Now here’s an exciting compilation of arranged music! SQ Music Collections combines the entire catalog of Square Enix’s “SQ” music series in one handy release! That’s eleven albums, combined as a digital-only release. This release is freely streamable and is purchasable as a digital download for about 40 USD at various online distributors.
Before digging into what this expansive collection includes, I’d like to touch on what it excludes. First and foremost, this collection contains none of the content from bonus albums (Rare SQ, Village/Vanguard and Tower Records bonus discs, the limited-edition bonus discs of Beer SQ and Battle SQ, etc.). I think this makes sense: the whole point of those bonus discs was to promote sales of the physical CD releases at brick-and-mortar retailers throughout Japan. While I would have liked to have them included in this set, I get why they’re not here. It’s also fair to note that, while there are some gems on these discs, some of the weakest tracks are also on said bonus discs.
Next up: there are a handful of missing tracks that one would expect from this set. Specifically, four tracks. Here’s what didn’t make it into the collection:
SQ Chips: Final Fantasy XIII “Blinded by Light” (Hidekazu Tanaka)
Cafe SQ: Chrono Cross “Dreams of the Ages” (Manami Morita)
SQ Chips 2: Chrono Cross “The Girl Who Stole the Stars ~ Fragments of a Dream” (Hidekazu Tanaka)
SQ Swing: Kingdom Hearts II “Organization XIII ~ The 13th Struggle ~ Fragments of Sorrow ~ Dearly Beloved” (Hidehiro Kawai / fox capture plan)
I’m not certain as to why these tracks were cut. It really is a shame about the Kingdom Hearts II medley from SQ Swing, as I think that’s one of the strongest tracks from that album. My suspicion regarding the two SQ Chips tracks would be that Square Enix is distancing itself from disgraced sex pest Hidekazu Tanaka.
So, that cuts us down from 123 tracks to 119. Note that while Apple Music/iTunes lists SQ Music Collections across three digital “discs” (partitions), other platforms (Steam, Spotify) list the album as one big, bulky 119-track collection. Either way, it’s the same nine hours of excellent music!
Now then, let’s walk through this set, one album at a time. Fortunately, all eleven albums have been reviewed previously on RPGFan, so I’ll be providing links to these reviews for more in-depth coverage. That said, these reviews, of which I wrote many, date back to each album’s release, so I may have some new insights about each album as we go forward. Without any further ado…
Love SQ
Released in 2009, the first album in the SQ Music Collections is both a pioneer and an oddity. I doubt Square Enix Music had an idea of where they were going with this series at the time, or whether they even intended to flesh out this series of arranged albums the way they ultimately did. Love SQ covers music from the first seven Final Fantasy titles, as well as Legend of Mana, Chrono Trigger, and Romancing SaGa. Unlike future entries in the series, there’s no cohesive musical genre or style keeping this one together. It’s just a collection of interesting arrangements from various artists. As noted in my review, I think the stand-out track from this album is Pia-no-jaC’s medley of battle themes from Final Fantasy V, VI, and VII (“Battle at the Big Bridge ~ Dancing Mad ~ One-Winged Angel”). Piano, raucous percussion, and the occasional shouting make for one of the coolest arrangements for these unforgettable battle themes.
Chill SQ
Do you “love” what you’re hearing? Let’s “chill” out before we go any further. A full decade before “lofi hip hop radio beats to relax/study to” became its own subgenre, Chill SQ laid down some lo-fi roots for Square Enix, mixing recorded instruments with existing samples and the ubiquitous vinyl record artifact noise. My only complaint with this album is its length: seven tracks across 35 minutes. At the time, I wanted so much more of this. And frankly, I still do. Fortunately, Square Enix has produced more music of this nature with their Chill Out Arrangement album series (entries include the Around 80’s Mix, Final Fantasy XIV, and NieR). If I had to pick a favorite from this album, I’d probably give it to Kenmochi Hidefumi’s masterful guitar-focused Final Fantasy Adventure medley. Uyama Hiroto’s FFIV “Theme of Love” is also solid.
More SQ
Without a doubt, More SQ has the least cohesive approach among the SQ Music Collections. I feel like this one was basically Square Enix saying, “Hey, who wants to arrange some of our music? Any takers?” And some performers showed up. The triumph of More SQ is that it would provide direction for future albums. The Kuricoder Quartet makes their debut on this album with “Final Fantasy Main Theme,” and this group would later be the source of the entire recorder-centric album Cure SQ. Vocalist Miyuki Hatakeyama and the jazz group Yusuke Hirado Trio recorded an incredible rendition of Final Fantasy IX‘s “Melodies of Life” here that would be later republished alongside a number of jazzy tracks on the album SQ Swing. Other artists on this album (RE:NDZ, Sasakure.UK, JABBERLOOP) go on to arrange and perform for future SQ albums. All that being said, I do think this is one of the weakest albums in the collection. I do have a fondness for the avant-garde jazzy arrangement of FFVIII‘s “The Extreme” by artist “mouse on the keys.”
SQ Chips
Bow down, peasants. Musical royalty has arrived. If you have even the smallest affinity for chiptunes, SQ Chips will be a pure delight. There’s a range of purity to this album: some tracks stick to square waves and limited channels (FFXII “On the Riverbank,” SoM “Meridian Dance”), others feature chiptunes with a more robust electronica backing (FFA “The Final Battle~The Mana Temple,” CT “Character Medley”). You get 16 tracks here, which is very impressive. I remain enthralled by this album over a decade after its release.
Cafe SQ
There is a lot to love on this album, intended to be music one could enjoy while enjoying a cup of coffee or tea at the local cafe. One can find a healthy mix of acoustic and electronic throughout this album, with star entries including Pesama’s “Music Box – Home, Sweet Home” medley from Final Fantasy V and Duke of Pianeet’s 11 minute “Xenogears Suite.” There isn’t much I can say that Jerry didn’t say in his review (linked above). He gives an extra nod to the Chrono Trigger tracks and the capstone “Troian Beauty” (FFIV) by artist Schroeder-Headz.
Battle SQ
“Turn up the bass!” Were you expecting a rock album? Well, you’ll get a bit of that with Battle SQ. But for the most part, this is an intense, dubstep-infused arrange album released at the peak of dubstep popularity in 2012. Listening to it again in 2025, I think this album has actually aged well. There are some killer arrangements here. One of my favorites is Miss Modular’s LIVE A LIVE medley “KNOCK YOU DOWN! – Victory Road.” The first half comes with breakneck-pace drum fills. The latter half comes with a funky groove, awesome voice samples, and that sweet modulated bass we know and love. Also found on this album are deep cuts like “The Spirit Chaser {SURLENT)” from Rudora no Hihou (Treasure of Rudra) and “Hope – Dance of the Baying Hound” from Sigma Harmonics. Even if you’re familiar with this album, I recommend revisiting it today. It’s quite the treat!
Beer SQ
“Hold my beer.” That’s what artist RF said (in my mind) when they produced the LIVE A LIVE arrangement for “WANDERER” on Beer SQ. The experimental jazz quartet plays fast and loose, with the acoustic guitar on melody. The bass line is fresh as can be, and those drums always keep me guessing. And that’s just one of the eight very strange, very wonderful tracks on this album. Räfven offers up a big ol’ Klezmer arrangement of the Final Fantasy “Main Theme.” Blue Moon Quartet brings a soothing, somewhat energetic arrangement of Chrono Trigger‘s “Guardia Millennial Fair” with trumpet leading the way. And Rio Okano’s “Spinach Rag – Character Medley” is a wonderful big band piece that clocks in at just under ten minutes. If I went to a pub, brewery, or German beer house and heard any of these songs performed live, I would be over the moon.
SQ Chips 2
An album concept so nice, Square Enix did it twice! I think this one is slightly less impressive than its predecessor, but there are still some stellar tracks here. SEXY-SYNTHESIZER’s arrangement of the entire LIVE A LIVE ending theme “Live for Live” (which includes all seven character themes mixed in) is a marvel to behold. The Vagrant Story “Graylands Incident” opens with sound effects that suggest scrolling text and menus, mixed into and layered alongside the earliest parts of this song. The arrangers also built some vocal samples in here, pulling away from a pure chiptune experience. Hige Driver’s arrangement of the Parasite Eve theme “Primal Eyes” is a dynamic little demake masterpiece. And if you wanted to know what SNES rarity Bahamut Lagoon might have sounded like on the NES, Kplecraft’s arrangement of “Boss Battle” sticks to square waves, though it’s probably running enough channels that it would require two consoles to produce all of the audio!
Cure SQ
Perhaps the most cure-ious entry in the entire SQ Music Collections, this album is the product of a singular group: the Kuricorder Quartet. Fortunately, the album is more than the literal four recorders (soprano, alto, tenor, great bass) happening. Other instruments found on this album include ukulele, guitar, hand drums, saxophone, toy piano, and the occasional brass instrument. Strange as this album is, there are some great tracks here. The opening track, capturing the opening music for Romancing SaGa, remains a personal favorite. The track that best fits the use of the recorders, however, has got to be “Gogo’s Theme” from Final Fantasy VI. Though I think the guitar work on another Final Fantasy VI track (the “Gau’s Theme ~ Relm’s Theme” medley) is also worth a mention.
SQ Swing
As I noted in my recent review of this album, the term “Swing” is used more loosely than I would define it based on my understanding of modern musical genre. Nonetheless, this is a fun, jazzy album with tracks primarily coming from jazz group RF and string ensemble Drakskip. I generally find this album to be a step up in quality from Cafe SQ, though that might be my preference for studio-recorded instrumental work over electronica. My favorite tracks from this one include Drakskip’s “What the Forest Taught Me” (Secret of Mana) and RF’s wild approach to SaGa Frontier‘s “Alkaiser Attacks!”
Last SQ
“Last, but not least!” Or… actually, it might be least (in terms of original content). See, Last SQ is a compilation album from 2015, designed to be the final entry in the album series (hence the name). As a compilation album, SQ Music Collections has fully eclipsed Last SQ. But, Last SQ did include four original tracks from arranger Megumi Shiraishi and a handful of soloists. These original tracks have a sort of symphonic rock vibe. Among them, I think the final track, which combines Final Fantasy I‘s “Chaos Shrine” and Final Fantasy VI‘s “Dancing Mad,” is the strongest, as it includes featured soloists for guitar, violin, shakuhachi flute, and vocals. It’s a beast! Also, the packaging and artwork for this physical release was fantastic, and I genuinely wish SQ Music Collections offered a digital booklet of similar quality.
Final Thoughts
SQ Music Collections is so handy for game music fans to peruse, and it’s truly an impressive body of work. And, even as it points to the history of Square Enix Music arrangements, we can see how the high quality arrangements have continued with the Jazz series, the Acoustic series, piano solo arrangements, the (aforementioned) Chill Out series, and even new concepts like #SQkawaii (a rebirth of the “SQ” moniker?). I’d encourage readers to stream the music from their favorite service, and truly consider a purchase of the digital album. When considering the cost of collecting these eleven albums separately as physical retail items, this digital collection is essentially an 80% off sticker: totally worth it.
