing, considerably energetic association of Chrono Set off‘s “Guardia Millennial Honest” with trumpet main the way in which. And Rio Okano’s “Spinach Rag – Character Medley” is a superb large band piece that clocks in at slightly below ten minutes. If I went to a pub, brewery, or German beer home and heard any of those songs carried out stay, I’d be over the moon.
An album idea so good, Sq. Enix did it twice! I believe this one is barely much less spectacular than its predecessor, however there are nonetheless some stellar tracks right here. SEXY-SYNTHESIZER’s association of all the LIVE A LIVE ending theme “Stay for Stay” (which incorporates all seven character themes combined in) is a marvel to behold. The Vagrant Story “Graylands Incident” opens with sound results that recommend scrolling textual content and menus, combined into and layered alongside the earliest components of this track. The arrangers additionally constructed some vocal samples in right here, pulling away from a pure chiptune expertise. Hige Driver’s association of the Parasite Eve theme “Primal Eyes” is a dynamic little demake masterpiece. And if you happen to needed to know what SNES rarity Bahamut Lagoon may need gave the impression of on the NES, Kplecraft’s association of “Boss Battle” sticks to sq. waves, although it’s most likely working sufficient channels that it might require two consoles to provide the entire audio!
Maybe probably the most cure-ious entry in all the SQ Music Collections, this album is the product of a singular group: the Kuricorder Quartet. Fortuitously, the album is greater than the literal 4 recorders (soprano, alto, tenor, nice bass) occurring. Different devices discovered on this album embrace ukulele, guitar, hand drums, saxophone, toy piano, and the occasional brass instrument. Unusual as this album is, there are some nice tracks right here. The opening monitor, capturing the opening music for Romancing SaGa, stays a private favourite. The monitor that most closely fits using the recorders, nevertheless, has bought to be “Gogo’s Theme” from Closing Fantasy VI. Although I believe the guitar work on one other Closing Fantasy VI monitor (the “Gau’s Theme ~ Relm’s Theme” medley) can also be value a point out.
As I famous in my latest assessment of this album, the time period “Swing” is used extra loosely than I’d outline it based mostly on my understanding of recent musical style. Nonetheless, it is a enjoyable, jazzy album with tracks primarily coming from jazz group RF and string ensemble Drakskip. I usually discover this album to be a step up in high quality from Cafe SQ, although that could be my choice for studio-recorded instrumental work over electronica. My favourite tracks from this one embrace Drakskip’s “What the Forest Taught Me” (Secret of Mana) and RF’s wild method to SaGa Frontier‘s “Alkaiser Assaults!”
“Final, however not least!” Or… really, it could be least (by way of authentic content material). See, Final SQ is a compilation album from 2015, designed to be the ultimate entry within the album collection (therefore the title). As a compilation album, SQ Music Collections has totally eclipsed Final SQ. However, Final SQ did embrace 4 authentic tracks from arranger Megumi Shiraishi and a handful of soloists. These authentic tracks have a type of symphonic rock vibe. Amongst them, I believe the ultimate monitor, which mixes Closing Fantasy I‘s “Chaos Shrine” and Closing Fantasy VI‘s “Dancing Mad,” is the strongest, because it contains featured soloists for guitar, violin, shakuhachi flute, and vocals. It’s a beast! Additionally, the packaging and paintings for this bodily launch was unbelievable, and I genuinely want SQ Music Collections supplied a digital booklet of comparable high quality.
Closing Ideas
SQ Music Collections is so helpful for recreation music followers to peruse, and it’s really a formidable physique of labor. And, even because it factors to the historical past of Sq. Enix Music preparations, we will see how the prime quality preparations have continued with the Jazz collection, the Acoustic collection, piano solo preparations, the (aforementioned) Chill Out collection, and even new ideas like #SQkawaii (a rebirth of the “SQ” moniker?). I’d encourage readers to stream the music from their favourite service, and really contemplate a purchase order of the digital album. When contemplating the price of amassing these eleven albums individually as bodily retail objects, this digital assortment is basically an 80% off sticker: completely value it.
