Day 21:
I’ve said that many Final Fantasy games have been rereleased across multiple platforms. But not all of them. From all of those one console games, what’s the best one.
The correct answer is from Final Fantasy Crisis Core. It stars not-Cloud as we see the rise and fall of Shinra, and we fall in love with a flower girl again. The best song from that game is The Price of Freedom.
It’s a bit of a play-all, and you hear it whenever Zack thinks deeply about something. He ponders the morality of a power company creating super soldiers and all the magic hullabaloo that stems from that. There’s an emotional acoustic guitar that breaks into a solid rock ballad. The drumbeat plays throughout after the sad harmonica gives way. It’s a perfect song for Zack, the game, and the entirety of the FFVII compilation.
https://youtu.be/MOJ91H4mraU
Day 22:
They can’t all be zingers in today’s Final Fantasy Music Challenge. What’s your favorite song from a bad game? I tend to like most things, especially when skewed towards stuff I already like, but there a few Final Fantasies that I think suck. Most agree that II and XIII are bad. The concessions on XV is that it’s mediocre. But there are only two games I actually hate.
Final Fantasy XII is one of the worst games I’ve ever played. The plot is very bare bones, the characters are one dimensional, the battle system is terrible, and the music is all orchestrated. Well, most of it is. I mentioned how bored I am with orchestra music in games a few days ago, so I won’t rehash it again.
The best song in XII is Eruyt Village. It’s a peaceful yet mysterious town hidden from the humes in Ivalice. Only the Wood Wardens of the Viera know how to reach the village. The Viera ate seven feet tall bunny women with Icelandic accents. Honestly, I think that, alone, is compelling me to post this over other songs. But the tune is excellent on its own, I promise.
https://youtu.be/QOAD58HCB-c
Day 23:
I like snow. It reminds me of when we were young when we all longed for snow days. A day off school AND a day to get the sleds out and head to the canal hill? Heaven. And now I’m an old failure... Anyway, why do I say this? To connect the currently falling snow to today’s Final Fantasy Music topic. What’s the most nostalgic song?
It should be obvious that it’s from my first FF. And it should be pretty clear it’s the Overworld theme. You hear this plenty, and it’s enjoyable every time. It a song that’s a little forlorn but, somehow, still determined. It gets me excited to save the world, find your past, and keep your girlfriend from being kidnapped by your best friend...again. And there’s just something about the windup at the start that gets me going. It, like snow, takes me back to sitting in my room with no worry for the happenings of the world, something I’m crushed under now. But that’s for another therapist. :D
https://youtu.be/-75CA9RYGlc
Day 24:
I want to write something profound to open up today's Final Fantasy Music topic but screw it. Here’s the saddest song in Final Fantasy.
I spoke of her a few days ago when I talked about the best remix, and here she is. Aria Bennet, The Water Maiden, is a character from FFIII. She, and the old dude watching over her, are the only two people alive when you leave the Floating Continent. She’s with you for such a short time but left a major impression on me the one time I got to her. She’s a blonde girl in a white dress who saves the world, proving that I have a type. In reality, it’s probably not the saddest song in a vacuum but the combination of her story, Boundless Ocean, and because she’s in a good game is why I’m posting it.
Also, fun fact: Aria has the first character theme in FF history.
https://youtu.be/vfWcHo-RrcY
Day 25:
From sadness to madness, it's day 25 of the Final Fantasy Music Challenge. Let's get pumped!
Imagine this: you’re a star Blitzball player for the Zanarkand Abes on your way to the big game against the Zanarkand Duggles (there’s only one city in this world). You’re hitting on pretty ladies and signing balls for young kids enroute. You're sitting in the water, jumping out of the water, and the crowds going crazy. Meanwhile, there’s a badass old dude (aged 36) standing on a precipitous ledge and getting drunk a mile away. And then you see your megacity being destroyed by a giant floating whale. What’s the best song for when this whole thing is happening? Otherworld from Final Fantasy X.
High octane action with a thrash guitar riff and lyrics you think are in English but can’t understand anyway! And that’s how you start a game! And how you end it since it’s the final boss song too.
https://youtu.be/X8C3WyGWiY0
Day 26:
Sadness and madness are both emotions I know well, but my emotional goal is to relax. And what’s the best Final Fantasy song to relax to?
Frontier Village Dali from Final Fantasy IX. It’s the first city you go to in the game, and, boy, is it needed. You kidnapped a princess, got chased by a crazy knight, had the queen try to blow you up, got attacked by evil plants, turned a forest to stone, lost a good friend, and you got frozen! Yeah, it’s time to relax. You don’t rest for long, but it’s well needed, and Dali just seems like the most peaceful place to be. So grab a cup of coffee, and let's listen to some Chocobos while being serenaded by a chill guitar, mellow pianos, and some pleasant woodwinds.
https://youtu.be/elKGnfiwR2E
Day 27:
There are only four more Final Fantasy Music Challenge days left, so let’s get into some of the kinda esoteric parts of it all. Today’s topic is the best mobile exclusive. I assume this is the phone games, of which there are many.
But the clear and obvious choice for this is the menu music from Final Fantasy Brave Exvious. I don’t know what an exvious is, but the game is pretty fun. It’s a gotcha game, but with characters that you know and love. You can get past most missions with auto-battle, but some of the boss battles require more tactics than I’m capable of. The story is its best part, even if it can drag on and on and on. I wish the update a few months ago worked, but now that I need to DL 3 gigs and my phone can’t hold a charge, I won’t be playing it for a while.
But we’re here for the tuneage! The menu music, Moment of Recall, fills me with a deep sadness. It’s got that sad piano playing that I love and drops in some violins for good measure. It eventually picks up the pace but retains the melancholy I’ve come to appreciate. The story gets real deep about friendship, nationalism, war, love, and immortality, so it all fits. All from a free phone game...
https://youtu.be/gJf9wrxcfAk
Day 28:
The handheld Final Fantasy games are something I’ve never really dabbled in, mostly because there are not that many. The Tactics games could fit here, as could Crisis Core. The only others are a few sequels, both of which are terrible. Rather than post the "correct" answer to today’s topic, I’m gonna get a little weird.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is an odd game. I played it when it first came out and is the only game I have for the Game Boy SP. I have no idea where that SP and cartridge are, mind you, but I have them. I was hoping it would be similar to FFT. It wasn’t, and I’ve been bummed my grandma bought it for me one holiday way-back-when ever since. It does do one unusual thing. You see, you’re the bad guy. You’re sucked into the dream world of your friend's creation, and his life kinda sucks. He’s paralyzed, has a dead mom, and his dad is poor, overworked, and drunk. So, he creates this land where he’s in charge, and his family is together again. The whole game consists of you and your other friend trying to get out of this world and drag the poor kid out of his escapism.
Mewt is the most relatable villain I’ve ever encountered, and here’s his sad theme. I don’t know how to describe it other than a little bit mad and a lot bit sad.
https://youtu.be/jSCSReWS_DQ
Day 29:
On the penultimate Final Fantasy Music Challenge day, we’re given a very open ended topic. What’s the most underrated song? I’m gonna give a bit of a cop-out and post one from, mostly, every game. Tomorrow’s post is pretty obvious to anyone who knows me, so let’s have some fun tonight.
However, due to recency bias, I will post what I think could have "won". Corel Prison is, as the name would suggest, a prison. It’s located at the bottom of the world renowned amusement park, Golden Saucer. It’s a tree and not a saucer, so I don’t get the name. Regardless, it’s also the former home of party member Barrett Wallace. I’ll spare you the story spoilers, but suffice to say, it works well as a prison. You’re surrounded by sand for miles, and the only way out is to race Chocobos. The music for it is desolate and something you could find in a gritty western. I never paid attention to the song before my most recent playthrough, so it hit me hard. It's a bleak song for a bleak location.
https://youtu.be/N7GYdFPgoXI
Day 30:
The final day of the Final Fantasy Music Challenge topic is a track with a special meaning. I'm not sure I'm interrupting this correctly, but I'll use it to post a meaningful song that just so happens to be my favorite. And, If you know anything above me, you should already know I’m posting Aerith’s Theme from Final Fantasy VII.
Let’s skip ahead in VII’s story to that" scene. My next door neighbor had the copy I’d been playing on for dozens of hours, and I remember where each of us were. He was asleep. He always was a lightweight when it came to insomnia. I, however, was wide awake. When the moment happened, though, I felt nothing. If anything, I was upset that I just lost my healer. At the time, it was just an event for me. But as I grew older, it really started to affect me. And I still don’t know why. Aerith is a compilation of polygons who just wants to save her virtual world. It would make sense to feel something as a dumb kid, but I feel something as a dumber adult. I have a nonsensical theory as to why, though. Most happy people have a happy family that loves them. My family life has been somewhat contentious, but I won’t get into that. In college, most of the happy people I knew had Jesus. Jesus was a man who sacrificed himself so that we may live. Do you know who else did that? Exactly! Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu are my happy family, and Aerith Gainsborough is my Jesus. Like I said, completely nonsensical!
Regardless, Aerith’s Theme makes me well up every time I hear it. It also takes me to a place where I feel at peace. It has everything I look for in a good video game song: mellow, somber, and plays on a sad piano. I easily could have posted this for nearly ten other topics, so I had to post it here. Valse Aerith!
I don’t know how many of you cared about anything I’ve posted the last month, but if you did, I hoped you enjoyed.
https://youtu.be/AgOJSU8mp-w
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