The collective reaction to the Final Fantasy VIII OST was predictably mixed when the game was released in 1999. Uematsu, according to some, had been withering away after his "amazing" work on Final Fantasy VI, whereas others called FFVIII his greatest accomplishment. But regardless of the fans' opinions of his work, this album can be called unique for a standard of quality it set for future RPGs - regardless of the company behind them. This OST was the first to feature a theme song - Eyes on Me, by Hong Kong pop artist Faye Wong - and that theme was used in a thirteen minute-long ending sequence, accompanied by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. Liberi Fatali too could perhaps be considered a milestone even after FFVII's One Winged Angel, a track many found to be uncompromising in its excellence. However, Uematsu's intricate expertise in applying strong musical themes and a variety of professional work (ranging from solo artists to entire choirs and orchestras) did not make up for his marginal in-game musical work, which seemed to feel more at home on the SNES and did not mesh well with the singular pieces on the OST. While many fans would disagree given their predilection for "game-like" music, perhaps RPGs (back in 1998) called for something more, and perhaps this was finally answered when Square brought in new blood (namely, Junya Nakano and Masashi Hamauzu) for the tenth Final Fantasy.