Today, Square Enix hosted a brand new concert by the Final Fantasy XIV “Eorzean Symphony” orchestra at the Pacifico Yokohama National Convention Hall.

After getting off the train in the popular Minato Mirai 21 district of the Japanese port city, I immediately noticed that many around me were there for the same reason as I was.

The Final Fantasy XIV crowd is easy to spot: Besides the inevitable t-shirts touting the defeat of this or that primal, there are often a detail or two in someone’s attire that betray their identity as a warrior of the light (or darkness).

The most common sign in this kind of occasion is a pin (s) displaying their work of choice. Of course, I proudly wore my Paladin pin myself, and it’s not uncommon to come across complete strangers exchanging that secret smile that silently says “I know who you really are.”

There are no language barriers, no differences in age, gender or social status. Deep down, we are all adventurers from Eorzea.

After many such encounters on the way to the concert hall, I finally reached the Pacifico Yokohama complex as the weather turned sour.

As I was due to attend the second concert of the day, I was just in time to catch the exit of the crowd leaving the first.

As the weather definitely deteriorated, it was easy to spot the hundreds of smiles on the faces of the Army of Light Warriors leaving the area.

Of course, after enjoying the original FFXIV orchestra concert two years ago, I wasn’t surprised that my fellow musicians had a great time.

By the time I arrived 90 minutes before the concert, the line for the usual adorable merchandising was already long, and the line to get to the show itself was even longer.

The Pacifico Yokohama National Convention Hall has 5,000 seats, and I haven’t spotted a single empty one for this concert.

As the show finally began, audiences were greeted with fun jokes from producer and director Naoki Yoshida and composer Masayoshi Soken, who delivered the entire show without missing a beat.

On the podium was Hirofumi Kurita, taking over the role of conductor of the first Orchestral Concert.

The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and a full choir of male and female voices were seated in front of him.

Speaking of the choir, a particularly funny moment saw Soken-san push Yoshida-san to take a stand in the choir to sing Stormblood’s “The Measure of Our Reach” before improvising an Imperial salute and literally leaving the stage.

American singer Susan Calloway, who has been lending her voice for years to the themes of the game from A Realm Reborn to Stormblood, has taken up the torch with her magnificent voice.

When she took the stage to sing “Dragonsong” and “Revolutions”, I have to admit that I started to cry without restraint (besides trying to be quiet).

Each song was associated with appropriate images from the game, and if you’re familiar with the sets, you’re probably familiar with the scenes that made me scream like a little kid.

Suffice to say that I was attached to this very specific shield pendant that I always wear under my shirt until my knuckles turn white.

I was certainly not the only one feeling the emotion: in the darkness around me, I could see plenty of lucid eyes, and an additional gig of sniffles accompanied several poignant moments of the performance.

It may come as a surprise to those unfamiliar with Final Fantasy XIV, but the team at Square Enix have managed over the years to merge an absolutely epic and moving story populated by beloved characters with one of the best soundtracks ever. gaming industry.

Many of us have been “living” this story for six years without a break, considering it to be an MMORPG and not a single-player JRPG.

You can complete a Final Fantasy game solo in a matter of weeks, or even days, but this type of MMORPG usually stays with you a lot, a lot, longer, until it becomes a big part of your adult life. , with a lot of affection (and some sad) memories of his own.

Plus, there are those Warriors of Light like yours that stuck with the game even before its successful re-release in 2013.

We have been traveling the land of Eorzea since 2010, and we have taken our first steps in a world hated by most, keeping the hope of seeing it reborn.

Those hopes have come true thanks to one of the most epic emerging storylines ever created for a video game, so it shouldn’t be surprising that Final Fantasy XIV is so closely tied to our lives that its memories open the floodgates of tears.

Make no mistake: the friends we lost in this game, although many of them are fictional characters, were and are our friends. Replaying their final moments on the big screen accompanied by the familiar and gorgeous voice of Calloway would bring even the most seasoned Roegadyn Dark Knights to their knees.

As the concert moved into its final stages, Soken-san mentioned that it would be nice to have another one dedicated to Shadowbringers, and I totally agree. Yet the performers were not yet short of surprises.

The orchestra wowed audiences with immortal classics like “A World Apart” (played with the lights on, presumably to signify that the music was talking about us, the players, and allowing us to see each other’s smiling faces. ), “The Worm’s Tail,” and “From the Heavens,” but the final checkmate was yet to come.

In the more classic “one more thing …” moment, Kurita-sensei stepped back onto the catwalk and the Shadowbringers logo appeared on screen. Many, including yours, literally screamed.

As the notes of “Invincible” echoed through the concert hall accompanying poignant images, the emotional pressure exploded. Many in the audience were in tears again and my glasses were fogged up so much that I had to take them off.

If the original “Eorzea Symphony” from two years ago had one flaw, it was Stormblood’s lack of music, which was then the last expansion.

This brief but intense surprise from Shadowbringers brought to the surface all the new feelings that came from reading the expansion’s spectacular story just two months ago, giving the concert the final impact it deserved. It was the real crowning moment of the evening.

When all was said and done, the orchestra, choir, Kurita-sensei, Yoshida-san, Soken-san and Miss Calloway had received four standing ovations, and in Japan, it is already exceptional to trigger one.

The Final Fantasy XIV community has never been one to hide their love for the game and its creators, and its Japanese half is no exception.

After the final applause wore off, I just went out in the rain without an umbrella and didn’t care.

Now I’m writing this on the train home, while the feelings still burn inside. I’m wet from head to toe, but my heart is warm.

If you want to learn more about Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (which was recently updated to version 5.05), you can read our recent interview with Naoki Yoshida and Banri Oda, our review of the latest expansion, and our article on why. presents the best story among all the stories told by the Final Fantasy series.

You can also read the review of our last visit to Eorzea Cafe in Tokyo.

Final Fantasy XIV is currently available on PS4 and PC. Update 5.1 will arrive at the end of October.

For the sake of full disclosure, the entrance ticket to the Final Fantasy XIV Orchestra concert has been kindly provided by Square Enix. Travel and accommodation costs in Tokyo were fully self-funded by Twinfinite.

Update: Square Enix sent a press kit with many official images. We’ve added them all to the gallery below.