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Interview: How Hitoshi Sakimoto composed the score of Final Fantasy XII

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If you’re reading this story, chances are you’ve already heard the work of Hitoshi Sakimoto. His larger-than-life orchestral scores breathe life into the world of Ivalice — the setting of games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII — and are just as tied to these games’ identities as the characters within them.

In celebration of Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age joining the PlayStation Now library this month, I had the rare opportunity to ask Sakimoto-san about his work on the legendary JRPG franchise, as well as his philosophy on composing for games and where he thinks the medium is headed. Read on for the full interview, then load up Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age to hear a master at work.

PlayStation.Blog: If I were to describe the music of Final Fantasy XII in a single word, it would be “grand.” What was your approach when envisioning the overall sound for the game all those years ago?

Hitoshi Sakimoto: If I were to add a few other words, I think it could be described as dazzling, or vivid. For the overall direction of the game, the aim was to create an orthodox entry in the main Final Fantasy series.

Speaking more specifically about the music, I centred on chord progression and orchestration that felt bright and colorful right at the heart of the compositions and tried to make sure that the layers of the songs wouldn’t stray too far from this focal point. The theme song for Final Fantasy XII that is used during the opening movie where Rasler dies in the war between Archadia and Dalmasca demonstrates these characteristics best.

Additionally, I tried to avoid negative emotions overall. For parts where those negative emotions had to be included, I made sure to intentionally build in some “pathways to positivity” within the music.

In terms of composition, Final Fantasy XII appeared to include some sci-fi elements, but I decided to disregard that for the music, treating it as pure fantasy.

PSB: When Square Enix approached you to revisit the soundtrack of FFXII for The Zodiac Age on PS4, what was the overall goal of that project and how did you achieve it?

HS: In the original game, I regretted that we could only have the opening and ending songs performed live due to the budget. That’s why, when working on The Zodiac Age, I asked to be able to switch all the music out for live performances.

Orchestration had already been completed at the time of the original game, so my aim was to preserve the atmosphere of these originals, whilst creating a live performance that exceeded the previous version. Some tracks use a sound pattern that sounds particularly good with a synthesised orchestra, so to create the sheet music for these songs, I either had to change those particular parts or just try playing them live to see how they would turn out, discussing options with the conductor and musicians as I went.

The tricky part was the sheer volume of work, and there was just so much to do that creating the sheet music, the recording and the mixing all felt like a long, drawn-out battle, haha.

PSB: One of your biggest breakthrough soundtracks was for Final Fantasy Tactics, which was our introduction to the world of Ivalice (where Final Fantasy XII takes place). Do you compose Ivalician music with specific th

How the DualSense controller enhances Deep Rock Galactic’s mining and combat

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Welcome to the mining conglomerate crew! Deep Rock Galactic is a sci-fi, co-op* first-person shooter in which you play as badass space dwarves assigned to various mining missions on the rich, but deadly planet Hoxxes IV.

Explore procedurally-generated cave systems and navigate 100% destructible environments as you carry out your mission and fight endless hordes of alien monsters. We’re excited to dive into some of the features players can experience in the PlayStation 5 version of the game, specifically the immersive DualSense wireless controller features.

Dig this: The PS4 and PS5 versions of Deep Rock Galactic are available to PlayStation Plus members until February 1. 

Haptic feedback & adaptive triggers

Deep Rock Galactic is all about immersion, from the Dwarves digging into the planet to the way the DualSense controller sucks players into the game. Feel detailed haptic vibrations, hear in-universe audio on your controller’s speaker, and experience weapon feedback via the adaptive triggers.

Each weapon has been given a more distinct feeling based on its firepower and mechanisms. The haptics and triggers also enhance the contrast between heavier and lighter weapons, such as feeling the intense, rapid recoil of Thunderhead Heavy Autocannon or the softer, longer micro missile volleys of the Hurricane Guided Rocket System.

The haptic feedback immersion extends beyond gunplay, too. Approaching erupting Morkite wells and beating Dreadnaught eggs makes the vibration increase in scale with a continuous pulse. Riding aboard the Drop Pod as it drills through terrain sends a continuous pulse to the controller perfectly timed as the grinder chews through rocks.

We’ve also tapped into the adaptive triggers to further bring the dwarven tools and weapons to life. Feel added tension on the trigger while reloading a weapon, or experience zero tension when the weapon clip runs dry.

Mining sq

(For Southeast Asia) Get Ready to Rumble with Persona 4 Arena Ultimax in 2022

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Face off against old friends and foes in the P-1 CLIMAX and experience the action-packed continuation of the Persona 4 Golden story.

About Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

The stakes are Ultimate, the tension is Maximum, the fight is… the ULTIMAX! Experience the latest entry into the beloved Persona 4 series with a thrilling fighting twist. Join the heroes as they combat an army of Shadows in the P-1 CLIMAX!

The stakes are Ultimate, the tension is Maximum, the fight is… the ULTIMAX! Experience the latest entry into the beloved Persona 4 series with a thrilling fighting twist. Join the heroes as they combat an army of Shadows in the P-1 CLIMAX!

Key Features include:

• Ultimax Version – Includes all previously released Persona 4 Arena Ultimax content, including the original Persona 4 Arena story
• A Deep Roster of Playable Characters – Persona 3 fan-favorites and “Shadow” versions offer a range of fighting styles to choose from
• Dual audio – Choose between Japanese and English VO

For more information on Persona 4 Arena Ultimax visit: https://atlus.com/p4au/

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Screenshots

Official PlayStation Podcast Episode 420: Better Together

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Email us at PSPodcast@sony.com!

Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google or RSS, or download here


This week the team shares some good couch co-op games for new gamers to dip their toes into, and share highlights from a team session playing Deep Rock Galactic.

Stuff We Talked About

  • Top Downloads for 2021
  • Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach
  • It Takes Two
  • Overcooked
  • Moving Out
  • Little Nightmares
  • Tales from the Borderlands
  • Deep Rock Galactic


The Cast

Tim Turi –  Manager, Content Communications, SIE
Kristen Zitani – Senior Content Communications Specialist, SIE

Share of the Week: New Years’ Game

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After an unreal amount of submissions, we’re diving headfirst into The Matrix Awakens and highlighting your hyper-realistic cityscape shares: 

NemesisNat shares Kena wearing a spirit’s fox mask in Kena: Bridge of Spirits.

coalabr14 poses their character in Demon’s Souls stoically.

toko_luke95 shares an action pose from Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

PS5Gamephoto shares a painted portrait of Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil: Village.

killshot_studio shares Sam walking a rampway in Death Stranding.

adambomb2mk shares a galactic view from Chorus.

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week? 

THEME: Round
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on January 14, 2022

Next week’s theme is taking shape! Share round or curved objects and settings in the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

God of War on PC: Gameplay tips for tomorrow’s launch

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Tomorrow on January 14, God of War (2018) launches on PC. To ensure you’re ready, we’ve released our PC system requirements and features – be sure to check them both out.

Ultrawide trailer

One of the unique PC features that we’re very excited about is the 21:9 ultra-widescreen support that will allow you to play the game with an incredibly unique theatrical feel. Take a look below:

God of War on PC: Gameplay tips for tomorrow’s launch

We can’t wait to see your ultrawide screen shots!

Nine Realms survival guide

With our release on the PC, we’re hoping that many new players will be able to experience Kratos and Atreus’ story for the first time. To help you get started, we’ve put together some beginner tips that will prepare you for the journey to come.

God of War | PC

Don’t forget your Boy

Atreus may be young, but he’s one of your best assets in combat. As your journey progresses, Atreus will grow stronger and gain access to abilities that can make all the difference in your toughest fights like being able to stun monsters, bring Kratos back from the brink of death, and unleash powerful magical abilities along with his bow attacks.

Atreus has thre

RPGolf Legends swings to PS4 and PS5 January 20

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We are really happy to finally be able to show off RPGolf Legends, releasing Jan 20, 2022 for PS5 and PS4 with cross-buy support!

I’m Riccardo Castelnuovo, the founder of ArticNet which is the team behind RPGolf Legends. The core team is very (very) small… just me and another developer (hi, Guillaume!). In total we have been working on RPGolf Legends for a little over two years.

The idea that brought RPGolf Legends to life comes from the 8-bit golf games I played when I was a kid. I loved them but every shot I took I could not help but wanting to explore those beautiful fields where the character was playing golf (back in the day, those pixels looked so beautiful). So that is where the idea of the open-world golf game originated. What’s the best thing to do while exploring a golf course, besides playing golf? Fighting monsters, of course! And that is how the whole thing came to life.

While designing RPGolf Legends there were many challenges we faced, but the hardest was definitely trying to achieve a good balance between the golf, fighting, exploration, and RPG elements. Making sure that the game felt natural was really hard when two genres like golf and RPG are mixed together. It was also especially hard because we thought that focusing on one aspect or the other should be entirely up to the player so that everyone can enjoy the game as they see fit, paying more attention to the aspect they like the best.

There are many things players can do, but I personally like the crafting the most. Once you get a blueprint for a new item/golf set/dish/etc, there is nothing more gratifying than searching for all the materials and finally crafting the item. I think players will feel like they earned the item after a long quest.

When it comes to fighting, special boss battles take place at the last hole of every area. The main character, Aerin, has to complete the hole in order to defeat each boss. To do so, she first has to fight the boss, stun it, and take a shot before it gets back on his feet.

The biggest advice I can give is to try to stay close to the ball, because when you finally stun the boss, there will not be much time to take a shot! Being close to the ball will make everything a lot easier.

Each monster and boss is directly inspired by the area the character is exploring. For example in the first area (the forest), Aerin will face a giant evil tree blocking her path. The tree can perform attacks close to his character (leaf storms, root attacks and so on…) and to defeat him, paying attention to the patterns is vital!

This epic collaboration will officially become available on January 20, following a midseason update for Vanguard and Warzone Pacific that will include a new Operator, a new weapon, additional content for Zombies, various bug fixes, and more.

The Vanguard update will be downloadable on January 11 at 9 PM PT, while the Warzone Pacific update can be downloaded starting January 12 at 9 PM PT. 

These will prepare both games for the first full day of Season One’s midseason update on January 13 at 9 AM PT. 

The Tracer Pack: Attack on Titan — Levi Edition Bundle

In celebration of Attack on Titan’s final season, Vanguard and Warzone Pacific players can become a Survey Corps member through the Tracer Pack: Attack on Titan — Levi Edition Bundle. (Available via the in-game store for 2,400CP, equivalent to $19.99 USD / £16.79)

This 10-item Store Bundle is not just for superfans of the franchise; it has the style and firepower to become a leader among soldiers, just like Levi Ackerman.

One of the most notable additions to this Bundle is the “Titan Piercer,” a Weapon Blueprint that models the very blade that can slay Titans. Made of ultrahard steel, the only material that can cut through Titan flesh, this one-edge blade is more than capable of slicing through squads with ease.

Also available in the Bundle is the Legendary “Steel Cut” Finishing Move, as well as the Vanguard-exclusive “Vertical Maneuver” Highlight Intro and the “Ultrahard Steel” MVP Highlight.

The other two weapons in this Bundle are the Legendary “Historia” SMG and “Ymir Curse” Assault Rifle Weapon Blueprints, two firearms that are great additions to your Warzone Pacific or Vanguard Multiplayer and Zombies Loadouts.

“Ymir Curse” is built for Operators who pride themselves on accurate shots downrange. With a nine-attachment configuration, near-zero horizontal recoil, and almost-maximum effectiv

Creating Infernax, the retro game of Berzerk Studio’s childhood dreams

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Hey dudes, Mike from Berzerk here with some fresh blogpost for y’all. With Infernax coming February 14, the day of love, we figured we’d let you in behind our velvet curtains to show you what makes this retro action-RPG tick. 

Creating Infernax, the retro game of Berzerk Studio’s childhood dreams

Sugar Rush

Part of what made us want to do Infernax in the first place was to create a game the closest to something we would’ve played back when we were but wee childs. To be more exact, we wanted to have a game that looked like it was straight out of the 80s but would have never been released, a mythical game you’d talk about in the school courtyard, a game that had everything you wanted in your child’s mind.

So we went with that premise, instead of going with a 100% accuracy we decided to design the game around the imagination of a sugar powered kid; we took a skeleton of a few games we liked and powdered that with a ton of “no way” moments.

What if the game remembered what you did, what if it had way too many secrets, what if it was also disgustingly gory; it’s all of those things. The story is all built on your decisions, and those decisions guide what upgrades you get, what quests become available to you.

Making old new again

Fun part about that process is that most of the things we’d speculate games to be able to do (and by speculate I re

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