How is “Game Over” from “Final Fantasy I” able to evoke a sense of losing and game being over using a generic descending-fifths sequence?

In this Not-How-To anti-tutorial, I compose game music (map theme) inspired by the “Wrong-Note” prelude, as I wrote & videoed in The “Wrong-Note” Prelude of Final Fantasy I (1987 NES). After the arpeggios there’s an ascending-fifths (aka “mountain”) sequence and a classic ii-V-(I reinterpreted as III) turnaround. I recommend skipping with the use of timestamps, unless the composing process itself interests you or maybe viewing in the background.

The very original NES prelude way back in 1987 from Final Fantasy I behaves differently from the ones to follow, as we’ll se Nobuo himself demonstrating. I hear a swirling kaleidoscope in the inverted arpeggios, so I cover them with the guitar. Let’s peek into the colored glass and some untapped game music potential.