"I'm certain that for every track that people have enjoyed, various kinds of coffee have joined me as faithful companions" — Yasunori Nishiki on composition, Octopath Traveler, and more
In December 2025, Square Enix launched Octopath Traveler 0 for all consoles and PC platforms. After the holiday break, I had a chance to have a chat with Yasunori Nishiki to discuss his work on Octopath Traveler 0, the Octopath Traveler series, how he joined Team Asano to work on the games, the music he did for Konami, boss battle themes, arranging Final Fantasy music, coffee, and more.
RPG Site: Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you started out in the games industry? I specifically want to know about your early career with Konami and composing for anime and how that led you into Team Asano and Square Enix.
Yasunori Nishiki: My name is Yasunori Nishiki. I primarily compose and arrange music and original scores for games and anime. I got my start in the games industry right after graduating college when I joined Konami as a composer. At Konami, I mainly composed music for the title Monster Retsuden Oreca Battle. I was given the chance to have Team Asano members listen to my work from that title, and they kindly invited me to join the Octopath Traveler project.
Yasunori Nishiki: My name is Yasunori Nishiki. I primarily compose and arrange music and original scores for games and anime. I got my start in the games industry right after graduating college when I joined Konami as a composer. At Konami, I mainly composed music for the title Monster Retsuden Oreca Battle. I was given the chance to have Team Asano members listen to my work from that title, and they kindly invited me to join the Octopath Traveler project.
RPG Site: Octopath Traveler was my introduction to your music and I think the first game's soundtrack is legendary. Can you go into detail on how you approached composing character-specific themes and how you worked on the looping for the character intros leading into the battle themes perfectly?
Yasunori Nishiki: I'll mainly talk about Octopath Traveler, the first game in the series. Regarding the character themes, I worked closely with a producer from Team Asano, aiming to craft music that would evoke the character's upbringing simply through listening to the track, while also leaving players with distinctly memorable melodies, which was another important consideration.
As for the transitions into battle themes, I worked off a suggestion from the same Team Asano producer, crafting them to best serve the game while leveraging the identity of Octopath Traveler as a story of eight protagonists.
Battle music is very important in RPGs, so instead of creating multiple versions, I felt that preparing eight variations of the intro proved highly effective in getting players to enjoy listening to the same boss battle theme across multiple encounters.
Yasunori Nishiki: I'll mainly talk about Octopath Traveler, the first game in the series. Regarding the character themes, I worked closely with a producer from Team Asano, aiming to craft music that would evoke the character's upbringing simply through listening to the track, while also leaving players with distinctly memorable melodies, which was another important consideration.
As for the transitions into battle themes, I worked off a suggestion from the same Team Asano producer, crafting them to best serve the game while leveraging the identity of Octopath Traveler as a story of eight protagonists.
Battle music is very important in RPGs, so instead of creating multiple versions, I felt that preparing eight variations of the intro proved highly effective in getting players to enjoy listening to the same boss battle theme across multiple encounters.
RPG Site: Since Octopath Traveler, you've done many albums both in and outside Square Enix. I want to focus on your Square Enix work for this interview, but I'm curious how you approach composition differently for IPs like Umamusume and Yu-Gi-Oh! compared to what JRPG fans expect from your music?
Yasunori Nishiki: I’d especially love to discuss Yu-Gi-Oh!, but for Octopath Traveler, I made a conscious effort to create music that players who grew up with Square Enix RPGs would want to hear. Similarly, Yu-Gi-Oh! features tracks that embody the “essence of Yu-Gi-Oh!” shaped over the course of its long history.
For Master Duel, the digital Yu-Gi-Oh! game with the largest card collection, I tried to write music that captured this refined legacy without undermining its musical identity.
In this sense, I believe long-established IPs have a kind of musical DNA that fans naturally come to expect.
Keeping those fan expectations in mind is very important when composing music for sequels or new titles with existing context.
Yasunori Nishiki: I’d especially love to discuss Yu-Gi-Oh!, but for Octopath Traveler, I made a conscious effort to create music that players who grew up with Square Enix RPGs would want to hear. Similarly, Yu-Gi-Oh! features tracks that embody the “essence of Yu-Gi-Oh!” shaped over the course of its long history.
For Master Duel, the digital Yu-Gi-Oh! game with the largest card collection, I tried to write music that captured this refined legacy without undermining its musical identity.
In this sense, I believe long-established IPs have a kind of musical DNA that fans naturally come to expect.
Keeping those fan expectations in mind is very important when composing music for sequels or new titles with existing context.
RPG Site: How has it been working on the Final Fantasy VII remake project and various arrangement albums with Square Enix? I really like your acoustic arrangement of Battle With the Four Fiends.
Yasunori Nishiki: Final Fantasy music is something that’s legendary to me, and creating remakes or arrangements of it feels akin to deciphering sacred texts. There is always something to learn within that work, and I feel my posture straighten every time I engage with Final Fantasy music.
Yasunori Nishiki: Final Fantasy music is something that’s legendary to me, and creating remakes or arrangements of it feels akin to deciphering sacred texts. There is always something to learn within that work, and I feel my posture straighten every time I engage with Final Fantasy music.
RPG Site: Your latest project is Octopath Traveler 0. Can you cover how you approached composing for this release given you already worked on two albums for Champions of the Continent which served as a base for this. Did you try and work with older ideas or was all the new music in Octopath Traveler 0 done by you from scratch for this release?
Yasunori Nishiki: When I was first approached about Octopath Traveler 0, I was asked to prepare additional tracks for the console version of Champions of the Continent and hadn't been told it would become a mainline title.
This ultimately reduced some of the pressure I felt towards composing, allowing me to write new battle tracks and other pieces with a more relaxed mindset than usual. (This is not to say I take non-mainline titles less seriously; rather, the pressure of developing a mainline title always adds an extra sense of gravity to the composing process.)
Furthermore, because the soundtrack for Champions of the Continent is built around its distinct antagonists’ themes, the new tracks I prepared were designed to be more versatile, serving as the glue that ties the world of Champions of the Continent together for the console version.
Much like the main theme and its corresponding arrangements, these tracks embody the themes of “retribution” and “restoration,” enveloping the story of Champions of the Continent to help bring everything together as a cohesive console title.
Yasunori Nishiki: When I was first approached about Octopath Traveler 0, I was asked to prepare additional tracks for the console version of Champions of the Continent and hadn't been told it would become a mainline title.
This ultimately reduced some of the pressure I felt towards composing, allowing me to write new battle tracks and other pieces with a more relaxed mindset than usual. (This is not to say I take non-mainline titles less seriously; rather, the pressure of developing a mainline title always adds an extra sense of gravity to the composing process.)
Furthermore, because the soundtrack for Champions of the Continent is built around its distinct antagonists’ themes, the new tracks I prepared were designed to be more versatile, serving as the glue that ties the world of Champions of the Continent together for the console version.
Much like the main theme and its corresponding arrangements, these tracks embody the themes of “retribution” and “restoration,” enveloping the story of Champions of the Continent to help bring everything together as a cohesive console title.
RPG Site: As someone who has composed many of my favorite soundtracks in the last decade, I want to know what soundtracks you enjoyed from recent years, your favorite songs that you have composed, and also which composer you would like to work with in the future given the opportunity.
Yasunori Nishiki: Octopath Traveler's main theme is a track that I feel encapsulates this past decade of mine.
Composing this track was incredibly difficult, but I feel like I'd managed to create something fitting: a prayer honoring the past RPG titles that made me who I am and a track celebrating the launch of Octopath Traveler as a new RPG title.
As for my favorite track, it's hard to pick just one (laughs). At the very least, I find it ideal and delightful that fans who love Octopath Traveler and its music cherish the tracks they personally connect with, rather than gravitating toward specific popular songs. In a similar fashion, I strive to compose music in a way where every track could be someone’s favorite.
I've grown fond of Kevin Penkin's music in recent years and often listen to it during my personal time. If I ever had the chance to collaborate with him on composing music for a fantasy world, I think we could create something truly wonderful.
Yasunori Nishiki: Octopath Traveler's main theme is a track that I feel encapsulates this past decade of mine.
Composing this track was incredibly difficult, but I feel like I'd managed to create something fitting: a prayer honoring the past RPG titles that made me who I am and a track celebrating the launch of Octopath Traveler as a new RPG title.
As for my favorite track, it's hard to pick just one (laughs). At the very least, I find it ideal and delightful that fans who love Octopath Traveler and its music cherish the tracks they personally connect with, rather than gravitating toward specific popular songs. In a similar fashion, I strive to compose music in a way where every track could be someone’s favorite.
I've grown fond of Kevin Penkin's music in recent years and often listen to it during my personal time. If I ever had the chance to collaborate with him on composing music for a fantasy world, I think we could create something truly wonderful.
RPG Site: How do you like your coffee? Go into as much detail as possible. If you don't like coffee, what is your favorite beverage?
Yasunori Nishiki: For me, my favorite drinks are absolutely essential while composing music (laughs).
Sometimes that might be a cup of coffee, royal milk tea, or even a decadent hot chocolate.
Black coffee—especially unsweetened—is what I typically reach for whenever I’m buried in paperwork.
On the other hand, a sweet latte usually means I’m gearing up to tackle a crucial battle theme, one I expect will be an uphill battle (laughs).
I don't exactly remember which of my favorite drinks accompanied me while composing each track, but I'm certain that for every track that people have enjoyed, various kinds of coffee have joined me as faithful companions on its composing journey.
Yasunori Nishiki: For me, my favorite drinks are absolutely essential while composing music (laughs).
Sometimes that might be a cup of coffee, royal milk tea, or even a decadent hot chocolate.
Black coffee—especially unsweetened—is what I typically reach for whenever I’m buried in paperwork.
On the other hand, a sweet latte usually means I’m gearing up to tackle a crucial battle theme, one I expect will be an uphill battle (laughs).
I don't exactly remember which of my favorite drinks accompanied me while composing each track, but I'm certain that for every track that people have enjoyed, various kinds of coffee have joined me as faithful companions on its composing journey.