What’s good, everyone. Joshua Evo here and It looks like it’s my turn to deliver unto you all my Top Five favorite pieces of music from the Final Fantasy games. So without further ado, let’s get right to it:
5. Final Fantasy IX – Kuja’s Theme (Milennium Version)
There are a FEW versions in FFIX of Kuja’s theme but this is probably my favorite one since it’s quite frankly, the most sinister sounding one to me. Obvious connection to “We Will Rock You” aside, this song always invokes the image of Kuja flying away, standing arms folded, atop his slow-wing-flapping dragon as he leaves the party a withering pile of what they once were.
4. Final Fantasy XIII – Blinded by Light
OK, I’m gonna get this out of the way right now; I LIKE FFXIII AND FFXIII-2. I also happen to think that they have some of the most impressive musical scores in the series. One of my common practices when finding out about the release of a new Final Fantasy game is to immediately seek out the battle theme somewhere online, as that usually the piece of music I will hear pretty much all the time, on account of my “grindy” nature of playing these games. Blinded by Light blew me away then and still does today. It simultaneously instills a sense of urgency and determination in the player when it starts playing and maintains that throughout. I rocked this song for MONTHS after the game came out and it holds as my favorite “normal” FF Battle Theme.
3. Final Fantasy VI – Battle to the Death
Two things: of COURSE there’s a song from Final Fantasy VI on this list and I should also point out that this is the Dissidia version of this song. As you all well know, I played FFVI more than ANY other Final Fantasy game and because of that, nothing about it surprises or catches me off guard me any more… except for the feeling of “SH*T’S ABOUT TO GET REAL, SON!” that this song conveys when it starts. The first time I heard it, I was facing down this beastly looking creature called the “Atma Weapon” who proceeded to very nearly hand my my ass in the most decisive possible way. I barely eked out the win but the music that accompanied the battle was burned into my memory as one of the most bad ass pieces of music I’d ever heard in a video game, ever. When this song got going, the FIRST thing I always found myself second-guessing was whether I had recently saved or not!
2. Final Fantasy IV – The Red Wings
Final Fantasy IV (or II when I played it on the SNES) was the first FF game that I put actual serious time into. I had very casually checked out FF on the NES and found it pretty interesting but being that I wasn’t allowed to play video games except on the weekends when I was a kid, I didn’t get a lot of time with it. By the time I got my hands on FFIV, those restrictions were lifted and I dove head first into this game. FFIV has one of my favorite stories and casts of characters in the franchise but it was this song that grabbed me. It immediately drew me to the character of Cecil Harvey and even without any words, was able to convey the conflict between his loyalty to King and country and his own conscious. As Cecil matured found himself throughout the game, the SAME piece of music came to signify the character’s resolve to do what was right. Just a masterful job of story and music coming together to form a memory and cohesive experience.
1. Final Fantasy V – Clash on the Big Bridge
Ohhh boy. If you’ve played a Final Fantasy game recently, you know who Gilgamesh is. Goofy, sword-toting warrior who despite his MANY failings, has ingrained himself as one of the most memorable antagonists in the franchise. A lot of that has to do with his theme song, which is my number one song on the list. Admittedly, there’s no deeper rhyme or reason to why I like this song so much. It’s a really cool sounding piece of music and still perfectly complements the weirdness that is Gilgamesh. Oh, it’s also catchy as all hell and lends itself VERY well to remixing and especially guitar covers. The video example of the song I’m using is my favorite, by a fellow called Kurikinton Fox. All in all, a great song for hilariously memorable character.
OK! So you have my Top Five pieces of music from the Final Fantasy franchise. Hope you guys enjoyed them and if you haven’t heard any of them, will give them a listen and possibly revisit the games they come from. Stay tuned for Day Three!
– Evo out
