Several Final Fantasy 14 community members and musicians have joined together to create a special performance dedicated to the MMO’s lead music director, Masayoshi Soken.
The ‘Final Fantasy 14 Medley’, which was uploaded by YouTuber Husky by the Geek and orchestrated by Sleeping Penguin, included appearances from up to 40 musicians.
The musicians, as well as content creators, featured in the video include Alex Moukala, Joshuataipale, Kuraine, and more, all of whom are known throughout the Final Fantasy 14 community.
The performance was created to pay tribute to the online game’s lead musical composer and sound director, Masayoshi Soken, who has recently returned to continue his work on the game.
It was revealed during the closing ceremony of the Final Fantasy 14 Digital FanFest that Soken had been battling cancer and curating music for the Shadowbringers expansion from his hospital bed while undergoing treatment.
Naoki Yoshida, game director of Final Fantasy 14, shared that he kept Soken’s condition and his work a secret as the composer wished.
After the news broke, Final Fantasy 14 fans shared an overwhelming amount of support for the long-time game composer, with many sharing how much his work has impacted the MMO and their lives.
The musical rendition, ‘Welcome Back Soken’, created by the 40 musicians, pays homage to Soken by playing a montage of some of his most iconic scores from the game.
Songs such as “The Maker’s Ruin” from A Realm Reborn, “Storm of Blood” from the Stormblood expansion, and “Neath Dark Waters” from Shadowbringers made an appearance during the medley.
Masayoshi Soken has previously praised Alex Moukala for his fan-made remix of his song “To The Edge”. Moukala is well-known in the Final Fantasy community for creating ‘funky’ beats from iconic songs from the franchise.
The release date for Final Fantasy 14 Endwalker has been officially confirmed, along with a ton of more details for the upcoming expansion.
