Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu likely won’t compose a full game score again

Legendary Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu probably won’t compose the score for a whole game again.

The composer was interviewed by German publication Zeit Online (via VGC) ahead of his new orchestral piece Merregnon: Heart of Ice and discussed whether he might compose an entire score in future.

“As far as Final Fantasy is concerned, I’m still involved by writing the main themes for the games,” he said. “But I don’t think I’ll compose music for a whole game again.

“You would have to give it full throttle for two or three years. And I don’t think I have the physical and mental strength to do it anymore.

“I think I’d rather use the time I have left to work on other projects that I love. Such as compositions like Merregnon or my band Uematsu Nobuo conTIKI .”

Most recently, Uematsu composed the main theme for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, due out later this week, though the full score is from a variety of composers.

Uematsu was the sole composer for the first nine Final Fantasy games, but has since been a contributor to the series – on top of various spin-offs and other projects.

His last full score was for Fantasian, the Apple Arcade exclusive mobile RPG developed by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi.

In a previous interview promoting that game, Sakaguchi said its soundtrack would likely be Uematsu’s last after suffering some health issues.

“Bloated but full of character in a bid to justify its own existence,” we wrote in Eurogamer’s Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth review.