Final Fantasy X’s metal blast still roars at 25

Bill Muir realized “Otherworld” had escaped the game console when he heard it as someone’s ringtone at a Tokyo show.

The straight edge hardcore vocalist, then performing in Japan with his band xtillidiex, told Mashable he was preparing to leave the country when the song from Final Fantasy X suddenly rang out in the room. The moment, he said, made clear that Square’s PlayStation 2 role-playing game had become far bigger than a routine studio job.

Square, now Square Enix, released Final Fantasy X in Japan on July 19, 2001. A quarter-century later, its opening track remains a loud outlier in a series long associated with sweeping orchestral themes.

As of July 2026, “Otherworld” has close to 9 million Spotify streams. A 2014 remastered version of the opening sequence has drawn 1.5 million views on YouTube. Square Enix is also marking the anniversary with a remastered version of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 for Nintendo Switch on July 23, according to the company’s release plans cited in the report.

How a hardcore singer landed in Spira

“Otherworld” was composed by longtime Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu, with lyrics by translator and author Alexander O. Smith and vocals from Muir, according to Mashable.

Muir told the outlet he met Smith through a mutual friend around 1999 or 2000 while his band was assembling demo tapes at a restaurant. Smith bought one for 200 yen, later telling Muir that Square might need a vocalist for a song.

Months later, Smith emailed Muir about an interview at Square’s office. Muir said he arrived casually dressed, with a skateboard in hand, and heard an early version of the track played on keyboard. He said the team asked whether he would rap on it, but he declined and offered screaming, yelling, muttering and growling instead.

That choice stuck. Muir said the recording session took place in a basement studio with little direction from Uematsu and the team. He also told Mashable he added a final nod to xtillidiex in the closing lyrics, including the phrase “straight edge/til I die.”

A different kind of Final Fantasy opening

Final Fantasy X begins with gentle menu music, then throws players into a hard-rock opening as Tidus recalls life as a blitzball star in Zanarkand and the city’s destruction by Sin, the monstrous force that ravages the world of Spira.

The game follows Tidus after he appears to be sent 1,000 years into the future. In Spira, he joins summoner Yuna and her guardians as she seeks to defeat Sin.

The title also marked a technical jump for the franchise on PlayStation 2. The report notes that it was the first Final Fantasy with full voice acting and a fully 3D-rendered world. Its soundtrack brought Uematsu together with Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano, producing a score that ranged from piano and ambient pieces to rock.

According to Square Enix, Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 have sold a combined 20 million copies worldwide since their original releases in 2001 and 2003.

Fan confusion also became part of the song’s afterlife. Reddit users have pointed to an incorrect Limewire credit that led some listeners to believe “Otherworld” was by Rammstein. Others linked it to The Black Mages, the rock band Uematsu belonged to from 2002 to 2010.

Creators and fans are still posting about it. The Night Sky Prince, a longtime Final Fantasy and Japanese RPG creator, told Mashable the track’s rock and metal edge makes it unusual for the series. Digital creator DizzieDee also posted on X in June that Final Fantasy X had her favorite opening.

Muir now works as a registered nurse caring for veterans and posts online as “Sergeant Vegan,” where he shares fitness, nutrition and advocacy content. He told Mashable he is writing a memoir about his Tokyo years and hopes to perform “Otherworld” for Final Fantasy fans someday.

This story draws on original reporting from Mashable.