Ten:
Final Fantasy XIII
FFXIII is, by most accounts, a terrible game. And it is! The characters are boring, the world feels empty, the plot sucks, the characters are boring, and the battle system is lame. But that carries into a nice note that makes me happy. The music is so nice. It's relaxing, fun, and even the action pieces are pretty good. It's great to know that even bad games can have good things in them. It sounds dumb to write that, but it's something that sometimes needs to be read. The soundtrack was composed by Masashi Hamauzi, another name I don't know much about.
"The Promise" is the theme of FFXIII. It gets variations often throughout the game, almost to the point where it's annoying. It's still pretty good, though, and there's enough on around it to make it perfectly listenable.
"Daddy's Got the Blues" was my underrated song from XIII. The first song on this list to feature a harmonica, so you know it's special. It plays a blues riff on the mouth harp until a sad guitar, kinda tuned, kicks in. It's slow at first, but eventually, the guitar gets a fun rhythm going under that harmonica solo. I don't drink, so I would never do this, but I've always been interested in that lonely, dusty, after last call bar scene. It's something straight outta Cowboy Bebop, my dude.
"Gapra Whitewood" has an ambient feel to it. A synthetic piano plays, seemingly, random notes, while a woman chants stuff in a made up language. It definitely feels like we're in an active crystalline forest, but there's something not natural going on underneath. The actual dungeon has Lightning and Hope exploring a research facility containing nasty biological sentiment weapons.
"Serah's Theme" is a vocal version of The Promise, but I've had it stuck in my head for years now. The lyrics are about overcoming fate in the name of love. The singer is amazing, and we can understand why it would become overly common in future Nova Chrysalis games.
"Dust to Dust" plays in Oerba Village, the home of Vanille and Fang. I like Vanille, and I don't care what anybody says. The city has been abandoned for centuries, and the only resident in a long dead robot friend of our two teammates who we can revive. A female singer sings in an almost chanting way. There are lyrics, but I can't quite figure out the meaning of the four lined poem. It's got that sad vibe you all know I go for.
Nine:
Star Ocean: The Second Story
Motoi Sakuraba can be a bit hit and miss with his compositions. I sometimes feel like a lot of his stuff sounds the same. Some of his Valkyrie Profile songs sound like Star Ocean Two tracks, for example. Fortunately, they're all really good. Many of his albums seem to focus on rock and action stuff in dungeons. But this makes his relaxing town songs all the more amazing.
Shigo Forest's theme is "The Venerable Forest." It's where the game's plot begins, so it's a good place for the music to kickstart, too. It's a very special place for Rena, one half of our main characters, for reasons I won't spoil. Sakuraba did a great job making us feel like we're lost in some ancient, sacred wood somewhere with the use of woodwinds to provide wind sounds. It just makes sense. There's also a not-guitar making strumming sounds and a not-piano playing a melody on top of it all.
Expel's Overworld, "Field of Expel," fills me with all that a good Overworld theme should. I want to wander and find that mythical bird to treat my friend of his dragon possession! It starts off bombastic with a clang of regalness you'd expect to hear from an army of medieval knights going to war. It sounds like that for a few loops before a flute comes in to change things up a little before a quick build up to a second act. A sudden battle of drummer boys takes place before we repeat it all again. Time moves on, but the drums never stop. But if you listen enough, the whole thing changes entirely. It calms down and lets the flute shine again. I don't remember it being this long, but it's a neat treat for those who grind on the world map.
"KA.MI.KA.ZE" is the solid rock song we need to get through whatever lies in our way. Namely, the final dungeon on disk one. We've spent the whole game trying to get here, but now we're trapped on the continent of El. The Eluria Tower is where the Sorcery Globe landed, or is being kept, at least. As we climb the tower, we see the original inhabitants of this kingdom turned to crystal. A twist only Claude knows is learned here, and the music fits the frantic climb and rush against time that we're on with that excessive snare.
"Misty Rain" plays after the destruction of a certain city. A two fold attack of an earthquake followed by a tsunami leaves this once bustling port gone. Not just ruined but wiped off the map. It's one of the most stunning CGI scenes on the PS1. It's just a few notes on an improperly tuned not-piano, but seeing everything we just witnessed after spending so much time in the town, leaves us devastated. And this doesn't help our mood.
Arlia is another peaceful hamlet that I'd like to live in one day if I can survive without internet. "Pure a Stream" is a short tune filled with woodwinds and a harp playing in the background. Occasionally, it rises to prominence just to let you know it's watching, hoping you're enjoying the fresh air and smell of penguin. ...Huh!?
The fact I'm leaving out the "Theme of Rena" disgusts me. Other songs I want to write about: "We Form in Crystals," "A Quirk of Fate," "Use One's Illusions," "White the Heart."
Eight:
Transistor
While made by the same team that developed Bastion, Transistor is a whole different monster. Tactical action narrated by a sword with some warm and dulcet electronic music. Pyre may be medieval lute music, Bastion is a blues guitar, but Transistor feels more like a synthwave album. But I'm pretty sure it's all recorded on a guitar!
I'm gonna do something different for these next two. I could easily type about the best five tracks Ashley Barnett sings, but that's boring. Instead, I'm gonna categorize the next two. Saddest, most rocking, most chill, best vocals, and favorite.
"Gold Leaf" plays after the first boss fight with Sybil. It's a chaotic battle with the strangest music in the game that may just be the heaviest. You two wreaked the venue where the last concert will ever take place. You tore the house down, not with voice but with sword. There's a fan theory about Sybil that she's in love with Red, so you may have just released your secret admirer. Either way, she can finally rest in the country, uncorrupted by The Process. Gold Leaf brings the weight of the action onto your shoulders, and you're gonna feel it.
Due to my restrictions, the only song that fits the rocking anthem is "Apex Beat." It's the fastest tempoed song on the OST, so it wins by default. Fortunately, it's spectacular. It's got some quick piano arpeggios over a blasting EDM drum beat. A guitar kicks in to provide some much needed unease. Then, suddenly, it stops. It slows down to a dramatic crawl. The drums play something almost relaxing but build up to a piano that plays the same guitar riff. It takes us back to the loop.
This is not a relaxing soundtrack. There are only two that fit, and "Sandbox" is the best. Our talking sword can open up wormholes in the city, leading us to our own private beach. The only there is our dog and a boom box. But why use the boombox when we have a luau to attend? Gotta dig that ukulele.
"We All Become" could have fit in for all of these categories. The music starts slow and relaxing, but a rocking guitar hits pretty quickly. Despite the pace picking up, Red doesn't change melody or veracity. She remains calm and cool in this chaos. She gets a bit louder in verse two but doesn't match the band. But at the end of the chorus, she picks it up. Still calm but forceful, it rings out through everyone and silences the band behind her. The lyrics are about intentionally not fitting in with sketchy people and shine through as she chants the title until the end.
"In Circles" is amazing. That being said, the corrupted version played in the Sybil fight cuts deep. The lyrics are about someone watching a terrible person try to find themselves and failing. The watcher attempts to help, but you can't save those who don't want to be saved. The echoing terror of the chorus is haunting. "But I won't save you."
Seven:
Bastion
The first game released by Supergiant Games has a masterful soundtrack by Darren Korb. I've written a song about Bastion and tried to mash up a few from the game for the tribute. I lost the lyrics and forgot how to play the guitar, so RIP me, yeah? It's a fun hack 'n' slash with a bluesy guitar theme for every location. There are not too many tracks, but every one of them is what I want.
Most of the songs on the album are bluesy guitar stuff that you'd expect to hear in a smokey bar. There's a hint of despair in a lot of them, but nothing that really gets ya down. "Sole Regret" may come the closest. It's one of the slower songs, and that start up really sets the table. An echoey resonator plays something barely resembling a melody until it gives way to a real downer of an actual tune in time. For much of the song, we hear the resonator play a chord and slide to another. And then it does it again with another progression. It goes on like that for a while. A second guitar joins in to play something more akin to a solo over it that never makes the listener feel any happier.
"Terminal March" begins with pots and pans being hit and scraped together. It builds up to the best out of tune, one stringed guitar solo ever recorded. It's probably not a guitar and might be something middle eastern, but what do I know? The same untuned monster occasionally widdles away at something wild and crazy. This all combines into something avant-garde but totally rocking four minutes of a concert I'd like to see (from a distance).
In an album filled with muddled waters, what is the most relaxing? "Slinger's Song." Its whole shtick is a mellow riff that I'd expect to come out of an RL Burnside album. There's a hypnotic drum beat throughout the entire piece that doesn't change one bit. The guitar riffs gives way to a chorus that seems to slow down even more despite the tempo being as standard as time. I get a real cruise vibe from the piece, which might be why I used it as the basis for my Bastion song I wrote back in college.
There are four vocal songs in Bastion. "Setting Sail, Coming Home" combines two of them. Zia's theme, "Build that Wall," is probably the better of the songs, but the way both of them intermingle and form one ultra theme that really shows the duality of the game. Bastion has two endings. I don't remember exact specifics, but I recall them being loosely linked to these two characters. The other being Zulf. Ashley Barnett's voice can sometimes overpower Korb's, but maybe that's by design?
"The Pantheon (Ain't Gonna Get Ya)" is a strange song to list here. For starters, it doesn't get the attention the others do. That might be because Logan Cunningham doesn't have the same chops as the other two, but the song isn't about singing ability. Of all the back bar blues we've listened to during the game, this is the best one. Many of the old blues singers aren't that great vocally, but they don't need to be. They got soul! Cunningham is perfect. I dig me some gravel, brother! The song is a few chords played while the singer sings about being abandoned by all the supposed gods in the game. We get a glimpse of something greater in this broken world. Supergiant Games has this annoying habit of making us ask questions about the worlds they put us in, but they never answer any of them. This is the closest we get to anything about Calondia's origins. We never learn exactly how this world came to be or anything like that. Just two factions at war, and here we are. It's by design, of course, so I'm not mad. I just want something to dig my teeth into. So let's learn about the gods while The Kid does all the hard work.
Six:
Final Fantasy VII
Its OST is as iconic as its story and gameplay. Top tier character themes and memorable locations flood my mind when I try to think of my favorite songs from FFVII. Nobuo Uematsu's first foray into non-MIDI music stands the test of time as one of the greats. It's not just nostalgia that makes everyone love this PS1 classic, but the standout pianos, far range of moods, and the first, honest, orchestrated song in the series.
"One Winged Angel" is Sephiroth's final boss theme. You know things are going to get real when the scary violins kick hard at the start. I didn't even know a violin could be scary in 1997. And then they break when the guitar starts going widely widely widely. Everything comes back in to build up over several riffs to crescendo into quasi vocal singing in Latin. Everyone's a final boss until the real final boss appears with his disembodied female Latin choir. Shout out to Carl Orff for writing O Fortuna in the 13th century. What would this song be without you? Sephiroth is one of the most popular villains in JRPGs, or any genre, and this song is one of the reasons why. Using a whole bottle of shampoo seems wasteful, but it's a much needed sacrifice. Don't ever say I don't like rock songs in video games.
"Cosmo Canyon"/"Red's Theme" won my Final Fantasy Music Challenge for best town theme. The drum based, earthen instrumentation really sticks out in this post steampunk, industrial world. Cosmo Canyon studies the planet and the stars, not oil and weaponry. It makes so much sense for the theme to be played on native instruments and not high tech synths and electronic thingys. It probably still was, but it's the thought that counts. And Nanaki being such an intriguing character to tie it to just makes it better.
"Under The Rotting Pizza" has the best name and the best drum beat. I'll be honest, this is an anomaly for me as it tags nothing I love. It's just so damn catchy! I'm all about that bass today.
I talked about "The Prelude" in my first FFVII playthrough, and I feel the need to have at least one such track in this topic. The slowed down, mellow version we get is probably the best of these iconic arpeggios. I love me songs that stop the threat of anxiety.
"Flowers Blooming in the Church"/"Aerith's Theme" is the most important song in any video game. It might not be the best, but it's the most heartfelt. I've called Aerith my Jesus, which is still nonsensical. I remember what my neighbor was doing while I saw that scene happen. I don't have memories tied to other such events, though. I've said a lot already over the last year about Aerith, but this is the perfect song. Valse Aerith!
"Seventh Heaven" not being here is gonna upset the simps. "The Turks Theme," "Corel Prison," "Anxiety," and the "Overworld" are all solid choices too.
Five:
Neir: Gestalt/Replicant
I don't remember which I played, but I first played the X-Box 360 version on a whim when I rented the game to end summer of 2013. I expected it to be mediocre but was blown away by everything. I thought the characters were unique and interesting. The plot was something I've never experienced before, even if we only learned what made it note worthy on second and subsequent play throughs. But the music! My god, the music! It's the best soundtrack I've heard since Final Fantasy X. It's filled with sad guitars for my mellow mind, and the fast paced, action bits aren't your typical affair. Their BPM is still high, but there's something different about them. It can be a little repetitive with all the variations on themes, but it's all fun enough to listen to many, many times. Nier became almost the soundtrack to my college. I took so many quality naps to this. There's an abundance of mellow tunes, as well as industrial tracks you'd expect to hear in old ruins.
Many of the songs have multiple composers, but Keiichi Okabe is the common denominator, so I'll laud his work over everyone else. I've never heard of him before playing the game, and I haven't played anything by him since (yet). I don't know if I will since I don't care about Tekken, but I kinda really want to.
"Hills of Radiant Winds," I believe, is the field theme that plays when we're north of the town. It's been seven years since I last played Nier, so forgive me if I'm wrong. It's one of the faster songs in the game, but somehow still peaceful. One of the twins, Devola and Popula, is singing a song in their made up language. Continuing with my assumptions, is this orchestrated? I hear a brass section and several strings, so I'm going with yes. But unlike many of my gripes with 120 piece bands, there's melody here. I'd ride a wild boar to this song! Also, we'll hear the vocal melody often throughout the rest of the OST.
"Grandma" is a slightly frantic piano piece with another sad female singer over it, giving us a very different melody. Despite being frantic, it's still filled with sorrow. A song linked to the tragic tale of Kaine, who has so many strange twists I won't begin to discuss here in case anyone seeing this for the first time hasn't played the game. But the fact I can remember Kaine's tale so well, so long ago, tells how powerful this track is.
"Yonah" is about our daughter, a rarity in video games, and why I'm team Papa Nier for life. There are four variations in the OST, but I'm leaning on the second pluck version. The strings and piano versions are almost too sad, and the first pluck track is just a good in between. I'm feeling pretty plucky right now, so let's dance. I think the main melody is based on the theme, which might be why I'm partial to this one. There's still a sense of uncertainty in the strings. Will be able to cure Yonah of the disease ravaging mankind, or will she become another statistic. I really want to save this little girl, guys.
"Kaine / Salvation" is slower than "Escape," which makes it all the motivation I need to like it. The lyrics are the same, probably, but Salvation fits the sorrows of our …maiden better. Again, she's such an interesting character that I don't want to spoil anything. She's tragic, this version is tragic, it's tragic I can't talk more. I want to replay Nier!
"Song of the Ancients," Hollow Dreams especially, is a top tier town theme. I think it was the town theme… I prefer this version because it makes me feel so bubbly. Both women get to sing their tracks over this oddly Mediterranean style instrumentation. It's calming, makes me want to dance, and crushes you when you learn something later.
Shout out to "Shadowlord" for beings rocking! Both "Emil" tracks are great, as are "Ashes of Dreams." The rest of the soundtrack is filled with amazing, fast paced dungeon action tunes, too.
Four:
Final Fantasy IX
If Final Fantasy X isn't Nobuo Uematsu's magnum opus, then Final Fantasy IX is. It's the last FF game Uematsu composed on his lonesome. The game is a tribute to all the games that have come before. Besides "Gulg Volcano," though, I don't know how much the old games mattered on this one. He spent two weeks traveling Europe, looking at medieval castles, which he only, kinda, used as inspiration. But IX was a glorious return to high fantasy, so it worked.
It blends everything anyone looks for in a massive, 140 track OST. It's slow paced and emotional, and there's enough to keep us awake with quick tempo rock. It has one of the best relaxing songs alongside a great villain with guitars. Character themes return, and they're all great. Even if you barely hear one of them because who is Amarant?
"Dark Messenger" is Trance Kuja's metal theme. It starts with an ominous church organ that plays on a variation on his normal theme. It's just to get us warmed up because that guitar hook changes everything. It keeps playing some tasty riffs until a keyboard joins in with some prog rock scales. A traditional piano takes us back to the loop with that guitar hook. It's a lot ominous and only sorta fits him. Kuja doesn't come off as the rock and roller you'd think this song would be written for, but he is the god of death…I think Kuja cheats with his turn order in this fight, and that makes everything feel frantic. This playing in the background doesn't help us get our bearings.
"Rose of May" is the best villain theme that doesn't belong to a final boss. When we first meet General Beatrix, she's killing all the rats. She then beats us up with nary a hair upon her head touched. She does it again later, but we give chase! When we first hear this song, it throws you for a loop. Why does a war criminal have such a peaceful and sad song as her theme? A sorrowful piano plays before continuing to play something a bit more upbeat. But there's still a sense of foreboding about. We learn something shortly after hearing the piece for the first time, and that's that she isn't as ruthless as we're led to believe. She's having her doubts about her Queen and is simply following orders. I won't get onto the ethics of such acts here, but this classically inspired piece of chivalry works perfectly.
"Melodies of Life" is the theme of FFIX. It's a motif we'll hear a few times, mostly involving Garnet. It's a peaceful vocal piece, where a female singer goes "la la lala" for a while. I think it's supposed to be a lullaby passed down in Maiden Sari, which becomes a plot point when Eiko does it too. Garnet is the main heroine, so anything to build her story up is always good. A piece of music rarely does that in JRPGs, I feel. At least not as obvious and upfront.
"Crossing Those Hills" is one of my favorite Overworld themes. I think I called it my third. It starts off with seemingly random bleeping noises before the melody, which I think might be a variation on "Melodies of Life," joins in over it. I don't know the instrument playing, but it's piano-esq. Woodwinds join in on subsequent loops before a piano-esq solo happens, and we start again. It's a prime example of wanderlust caused by Overworld themes. They're supposed to give you a desire to get up and travel, explore, and see the world. When "Crossing Those Hills" plays, I feel like even I can go somewhere, and it'll be a-okay.
"Border Village, Dali" is the uncrowned king of peaceful vibes. This random village in the middle of nowhere is as laid back as can be. Or so you'd think. What once was a farming community hides a deep secret that this track belies. I kinda don't like that lack of suspense with something like that just beneath the surface, but that makes the reveal all the more shocking! A sleepy hamlet I might want to visit during my travels ends up manufacturing war machines! Who'd a thunk it?
I weep because I can't write about the other 100 songs. "A Place to Return To," "Vamo Ala Flamenco," "Freya's Theme," "Lindblum," "South Gate," "Esto Gaza," and "You Are Not Alone," for example.
Three:
Chrono Cross
Another game (I'm doing this in reverse order) that I rambled about and another example of a setting theme done right. The entire game takes place in a tropical archipelago, and the music fits perfectly. All of the cities have the exotic feeling that my midwestern Americana face will never experience. Wikipedia informs me Yasunori Mitsuda based the songs and instrumentation on Mediterranean, African, and other cultures. I can definitely hear the Roman world influences, but I have very little knowledge of African influences. I'll be honest, though, not expecting to see those as the inspiration. I was expecting Indonesian, but that might just be because that's the first location I think of when I think about archipelagos.
But even the pieces that aren't based on a location are outstanding! The pianos, guitars, and other assortment of instruments you'd expect to hear in a game are all here and make for some primo chill times. It's another beach day where we wait to sail the peaceful sea…right up until we need to feel things. When the OST gets heavy, it's a ten ton weight dropped onto your head at terminal velocity.
"The Girl Who Stole the Stars" was a song I wanted to fit into my Schala tribute. I got the first few notes in, but something felt off. And that's why I stopped writing music. Anyway, it's a somber piece about the only other character in the manual. She's a girl with attitude and ambitions but hides a past filled with tragedy, loss, and confusing time ripples. To anyone who hears the song without knowing that past, they'd be pretty confused. If you've played Chrono Trigger and can make heads and tails of the connection, though, you know it fits perfectly.But you are also, probably, confused too.
"Radical Dreamers" is proof that a simple production gets amazing results. All it is is someone playing a forlorn melody on a guitar while a woman sings a language I don't know. The recording isn't "quote" professional, but that's what I love about it. Being able to hear the guitarist's fingers slide across the strings gives us that feeling and soul that orchestrated and overproduced tracks can't touch. The lyrics are about someone looking for someone else. They've searched through all of time and space to find them even though they don't know the other's name. All the singer wants to do is share their experiences before time makes fools of them, as time is want to do. The song has several variations elsewhere in the OST. We'll hear it again in the Home World island song along with "To Far Away Time" from Chrono Trigger. It also appears in "Life ~' A Distant Promise" at the end of the game. It's the best Ending Credits song ever recorded.
"Reminiscing" is a happy song, and I fight you to the earliest of inconvenience to prove it! It plays somewhat often in the game, always during a wonderfull memory. When Leena thinks about her lost love, Serge, we're hearing this. It fills her with a sense of happiness, to recall pleasant times she'd long forgotten, but it, like the melody, fills her with sorrow. These events are gone. Her Serge is dead. Why bother thinking about them if they bring sadness now? It's a common theme in CC: loss. We see how people deal with their loss and grief across both worlds in El Nido, and "Reminiscing" is of great importance to these scenes.
An actual happy song, "Another Termina"! Yes, it's a token happy song, but it's still fun. Termina is in the middle of a big festival, and this piece shows it. It also reminds us of the location based inspiration I talked up but haven't bothered touching on yet. The instruments are vaguely woodwind but don't seem to be clarinet or flute based. The guitars don't seem to sound European, and there's definitely something maraca-esq going on. What's with that springy sound in the background, though? It all forms something fun and upbeat, which I am against! I'll let it slide because of how lively the town is right now. It's probably the jauntiest song in the OST, which is nice because we just found out we died, and the plot of the game is about to get even stranger. I do wish "Home Termina" were a bit less frantic for a fun comparison. Should have played a sad song on your hurdy-girdy, Matsuda.
"Dream of the Shore Near Another World" is another one of those greatest songs ever put into a video game category. It has the guitar I crave, but a nice violin joins in to really reach those strange places I'm uncomfortable with (no). It has a short repeat, but it never gets old. The hour long version on YouTube flies by. It feels like it could be a sad song, and it feels like it should be a sad song, but is it? I've always gotten a sense of hope and longing from this piece. It's as though it's about overcoming the grief and loss we felt talking to Leena in Another Arni. It fills me with nostalgia but the type where you don't need to feel it anymore. "That was fun, but lets create new memories!" It gives me more wanderlust to travel and see new things. Maybe I'll see the sea one day and become a fisherman?
How did I leave out "Arni Village," "Time's Scar," "Garden of the Gods," and "Frozen Flame"?
Two:
Final Fantasy X
I wrote a fair bit about my feelings on FFX's music when I wrote my review, so I'll sum it up here. Final Fantasy X does a great mix of putting players in a location. All the future beachside resorts make you feel like you're at the beach, and you know something big is happening when the music amps up. For the most part, all the character themes fit their character perfectly. Tidus' seems a little off, but it's a really nice song on its own. It's filled with peaceful guitar music, which is just what I love in a soundtrack. But it also does the rock and fast paced melodies better than anything else.
Nobuo Uematsu may be the most prolific composer in video game history, and this is his magnum opus. Now, yes, he didn't compose every track, so I won't argue if you disagree, but this was the end of the golden age of Final Fantasy and JRPGs. Just based on music alone, it went out with a bang.
"Besaid" is the ultimate beach day song. If I ever see the ocean, I'm making a playlist of as many versions and covers as I can. That not-piano buildup starts the tune off and builds up to the chillest jaunt you can do. It's like a free and easy walk in the sand. I have no idea what that drum in the background is supposed to be, though. A steel drum, perhaps? Regardless, the actual piano takes all of our attention until it changes again. It's somehow even more relaxing. We've found our spot on the beach, set our umbrella up, and it's time to space out.
"Spira Unplugged" is just so catchy. It's duel guitarists trying to play the most relaxing thing they can. And they did! As though neither of them tried to, they both meld into a masterpiece. They are, of course, but I'm a terrible musician and have no idea how to write a good song. FFX is a heavy game with no good ending. You wouldn't know it by listening to this with the video plugs disconnected while standing in the ruins of Kilika, though.
"To Zanarkand" is the first song you hear. Not only that, but it's a common theme you'll listen to a few more times. It's maybe the saddest song in the whole game. A lone, sorrowful piano plays as the party remembers all the trials and tribulation they've gone through. Despite it being so sad, it offers us a glimmer of hope. It gets pretty exciting at one point. It gives us even more reason to advance when it reappears in Movement in Green on the Moonflow. But to mess us up more, a third version plays when we learn what's to come to Yuna, what has happened to Braska, and before the final boss. "The Truth Revealed" just hits hard. It's also a motif in "Sudeki De Na" and the Ending Theme. Remind me to check out the guitar version on Guitar Solo Final Fantasy Official Best Collection.
I'm a rocker at heart. I've been into heavy metal since my freshman year of high school. I've mellowed a lot since then, but I'll always dig me some "Otherworld." It's pure focused hard rock with chugging guitars, bass, drums, and unintelligible vocals. What's it about? I have no idea! But I don't need no instructions to know how to rock! "FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!"
"Someday the Dream Will End" is in my top four favorite game songs of all time. Everything I said about "To Zanarkand" can be said here, but there's something about "Dream" that makes it heavier. It plays during the battles en route to the Final Summoning. It beckons us forward despite all that we know. We know it's all fake. We can't save her. We know she's ready to accept this. The bit of hope we can make out is fleeting as we're painfully aware that all we're about to do, and all that we've done, will be largely for naught in a few years. It's a song that tells us there is no happy ending approaching. Not even the remaster dared to ruin this track. Hell, it might even be better. The way the flutes work with piano and that drumbeat behind it all is perfect.
"Wandering Flame," "Thunder Planes," "Yuna's Theme," "Auron's Theme," "Jecht's Theme," and "Servants of the Mountain" deserved better!
One:
Chrono Trigger
Does the soundtrack make the game the apex of game development, or does it being in the best game elevate it to such high standards? Who am I to ask such a question?
Chrono Trigger was the first game I played where I stopped what I was doing just to listen to the BGM. From the first time I inserted the disk into my Playstation, I knew it was playing with magic, just based on what I heard. I don't think it's possible to properly begin to explain how I felt. It filled me with nostalgia even though I was eleven and playing the game for the first time. The seductive MIDI blips of Wind Scene immediately taught me that this is magic. These are the mythical qualities that humans are capable of. We'll never be able to conjure apparitions to attack our foes or lay on hands to heal the sick and wounded. But mankind is capable of producing Chrono Trigger. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have Chrono Trigger's soundtrack. In 1995, Yasunori Mitsuda proved that he was the Great Sage we should all set out to be.
The Overworld for 1000 AD, "Peaceful Days," is the second most calming song I've ever heard. As it should be! The world is at peace, and the Millennial Fair is taking place! Just ignore Medina across the channel and their shady dreams of 400 years ago. It's got an upbeat vibe but isn't fast paced. It's an instant mood changer when you're down or just woke up.
"Wind Scene" is the fifth song you're likely to hear, and it's one of the greatest ever recorded. It sets out to give you a nostalgic feeling even though you've never experienced the year 600, in game or real life. The Middle Ages are a vital part of the history of CT and gets a big setup from people talking about the events that took place just before we reach it. It's best played on a guitar, in my opinion. That slow note intro that introduces us to the melody is so fun to play. Then it leads into the main part of the song that gives me more wanderlust.
65 Million BC's, "Rhythm of the Earth, Wind and Sky" is a song played by banging rocks together and hitting sticks. It's as earthen as you can get and a perfect example of music fitting the location. I don't think there were fancy church organs during this time frame.
"Corridors of Time" is, perhaps, one of the more famous songs in all of video gamedom. It has more covers and tributes than CT has songs across remasters. The mythical quality amps up for the legendary world of Zeal, from where most events in human history can trace back to: Magic, The Magi War, and The Black Omen. They all start here. And to say nothing of the Gurus and the effect they'd have on time. I always found it odd that it gave me a desert vibe. I guess our sage was looking for the lost and mysterious treasures of the Arabian peninsula when composing this piece.
"The End of Time" is a simple piece. It starts off with a sound reminiscent of a clock tick but ends up somewhere a bit unnerving. And then it changes again to a waltz. Maybe it's not so simple, after all? But we're at the end of time, and there's no Eternal Return. It's supposed to be strange! Does it make sense that only Earthlings are here? Or the only exit is to the end of a single world and not others? What about the convenient bridge to our time machine? Nothing matters except the world is over, and only we can save it. So dance to what has been before we fight the God of War!
I could go on and talk about "Secret of the Forest," "Schala's Theme," or Rick Roll everyone with "Robo's Theme," but I've said enough about Chrono Trigger.
And music as a whole, really. Did I need to make this a top ten? No. It's probably really repetitive, but I like to write. I'm no musician, though, so what do half of these words even mean? My TV should be back tomorrow. It'll take me the rest of forever to edit this (and the others), so Grandia disk 2 on Sunday!
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