Luckily, it’s just the rock band rather than an actual Powerman5000, but this could still mean big trouble for the game’s makers.
Nu metal group Powerman5000 released an angry statement on their Facebook page regarding “Sephirot Theme (Phase 2)” from online role-playing game Final Fantasy 14. A video featuring the game music in question is embedded in the Facebook post.
And for comparison, here’s Powerman5000’s “When Worlds Collide.”
Although the eight-minute Final Fantasy track veers into a more clearly distinct song, the group believes that the opening section is all-out “theft.” Public opinion online is rather divided on the issue.
“I think it was done in homage just like many a things in FF14; it was intentionally an homage to a genre taking inspiration from many in the genre.”
“Bahaha FFXIV took their shit song and made it great, they should be grateful.”
“Ya its a ripoff of Powerman but who cares both songs suck.”
“It’s clearly a rip off of Powerman5000 ‘When World’s Collide’ changed maybe juuust enough to avoid legal action.”
“I mean… It’s so close to ‘When Worlds Collide’ by Powerman5000 that I can’t help but wonder if they’re about to get sued. As for the song itself, it’s so close that it’s distracting, which makes it feel inferior to the original.”
“They even rhyme with ‘collide’ in the verses! What the heck is going on here!”
“Lol Naruto on crack?”
Many people also referenced music from Devil May Cry 4 which certainly bears a similarity to “Sephirot Theme.”
Others also brought up Final Fantasy 14‘s apparent use of “This is Halloween” from the The Nightmare Before Christmas adjusted for Moogles.
“When they rip off ‘This is Halloween’ everyone goes wild and loves it, but oh no they ripped off Powerman call the police.”
▼ “This is Halloween” from The Nightmare Before Christmas
▼ “Good King Moggle Mog XII” from Final Fantasy 14
Given Square Enix’s lucrative relationship with Disney in the Kingdom Hearts games, they probably wouldn’t mind the similarities. However, whether the “Sephirot Theme” was an homage, rip-off, or neither, will be up for a court to decide if and when Powerman5000 chooses to take that route.
Smart money is that they’ll lay low on this matter in fear that Luke Cage catches wind.
UPDATE: Final Fantasy 14 Producer Naoki Yoshida made a statement regarding the Powerman5000 accusation on the Square-Enix forums:
Regarding the Music for the 2nd Phase of Containment Bay S1T7
I have read through your comments concerning the BGM for the 2nd phase of the Containment Bay S1T7 battle with Sephirot, and I would like to personally explain how the track was conceived.
As most FINAL FANTASY fans already know, Sephirot (the Fiend) is a legacy boss character who originally appeared in FINAL FANTASY VI. When considering how to portray Sephirot’s return in FINAL FANTASY XIV, we decided to pay tribute to FFVI by working VI’s “Battle to the Death” track into the Containment Bay S1T7’s first phase, while opting to create an FFXIV original for the second.
Building upon the motif of Sephirot as a representation of the World Tree, to create this FINAL FANTASY XIV original track, we further incorporated story-driven themes of death and a warped obsession with life, all while utilizing a musical genre─industrial rock─which we believed would provide substantial emphasis to the message.
Industrial rock is a popular genre that can be further divided into numerous sub-genres. Countless songs from these genres have been released worldwide, and I have been made aware of an allegation regarding similarities between an existing track and the track created for the 2nd phase of Containment Bay S1T7. However, track composer Masayoshi Soken, has also stated to me that he was unaware of the track in question while working on this FINAL FANTASY track.
We hope that you continue to enjoy FINAL FANTASY XIV battle content.
FINAL FANTASY XIV Producer and Director, Naoki Yoshida
Source: Facebook/Powerman5000, YouTube/Mekkah Dee, YouTube/Powerman5000vevo, YouTube/RainybopStarWars, YouTube/hosiman0515, Alfalfalfa
Top image: YouTube/Powerman5000vevo
Luke Cage image: Amazon