So I got this at TGS with my purchase of SQ Chips and it's a far more interesting sampler than the last one I got (again at TGS a couple years ago).  Here's a quick look title by title, each of which have one track a piece except for Final Fantasy XIII-2 with three.

Final Fantasy Type-0
Interesting part-alternative rock, part-country western sound and solid production values but still a pretty dull and repetitive composition.

Re:Birth: Seiken Densetsu Kenji Ito Arrange Album (Seiken Densetsu "Battle 2")
Hooh quite interesting hearing a new take on this after the Seiken Densetsu Sound Collections arrangement from way back.  Violin and guitar-heavy arrangement reminds me of recent Falcom or Shimomura... not quite up there with the Sound Collections version but a nice teaser for the upcoming album.

Final Fantasy XI Original Soundtrack -Plus-
Wow yet another FFXI album.  I'm not sure where the "Plus" tracks are coming from this time around but the synthy, poppy jazz-fusion track on display here doesn't have my hopes up.  Reminds me of Arc the Lad Original Game Soundtrack.

Cafe SQ  (Final Fantasy IV "Troian Beauty")
This is pretty much in line with your standard game/anime cafe album.  Arrangement matches the theme fine but something about the recording is waaay off.  Doesn't have that cafe ambiance at all - sounds almost like it came from a sequencer.

Chaos Rings Omega Original Soundtrack
Ugh, overly dramatic combo of solo sopranist with orchestra, both overenthusiastic and cheesy.  Quite similar in sound to the Last Ranker's main vocal theme (one of the low points of an otherwise solid soundtrack).

El Shaddai & The Astrals
Decently arranged piano track even if I can't say it really strikes me.

Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy ("Prelude")
I feel like I should be saying this arrangement of new age synth and choral "ahhs" with a bass and cymbal-heavy beat doesn't really warrant yet another version of "Prelude" but I have to admit it makes some nice BGM ^^

Piano Collections Final Fantasy I-II-III ("The Rebel Army")
Pretty standard FF Piano Collections material here.  Not bad but certainly not gonna win over the skeptics.

Bravely Default
Somebody convince me that this isn't a complete rip-off of the Ni no Kuni main theme.  Also, among many dumb game titles as of late this is one of the dumber ones.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 (3 tracks)
I'm a bona fide non-fan of the first OST and a skeptic of this second effort but I have to admit these tracks are quite nice.  Has the same high orchestral production values of its predecessor and a sound similar to its softer, more naturalistic pieces (sorry, titles escape me) but with the addition of some very nice female vocals.  Will be keeping an eye on this one!

I like FFXIII lots but Mizuta's track from XIII-2 was so bad that I concluded at least his portion would suck.

http://blog.jp.square-enix.com/music/cm … iii-2.html

How generic, bland, mundane and predictable it is. I strongly suspect the last half of the track was improvised by the performers, and nonetheless dull.

Isn't that actually Kawamori's track? Mizuta's track is below and I'm liking it quite a bit. I was assuming it was arranged by Hamauzu, but the blog entry suggests it's all Mizuta. Kind of neat!

http://blog.jp.square-enix.com/music/cm_blog/mizuta/

Good write up, Adam.  Now let's get some impressions on SQ Chips!

They released the Wings of the Goddess soundtrack, like all their expansion OST, at the time of its release. Additional music was written for this expansion.

And then there was a bunch of new music written for the 3 story-based add-ons, as well as the 3 "Abyssea" add-ons. It's actually pretty good music.

I believe the track you heard, "Luck of the Mog," is the final boss music from the 2nd of the 3 story add-ons, "A Moogle Kupo d'Etat." IMO that was the weakest of the 3 boss themes. I think the one for "Shantotto Ascension" is fantastic, very Williams-esque.

And the background BGM for the Abyssea zones are totally calming.

/FFXIgush

I didn't even know a piano collections for the first three FFs was coming out...

Based on the samples I've heard, not expecting much from FFXIII-2. Wish they'd stuck solely with Hamauzu.

I also didn't know about the FF1-3 piano collection.  Color me interested.  Also - Hamauzu isn't solo on XIII-2?  Now I've gotta listen to those samples to see if I might not totally hate the ost like I did the first one!

Adam,

Just read your full review of SQ Chips on the frontpage of the site. Love it. Can't wait for my copy to show up in the mail.