Distant Worlds Music from Final Fantasy celebrates its return to Detroit, Michigan, since its last visit in 2009. For those who haven’t experienced it yet or in the years since the worldwide shutdown due to COVID-19, it was a relaxing and soothing time watching the live symphony playing scores from the popular video game series, Final Fantasy.

Welcome Home

Coming off 35 years of Final Fantasy’s anniversary, Square Enix continues to tour the world with its Distant Worlds concert series with conductor Arnie Roth. Roth has worked with many orchestras on tour, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for its concert in Detroit. Joining him during his visit to Detroit is Susan Calloway who has done vocal work for Final Fantasy XIV. Also, she’s a Detroit native. Out of all the singers chosen to sing in one of the most popular video game franchises in the world, being a singer from Detroit, Michigan, the home of Motown, is both impressive and fitting.

In the Distant Worlds concert series, the audience not only experienced the live orchestral music and choirs from their favorite Final Fantasy titles but also visuals displayed on a screen projector above the musicians to give more life to the music. The experience is quite different from the Crystalline Resonance: Final Fantasy Piano Concert that was performed in Detroit earlier in the year as that was performed by a solo pianist. It’s a nostalgia trip for fans who picked up the controller to play their favorite character, battled enemies, and smiled at humorous dialogue.

Susan Calloway came on stage to sing the well-known vocal track from Final Fantasy XIV, “Dragonsong”. Additionally, she sang an older Final Fantasy vocal track that was originally sung by Hong Kong’s Faye Wong, Final Fantasy VIII’s “Eyes on Me”. Calloway performed remarkably well, and it was always a delight to see her introduced on stage for many more vocal tracks from older Final Fantasy titles such as “Memories of Life” from Final Fantasy IX.

Encore! Encore!

With two hours and an intermission, the program set for its Detroit showing was entertaining, but it felt like it could have been more. Experiencing a few Distant Worlds concerts in other cities, the program has changed to keep up with the latest Final Fantasy releases. This meant that some tracks ten years ago have been discarded for newer scores. For example, tracks from 2002’s Final Fantasy XI and 2006’s Final Fantasy XII were missing in the Detroit showing. Instead, there’s a set of new scores from 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake that includes “Those Chosen by the Planet” , “Jessie’s Theme”, and the orchestra version of “Stand Up”. “Stand Up” actually was a great addition with its lively score and the orchestra musicians were quite into it.

The one thing Square and Distant Worlds should have added was a track from the recent release of Final Fantasy XVI. Particularly, the track “Find the Flame” would be a great and spectacular score to add. The score was showcased about a year ago in a trailer for PlayStation’s State of Play. This would only help bring more publicity and excitement to not only the latest Final Fantasy game but also the concert series.

The Final Fantasy

There’s an enormous amount of Final Fantasy scores that should be played and two hours is just not enough. Hopefully, Distant Worlds will make its way back to Detroit or at least another nearby city for fans to enjoy the show again and give more chances to those who couldn’t make it. It’s a concert series that Final Fantasy fans should experience at least once.

Tickets and event dates available on the official Distant Worlds website.