Yoko Shimomura Reflects on Balancing Final Fantasy and Disney in Kingdom Hearts Scores
- ⚡Xe⚡
- Apr 8
- 3 min read
As previously reported, Yoko Shimomura, known for her work on Final Fantasy XV, Kingdom Hearts and Super Mario RPG, will be awarded the prestigious BAFTA Fellowship for her contributions to game music at the 2025 BAFTA Games Awards. In an interview with Eurogamer prior to the BAFTA Games Awards, Yoko Shimomura touched upon her experiences with Final Fantasy, as seen in these selected questions and answers:
Q: You're well known for composing the scores to the Kingdom Hearts games, which obviously mix Disney music and Final Fantasy. What was it like taking inspiration from such famous scores, but also balancing with your own style?
The thing about Kingdom Hearts is obviously you have those original Disney works and their well-known musical styles and themes. Obviously you don't want to take it too far away from that and completely lose that and change it to something unrecognisable, otherwise that will disappoint the fans of those original works. However, that's also a trap, because on the other hand, if you just reproduce something that is different but still sounds basically like the same thing just reworked a little bit, then that's not really good either, and that's not what people are looking for. That balancing is, like you say, a very important element - trying to add a little bit of my own taste, my own colour, into that, and rework it into something new and interesting. The methodology I use to do that is very much starting out with a research period to get an idea in my head and get a good image. I'll start by watching the original films, maybe listening to the original film soundtracks over and over again to get an image in my head of what kind of thing these [films] are about, and really have that built up within me. And again, I do the same with Final Fantasy music as well. I used to play the games a lot, so I'll definitely listen to those and let them build up in my head too. I listen to modern music as well. It's that phase of building up and understanding and then unconsciously that all melds together in my head, I think, and then I can actually start working to create in that direction.
Q: How did you ensure your own musical voice didn't get lost in that balance of Disney and Final Fantasy?
When people have ordered music for me, they've come to me specifically to ask me to make music for their game. And I think some aspect of that is they've done that because they think this is a kind of music only really I could create, or they want my personal touch on there to a certain degree. In that sense, I'm not afraid. I don't try and avoid putting my own taste, my own spin on things in there. But there is that balance to be had. I'll take it up to where I think is a good place - it won't go too far and might disappoint fans of the original, or feel wrong or too over the top. It's a good balance, but I definitely don't avoid trying to put myself into the music now.
Q: Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu has spoken about the time commitment for composing a full score, and why he's unable to do it now. What does that commitment look like for you?
I don't remember exactly what Mr. Uematsu might have said, so I can't comment specifically on what he said, but certainly I understand the sentiment there. There is a lot of work, definitely, to create the whole soundtrack for a single game. If it's just the creation of the music tracks, just the composing work, I think that's obviously a fair amount of work, but it's still something that's possible. Where the extra work comes in is outside of that: managing other musicians, for example, organising orchestral recordings, etc. And I think what's become important there is perhaps the art of delegation. So saying, 'Okay, there's this one musician, and I'd really trust him on just this part, so I'll leave it down to him'. Or to organise the orchestra, I'll leave someone to manage that. But certainly, from my own perspective, I think if people do come to me and ask me to create the whole soundtrack for another game, that's still something I'd very much be willing to take on.
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-⚡Xe⚡
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