"At first, our plan was to allow players to switch between the original and re-mastered soundtracks while playing the game.
"Because the original PlayStation 2 version used a built-in tone generator with limited memory capacity, I wanted to fully re-master the soundtrack using current technology in order to match the HD re-mastered graphics," Kawamori said. But technical issues prevented this feature from making it into the final game. The initial plans for FF10 HD's sound included providing the option for players to switch between the old and new background music it was important to developers that the sound match the revamped graphics quality. "When it comes to remastering the Final Fantasy 10 soundtrack, I felt that the only way to achieve the quality that the fans would be satisfied with was to have the original team members work on it," music director Keiji Kawamori told Polygon. Square Enix brought back the score's original composers to give it another go, building on the experience of the original music and crafting something that would be both different but welcoming for returning players. The remastered soundtrack for Final Fantasy 10, compiled for the tenth anniversary upgraded edition of Final Fantasy 10/10-2, is both familiar yet foreign, a comforting classic and a new experience.
After more than 10 years, Spira's sound gets an upgrade.