If you ask any Final Fantasy fan what their top five favorite songs in the franchise are, there's a 99 percent chance one of them is "To Zanarkand" from Final Fantasy X. However, it turns out, it wasn't originally intended for the game.

This news comes from Audrey (aitaikimochi on X, formerly Twitter), a mega Final Fantasy fan, Twitch streamer, and CEO of Aitai Japan Inc., who translated a recent interview between Weekly Ochiai and Final Fantasy X composer Nobuo Uematsu, whose credits also include One-Winged Angel and Aerith's Theme from Final Fantasy VII and so much more. In that interview, Uematsu revealed "To Zanarkand" originally began as a piece for a French flute player, meant to be played during a recital.

"'To Zanarkand' was actually not meant to be the theme for Final Fantasy X," Uematsu tells Weekly Ochiai, as translated by Audrey on X. "There was a flute player from France who originally asked me to write a song for them to play during a recital. When I wrote the piece, I thought perhaps this sounded a bit too sad for a recital. So I set it aside for the time being.

"Sometime after, when I was making the score of Final Fantasy X, I was falling behind all the while the producers were hounding me. So since that flute piece was unused, I just kind of meekly handed it to them. They listened to it and said, 'Yes! This is brilliant!'"

In retrospect, it's wild "To Zanarkand" wasn't originally composed by Uematsu for Final Fantasy X because it fits the game's themes so well, nailing the somber and sad tone present throughout Tidus and Yuna's journey in Spira.

For more about Final Fantasy music, read Game Informer's exclusive four-part series on composer Masayoshi Soken's score for last year's Final Fantasy XVI:

• Part 1: Creating The Prelude
• Part 2: The Victory Fanfare
• Part 3: Finding A Main Theme
• Part 4: The Sound

After that, read Game Informer'sreview of Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster.

What's your favorite Final Fantasy theme song? Let us know in the comments below!

Developer Night Dive Studios' System Shock remake is finally coming to PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Originally released on PC on May 30, 2023, Night Dive and publisher Prime Matter revealed today that System Shock hits PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on May 21, just shy of the game's one-year anniversary.

This reveal comes by way of a new trailer over atIGN, which teases some of the sci-fi horror and first-person shooting players can expect in the game. Check it out for yourself below in the System Shock consoles release date trailer:

The remake today is in great shape on PC, and players should expect a well-made retread of the classic game. This remake had been in the works for years before its PC release last year – check out the game in a pre-alpha state in 2016 here.

For more, read about how Warren Spector revealed in 2022 that OtherSide Entertainment hasn't worked on System Shock 3 in years. After that, check out this story about the live-action System Shock TV series in the works.

If you're in the mood for more Shock-content, check out the latest look at Judas, the next BioShock-like game from BioShock creator and System Shock 2 director Ken Levine, and then read about what we want from new 2K studio Cloud Chamber's BioShock game.

System Shock hits PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on May 21.

Are you going to check out System Shock on consoles this May? Let us know in the comments below!