Beloved classic RPG composer Yasunori Mitsuda to compose for Final Fantasy XV's Episode Ignis DLC

Fans of the classic era of Square Enix Japanese RPGs have something to look forward to in the final major piece of single-player downloadable content for Final Fantasy XV - the return of beloved composer Yasunori Mitsuda, a composer best-known for his work with Square Enix on Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross and Xenogears.

This is something of a big deal for Japanese RPG fans, as Mitsuda hasn't worked with Square for the better part of two decades. In July 1998 Mitsuda departed Square to work as a freelance composer and only worked on one title since then - his 1999 masterpiece score for Chrono Cross. For a while it seemed like there might even be some bad blood, with Mitsuda's name removed from the credits for the PlayStation version of Chrono Trigger depsite his composing 54 tracks for the game, the majority of the soundtrack.

Whatever the deal back then, Mitsuda is now clearly ready to work with Square Enix again. He's to compose three major themes for Episode Ignis, which dives into the background of the much-loved party member Ignis plus the background of FF15 villain Ardyn, and Mitsuda has composed themes to match, with music recorded by a full orchestra in Europe.

Mitsuda's first little bridging of the gap with Square Enix came in 2015 when he reunited with them for an anniversary remix album release to celebrate 20 years of Chrono Trigger. Now he's working on games with them again - and on Square Enix's biggest game going. 

FF15's Episode Ignis launches launches on December 13 - we'll have impressions as soon as it's out!