It’s hard to believe that the Final Fantasy franchise has been around since the 80s. Fans of generations have grown up with the RPG games’ powerful storytelling, it’s beautiful visuals, and its gorgeous music. Celebrating 25 years of Final Fantasy X (Final Fantasy 10), the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra brought Distant Worlds: Music from FINAL FANTASY to Melbourne’s Hamer Hall.
Conducted by Arnie Roth, with composer Masashi Hamauzu present, and Japanese singer RIKKI performing, accompanied with the MSO Chorus, what unfolded was a wonderful evening, filled with beautiful music, no matter which way you looked at it.
Admittedly, this was my second time seeing a Distant Worlds concert. I recall seeing Distant Worlds back in 2019 at John Cain Arena. This time, however, is the first time Distant Worlds has collaborated with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and honestly, it was a match made in heaven.
With its music embraced by the excellent acoustics of Arts Centre Melbourne’s Hamer Hall, you didn’t have to be a Final Fantasy fan to enjoy the concert, but it helps! Lovingly visiting through the entire Final Fantasy game franchise, with music from Final Fantasy VIII and VII being hot favourites. Melbourne fans were delighted to hear the intro music on the harp, the victory fanfare, and even a very fun ‘Chocobo Medley 2010’ with perfectly timed visuals to match of our series favourite yellow bird.
Fan favourites of the evening include the exquisite ‘Love Grows’ by Nobuo Uematsu from Final Fantasy VIII (Final Fantasy 8), ‘Opening – Bombing Mission’, also by Nobuo Uematsu, from Final Fantasy VII (Final Fantasy 7), and the dynamic ad striking ‘Thunder Plains’ from Masashi Hamauzu. However, as the concert was mainly celebrating Final Fantasy X, a decent chunk of the second half of the program, and was received with delight and patrons, some of which were dressed in their best Final Fantasy cosplay, were hanging on the edge of their seats.
You could hear a pin drop in between breaths when Japanese songstress RIKKI appeared to sing the stunning ‘Suteki Da Ne’ by Nobuo Uematsu from Final Fantasy X. Hearing the song in game is one thing, hearing it live is another, to the point that after the song concluded, I didn’t realise I had been holding my breath!
Keeping with the Final Fantasy X themed celebrations, ‘Fight With Seymour’ had its live debut, and ‘To Zanarkand’ surprisingly moved me to tears. I’ve played Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but I actually haven’t played Final Fantasy X yet, even though I own the game! It’s in my ‘pile of shame collection’ of games I am yet to play, and hearing the music from Final Fantasy X live reminded me not only of how much I love video game scores, but also of a promise I made to myself years ago to play it!
Not only is Arnie Roth a talented conductor, but man, does he make an excellent host. You always felt welcome and could feel his enthusiasm and energy whenever he addressed the audience, clearly not just there in an official and professional capacity, you could tell Roth was a true fan of the game franchise and its music. Plus, his excitement grew tenfold when he adopted the audience into the orchestra, and we were conducted by Roth to sing the words “Sephiroth!” when signalled, during the encore of ‘One Wing Angel’ from Final Fantasy VII. The footage on screens showing both the original Final Fantasy VII visuals and the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which was a nice touch. Getting to be part of the orchestra, even when Roth had Melbourne patrons practice that one line gave me goosebumps. You just had to be there!
Many in the audience were stoked to have heard music from the games they knew of so well. Many confessing they’ve played one or two of the series but were now inspired to play more after witnessing such a wonderful concert. With concert merchandise being a hot commodity and creating long lines of eager fans determined to grab a keepsake to remember the evening by, it would be maddening should Distant Worlds return to our fair city, to not collaborate with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra again at Hamer Hall. It was phenomenal.
Distant Worlds: Music from FINAL FANTASY with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is currently playing at Arts Centre Melbourne’s Hamer Hall for four shows from Thursday the 23rd of July to Saturday the 25th of July.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://www.mso.com.au/performance/2026-distant-worlds-music-from-final-fantasy
Photography by Laura Manariti.
That’s amazing, it really feels like a lifetime ago when I first played VII. The music is still so iconic.