Listen to a Preview of the Music of Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

Ahead of the release of Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age in July, Square Enix keeps showcasing the new features of this PlayStation 4 release, and after releasing a new trailer two weeks ago, today the company has shared a sneak peak of the original soundtrack, which has been re-recorded for the occasion with a full orchestra.

The preview consists on two videos playing the tracks of Streets of Rabanastre and the Dalmasca Estersand, and we can also see new gameplay footage from those places. The music playing in the first city of the game now makes the flute that carries the melody much more prominent. The orchestration gives the track a sense of simplicity in parts and adds a raw sensation that can only come from real instruments.

On the other hand, the new arrangements in the Dalmasca Estersand track highlight more the excitement and sense of adventure that players feel in one of the first areas open to explore during the game.

The new orchestrated soundtrack, based on the work of composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, will be available to purchase in Square Enix’s Japanese website on July 19, just a couple of days after the release of the game. This new version includes all the orchestrated tracks plus eight brand new songs exclusive to this release. The titles of these new tracks are Lying in Wait, The Guardians, Fury of the Entities, Tchita Uplands, Gloom, Memories Eternal, The Ultimate Trial, and, of course, The Zodiac Age. That makes for a 99 track collection, available in Blu-Ray Disc format only.

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is a remastered version of the classic PS2 release, but with critical gameplay additions that make it a very different experience from the original. These new features include a new skill system based on jobs, the ability to directly control the summons, an auto-save system, or a turbo mode that makes the game play at 2x or 4x speed.

The game will be released on July 11th in North America and Europe exclusively for PS4. Check out the new version of the soundtrack in the videos below.