Square Enix has put out a Final Fantasy lo-fi album called Square Enix Chill Out Arrangement Tracks - Around 80's Mix, and despite the unwieldly name, the music is surprisingly great - and unsurprisingly relaxing. Final Fantasy is one of the longest-running JRPG franchises in the world, and while its flashy graphics, adaptable combat mechanics and larger-than-life characters often get most of the spotlight, the franchise's music arrangements have a history of being some of the genre's best as well.
For those unfamiliar with lo-fi remixes, they're essentially stripped down, melodic, and meditative versions of popular music. The genre rose to popularity following the explosion of the "lo-fi beats to relax/study to" stream from YouTube channel ChilledCow. The lo-fi scene has become much more crowded in the time since, but it's remained a popular choice for content creators looking to provide relaxing videos, streamers hoping to avoid copyright infringement, and yes, students who want to either relax or study to some unobtrusive music. Recently, World of Warcraft lo-fi remixes made headlines for their quality, and it's not surprising to see games attempt to branch into the medium.
That's likely why Square Enix put out Square Enix Chill Out Arrangement Tracks - Around 80's Mix, which collects a group of 15 songs from Final Fantasy and remixes them into lo-fi versions. The project has gained a lot of steam, and a report from PC Gamer helped bring more attention to the quality of the album, which strikes a great balance between the identity of each of its tracks and the qualities that make lo-fi remixes so compelling to those who enjoy them. Unsurprisingly, the album has been well-received by fans looking to relax, and it's available on Spotify, with a physical album available in the Square Enix store for $29.99 USD for those interested in owning a copy.
The album collects songs from classics like Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy Legend III, so it's not going to have a slew of recognizable remixes to those who got into the series more recently. Still, the popularity of the project and the Final Fantasy music catalogue as a whole should provide Square Enix with plenty more opportunity to realize more modern lo-fi remixes of tracks should it wish to.
Using video games as a method of relaxation is a pretty common practice, and transforming some of those games' most recognizable songs into further means to chill out is a great practice. A lot of Final Fantasy tracks are meditative or fantastical in nature, which complements the lo-fi angle pretty well - it'd be interesting to see how well other games do with pursuits like this. Can an official DOOM soundtrack remix be relaxing? Is it possible to make Stardew Valley even more chill? Hopefully the popularity of Square Enix Chill Out Arrangement Tracks - Around '80s Mix means fans get the answers to those questions somewhere down the line.
Source: Square Enix Shop (via PC Gamer)
