Now that the FFTA2 OST's out, what are everyone's opinions on how the newly arranged versions of FFTA and FFXII songs compare to the originals?

My first impression is that they're merely "ports" rather than arrangements.  I'll have to listen again to get a more thorough impression of what is different.

I'd agree that they're superficially similar, but these are mostly arrangements rather than ports. I think part of the reason Masaharu Iwata, Mitsuhiro Kaneda, Kimihiro Abe, and Noriyuki Kamikura were assigned these roles were to ensure that they were different. I do hear fingerprints from some of them, for instance the jazz fusions of "In the Bar" might be Kaneda, while the abrupt rhythmic features and driving snares of "The Mosphoran Highwaste" may represent Abe.  However, I'm either indifferent to most arrangements compared to the originals or simply don't like them. "Companions..." for instance is too bombastic for me with far too much percussion to capture the whimsical spirit of the original, "In the Bar" feels too sleazy and not really fitting with the surrounding, and "The Salikawood" lacks the timbral richness and balance the original had. Still, at least the synth is a hell of a lot better than what was offered in Revenant Wings.

I'm not a big fan of the FFXII arrangements, but the FFTA ones are superb.
I love the OST all in all, especially the main theme/melody. (first heard as the short piano piece "Putting Words Together"... my favorite iteration is "The End Of The Tale")
One of Sakimoto's best main melodies I think, perhaps the best... although the one for Valkyrie Of The Battlefield is sounding great too.

I absolutely agree with you. It reminds me of Sakimoto's best-inspired works: Vagrant Story, Legaia 2, Breath of Fire V... It has the same power as "Joshua" from VS, for example. Truly magnificent. FFTA2's soundtrack as a whole is excellent, I am very happy to see that Sakimoto wrote a good amount of new pieces, unlike Revenant Wings. Among the arrangements of FFXII, "Into the Fantasy" is probably my favorite, but "The Salikawood" was already a favorite in its original form.

The new stuff is pretty good but most of the pieces are simply ported over from FFXII and FFTA with very little variation (aside from a synth downgrade in the case of FFXII). I suppose it's better than Revenant Wings where about 90% of the material was rehash but I was really hoping for lots of new material here.

I count a total of one hour and 12 minutes of new Sakimoto music on the FFTA2 OST.  Not too shabby if you ask me.

-Mike

Yeah, the ratio is in favor of the new material. It's just harder to pick out amongst the old (probably because it's largely more subtle).

the A2 soundtrack is superb. love all the arrangements. "putting words together" mmm i wish it was longer

seriously i think this may be my fave postff12 sakimoto soundrack.