Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth had a huge and beloved soundtrack, but one song stood out, Stamp’s. The truth is, not even the composers know why.
“‘Stamp’ was written as Shinra’s mascot theme song, and perhaps the song reflects the mismatched image of a puppy wearing a helmet,” composer Mitsuto Suzuki told NME. “We hope you can feel the differences in the mood with the cute nursery rhyme-like melody and the variety of arrangements […] I’m also very happy to hear that there has been a ton of positive responses to the song, I wonder why that is.”
‘Stamp’ is the kind of song not often seen in RPGs, so the reception to it was unexpected. The entire game is unusual, with a vast score filled with so many genres it seems impossible.
“We try to create a sense of unity by arranging and directing the tracks so that they connect as smoothly as possible throughout the flow of the game,” composer Keiji Kawamori said to NME. However, cohesion isn’t the be all and end all when creating art. “I think it’s also important to deliberately create parts of the game that have less of a cohesive feel in order to create a greater impact,” Kawamori added.
Kawamori also noted that since so many composers on the Square Enix team have such a high standard of work and can create within so many genres, “we knew that we would be able to produce something of high-quality regardless of which genre we requested.”
While the pair was tight-lipped on how long the Final Fantasy Rebirth score took to compose, Suzuki did tell NME that “at times it was difficult to schedule and switch between recording and composing” due to the sheer volume of pieces being created.
Suzuki’s favourite song in the game is ‘Chadley’s Theme. “It makes me stop and listen,” he told NME. But for us, it’s ‘New Merc in Town’. “I created the melody by humming while looking at the lyrics in order to bring Kyrie’s bubbly personality to the forefront,” Suzuki said. “I always find that a memorable melody is best made by humming, and it’s fun to imagine that Kyrie prepared this song in the game. Red XIII called it ‘aggressive advertising,’ however.”
In other news, Devolver will be revealing a new game during Summer Game Fest.