It had to happen.  Famitsu reports that Square Enix has announced Piano Opera Final Fantasy VII/VIII/IX for release in spring of 2014.  As with the previous two entries in the series, the arrangements will be handled by Hiroyuki Nakayama.

They've also announced two live performances for the new album on May 10, 2014 in Tokyo, with tickets on sale now.  Check the link above for details (in Japanese).

Great news!

I doubt that VIII can be improved upon ... so I hope the song selections from VIII are those not found on the current Piano Collection.

VII and IX have tons of other material that ought to be explored. Hopefully Nakayama does just that.

FFVIII Piano Collection does have some great pieces.  The piano arrangement of "Silence and Motion" is one of my favorite of the whole series.  So completely different from the original.

After a couple listens I'd say this is the strongest of the three Piano Opera albums.  Put differently, this is the first one I feel I want to listen to again.  The track selection is excellent ("Words Drowned by Fireworks" on piano? Yes, please.) and Hiroyuki Nakayama's arrangements have some good ideas going in places.

As with the other two PO albums it's the lack of nuance in Nakayama's performance that holds it back - the volume and tempo stay essentially uniform in each piece, unfortunately limiting their emotional impact.  Give the exact same arrangements to a more expressive pianist (or perhaps a knowledgeable producer) and it'd be a pretty great album.

Still it's worth checking out for fans of FFVII-IX, and for people who did enjoy the first two PO albums it should be a no-brainer.

I prefer I-III the most, likely because it's the only one with no (possible) repeat material ... also, the FF2 and FF3 dungeon tracks were spot on.

I think "Words Drowned by Fireworks" was an excellent, unexpected selection, and the arrangement was great. I wish we had more like that on VII-IX.

I think you're right that many of the songs lack emotional impact. The battle tracks are AMAZING, and I think it's where Nakayama shines.

Words Drowned by Fireworks being the exception, I thought the slow songs were weak. I also fail to grasp why Ami and Melodies of Life were there. His arrangement of Ami was nearly identical to FFVIII piano ... just a little bigger. MoL was a LOT bigger, but not in a way that I enjoyed.

My big question is one of speculation: will he do a X-XII Piano Opera next or stop?

Or would he try on another series? I'd LOVE, for example, a Romancing SaGa 1-3 Piano Opera.