[Chris]

How does Square Enix's current team stand? Is it sufficiently large? Who are its best and worst members? How does it compare to before?

Here's an outline of Square Enix's current composing team and each composer's major works for those who need it:

Masashi Hamauzu - Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon, SaGa Frontier II, Final Fantasy X, UNLIMITED SaGa, Musashiden II BLADEMASTER, Dirge of Cerberus, various piano albums, Final Fantasy XIII (upcoming)

Junya Nakano - DewPrism, Another Mind, Final Fantasy X, Musashiden II BLADEMASTER, Dawn of Mana (upcoming), Project Sylpheed (upcoming), Final Fantasy XIII (likely upcoming)

Kumi Tanioka - Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon 2, Dice de Chocobo, Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Code Age Commanders, Project Sylpheed (upcoming), Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles sequels (likely upcoming), The Star Onions' pianist and arranger

Naoshi Mizuta - Parasite Eve II, Final Fantasy XI and Extensions, The Star Onions' bassist, arranger, and leader

Tsuyoshi Sekito - Brave Fencer Musashi, Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon 2, Final Fantasy II Origins, All Star Pro-Wrestling series, Advent Children, Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song-, Front Mission Online, Dawn of Mana (upcoming), Final Fantasy III DS (upcoming), The Black Mages' arranger and guitarist

Kenichiro Fukui - Einhander, All Star Pro-Wrestling, Advent Children, Front Mission 5 ~Scars of the War~, Kiss Me Goodbye and Hanjuku Hero 4 arrangement, Project Sylpheed (upcoming), The Black Mages' arranger and keyboardist

Takeharu Ishimoto - Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII, Before Crisis Final Fantasy VII, Last Order Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy Agito XIII, World Fantastista, former synthesizer operator for Kingdom Hearts II, Chains of Memories, Final Fantasy X, Legend of Mana

Hidenori Iwasaki - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Front Mission 4, Front Mission 1st, Front Mission 5 ~Scars of the War~, Front Mission Online, remains a synthesizer operator

Other employees are sound editors Masayoshi Soken and Kenichi Mikoshiba (possibly an employee) and synthesizer operators Ryo Yamazaki (Hamauzu's right-hand man), Hirosato Noda (all-round waste of space), Keiji Kawamori (The Black Mages' bassist, occasional arranger, and FF synthesizer operator), Yasuhiro Yamanaka (diverse perfectionistic techno-loving newbie), and Mitsuko Suzuki (mysterious newbie).

In my opinion, Square Enix's music team is the strongest it has ever been in terms of technology and stylistic diversity, but falls down when it comes to members creating great melodies or endearing traditional RPG soundtracks.

Square Enix's latest soundtracks feature some of the best synth and utilisation of live performances available. Yamazaki and Yamanaka are especially impressive synthesizer operators, creating incredibly realistic scores for Dirge of Cerberus, Front Mission 5, and Code Age Commanders. It falls down due to one man in this area, as far as I'm concerned -- Hirosato Noda. The synth for Hanjuku Hero VS 3D and 4 was terrible, while Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- was quite jarring and muffled. I'm not too fussed on the work of Iwasaki as a synth operator, but I have faith in him as a composer. Otherwise, I'm satisfied and looking forward to seeing what Suzuki will do.

In terms of stylistic diversity, SE has lots, though sometimes at the sacrifice of originality. With artists capable of rock (Sekito, Fukui, Kawamori, Ishimoto, and The Black Mages as a collective resident unit), electronica (Fukui, Tanioka, Yamanaka, Hamauzu, Noda... sorta), and ambience (Nakano, Hamauzu, Iwasaki, Tanioka, Mizuta... kinda), most bases are covered. I find the rock elements of SE's scores, particularly where Sekito is concerned, to be predictable and bland, but the diversity it adds to RPG soundtracks, especially, can be great. Some artists are too ambient. I've already expressed my hatred towards Mizuta. The electronica is usually good apart from Noda's light techno rubbish (e.g. FFX's "Prelude").

Yet... when it comes to melodies, I only see two moderately strong forces -- Masashi Hamauzu and Kumi Tanioka -- and both have been criticised in comparison to Uematsu for having inaccessible music. Sekito seems incapable of creating melodies, just arranging them, Iwasaki relies mostly on predictable militaristic sequences in his FM works, Nakano and Fukui rarely create works with melodic focus, and Mizuta? Don't even go there. Compare this to the SNES/early PS1 glory days with Yasunori Mitsuda, Nobuo Uematsu, Yoko Shimomura, Hiroki Kikuta, Ryuji Sasai, and to an extent Noriko Matsueda and Kenji Ito, and it's clear that SE's team just aren't very melodic now. Collaborations after these composers became freelancers haven't helped too much, though only Ito has contributed a lot of music thus far.

And what about traditional RPG soundtracks? You know, the likes of the soundtracks of Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy IV-X, Seiken Densetsu 2 + 3, Rudra no Hihou, Bahamut Lagoon, Legend of Mana, Soukaigi, and Xenogears -- the soundtracks that make you warm and fuzzy when you hear them. Are they dead? The latest Seiken Densetsu and SaGa soundtracks have been the closest we've got to them in the last few years, though maybe Final Fantasy XII will be endearing too if Hamauzu knows who his target audience is. As far as I'm concerned, the influx of rock, ambience, and electronica must not make the traditional melodic and acoustic elements of SE's RPG soundtracks be forgotten... yet only Hamauzu seems capable of creating something akin to them.

If I were to request five things that Square Enix would do to improve the quality of the music they produce, it would be:

1) Employ a couple of new composers that will endear audiences and create rich and melodic RPG soundtracks. Masashi Hamauzu cannot do this all alone. The move into the new generation of consoles is the time to introduce new composing blood, not simply upgrade synth operators

2) Sack Hirosato Noda and Naoshi Mizuta. Neither add anything good to the company. Iwasaki could be replaced by a new synth operator while Tanioka and Iwasaki could take over Mizuta's FFXI role, hopefully reinventing The Star Onions in the process

3) Keep the versatile ones fresh. The more Kumi Tanioka and Kenichiro Fukui are tested, the better, as both seem capable of creating original music in near-enough every genre. I'd like to see roles for Takeharu Ishimoto, Keiji Kawamori, and Hidenori Iwasaki that allow them to be tested creatively too

4) More interesting collaborations. Square Enix now have very few regular collaborators -- Yoko Shimomura, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata, Hayato Matsuo, and Koichi Sugiyama. Kenji Ito has joined a company that doesn't focus principally on game music, Shiro Hamaguchi has gone to study in Boston, Nobuo Uematsu is overwhelmed by work, Noriko Matsueda has quit game music, and Yasunori Mitsuda, Hiroki Kikuta, and Shinji Hosoe haven't collaborated on any major projects in a long time. More Kikuta, Mitsuda, Hosoe, Ayako Saso, Takayuki Aihara, Kow Ohtani, and Aoi Yoshiki can't be bad...

5) Find a decent replacement for Shiro Hamaguchi. Since Hamaguchi went off to study, the orchestrations in Square Enix's soundtrack have been variable and often bad. There's been plenty of missed opportunities too, e.g. effective FFVII orchestrations, new arrangements for Dear Friends/PLAY!, or a symphonic edge to FFIII DS and Advent Children

Sorry for the long rambling post. Any thoughts of your own or comments on this are welcome.

[Aevloss]

I want to respond, but I cannot really think of anything to add to your analysis. I agree wholeheartedly about the need to draft in some new talent, preferably containing a few good melodic writers; Mizuta should be encouraged to go freelance, where he will likely crash and burn (I'm sorry to be so harsh on him, but really ...). I would like to see Tanioka, Iwasaki and Fukui assigned to more projects to prevent Hamauzu from dutifully overworking himself and going down a Sakuraba route - however unlikely that might seem at the moment - hopefully allowing them to experiment in a wide range of genres and gather experience.

New collaborations seem of the utmost importance at this time, and it would be useful if Square Enix could invite another anime composer on board to fill Hamaguchi's shoes as arranger/occasional contributor (hello, Koh Otani).

I don't know anything about any of them save Hamauzu and Nakano. The former I enjoy a great deal, the latter I have little passion for save a few select tracks. Just having Hamauzu makes paying attentin to their output worthwhile for me. As for what they should do? I dunno, I'd like to see some fresh young composers that can make a pretty big impact right away, SE seems to have been lacking that lately.

[Totz]

Originally Posted by Chris

If I were to request five things that Square Enix would do to improve the quality of the music they produce, it would be:

1) Employ a couple of new composers that will endear audiences and create rich and melodic RPG soundtracks. Masashi Hamauzu cannot do this all alone. The move into the new generation of consoles is the time to introduce new composing blood, not simply upgrade synth operators

I don't think it's a composer "problem" per se, I would blame it on the fact that RPGs are getting more and more cinematic these days, and so we're getting more "cinematic" albums.

But yes, SE does need more people like Hamauzu.

Originally Posted by Chris

2) Sack Hirosato Noda and Naoshi Mizuta. Neither add anything good to the company. Iwasaki could be replaced by a new synth operator while Tanioka and Iwasaki could take over Mizuta's FFXI role, hopefully reinventing The Star Onions in the process

I'd leave Mizuta around, and sack Ishimoto instead. Go and rape albums I haven't been expecting for years, ok?

Originally Posted by Chris

3) Keep the versatile ones fresh. The more Kumi Tanioka and Kenichiro Fukui are tested, the better, as both seem capable of creating original music in near-enough every genre. I'd like to see roles for Takeharu Ishimoto, Keiji Kawamori, and Hidenori Iwasaki that allow them to be tested creatively too

I agree with what you said about Fukui, but I think Tanioka could use a music coordinator or supervisor or whatever it's called. Someone that can tell her "Ok, you know what you're doing, but can you do it differently?" I mean, CAC has some truly great stuff, but it's all the same ;_;

Originally Posted by Chris

4) More interesting collaborations. Square Enix now have very few regular collaborators -- Yoko Shimomura, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata, Hayato Matsuo, and Koichi Sugiyama. Kenji Ito has joined a company that doesn't focus principally on game music, Shiro Hamaguchi has gone to study in Boston, Nobuo Uematsu is overwhelmed by work, Noriko Matsueda has quit game music, and Yasunori Mitsuda, Hiroki Kikuta, and Shinji Hosoe haven't collaborated on any major projects in a long time. More Kikuta, Mitsuda, Hosoe, Ayako Saso, Takayuki Aihara, Kow Ohtani, and Aoi Yoshiki can't be bad...

"Holy crap" about Matsueda And when will Hamaguchi come back?

And more Ohtani would certainly be awesome. Heck, have HIM arranging orchestral stuff. More Shadow of the Colosuss music couldn't hurt.

Originally Posted by Chris

5) Find a decent replacement for Shiro Hamaguchi. Since Hamaguchi went off to study, the orchestrations in Square Enix's soundtrack have been variable and often bad. There's been plenty of missed opportunities too, e.g. effective FFVII orchestrations, new arrangements for Dear Friends/PLAY!, or a symphonic edge to FFIII DS and Advent Children

Ohtani. Problem solved.

Oh, and I'll add a rant:

7) I know SE is Japanese and all, but it wouldn't hurt to scour the globe looking for people, now, would it? I'm sure there are more Soules just waiting around to be discovered.

[shylph]

Maybe more collaboration is the best way.
Have you noticed that almost all the mainstream serie of Square-Enix games are composed(leader compose) by other Composer(not belong to SEM).
There is nodoubt that now SEM leader composer is Haumazu(or Haumazu&Nakano).
SEM Staff Employment still goes on,I hope some new talent composer appears.

[Kago]

I agree with Chris about this team's changes, it has big relevance to changes of Square Enix's games, as Totz said. I also want to listen more "the traditional melodic and acoustic elements of SE's RPG soundtracks", but they need games which require them to come true. Or hoping for non-game albums written by SE's composers. I think portable and mobile phone games still have a chance to accept this kinda tracks, though these games have small area in SE now (the situation is changing, hopefully).

I guess Tanioka will be the successor of Uematsu, it doesn't mean she must be responsible for FF numbering series continuously, but she can take a role like that Uematsu took in Square's game music. Not only her melodic composition, but also her cheerful and friendly character shows it.

Anyway, Hamauzu leads this team for next several years at least, unless he will leave, with no doubt too. I don't have to add anything about his contribution. I'm interested in his word like "We are just employees, but sometimes treated as like people in showbiz, so we must found this(Square Enix Music) site and inform ourselves", it expresses their present position exactly.

And Mizuta, I'm sure it's no problem to listen and evaluate game music itself, without gameplay, but evaluating contribution of staffs is another thing. My evaluation is, Mizuta made tracks which FFXI needed and is listenable for players, as if other games don't seem to need, so no reason to blame him.

It is good idea to invite various collaborator with games' feature. I don't know who fits for the future projects, so for example in next FFXI, my recommendation is Masato Koda (composer of Vampire Savior, Devil May Cry, Monster Hunter, Wild Arms the 4th Detonator, and the arranger of The Star Onions), as I wrote before.

The newcomer Mitsuto Suzuki isn't a newbie as a musician in fact, he is an ex-member of a techno-pop unit Overrocket(I didn't know them, but they seems to be famous because Soken knows), and he wrote some tracks for beatmania series. So it is very interesting if he joins muZik (it is a techno-pop arrange unit, it's secret who are the members, but maybe they're Noda and Yamanaka) and shows a performance.

At last, I agree with Totz:

Originally Posted by Totz

7) I know SE is Japanese and all, but it wouldn't hurt to scour the globe looking for people, now, would it? I'm sure there are more Soules just waiting around to be discovered.

Yes, but can't any non-Japanese game company do it?

7) I know SE is Japanese and all, but it wouldn't hurt to scour the globe looking for people, now, would it? I'm sure there are more Soules just waiting around to be discovered.

Hopefully they'll find folks better than Soule

[NanoSuke'62]

Hey, I like Soule.

Shiro Hamaguchi has gone to study in Boston

Could anyone elaborate on this? Berklee Conservatory? New England Conservatory? I want more info.

[Aevloss]

Originally Posted by Totz

I'd leave Mizuta around, and sack Ishimoto instead. Go and rape albums I haven't been expecting for years, ok?

Oh yes, I would certainly not mind seeing Ishimoto going too, since Square Enix can't really afford to put out synth work such as that on the Kingdom Hearts II soundtrack (it pretty much completely ruined Shimomura's work) for their next-gen titles. I'm not at all fond of his compositions either, but I suppose I'll wait for Final Fantasy XIII Agito before making a more definite judgement.

Originally Posted by NanoSuke'62

Could anyone elaborate on this? Berklee Conservatory? New England Conservatory? I want more info.

I believe it was Berklee college of music. It was jazz that he was going there to study, too (I think).

[Harry]

Surely, I doubt many people here can judge Ishimoto's composition skills (unless they have heard Before Crisis). I'm much looking foreword to Crisis Core and its promised unusual score. Same goes for Agito. True, he's not much in terms of a synth operator, but I prefer to give him a chance in an area in which he's probably a lot more skilled in.

[Edgar]

Well, I've seen Last Order: Final Fantasy VII which Ishimoto scored and I wasn't impressed by his music.

[Harry]

Originally Posted by Edgar

Well, I've seen Last Order: Final Fantasy VII which Ishimoto scored and I wasn't impressed by his music.

Granted, it was an anime score, and they can be considerably different to a video game soundtrack.

[Chris]

Yes, it was Berklee, NanoSuke. I heard explicitly from PLAY! producers that he was studying orchestration, which is an admirable move, in my opinion, even if his orchestrations are among the best in the game music industry. Are you sure it was to study jazz, Aev? That's the first time I've heard this.

Crisis Core will be the ultimate test of Ishimoto. If he fails, I'd have no qualms with him going. He has yet to impress me with anything he has done.

I guess Mizuta should stay around for just Final Fantasy, but I really think he needs a collaborator (e.g. Tanioka or Iwasaki) to make those extension soundtracks less boring. The Star Onions need more direction, too -- they seem so random at the moment and don't really create much good music.

I like the choice of Masato Kouda as a collaborator. He, too, could help along Mizuta's FFXI soundtracks.

I have high hopes for Suzuki. It's interesting to learn about his(!) past and muZik.

[Aevloss]

Originally Posted by Chris

Yes, it was Berklee, NanoSuke. I heard explicitly from PLAY! producers that he was studying orchestration, which is an admirable move, in my opinion, even if his orchestrations are among the best in the game music industry. Are you sure it was to study jazz, Aev? That's the first time I've heard this.

Sorry; it seems the composition course that he is part of dabbles in orchestration, jazz and pop, so it's possible that he is simply there for the former, as the Play! producers implied - I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that he wanted to learn more about jazz music there too though, but I can't remember for the life of me where it was ...

I wonder if anyone who lives close by has popped in to say hello?

Originally Posted by Harry

Surely, I doubt many people here can judge Ishimoto's composition skills (unless they have heard Before Crisis). I'm much looking foreword to Crisis Core and its promised unusual score. Same goes for Agito. True, he's not much in terms of a synth operator, but I prefer to give him a chance in an area in which he's probably a lot more skilled in.

I heard a few of the in-game tunes a while back, which were appropriate but unimpressive, and have watched Last Order, but largely, you're correct; I haven't heard enough to judge, though I would have thought that a good composer would show a little more respect for other people's work when synthesizer operating - unless of course, he was using that work simply to help him make his way up the ladder (though I haven't heard anything to suggest he originally wanted to be a composer). Roll on Crisis Core, I guess!

[Chris]

Oh, so it's likely that Hamaguchi is refining and diversifying. More jazz in video games cannot be bad and his studies in the area of pop could enhance his orchestrations of Uematsu's future ballads (or his own, if he were to create them). I'm looking forward to seeing his work post-Berklee (anyone know how long the course is?), assuming that he is returning to Imagine and game/anime music, of course. I'm replying to the Shiro Hamaguchi thread in FF Music Discussion right now, in fact.

With regards to synthesizer operators becoming composers, personally I'm not that fond of the idea with regard to the five that were introduced to Square in 1998 (Hidenori Iwasaki, Takeharu Ishimoto, Ryo Yamazaki, Hirosato Noda, and Keiji Kawamori). All of them were exclusively manipulators for about eight years and now, after Uematsu, Shimomura, Matsueda, Eguchi, and Ito have left, Square Enix simply upgrades them or diversifies their roles instead of employing new composers. Were any of them trained in composition? I guess we don't know what extravocational activities they've been up to in the last eight years, but manipulation and composing are such different things.

The music that most of them have made hasn't seem to be very melodic, original, or consistent. Take the Front Mission 4 score, for example; while I'm quite fond of it and it has many highlights, Iwasaki and Yamazaki were prone to Zimmer ripoffs and Jorm does have some good points in his review of the album. Admittedly, Front Mission 5 was far better and Iwasaki showed potential with "Eternal Oath", so I think he could be a strong composing force for Square Enix in future. Yamazaki might show worth as a composer in Front Mission online.

Also, consider Noda's contributions to Hanjuku Hero 4 or his "Prelude" for FFX; all he has created so far outside operating is light instrumental techno-pop rubbish reminiscent of "Popcorn". I would cringe at the thought of a whole score by him and his novel style has already got old after four similar creations. I'm not sure about Keiji Kawamori's worth as an arranger or composer either, though Advent Children's "Chase on the Highway" was a highly. FFIII DS will be the test, though he's a decent synth operator either way, as shown by FFX-2 and FFXII, giving him more purpose than Noda and Ishimoto, who, as already mentioned, has yet to prove his worth...

The new duo of synthesizer operators, Yasuhiro Yamanaka and Mitsuko Suzuki, have a lot to offer outside operating, though. This was because both have substantial backgrounds as techno musicians. Yamanaka's arrangements for CAC and contributions to FM5 were just great and I have similar hope to Suzuki. The difference between this pair is that they were employed because of their talents both in manipulating and electronic music.

[NanoSuke'62]

Oh, so it's likely that Hamaguchi is refining and diversifying. More jazz in video games cannot be bad and his studies in the area of pop could enhance his orchestrations of Uematsu's future ballads (or his own, if he were to create them). I'm looking forward to seeing his work post-Berklee (anyone know how long the course is?)

As to the length of the program, that's kind of open to debate. For starters, I think we can assume that since he already has a degree in music he won't need any of the basic theory courses unless he's forgoten most of it, which is unlikely in my opinion. He may also be able to get out of some of the basic composition classes, since he already obviously has skill in that area.

The composition course is usually a four year prorgram, leading to a bachelor's degree. However, if you were to include studies during the summer you could presumably shorten it to three. Further, with someone like Hamaguchi, as previously mentioned, since he probably has a number of these courses under his belt already it could be quite a bit shorter. I'd say two years or under, but that's just my guess.

I must say I'm quite happy at this prospect. I still have reservations about composers and such in the VG community dismissing such studies an unnecessary, so it's nice to see at least one person who's obviously interested in really developing their skills.

[Josh_Barron]

Well... I would suggest that Yoko Kanno would be an apt replacement for Shiro Hamaguchi, as her knowledge in orchestration seems to be vast and her styles are quite diverse. Her work on the Orchestral Game Concert albums are astonishing and I seeing her work for Square would be awesome!

*Imagines a FF score by Yoko Kanno*

[Chris]

Thanks for the information, NanoSuke. I guess we should expect to see him again some time between 2007 and 2009. I agree that VG musicians sometimes dismiss musical training too much, particularly in the Eastern world, especially now that there are many more music demands on composers than creating melodies.

Josh, I think the likelihood of a Yoko Kanno collaboration is low. She expressed great distaste towards video game music in an interview, though I hope that her work on Ragnorak Online 2 may open her mind towards VGM.

[GoldfishX]

Hamauzu-He's on/off with me. I can enjoy him one work and then be completely disinterested in the next. Although, even my favorites (FFX, US) tend to vary from listen to listen.

Nakano-I think I view him as more of a novelty. I'm lucky if I'm in the mood to really get into his stuff.

Kumi-Eh, I'll pass. Potential, but...We'll see. She's kind of hot at least.

Mizuta-...Moving on...

Sekito-He doesn't really compose much, but at least he can rock. High hopes.

Fukui-Again, doesn't really seem to compose much. I wasn't a fan of Einhander's music.

Iwasaki-Potential in some FM5 tracks (Lock and Load 2), but "eh" overall.

Ishimoto-Never heard of him.

I think the period of music teams is over. Square's current team seems to be a lot of complementaries and the way the composers are broken up over the new Seiken Densetsu games (among others) seems to support that. Frankly, I'm surprised Hamauzu hasn't tried freelance yet...Square must've slipped a couple of extra yen into his paycheck.

Honestly, there's not much there, compared to having Uematsu, Mitsuda, Kikuta and Shimomura in their prime, with Sasai and Sato waiting in the wings.

[jampot]

I think the point about 'cinematic' game soundtracks is well made. The SE team seems to be moving into a direction where the simple intimacy that formed the basis of Uematsu's appeal has no place, which is a shame. Having now listened to the FFXII soundtrack, the whole is very orchestral, grand often, but not often intimate in the manner in which Uematsu excelled.

[teraslasch]

wonder if square enix would employ non-japs as composers/arrangers as staffs.. so far havent seen any? because im darn interseted to work there after i grad. from berklee.. in lets say.. 9 years time? i hope SE wont be all techno by then

[Kyon]

Err, I wonder how you would think these composers would fare in a Square Enix game...

1. Noriyuki Iwadare - I don't know him pretty well and I disliked his Grandia III work, but this guy is capable of writing memorable melodies, maybe on par with Uematsu, especially when it comes to his past works like the Lunar series. Also, I find his battle themes quite unique, I believe he can create epic battle themes, or simply sound unique?

2. Yoshitaka Hirota - I can't believe you did not mention this guy's name. This guy is a monster. Not only did he create some of the best battle themes in history, he also create exceptional dungeon themes, and is capable of creating "cinematic" tracks. In other words, he is quite an all-rounder. But I believe his style is too weird to bear for any Final Fantasy fans.

Or

3. Motoi Sakuraba - He is quite a hit-or-miss composer, but he is the only person who could fuse rock and orchestra together, is he not? And he create exceptional battle themes too.

But my humble and personal opinion is, before making changes for the Square Enix Sound Team, I believe the company should look at the mirror for a moment. Seriously, they do not look like the same Square as before. But saying further would not only go off topic but breaking the rules, so I stop.

Thank you for your patience.

[Chris]

Well, the three you listed have all worked with Square/Square Enix. Noriyuki Iwadare on behalf of Radiata Stories and Grandia III/Xtreme, Motoi Sakuraba on behalf of Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile, and Yoshitaka Hirota as a sound effects designer on many games. True, Sakuraba and Iwadare worked on behalf of tri-Ace or Game Arts, but they're regarded as part of Square Enix's 10th development team.

But yeah... Hirota on a Square Enix RPG title would be awesome. How about Parasite Eve III?