Awesome Music / Final Fantasy

aka: Final Fantasy XV

Warning: Spoilers Off (including XVI) applies to this page. Proceed at your own risk.

"Love goes away, like night into day.
It's just a fading dream."

"As we brought out a masterpiece to the world [...], we asked ourselves, "Can we really fight 24 hours?" And the answer was, 'We will fight 8,760 hours!'"

— Nobuo Uematsu on the music in Final Fantasy V

A well-established JRPG franchise such as the head-bangingly popular Final Fantasy series deserves excellent soundtracks to go with them. Nobuo Uematsu is famous for having composed the soundtracks to many of these games, but other composers have come in from time to time to help round out the series' discography.

In fact, can we just say that the music has a game of its own and be done with it?...No?

Games with their own pages:

• Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
• Final Fantasy XIII Trilogy
• Final Fantasy XIV

General

• The Final Fantasy Main Theme, also referred to as the Prologue. Depending on the version, it either gets you ready for a grand adventure, or serves as a wonderful closure to reflect on the journey that just ended. Standout versions include the way it was used as the Theme Music Power-Up for the Combined Energy Attack in Final Fantasy IV, and its reprise in the endings to Final Fantasy VI, VII, VIII, and XV..
  • Interestingly enough, the VIII arrangement is the de facto version played during a lot of Final Fantasy concerts and you can hear the snippets of its tune in subsequent versions of the theme. Maybe it is because of its militaristic orchestral grandeur?
  • Also the awesome version in the opening of Final Fantasy XII.
  • This version ramps the awesomeness up as it was orchestrated by the Japanese Self Defense Force! (What's more, they were in a collaboration show with the US military. Cue Manly Tears from the soldiers who have played any FF game.)
  • In Final Fantasy XVI's "Awakening" trailer, what little bit of the Prologue we hear is in a minor key versus the more traditional uplifting major key, hinting at a more somber tone to the game's story. In the "Dominance" trailer, it's still in its minor key but blended with also announcing the Eikons' names. A slow and soft variation gives the impression of the exhaustion the main characters, yet it has a triumphant moment of them reaching most of their goals.
• The Crystal Theme. AKA the Prelude. It's even more awesome when you realize it was a Throw It In!; the song took Uematsu all of ten minutes to put together. It's normally either the first music you hear in a Final Fantasy game or the last.
  • In VII and VIII you hear it when you die (VII also plays it at its title screen). VIII's is played in a beautiful, haunting minor-key rendition.
  • We finally have the Prelude as heard in Final Fantasy VII Remake, and... wow. It's absolutely gorgeous. It starts with a haunting beauty of harp strings and crystal synth before being followed by a drum cadence and horns, suggesting at the themes of the nature-loving Cetra (harp and crystal) and the industrial-military Shinra (drums and horns).
  • The Dissidia version of the Prelude is incredibly beautiful, sounding like a mixture of all the versions made so far.
  • And now that XIV's take on the Prelude is out, it's not too much of a stretch to say Uematsu seems to keep building on one of the classic tunes in gaming music history in pleasing ways. It's also incredibly soothing. This version from "A Realm Reborn" is just as slow and soothing.
  • With FFXVI's "Awakening" trailer, its haunting version of the Prelude - again in minor key versus its usual major key - hints at the grimness of that game's setting.
• Victory Fanfare, one of the tunes to be etched into every FF fan's mind. Dissidia has two versions of the Victory Theme; the more traditional Cosmos Victory Theme, and the darker but still awesome Chaos Victory Theme.
• The Chocobo Theme(s). So upbeat, so catchy, perfect for the birds they represent. Even better? Every game since VII has the Chocobo Theme in different genres of music, ranging from VII's fast-paced, energetic arrangement to VIII's arrangement that is perfect for a drive around town.
• Every main entry in the series has "Piano Collections" albums, which are (for the most part) solo piano versions of the more memorable pieces. They are fairly advanced arrangements (and the sheet music is available for most of them) and a good number of them sound amazing, if only for the sheer virtuosity required to play them.

Final Fantasy I

• Final Fantasy started the whole "series with some of the greatest music in gaming"-thing with Temple of Chaos, Matoya's Cave, and even the standard town theme.
• The Main Theme is pretty epic.
• The arrangement of "Temple of Chaos" heard here sends shivers up the neck. What's more amazing is that the orchestral concert it originates from was held in 1989. Videogame music is Serious Business in Japan.
• The Very Definitely Final Dungeon version of "Temple of Chaos" is pretty sweet too, and its remake.^note For whatever reason, official soundtracks and Theatrhythm Final Fantasy title it as "Sunken Shrine", even though it does not play in the Sunken Shrine at any point.
• Last Battle, Boss Battle A, and the latter's remix in Boss Battle B. Although none of these existed until the remakes (the original merely used the standard battle theme on all enemies including bosses), they still deserve a mention here.
• Inside a Boss Battle plays during the fight against Garland and Astos and it's just awesome.
• The standard battle theme qualifies as well.
• The Dungeon music.
• The Floating Castle theme.
• Nearly every version of "Gurgu Volcano".
• The original NES Chaos Temple deserves to be here.
• The Game Over theme, hammering it in that the Warriors of Light have fallen and that all hope for the planet has been lost.
• Dissidia 012: Duodecim manages to give us a metal remix of Present Chaos Shrine.
• The Airship Theme, which is present in Theatrhythm and Dissidia unchanged because of its awesomeness.

Final Fantasy II

• Final Fantasy II has "Rebel Army Theme", "Magician's Tower", "Castle Pandemonium" (and its Dissidia Duodecim remix), "Battle Scene A", and "Battle Scene 2", the final boss theme.
• "Finale", the credits music. As beautiful as it is, the vocalized version by Risa Ohki - Love Will Grow - could give many Award Bait Songs a run for their money. Bonus points in that the lyrics of the vocalized version are related to the game (and the novelization). It is basically what Maria feels for Firion after they saved the world.
• The fully orchestrated Rebel Army Theme sounds like a majestic national anthem.
  • You think that's something? Try this underrated MASTERPIECE.
  • On the other side of the scale we have "this astounding mix"
• Oh, hey. You know that delicious, melancholy overworld theme? No? Here you go. Now try it with an orchestra and choir here.
• Boss Battle B, an ominous theme from the Origins release.
• Boss Battle A, also from the Origins release, is among the series's most powerful and triumphant battle themes.
• While not nearly as well-remembered as its opposite, the unabashed malevolence of the Imperial Army Theme is so perfectly fitting of an evil empire.
• The game's Dead Music is a simple and somber melody, played not only for Game Overs but for major characters' deaths. You will become very familiar with it.

Final Fantasy III

• Final Fantasy III gives us songs such as Eternal Wind, The Dark Crystals, The Crystal Tower Battle Boss Battle, and Last Battle.
• The Last Battle performed by the Black Mages is ear-sex.
• Dissidia Duodecim gives us this great remix of Battle 1.
• The Black Mages gives us this rockin' remix of Battle 1, The Rocking Grounds.
• And the opening cutscene of the DS remake gives us Memory of the Wind: Legend of the Eternal Wind, a beautiful orchestral medley of some of the game's finest tunes. Bravo, Mr. Uematsu. Bravo.
• Three words; Forbidden Land Eureka.
• Castle of Hein is a haunting melody for one of the game's memorable dungeons as the party gets ready for a challenging boss.
• Let Me Know the Truth, known as Pavillion of Dorga and Une in the remake. The piece is already amazing enough in its 8-bit incarnation, but when Tsuyoshi Sekito and Keiji Kawamori arrange it with an orchestra at their disposal, it just ascends to another level of awesomeness. The hidden version from FFIX is brilliant too.
• The remake's team took the already amazing 'Crystal Tower' theme and made it better. [1] Sekito's also responsible for II's redone soundtrack, and it's AWESOME.
• Aria, the Maiden of Water. The very first Final Fantasy character leitmotif, a clear picture of serene loneliness that is Aria Benett.

Final Fantasy IV

• The improved sound technology on the SNES allowed the series' intro tune, Prelude, to be expanded. No longer limited to just a series of arpeggios, this was the game where the main melody was added that's so familiar to RPG gamers today.
• Zeromus. Or, if you prefer, the rocked out version by Nobuo Uematsu and The Black Mages. Also, the one in the Pixel Remaster is amped up with Ominous Latin Chanting, making you feel a sense of unease that Zeromus is raining death upon you.
• The Final Fantasy IV Main Theme. Though it appears in several guises throughout the game, its main version, which plays in the overworld, captures just the right blend of adventurous and solemn to fit the game's overall tone.
• Golbez, Clad in the Dark defines awesome villain music, even if it blatantly riffs on Bach for a while. The more upbeat remix in the Tower of Zot also deserves mention to play up the intensity of the moment of rescuing Rosa and the determination to kick Golbez's ass.
• The Dreadful Fight, and its Dissidia remix. Starts out imposing and awe-inspiring, then becomes frantic and adrenaline-charged, then wraps around to become imposing and awe-inspiring again. All told, the perfect music to accompany some of the game's most intense battles. Notably, the first time you fight one of the fiends (Scarmiglione), he's accompanied by the normal "Boss Battle" music you've heard several times up to that point, and he's not terribly difficult. Then you cross the bridge, he comes back, and this theme starts up, along with a complete change in the fiend's appearance, letting you know This Is Gonna Suck.
• Red Wings, the intro theme. It speaks to this song's versatility that it evokes one emotion during Cecil's moral quandary at the beginning of the game, an entirely different emotion during Cecil's Paladin trial, and yet a third one for the Red Wings' Big Damn Heroes moment.
• The Battle Themes. The latter theme in the Pixel Remaster has a violin/fiddle solo that stands out and overpowers the intensity of the remaining musical instruments.
  • And how about a piano remix of Battle 1. courtesy of Dissidia 012?
  • The awesomeness of the main battle theme and its bass rhythm got lampshaded in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
• The Theme of Love. A song so good it's being taught in Japanese schools in music classes. The vocal version of the song, Tsuki no Akari, makes the song even more epic.
• Hey, Cid!. A simple yet inspiring and cheerful song.
• Within the Giant, played in The Very Definitely Final Dungeon. In the one before it, too.
• The Tower of Bab-il, a dungeon so expansive in scope it requires its own theme to match. The rising and falling triplets in the strings under the trumpet melody help to strike just the right balance of urgency and grandeur.
• A Long Way To Go; perhaps the perfect evocation of that sentiment in music. Also one of the pieces to seriously benefit from a remake, with the added snare drums kicking the message out.
• The Mysterious Girl's Battle Theme (The Eidolons Shackled) in The After Years. Every time it plays is a huge Moment of Awesome.
• The final boss themes of The After Years (the final boss, The Creator, has no less than four different themes for each of its phases) are just as awesome, with the last one (The Battle For Life) being fittingly epic and very daunting at the same time, alternating between notes of pure despair and fantastic drums leading to some very upbeat segments.
• Troia. It just makes you want to wallow on the grass while bathing in sunlight. Although it might be argued that the remake got a bit muffled, there are fan remixes a-plenty.
• Yang's bone-chilling Theme.
• The Lunarians' Theme initially feels like it should be in Silent Hill, then shifts key to offer a glimmer of hope and beauty in the darkness.

Final Fantasy V

• Clash on the Big Bridge, which reappeared in Final Fantasy XII. This prog-rock battle anthem is the cornerstone of the Gilgamesh's popularity in the franchise's fanbase.
  • The awesome 20th Anniversary Mix.
  • The Black Mages' rocked out version. Or the Dissidia version...with extra organs! Hell, the fact that this song has been remixed so many times is a testament to its popularity with fans.
  • And it has been remixed yet again for Final Fantasy XIII-2 as Clash on the Big Bridge -Oriental Mix-, using Japanese instrumentals mixed a lot of rock to it.
  • Raffaello Battle, the version that appears in Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.
  • Record Keeper gives us three remixed versions of this song featuring a rearranged version of the World Map theme, one with more choirs, one with more guitar, and one with both the choirs and the guitar. The choice is yours on which is the best.
  • Final Fantasy VII Rebirth gives us Battle on the Big Bridge - Rebirth, which combines the orchestra and rock elements into one, creating one of the best versions of the theme to date. Bonus points for the phase transition and second phase to incorperate elements of "Let the Battles Begin!" and "Fight On!", respectively.
• The Evil Lord Exdeath opens with "Psycho" Strings and quickly brings in harsh guitars and pounding drums for a villain theme that just screams imminent doom. The second this starts playing, you know bad shit is going down.
• The Decisive Battle takes Exdeath's aforementioned leitmotif and turns it into an intense, climactic battle theme with some incredible percussion.
• Neo Exdeath's battle theme, the final boss theme, along with its Black Mages version.
• Both the original Dear Friends and the GBA version. Note that the latter video contains spoilers, as it is footage from the end of the game. The fact that Esperança Do Amor (Hope of Love) on the Final Fantasy: Pray album is based on "Dear Friends" makes it all the sweeter.
• And of course, the Battle Themes.
• Lenna's theme.
• Home Sweet Home. Too bad this only appeared in a brief sidequest that could easily be Permanently Missable.
  • The vocal version is equally awesome.
  • As far as vocal versions go, the one in mixed English and Saami from the "Dear Friends" album is among the very best.
• A New World, the last Overworld Not to Scale theme. Especially this remix with vocals.
• Unknown Lands, the second overworld theme, evokes a dark, dreary land where it only rains - it makes it feel clear just how badly ExDeath fucked the place up.
• Four Hearts, the first overworld theme. Or, for that matter, the Wind Drake theme, Spreading Grand Wings. Along with its reprise in the Ending Theme, Spreading Grand Wings is the sound of freedom!
• Harvest, To The North Mountain, Library of Ancients, and especially Cursed Lands.
• The Dawn Warriors. Truly a serenade to awesomeness.
• The theme of Wind Shrine. Those drums are incredible!
• And for that matter, the eerily calming Dungeon theme.
• Ahead On Our Way, the game's main theme. And if you think that's something, prepare to have the Dear Friends version knock your socks off.
• Sealed Book plays in the Legendary Weapons room, as well as at a couple of important plot points. The music sounds wonderfully tense and eerie, and has these weird howls and mutters in the background...
• The final dungeon, The Interdimensional Rift, doesn't pull any punches when it comes to its accompanying music. The Prelude of Empty Skies is an eerie yet oddly calming sci-fi-like track that gives the impression that you're in another dimension. Once you get to the final area however, it switches to the triumphant Searching the Light as you march towards the final battle.

Final Fantasy VI

• Maria and Draco, aka The Dream Oath Opera. You did not misread that. It's an OPERA. For a VIDEO GAME. That's awesome enough on its own. Best known for having Aria di Mezzo Carattere, which Celes gets to sing. And it is absolutely incredible.
  • The original SNES version is rather dated though, and can be considered Narm by some. The Gameboy Advance version however...
  • There's a heavy metal version in the Black Mages' third album. It even got put to a live action play in one of the Black Mages' concerts. To put it another way; the Black Mages did the Opera for real. Including the uninterrupted ending and the epic sword duel between Draco and Ralse.
  • It gets a performance in English for the Final Fantasy Concert in Los Angeles.
  • Here is another performance in English performed by The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.
  • It's re-used in the game as Celes' personal theme. Used later to its greatest effect for Celes' suicide attempt.
  • Also rearranged beautifully for the ill-fated Final Fantasy VI: Grand Finale album. This version features Svetla Krasteva singing soprano. Just let that sink in for a second about how serious video game music is.
  • For the Pixel Remaster, the opera was given the full vocal treatment, and all localized languages have their own version. The 2D-HD treatment is given to the opera scene, giving it a weight that few other scenes in the game carry. In addition, all of the singing is on point. Celes doesn't sound like a trained opera singer, but that enters Fridge Brilliance when you realize she's not a trained opera singer. She's just pretending to be one to lure out Setzer, disguised as the opera singer Maria.
• The SNES Intro of FFVI is quite nice, yet the original introduction music is the most memorable: first with the ominous 16 bits foreshadowing music, then with the heroine's theme...
  • Terra's Theme by itself, used for the world map. It's even more amazing when played with vocals and actual instruments. (That's "Toki no Horousha", on the album Final Fantasy: Pray.)
  • Awakening. The music played during plot events involving Terra.
  • The OCRemix of Terra's Theme (simply called Terra) done by none-other than Jeremy Soule.
• Dancing Mad from Final Fantasy VI is especially notable because it samples at least three songs from earlier in the game, melding them together with some Bach to create the opera of madness. The fact that Nobuo Uematsu lists it as one of his favorites should be a tell-tale sign. The final section of the song is particularly awesome. You've got a variation of Kefka's main theme, an Uncommon Time signature and a tempo change, not to mention Kefka's distinctive laugh as part of the music. So how do you make that iconic final part of the song even better? Dissidia NT's answer to that question would be "Metal, and lots of it". It's hard to disagree after hearing the results.
• The Regular Battle Theme. The Advance remake is even cooler, the more distinct guitar and drum samples give it a techno rock feel that really gets you pumped. Then the Black Mages version went and did a Metallica-sized number on it.
• The Boss Battle theme is up there with "One-Winged Angel" as the official theme song for the fandom as a whole.
  • And the Black Mages version.
  • And the Dissidia version, as well.
  • And the Final Fantasy XV: Comrades version.
• Battle to the Death; when you hear this for the first time, you know Atma Weapon is not to be fucked with. Since Dissidia always picks the greatest battle themes, naturally there's a remix of this theme.
• Catastrophe, a dark, ominous, mournful reprise of the game's opening theme; it plays at the end of the Floating Continent to let the player know shit's about to get real.
• Slam Shuffle oozes with the kind of sleaziness that only a town like Zozo could produce... and when performed by The One Ups it becomes pure distilled win.
• Kids Run Through the City Corner, also known as "Town 1". This is the main theme for towns in the World of Balance. Also a nice piano arrangement from the piano collection. And from Final Fantasy: Pray, now with lyrics in Portuguese.
• Under Martial Law, used for Empire-conquered towns.
• From That Day On..., the main World of Ruin town theme.
• Devil's Lab, the music for the Magitek Research Facility.
• The Music for The Disc-One Final Dungeon, The Floating Continent.
• It played several times before, but when Metamorphosis starts to play during Kefka's ascension, you know you won't be saving anybody, let alone the world.
• "Epitaph", the flashback song just before getting the Falcon, and "Searching for Friends", the new world map theme just after. It comes just after the game has spent the last several hours hammering in the sheer hopelessness and gloom of your situation, and even gives you one more Tear Jerker in the form of just how Setzer got this spare airship from a lost love in the first place, complete with appropriately sad flashback music. But then... then Epitaph fades out, and Searching for Friends fades in just as Setzer declares that the Falcon just may save them all. On top of being a damn good song in general, it has this unmistakable aura of light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-style hope. Hearing this theme gives the message that all the sudden, you're back in the game, that you have one more chance. Even inside the game, Edgar declares "For once I feel hopeful!" Very powerful scene, the music absolutely makes it. See for yourself.
• The ending theme — yes, all 20 minutes of it. Especially when the FF Main Theme kicks in towards the end.
  • That moment when Celes's Theme is playing, and Locke's Theme starts playing underneath it, in perfect sync. Chills.
  • And again, when the simple whistle in Shadow's Theme is replaced by sweeping strings — as he decides to stay behind.
• Forever Rachel and Cyan's Theme. Both were involved in some pretty intense Tear Jerkers...
  • Gau's Theme only makes a few short appearances in the game. This is really too bad because Gau gets a nice orchestrated piece on the Final Fantasy VI: Grand Finale album.
  • And speaking of Cyan, The Unforgiven starts to roll when Cyan goes on his Roaring Rampage of Revenge. Interestingly, this music seems to be more associated with Sabin since it plays during three of his key moments: when he confronted Vargas and had Duel Boss with him, when he (and Shadow, if he's available) helped Cyan fighting Imperial soldiers, and when he held a crumbling house to give time to Celes to rescue a trapped child.
• The shared theme of Edgar and Sabin, and their Coin of Fate.
• Kefka's Theme. Cheerful with dark undertones and very catchy, such an unusual villain theme...
• Shadow's Theme. Just try and say it isn't epic for a ninja to have a spaghetti western styled theme. Listen and see the fragment in the Credits from 3:00 to 3:43 and you'll think Shadow, you fucking awesome bastard.
  • This remix by CalebElijah is pretty good.
• Epic music for The Very Definitely Final Dungeon is law, and thus Kefka's Tower.
• Locke's Theme. It could be the theme song to adventure, heroism, bravery, and/or finesse.
  • It and Forever Rachel seem to almost come from the same piece, which is tragically fitting.
• The Serpent's Trench is a great adventurous song, and the Pixel Remaster version extends it and makes it sound surprisingly grand.
• Protect the Espers!.
• Relm's Theme. The song perfectly reflects the adorable innocence (that tamed Shadow's killer dog, by the way) of the 10-year-old heroine. Also, it has some splendid bagpipes.
  • Try playing it at the same time as Shadow's Theme, they complement each other surprisingly well, and lends different meanings to both.
  • Which also got a gorgeous vocal remix in the Final Fantasy album, Love Will Grow.
  • Speaking of Relm, Strago got a nice little tune there.
• Setzer's Theme is the one that suits him well.
• Do some SLAM-dancing with a Mog's Theme.
• Throw people to Umaro's Theme.
• A strange tune, but Gogo's awesome and so is his theme.
• Okay, so Celes's part in the opera is unmatchable, but the fitting yet suitably goofy Grand Finale, playing as the rest of your party and Ultros accidentally hijack the opera's ending by knocking out the actual leads and fighting for keeps over Celes — that's got to be worth something.
• Not as well known, but Mt. Kolts remains an endearing song and makes you think you are going on some great adventure.
• Phantom Forest is a very mellow but creepy song that will get embedded into your head.
• Empire Gestahl is incredibly intimidating and powerful, perfect for the song of The Empire.
• Phantom Train is a great classical piece of grim horror.
• Techno de Chocobo fittingly leaves you with the impression that Uematsu must have been really high on E when he made this. And the Chocobo, too.
• Dark World plays on the overworld in the World of Ruin before you get the Falcon, as well as in WoR Narshe. It's a musical piece that explains in so many ways that you failed to save the world, and this is your life right now.
• The Tower of Fanatics. If anything says 'Religion of Evil', it's this.
• Searching for Friends. This is the point where everything in the World of Ruin, a world with no hope and with a very creepy song, completely changes once you get the Falcon and can explore the entirety of the world. The music is simply awesome, symbolising the new hope for the world, especially when you are ready to kill Kefka once and for all.

Final Fantasy VIII

• The Landing, the Boss Battle theme Force your Way, and the Ominous Latin Chanting with Bilingual Bonus Foreshadowing opening Liberi Fatali from Final Fantasy VIII.
  • The demo version of the Landing is different, but just as awesome. (They changed it due to a potential risk of a copyright lawsuit since it too closely resembled a score from The Rock.)
  • "Force Your Way", Black Mages-style!
  • "Force Your Way" returns in FFXIV as the Eden raid boss theme, now with added Orchestral Bombing and a One-Woman Wail!
• The Oath, with its powerful final crescendo.
• Eyes On Me, the game's vocal theme, is a true Awesome Music. Not really for the game ending (which is a Heartwarming Moment by its own) but for the "Rinoa and Squall in space" scene. Seriously, that scene had a giant Narm potential. After all, by that point, the game almost became an epic space opera, but when Rinoa is listening to the countdown of her oxygen, wondering if she will die, Squall saves her, they head home, and the song starts playing, in a true Heartwarming Moment. The song saved the scene. Thus, it is awesome.
  • Angela Aki's Version is an amazing version, a B-side of her theme for Final Fantasy XII, "Kiss Me Goodbye". She's just got an amazing voice.
  • During Squall and Rinoa's date at Fisherman's Horizon, you have the option of getting a nice smooth jazz rendition of Eyes On Me...played by your fellow party members!
  • Notably, it's one of the few Final Fantasy songs that has easily understandable lyrics and vocals, and having a pop artist, a Hong Kong one at that, sing it was unheard of for a JRPG at the time of the game's original release.
• The Ending Theme, specifically the twinbill of orchestrated renditions of Eyes on Me and then Final Fantasy/Prologue. It might just be the best sequence of videogame themes ever heard.
• Breezy. So calming.
• The Man With The Machine Gun. A theme that just personifies how kickass Laguna and his buddies can be. So awesome that it's one of the songs in Dissidia to be left totally alone.
• The Extreme. Used as the final boss music, it starts out with the opening verse of the aforementioned Liberi Fatali, then begins a very ominous piano piece, and finally shifts to the fast-paced theme proper, which sounds nothing short of amazing.
  • What makes the final battle especially awesome is the classic Final Fantasy riff that plays at the 1:39 mark in "The Extreme". It really kicks the song into high gear and lets you know that, yes, this is a Final Fantasy final battle - now go and slay that sorceress.
  • The fast-paced section that begins at 3:05 really conveys a sense of desperation and chaos - the heroes are being pushed beyond their limit by forces they can barely comprehend, but they still keep fighting.
  • And the Black Mages version.
• The penultimate boss theme, Maybe I'm A Lion, or the one right before it, "The Legendary Beast". And, just because, the Black Mages version of Maybe I'm A Lion. Which is probably the heaviest, most metal track they've ever done.
• Balamb Garden, a perfectly peaceful tune.
• With Ride On, the Ragnarok Theme, let's just say Selphie's not the only one exhilarated.
• Premonition, most notably played during battles with Edea.
• Fisherman's Horizon, the peaceful theme of the peace-loving town that shares the theme's name. The orchestral version from Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec is unbelievably beautiful. In fact, that whole album is a CMoA for FFVIII remixes. Equally beautiful is the slightly-altered Distant Worlds remake.
• Ami, which means "friend" in French, is a peaceful and nostalgic theme, almost to the point of being melancholic. It describes the feelings the characters are experiencing the moment they realize they were all raised together in an orphanage owned by the woman they are trying to kill. This song is so beautiful that is probably going to make you remember the most wonderful things you have done in the past as well!
• Don't Be Afraid and its orchestrated version. It's the only battle theme in Final Fantasy in 5/4 time. The Dissidia version as well, being an unapologetically badass rock-based remix..
• Movin' is like the Final Fantasy version of "Powerhouse", that one piece of music used in Warner Bros cartoons anytime something resembling an assembly line occurs. Partially because its opening is set to an FMV, it goes on for a while before looping, which is unusual for FF songs built around a catchy chorus.
• The Salt Flats is heard at the Great Salt Lake and the sorceress sealing facility (but only if you visit it before the plot demands).
• The Spy, played in the Missile Base. It really feels like you're infiltrating some hideout and have to maintain cover.
• In Deling City, during Edea's parade: Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec and Succession of Witches when we're properly introduced to that glorious sorceress of Fanservice.
• "Fragments of Memories" is nostalgia.
• While the Chocobo sidequest was annoying as hell, the music was awesome.
• Accompanying an already unsettlingly surreal interlude, Heresy bristles with sinister grandeur.
• Compression of Time. A hauntingly beautiful yet eerie song.
• "Lunatic Pandora". Yes, you are inside a giant crystal superweapon that just wiped out half of Esthar, oozing alien menace, containing the reawakening Sorceress Adel.
• "Silence and Motion", a song that captures Laguna's personality perfectly.
• Shuffle or Boogie, the very stylish Triple Triad theme.
• The Stage Is Set has an uncommon way of not sounding dreadful or threatening, but still screaming "Shit just got real."
• Dead End is an epic and intense theme for action moments, such as Quistis pumping X-ATM092 full of lead, or Squall charging through the crowd during the Deling City parade to confront Seifer and Edea.

Final Fantasy IX

• The assault on Memoria coupled with the song "Skirmish of the Silver Dragons" and the "You Are Not Alone" scene (which actually inspired a trope).
  • And Memoria itself.
• The team-up of Steiner and Beatrix with "Protecting My Devotion", which is an upbeat action remix of Beatrix's own theme, Loss of Me / Rose of May, combined with Steiner's theme vaguely heard in the background.
  • Beatrix's Battle Theme "Sword of Doubt". Her normally peaceful and melancholic theme turned into an agitated battle theme perfectly. Wow.
• The Big Bad Kuja's themes. Out of Trance he's a manipulative chessmaster, and in Trance he's a psychotic monster. Both themes reflect this very well.
• Immoral Melody, the song used as the base for Dark Messenger. And while we're at it, let's mention Desert Palace
• Jesters of the Moon, the perfect leitmotif for the bumbling clown minions Zvorn and Thorn. And then that image is forever shattered.
• The Final Battle theme for the fight with Necron. Because who says a Giant Space Flea from Nowhere can't have kickass music?
• The Battle Themes. The version of Battle 1 from Dissidia manages to sound pretty energetic.
• Dark City Treno, the town theme of Treno, "the City of Nobles". It's played on a piano in a tune reminiscent to the silent films.
• Pandemonium, used as the area music for, well, Pandemonium.
• Crystal World, a dark and mysterious remix of the Prelude.
• Eidolon Wall, aka Wall of Illusionary Beasts, a song that can put anyone in a trance, sounds very faelike and calm, yet depressing considering the fate of the Eidolons.
• A Place to Call Home, the main menu music of the game.
• Crossing Those Hills, the original world theme.
• The second world theme is quite creepy.
• Vamo'alla Flamenco. Probably the main reason that people liked the 'Chocobo Hot and Cold' minigame.
• Terra builds upon the melody of "A Place to Call Home" (although... it's kinda subtle about it). Fantastic Moonlight is a gorgeous (though anonymously-created) remix of this.
• Bran Bal is also beautiful.
• Melodies of Life, the game's vocal theme.
  • Now in Japanese!
  • Or its instrumental version, Chosen Summoner.
• The excellent, but intensely creepy theme from The Iifa Tree (shivers). Maybe this song should be filed under "terrifying".
• "We are Thieves!" Very catchy.
• "Hunter's Chance" makes the first Tournament Arc Epic. And then... it's never used again in the game except when fighting Hades. There is also the Black Mages version.
• The very beginning of the game features Tantalus performing "I Wanna Be Your Canary" to distract Queen Brahne, but the opening cinematic battle of the performance gets played out to "Feel My Blade," which could stand in for one of the battle tunes once it really gets going.
• Steiner's theme is one of the character themes from the game that best reflects its subject.
  • Freya's Theme too.
  • All the character themes are awesome, really.
• Eternal Harvest. The song that makes riverdancing rats look awesome. The piano version is made of pure awesome.
• Rufus' Welcoming Ceremony. A definitely awesome homage to a previous game.
• The Girl From Madain Sari, a mix of Eiko and Garnet's theme. This is heard when Eiko is cooking for the party and when Garnet learned she's from Madain Sari.
• Black Mage Village takes the quirkiness of FFIV's "Mystic Mysidia" (the theme to another mage town) and cranks it up.

Final Fantasy X

• "The Sending" plays during the beautiful scene of Yuna's sending in Kilika.
• "Suteki da ne", the vocal theme of the game whose melody appears in several other songs.
  • Also arranged in an Orchestral Version for your listening pleasure.
  • The official Korean version is as beautiful as the Japanese version.
  • There is also a Mandarin version that, unlike English and Korean, has completely unique lyrics.^note "Gazing at the shooting stars gliding lightly down the night sky, all loneliness is broken. What is that the wind whispering to you, could you tell me? Tears are gliding lightly down my face, please forgive my weakness. I know you only wanted me to be happy, please hold me in your arms..."
• "Assault". Exactly What It Says on the Tin, considering what happens during the scene in which it plays. Epic. Even more so when it plays while you punch out Sin. In front of the entire world!
• The Decisive Battle, which plays against the Final Boss, is possibly one of the best tracks in the game. If only the Final Boss itself wasn't a pushover though. There's an alternate version, "Original Sin", which may seem fanmade at first, but this is official...but also removed content. It's quite possible that this was intended for the final battle instead of the version used in-game, but for some reason the above was instead used. "Original Sin" combines the melody of "Decisive Battle" with sections of "To Zanarkand" and the "Hymn of the Fayth", and to great effect.
• Otherworld plays during the game's opening FMV and again when fighting Jecht, Braska's Final Aeon. Even more awesome is the fact that the only reason Uematsu wrote it is because he's a fan of heavy metal and wanted to try writing a metal song himself. The lyric is also awesome, it pretty much sums up most of Tidus' journey in a nutshell. The PS2 version of the game uses a sequenced version for that battle, sadly removed from the HD remasters, with an awesome percussion not in the original and a different bassline.
• Wandering Flame comes in on the right moments, those of contemplation, doubt and resolution. A really slow and easy going relaxing piece that can elicit many emotions depending on the listener.
• "Path of Repentance" and "To Zanarkand" cover your haunting-piano-melody needs.
  • And Movement In Green is a beautiful romantic reprise of To Zanarkand.
  • "The Skies Above" by the Black Mages and Mr. Goo, a remix of To Zanarkand.
• The bass-redone Someday The Dream Will End from the first approach to Zanarkand. Haunting in its deep tones.
  • And of course the coolest part about the approach to Zanarkand is that the regular music is so awesome, they play the same music during the battles. No transition. None is needed. It's that cool.
  • And now, courtesy of Symphonic Odysseys, "Someday the Dream Will End" / "A Fleeting Dream" with a full orchestra and a choir. YES.
• "Challenge", played during the more difficult boss battles (Seymour Flux, Omega Weapon, and Yunalesca, for example).
• Battle With Seymour A wasted song perhaps, but still awesome. Made even more epic for the HD Remaster. Combining both versions is arguably even better, with the strengths of both (particularly the choir from the original which was removed in the remastered version) filling in gaps in the other.
• The Battle Theme captures the moments as well.
• Summoned Beast Battle, aka "A Contest of Aeons", plays when you fight your Aeons in the final battle. To hear the once tranquil and somber Hymn of the Fayth in such an effectively stirring rendition gives you chills and helps ease the pain of being forced to destroy your own Aeons. Summoned Beast Battle also plays when you fight the Superboss Penance. The tension of the music fits perfectly the fight. And of course, it would be unfair to not mention the epic remix it recieved in Dissidia 012.
• Besaid Island. What every tropical paradise should sound like. Or this spine-tingling good remix. Or the remaster version with its peaceful violins.
• The Ending Theme, possibly the most heartrending track ever heard in a Final Fantasy—not surprising, given the game's nature.
• Tidus's Theme is pretty gorgeous.
• Yuna's Theme is so relaxing.
• Auron's Theme. Because he's such a bad-ass, he gets synthesiser music. It's also a bit of a Tear Jerker when it plays when he dissolves into pyreflies at the end of the game. And a fan remix of this only ups the Tear Jerker factor, since it turns it into a sad, meditative guitar piece with dramatic strings and bass, plus a brassy ending quoting "At Zanarkand" that rivals the version which plays when Tidus and Yuna share their last ghostly embrace: Guardian's Sending.
• For fan remixes, the conceptual piece The Final Summoning, building off the Hymn Of The Fayth and sheer fucking epic.
• Seymour's Ambition. Chilling, man.
• The Burning Sands, the awesome theme of the Bikanel Desert.
• Yuna's Decision, the sweet song that was mostly played in the Calm Lands.
• Phantoms, the theme played in the Macalania Snowfields.
• Calm Before the Storm, the theme of the Kilika Forest and parts of Macalania Woods. Too beautiful for words.
• Servants of the Mountain (the music heard as you climb Gagazet). One of the coolest pieces of video game music ever.

Final Fantasy X-2

• Strangely enough, the bubbly Final Fantasy X-2 contains two absolutely astounding tracks. The first, "Eternity ~Memory of Lightwaves~", is a haunting piano and violin melody, whereas "A Thousand Words" is a fairly touching ballad
  • To emphasise how good "A Thousand Words" is, Spoony, who tore X-2 to pieces in his review of the game, calls it the only thing in the game that hooked him up.
  • Here's 1000 no Kotoba, the Japanese Version of "A Thousand Words" to gush over to.
  • There's also an alternate version of "Eternity ~Memory of Lightwaves~".
• Yuna's, Rikku's, and Paine's Themes are really fun, especially the vocal version of the second theme.
• "Wind Crest: The Three Trails" from International+Last Mission is absolutely beautiful, along with its piano version.
• "real Emotion" is a favorite among J-Pop fans, with a nifty little guitar solo in the middle. The English Version is awesome as well.
• "I'll Give You Something Hot" plays whenever you have a Boss Battle against the game's Goldfish Poop Gang. It underlines the Zeerust/Sixties/Charlie's Angels feel of the game... in a really good way.
• "Summoned Beast" It's almost WORTH fighting Angra Mainyu so that you can hear that music for an hour and a half.
• "Nightmare of a Cave" epitomises everything awful that had happened to Shuyin.
• All the old familiar areas have new music in this game. The material for Besaid Island is, like the island itself, beyond beautiful.
• Just try to listen to "Kuon: Memories of Waves and Light" without shedding one tear. Same goes for "1000 Words".
• "The Zanarkand Ruins." This place is encounter free in the sequel. Nobody is here apart from a few nostalgia junkies and Isaaru, who is still clinging to his old summoner role. And even he can be convinced to leave. You can sense this place is sliding into the mists of history. Yuna has mixed feelings about Zanarkand, so the theme is very melancholy.
• "Yuna's Ballad", which is used as the battle theme against Dark Bahamut and is basically an instrumental version of her theme song 'Kimi He' (To You).
• The Final Boss themes are all excellent."Clash", "Ruin", and especially Their Resting Place" (once you notice the Dark Reprise elements of "1000 Words").

Final Fantasy XI

• Final Fantasy XI may not be known for its music... but that's probably mainly because its standout pieces are the soft, gentle ones—for example, Rolanberry Fields, The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah, A New Horizon, Ululations from Beyond, and Flowers on the Battlefield.
• The Final Battle music for Treasures of Aht Urghan, Ragnarok.
• The original Final Boss theme for XI, Awakening. Slowly building up from a dark and cold atmosphere, no wonder it got a place in Dissidia's soundtrack, completely unedited. It even got a remake in World of Final Fantasy!
• The music for Ronfaure, both past and present. Also includes Battle In The Dungeon #2, and Shadow Lord.
• "Distant Worlds" (Closing theme for Chains of Promathia). Or an even more beautiful live version (preceded by the opening arc song, "Memoro de la Stono").
• "Moblin Menagerie - Movalpolos" from Chains of Promathia is way more awesome than it has any right to be.
• Luck of the Mog, the final boss theme for the expansion pack "Final Fantasy XI: A Moogle Kupo d'Etat".
• A Realm of Emptiness, the final boss theme of the Chains of Promathia expansion. Its remix for Dissidia Duodecim is a work of art.
• Speaking of mini-expansion music, A Shantotto Ascension's final boss theme and Vision of Abyssea's zone theme are fantastic tracks.
• Roar of the Battle Drums (the campaign battle theme) is such an awesome tune... Catchy, too.
• San d'Oria's town theme is not really a fan favorite (after a while, you get a little tired of hearing the bagpipes). However, the past version of the town has its own fantastic and powerful theme, more lighthearted and definitely more well-liked: Griffons Never Die.
• Wail of the Void plays over the final boss fight of the game's final expansion. One might expect a bombastic battle theme in line with the rest of the series to cap off the game; instead, we got a somber, beautiful melody that perfectly embodies the bittersweet feeling of over a decade of memories coming to an end.

Final Fantasy XII

• Most of the Final Fantasy XII soundtrack was composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto. It includes The Empire's Theme, the Necrohol of Nabudis gives a great feeling of desolation and loneliness, there's Giruvegan, and the Feywood is good as well, especially when you see Judge Ghis' fleet for the first time.
• The Esper Battle music is the perfect epic theme for just how important the game makes your battles against the giant cursed creatures. When it was remixed for Dissidia Final Fantasy, the only major change made to it was adding one hell of a drum track — the rest of the song is the same audio used in the original game. The remastered version from The Zodiac Age was reused in FFXIV's Bozja raids. It works equally as well for fighting the Giant Mecha Brionac as it does for the returning Espers.
• Giza Plains, a perfect companion to any start of a journey. It's almost as if the composers knew you were going to start a fight at the exact moment the song goes from adventurous and free-spirited to badass and rowdy.
• The Battle For Freedom is the most epic, being the final boss song. Starting off as tranquil strings, it later builds up the tension with percussion and more strings. The buildup was so intense that when it comes to the centerpiece, you just had to prolong the battle to listen to the entirety all over again.
• Esper, an epic remix of the aforementioned Esper Battle.
• Boss Battle, especially the midparts. Its first variation was used in Final Fantasy Tactics A2. Dissidia Final Fantasy (2015) gave it another remix that makes the Esper Battle treatment from Dissidia 012 better by pumping up the orchestra with an even faster drum track and introducing electric guitar and bass.
• The vocals make Abandoning Power soothing and divine.
• Fight to the Death accompanies epic fights against Vossler and Gabranth.
• The Royal City Of Rabanastre, a go-to track when convincing people that Game Music is a legitimate form of musical expression.
• The Sky Fortress Bahamut is just perfectly suited to the events that accompany it, but it's amazing to listen to on its own.
• Eruyt Village is a just background music for a few towns. But it's so hauntingly beautiful and calming that it needs to be included here. It's the perfect theme to go with some of FFXII's most visually stunning locations.
• Being the first location that Vaan can go to outside Rabanastre, the Dalmasca Estersands' theme conveys a real sweeping sense of freedom. Appropriate, given the comparatively open feel of FFXII's gameplay as compared to previous games in the series.
• "Kiss Me Good-Bye" is the gorgeous and emotional theme song of the game. Luckily for us, it comes in two languages.
• For the Updated Re-release, Hitoshi Sakimoto composed new tracks to avoid the slight recycling in the original game:
  • "Lying in Wait", which appears to be the Nam-Yensa Sandsea's own theme.
  • "The Guardians", a replacement boss theme for gatekeepers like Garuda and Daedalus.
  • "Fury of the Entites", for battles with Tiamat and other forces of nature.
  • The Tchita Uplands finally has its own theme!
  • "Gloom" replaces "Ashe's Theme" as the music dedicated to the Pharos Subterra, and the lack of percussion seems deliberately designed to make its ambushes even scarier.
  • For the Ridorana Cataract, we have "Memories Eternal". It's a great fit whether you're heading to the Pharos or heading away from Yiazmat.
  • "The Ultimate Trial" replaces "Flash of Steel" for a more ominous take on the Pharos's final ascent.

Final Fantasy Type-0

• "Zero" by BUMP OF CHICKEN. What's really awesome about "Zero" is the translation in the HD version. No, they did not cover it in English, but they did give it English lyrics that fit the music, to the point that you may or may not wish they had given it an English cover. The in-game version of "Zero" differs from the studio release by including the Final Fantasy Prologue melody in the beginning of the guitar solo, doubling as an Easter egg, and giving the player false hope that Class Zero survived after all.
• Vermillion Fire. Square-Enix rarely goes wrong when they bust out the Ominous Latin Chanting for Final Bosses, and this time is no exception.
• The Beginning of the End plays during the opening cutscene. Beneath the Latin chorus, it starts off militant while the Militesi fleet is invading Akademeia, and then swiftly gradiates to triumphant at the 2-min mark when Class Zero's arrives.
• Three Hours that Changed the World plays during Qator's intro scene, a no-nonsense track to accompany the aptly-named Milites Empire.
• Servant of the Crystal, the battle theme for White Tiger l'Cie, is a rock track punctuated with choir shouts to highlight exactly what you've gotten yourself into.
• War: Recapture is a Simple, yet Opulent piano track that serves to get your blood pumping for short Militesi encounters.
• War: The White Weapon highlights fights with Magitek Armour bosses with a fast beat and a bass drop.
• War: The Quiet Bloodbath manages to be a calm track and somehow not feel like Soundtrack Dissonance when it plays during fight scenes.
• Heart Boils has anxious strings playing to tell you that it's Mission Day, get your ass in gear!
• From Type-0 HD, Utakata, which plays during the new bonus secret ending, features an absolutely ethereal female vocal to underscore Samurai!Ace's revival in flames.

Final Fantasy XV

• "Somnus", the game's haunting main theme, is a Latin lament narrating the despair of the misguided people of Eos following the countless tragedies they inflicted upon themselves while the powers above them sleep. It is appropriately played when Noctyx and his companions return to Insomnia for the first time since their journey started, marking the endgame in the process.
• "Omnis Lacrima," the game's boss theme, as well as the theme from the 2008, 2011, and 2013 trailers.
• "Gratia Mundi" which is another trailer theme. It later got two rearrangements in-game: "Valse di Fantastica," which is the theme for the car ride between Lestallum and Cape Caem, and a slower sounding one that plays when exploring some parts of the Leide region.
• "In Dreams", the first theme of the Platinum Demo, is perfect for Noctis' dream there.
• The game features one of the largest number of battle themes for any mainline Final Fantasy game, and all can be argued to be examples of this trope. Examples include.
  • "Stand Your Ground", the daytime battle theme for the starting region of Leide. There's also "Careening Into Danger", an arrangement used in the game's tutorial and the Platinum Demo.
  • "Veiled In Black", the battle theme used against Niflheim enemies. There's also a variant that plays during battles at imperial bases, and a second that plays in the Insomnia Ruins.
  • "Hunt or be Hunted," which is used for mobhunt encounters. This track, which sounds more like something from a military themed game such as Metal Gear, goes quite well with the "hunting" theme of these encounters, where the player is tasked with taking out select groups of mobs in exchange for cash, in effect, acting as mercernaries and bounty hunters.
  • "Afrosword", an Afrojack contribution that plays during Timed Quest fights and becomes the main battle theme when Noctis wields the weapon of the same name.
  • "The Fight is On!", the battle theme for the Duscae region (as well as for the Episode Duscae demo).
  • "Up For The Challenge", the song that plays during encounters in and around the Cleigne region, has the Prelude mixed in, and is just generally good at pumping the player up for a fight.
  • The two battle themes for fights against daemons. The "Daemons", is a tense track that highlights the tension in these battles which usually happen in dungeons or at night. "Horrors of the Night," is reserved for fights against larger daemons and bosses, and highlights just how fearsome these enemies can be (and how epic the fights can become) with a healthy helping of Ominous Latin Chanting.
  • "Invidia," the music that plays during the boss fights between Loqi and Aranea.
  • "Ravus Aeterna," Ravus' Theme when you fight him as a daemon in Chapter 13.
  • "Hellfire I, II, III," Ifrit's battle themes that play when you fight him. Especially the part where you can hear a bit of Gentiana's theme at the end.
  • The final boss theme of the game, "Magna Insomnia."
• "Nox Divina", associated with summoning the Astrals and unleashing hell upon any in their way. Chills are very likely to ensue.
• "Song of the Stars/Dawn", the music that plays during the "Dawn" trailers.
• The downright beautiful cover of Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" by Florence + the Machine.
• "Nox Aeterna", the music that heralded the rebranding of Versus XIII to XV.
• The movie includes a beautiful cover of the Final Fantasy main theme.
• "Apocalypsis Noctis", featuring one of the most prominent motifs following the "Uncovered" trailer, even playing during E3 2016's demo against Titan and in the closing credits sequence of Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV. It got a rearrange in the battle of Leviathan called "Apocalypsis Aquarius". Ditto another one for Noct's inclusion in Tekken 7.
• "Reel Rumble" plays when Noctis is fishing.
• If you go to a campsite but don't immediately strike camp, you'll be treated to Tetsuya Shibata's "Safe Haven." The delicate guitar and glowing piano combine to provide a single mood: for the immediate future, this is home.
• Noctis's theme. A surprisingly elegant and peaceful theme considering his character, but beautiful nonetheless. Also "Moonlit Melodies", a beautiful blend of Noctis and Luna's themes which plays over the Royal Edition's new ending credits.
• "Endlessness," the haunting theme of the Omen trailer.
• "Braver" by Afrojack which was featured in the last trailer before the game's release.
• "The Hydraean's wrath," which plays when Noctis fights Leviathan while she destroys Altissia.
• The DLC Episode: Gladiolus features a darker arrangement of "Battle on the Big Bridge".
• Nobuo Uematsu returns to the series for the Comrades DLC by composing Bahamut's first battle theme, "A Clash of Swords". Oppressive and grandiose, the piece makes full use of the chorus and brass to convey the crushing feeling of fighting the God Of War himself, before the vocals evolve into an encouragement for you to overcome the odds. When you fight Bahamut in a rematch, the Astral will eventually initiate a second phase heralded by "The Wrath of Swords". Unlike the first theme's fully orchestral composition, this second theme markedly uses electric guitars and boisterous trumpets while the chorus is relegated to the background.
• Episode: Ignis's main leitmotif is a gorgeous piece from the great Yasunori Mitsuda that manages to be both triumphant and a Tear Jerker at the same time.
• Ravus's theme in Episode Ignis is another beautiful song.
• From Episode Ignis, "A Tear-Stained Sword" plays right after Ignis and Ravus arrive at the altar too late to save Luna. Ravus almost immediately blames Noctis for her death and attempts to kill him, forcing Ignis to protect the prince. Understandably it is Sad Battle Music.
• Episode: Ignis also gives us "Apocalypsis Magnatus", which combines Noctis's Apocalypsis leitmotif with that of Ignis's main theme. And it is awesome.
• Every rendition of Ardyn Izunia's theme is a delight to hear:
  • We start with the playful yet tense sounding "Ardyn", and move to the far darker and more menacing "Ardyn II" when his true nature is revealed.
  • "Beckoned by Darkness" from "Episode Prompto" is a far more subdued version, mainly using piano and violins.
  • "Ardyn III", the iteration of Ardyn's theme from Episode: Ignis is a fantastic Ominous Pipe Organ piece that perfectly encapsulates his true nature.
• "Episode Medley", an epic combination of all the Chocobros' themes and "Choosing Hope", played in Comrades when you control Noct and Co. themselves.
• The Royal Edition gives us several kickass themes to go with the new bosses:
  • Cerberus.
  • "Omega" and "Omega - Limit Break", the themes for the eponymous Super Boss.
  • "Est it foron! - A Prayer", the theme for The Fierce and the Rogue.
  • "Evencelevenemus - Kingly Compassion", a boss theme befitting the Founder King of Lucis.
• "Advent of the Apocalypse" plays when Luna calls upon the Astrals to shatter Ardyn's barrier around the Citadel. Known by fans as "Apocalypsis Luna".
• "Prayer of the Oracle": a heartbreakingly beautiful One-Woman Wail that perfectly conveys Ardyn's tragic descent from kind and noble healer to the bitter, hateful villain we see in the game.
• "Conditioned to Hate", the theme of Episode Ardyn: a hard-hitting industrial rock theme with hip-hop lyrics from Lotus Juice (of Persona 3 fame) encapsulating the overall theme of the Episode: Ardyn's burning, all-consuming hatred and lust for vengeance. The alternate, instrumental version that plays during Ardyn's awakening on Angelgard is a much darker, foreboding and harder-hitting rendition, giving the players, the Kingsglaive, and even Ardyn himself a taste of just what kind of monster got loose.
• The music that plays during the battle between brothers Ardyn and Somnus combines both Ardyn's theme and "Somnus".
• Florence + the Machine released two other songs written for the game:
  • Too Much is Never Enough, an epic anthem for Noctis. It can be heard in-game by selecting "Credits" from the main menu.
  • The gorgeous and mournful I Will Be. The fact that it was never used is a travesty.

Final Fantasy XVI

• Since Masayoshi Soken was confirmed to be the composer, this is a given, but the scores of both trailers have made waves. The song featured in the second trailer that Soken described "Clive's theme song", "Find the Flame", even transitions into an epic crescendo that combines the classic Final Fantasy theme written by Nobuo Uematsu with a choir encouraging Clive to bring out the power within himself.
• The game's theme song, "Tsuki o Miteita -- Moongazing" by Kenshi Yonezu, is a melancholy-yet-hopeful ballad about the singer separated from his lover, promising that they will reunite one day. Some fans have taken this to be a hint that Clive did indeed survive in the ending.
• "Sixteen Bells" is the standard battle theme, sounding similar to VII or XV's battle themes but being wholly its own thing that more so fits the medieval setting of XVI.
• "To Sail Forbidden Seas" is an epic and bombastic battle theme normally used whenever Clive is battling a Dominant outside of Eikon form, and lets the player know that shit is gonna go down during the fight,
• "Away", the theme for Phoenix, is widely considered to be among the best songs in the game due to its epic scale yet tragic undertone when it gets to its main chorus as well as its use as a boss theme in the battle of Ifrit and Phoenix adding lots of emotional weight to it.
• "Control" is the music for the battle against Garuda, which samples the Prelude melody and is combined with a choir singing Garuda's name and Benedikta's feelings on her Dark and Troubled Past. It makes for a theme that, similar to "Away", ends up being as tragic as it is awesome.
• "Catacecaumene", the second phase music for Typhon, is the first time the game really breaks genre and stands out for its electronic synth beat. It also serves as heavy Foreshadowing for one of the themes in the final boss fight half a game later, making for a good Rewatch Bonus the second time listening to it.
• "Do or Die" and "Titan Lost" are the two battle themes for the Titan Lost boss fight, and stand out from most other tracks in the game for sounding like something out of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, being lyrical hard rock/techno songs that are used to emphasize the sheer spectacle of the Titan Lost fight. They stick out like a sore thumb from the otherwise mostly-orchestral score of XVI, but are nonetheless awesome and fitting for Titan Lost. And then there's the music for the final phase, "Heart of Stone", which is a symphonic rock arrangement of "Titan Lost" with slightly altered lyrics that underscores the sheer hatred fueling the fight between Clive/Ifrit and Hugo/Titan.
• "Ascension", the final boss theme of Bahamut, sounds almost Mozartian. The epic choir signifies Bahamut's radiance while the stellar use of the violins and its own lyrics signifies that it is still Dion.
• "The Riddle" is the theme of the final fight against Barnabas Tharmr, a gothic and intense track fully emphasizing the madness of Barnabas which builds up to an ominous choir near the end, and making for a great companion piece for "To Sail Forbidden Seas".
• "Neath the Pall" is an otherwordly theme that plays during the first fight against Ultima and during the second phase of his Final Boss fight, and adds to the ancient feeling of Ultima as well as making him seem more grandiose than what he actually is.
• "Logos" plays during the Ultima Risen phase of the Final Boss fight against Ultima, which sounds ominous and apocalyptic while also serving as a Call-Back to "Catacecaumene".
• "Hymn of the Penitent" is the theme for the penultimate phase of Ultima, being a sweeping, ominous, and climactic theme for Ultima's final and most powerful form. But it is its followup that plays during Ultima's final phase, "All As One", that deserves a special mention - because it is Clive's Final Boss theme. It is a Triumphant Reprise of "Find the Flame" emphasizing Clive's determination and willpower over Ultima, mixing in both orchestral instrumentation and rock music to make for a track that oozes glory and finality.
• "Eikonoklasm" shows that Masayoshi Soken's love for leitmotifs can even transcend game entries. This theme plays for the Omega Aionios battle, and is a fast-paced, chaotic techno theme befitting of a machine. The use of Final Fantasy XIV's "eScape" as a leitmotif is quite fitting, as Omega is a recurring boss in the series; having one of its best themes play here as well cements Omega's role as a recurring character. "Eikonoclasm" is noticeably faster and more chaotic than "eScape", which perfectly captures Omega's unusual agility for its size as it darts around the arena, lobbing attack after attack.
• "Cascade" is one of the first songs people heard from this game... and also the last. Initially used in the Awakening trailer, this theme made its in-game debut years later as Leviathan's final phase theme. The percussion in the background never lets up, and neither does the choir, conveying the epic showdown amidst the gigantic seas. The intermission of the song also reminds you that the fight is literally against an infant who primed after being trapped for 80 years, with a soprano choir sounding as the intense instruments stop for a moment.

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

• Frank Sinatra's "My Way" is expertly used only twice over the course of the game, but the second time punctuates the endpoint of the story: the moment when the Warriors of Light finally confront Garland. The final trailer also uses it to an amazing effect; the way the music swells as the cast stand silhouetted in the iconic shot with Cornelia's castle in the background is stirring enough to almost make you forget you're hearing a Frank Sinatra song in a trailer for a Final Fantasy game.
• "The Dark Crystals", this game's take on the classic "Prelude", is an ethereal track which features slower plucking than the original to give a hint that this is a very different story from the original Final Fantasy.
• "Stranger" is directly based on the original Final Fantasy opening theme and sounds hopeful and determined, with firm yet subdued brass and wistful flutes accompanied by chanting, setting the mood for the story as yet another iteration of the Warriors of Light sets out to defeat the darkness.
• "Jack's Theme" is reminiscent of march music, with its bombastic brass and warlike vocals, fitting the main character's unyielding desire to kill Chaos, and soothing sections reveal another side of Jack's: his hidden caring nature and loyalty to his comrades.
• "Kindred Soul" serves as the main Leitmotif of Jack's companions, playing during the scenes focusing on them. Its soothing tone and firm yet subdued drums give a feeling of safety among the comrades as their quest continues.
• "Shadows Rising" is used during the (in)famous "Bullshit" scene and sounds like a mid-2000's nu-metal song, sort of a hybrid (theory) of Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park. However, the full song perfectly encapsulates the tone of the game: unapologetic action with elements of corniness and edge.
• "Readiness", the world map music, serves as a perfect reprieve between bouts of fighting various demons and forging onwards towards the goal. Its calm tone helps you get into the determined mindset of Jack and his friends as they march onwards to stop Chaos.
• The normal battle theme, "Battle: The Warrior", is another stellar addition to the repertoire of Final Fantasy random encounter themes, drawing inspiration from the later entries in the series yet still paying homage to the old-school games.
• As the party encounters Tiamat in the Flying Fortress, the fight is accompanied by "Battle: Tiamat", a percussion-heavy track based directly on the original Flying Fortress theme that features ominous chanting and dominant brass. But after the battle reaches its second phase, the music changed to "Battle: Fiend of Wind", a more fast-paced version with prominent synths and strings that give it a more hopeful and heroic tone.
• The boss encounter with Marilith starts off with a mysterious-sounding and ominous "Battle: Marilith", featuring frenetically plucked strings, One-Woman Wail and heavy brass. But as the second part of the battle begins, "Battle: The Fiend of Fire" continues from the previous theme, giving it faster pace and transitioning into a triumphant rendition of the original "Mt. Gulg", with the vocals sounding like they're cheering Jack and his party on.
• "Battle: Strangers of Paradise", a Dark Reprise of "Kindred Soul", crowns the penultimate main mission of the game as Jack is forced to face his comrades in battle. Its distressed tone reflects his reluctance to do so, as the final choice is made for him.
• "Solitude", the second world map music that sadly plays only after one mission, reflects the emotional state that Jack is in after sacrificing so much to achieve his goals, saddened by the losses yet still determined to put an end to all the suffering Cornelia is going through.
• "The Cycle", played when Jack traverses the Chaos Shrine for the second time and featuring some elements from the original's "Sunken Shrine", sounds like a funeral dirge for the fallen comrades that are no longer with him, and yet its tone is still hopeful as the final chapter of the story is coming to an end.
• "Battle: Breaking Crystal" uses the "Prelude" melody in a completely unique way, weaving it into a fast-paced orchestral track with heavy drums and loud brass, creating contrast between the two melodies.
• From the Different Future DLC, "Where All Will End" is a beautiful symphonic techno track that showcases the plane of Lufenia and the dire situation the Lufenians are about to plunge the world into, with Jack's theme woven into it as a symbol of him being the only one able to stop them.

Ivalice series

• Another soundtrack by Hitoshi Sakimoto: Final Fantasy Tactics.
  • Any battle theme. "Trisection" and "Antipyretic" get a special mention, as does the second-to-final boss battle theme. Note that Trisection is the first battle theme in the game. It lets you know what you're in for.
  • In Pursuit plays during the second battle with Milleuda. It's tense and hostile, but with a droning gothic tone. Perfect for putting down the peasant chattel!
  • The heartbreaking music-box rendition of Ovelia's Theme.
  • "Antidote" plays during the battle when you have Olan as a Guest-Star Party Member. It also has no business being a battle theme, being nothing more or less than one of the most stirring waltzes ever written.
  • The Pervert, renamed "Helldance" for the PSP remake, fits the battles against the Lucavi to a T. It's a dark and creepy, yet intense theme that's perfect for battling otherwordly demons.
• Final Fantasy Tactics Advance:
  • Any battle theme. "Companions that Surpassed Their Tribe", "Battle of Hope", "Surpassing the Wall", "Beyond the Wasteland", and the final boss theme, "Incarnation".
  • "The Road We Both Aim For" truly befits a battle with nothing less than the fate of the world on the line.
  • Other than Hitoshi Sakimoto's FFTA battle music, Kaori Ohkoshi composes one of the most epic songs in the game, including "Beyond the Wasteland" and "Surpassing the Wall". "Unavoidable Destiny", however, is the most epic.
• Final Fantasy Tactics A2 contains great reworked masterpieces from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance AND reuses of some music from Final Fantasy XII! Remixes of the above, for instance: "Beyond the Wasteland", "Companions that..."
• Front and Back. It very firmly seals Hitoshi Sakimoto as an amazing composer. But wait! It's not over yet! Into the Fantasy is an amazing version of The Salikawood (mentioned above) from Final Fantasy XII, Green Wind is a great battle theme to start the game's first fight with, and Putting Words Together is a short, yet gorgeous piano piece. Very fitting for Luso's return home.
• Determination is a somewhat uplifting battle theme used for the Duelhorn storyline.
• Looming Crisis. It helps that it plays during the incredibly epic battles against the Mage Kings of Ciquleur. The part starting at 0:40 is GODLY.
• "Gathering Allies" is, and always will be, one of the catchiest tunes you hear as you fiddle around with your clan's equipment, jobs, and abilities. Dun-dun-duh-dadada-da-dun-dadada-da-dun-dah-dun-duuun...
• The ending theme of Vagrant Story. Go on, have a good cry.
• The Undercity is easily one of the creepiest, most complicated tunes in Final Fantasy history.
• The Limestone Quarry hits you like a stone wall and never lets go.
• "Fortress", which would have been a sequel to Final Fantasy XII taking place 10 years later, was a game that was cancelled by GRIN studios around 2009-2010. In February 2012, a track for it was released by composer Erik Thunberg, a truly majestic piece of music that evokes images of imperial splendor, palace intrigue, and a grand world. The artwork in the aforementioned Youtube link is of an older Princess Ashe. What Could Have Been, indeed.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles

• The music from Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles was composed by Kumi Tanioka. Some highlights: Kaze No Ne/Sound of the Wind (the opening) in both English and Japanese, the ending song, and "Unite, Descent", the final boss theme.
• Raem's original boss theme, "Sad Monster". It takes all the instruments used in all the previous songs in the game, and turns it into a song that really gets the blood pumping, readying you for the penultimate battle. Bonus points for the title being a Meaningful Name — Raem may seem like a Big Bad when you first hear him, but once you hand him his phoenix behind on a silver platter he becomes a whimpering, simpering creature whose only desire is to live... of course, he then eats his only companion and goes One-Winged Angel on you (leading to the epic Final Boss fight and the aforementioned "Unite, Descent"). Never have bagpipes been more epic.
• Sleeping Treasure in the Sand.
• Promised Moisture.
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers has some of the most diverse tracks in a Final Fantasy game, ranging from nice remix of the original Crystal theme ("The Sacred Heaven", "Kuule tää unelmain"), swashbuckling action ("Emergency!"), rodeo-lasso style fight music ("Catch and Throw"), catchy steam town tunes ("Bridge Town"), nice chillout wind instruments ("Moogle Woods")...Heck, there's too many to list!

Spin-offs, sequels, and prequels

• Ryuji Sasai's music was one of the few highlights in the otherwise forgettable Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. It should be telling that the first time Square Enix reused any content from Mystic Quest (which wasn't a pithy side mention of protagonist Benjamin, anyway) was in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call.
  • Doom Castle definitely deserves a mention here.
  • The battle with the Dark King.
  • The boss battle music. Heard 16 times in a relatively short RPG and still awesome every single time...even when it interrupts the Doom Castle music four times. THAT is saying something. This Mario Paint version of the boss battle theme is just as amazing, if not even more so.
  • Even the REGULAR battle music in Mystic Quest is epic. These three remixes take its sheer awesome and...well, let's just say that awesome is an understatement.
  • The four elemental dungeon music tracks all provide the perfect atmosphere for their respective dungeons. The most recognisable is probably the hard-rocking Lava Dome, complete with electric guitars, but the other three - the martial Bone Dungeon with its insistent snare drums, the enigmatic Ice Pyramid with its "wintry blast" sound effects, and the ominous Pazuzu's Tower with its tense string accompaniment - are also highlights.
• Dissidia Final Fantasy. Not only does it have sweet remixes of classics, the Intro is pretty awesome.
  • March is awesome enough to merit a spot on this list.
  • And it's just one of the permutations of the game's leitmotif. Other good songs include Cosmos, Chaos, and The Messenger. And yes, they all had the same lyrics in Japan.^note Being written by a Canadian band helps.
  • Dissidia Final Fantasy plays like a Greatest Hits album with some original work in there too... oh, right, there's also a game in there, but the music - original versions and kickass remixes - is mostly listed above for obvious reasons.
  • The ending theme takes the cake, though, remixing the ending themes of all the first ten games as scenes from each character's story play over the credits. It's enough to make a die-hard fan tear up. The Duodecim version is the same concept, except that it takes Terra's theme as the piece representing FFVI (instead of Cyan's theme), adds pieces for XI, XII, and XIII and the Carmen Lucis track from the game itself, and is overall rearranged to pure awesome.
  • Courtesy of Duodecim, two mind-blowingly epic tracks, Cantata Mortis and God in Fire.
  • More Duodecim originals: Troops and Tension
  • Still from Duodecim: Carmen Lucis. The first half is an awesome music of a desperate battle that ends up with seven Heroic Sacrifices, including one from Cosmos. The second half is plays when Shinryu revives the fallen warriors, with the Warrior of Light (not being dead) watching it, ending with Lightning's When She Smiles moment.
  • NT gives us a vocal remix of the Dissidia theme with the orchestral Explosion and it's rock version Massive Explosion, while expanding on the above-mentioned Greatest Hits nature of Dissidia's soundtrack.
• Curtain Call has an absolutely amazing medley that is sure to bring tears to many gamers' eyes out of sheer nostalgia.
• Even if the music of the Chocobo series are remixes from various tracks in the series, these are very epic remixes. For example Chocobo Racing has Mysidia's Sky Garden is the upbeat, fast-paced version of the credits from Final Fantasy V.
• Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales has some awesome tunes, most of which are remixes from other music, but mostly better then the originals. An example: The intro. Although the soundtrack of that game recently disappeared on Youtube, the game has orgasmic remixes of the originals. Noteworthy examples are "Mako Reactor", this time used for The Very Definitely Final Dungeon (for obvious reasons, especially considering they managed to make the song even more chilling than it already was); "Clash On The Big Bridge", used for the final boss; "The Decisive Battle", used for boss battles; "Cry in sorrow", used for an abandoned mansion; and so on. And then there's the game's rendition of the Prelude.
• World of Final Fantasy has a lot of reprises of the greatest songs from the franchise (not to say that it doesn't have any great original hits itself), including:
  • For Final Fantasy, you have the regular combat theme for when you evoke the Warrior of Light.
  • For Final Fantasy V, Battle on the Big Bridge gets yet another remix.
  • For Final Fantasy VI, Terra programmed a remix of "The Decisive Battle" into her Magitek Armor. Battle to the Death also gets a nice remix to accompany Celes.
  • For Final Fantasy VII, Those Who Fight Further gets a remix filled with even more energy than the original. The regular battle theme, Let The Battles Begin!, also gets an awesome remix.
  • For Final Fantasy X, we have a light-hearted mashup of Blitz Off and To Zanarkand for Tidus, a fast-paced rendition of the Hymn of the Fayth for Yuna, and even a remix of A Fleeting Dream.
  • For Final Fantasy XII, Balthier turns the originally dramatic The Fates into a fast-paced energetic theme perfectly befitting the leading man himself.
  • For Final Fantasy XIII, Blinded by Light is remixed to combine the energy of the original with the instruments of its remix Crimson Blitz in Lightning Returns while Snow gets a remix of his Leitmotif that's even more blood-pumping and heroic than the original.
• Mobius Final Fantasy brings on the composer of XIII-2, Lightning Returns and Dissidia 012 for an excellent, expansive and varied score.
  • Prelude, the song that greets you when you start the game, is a heavenly, melodic piece.
  • Palamecian Breeze is a beautiful rendition of the iconic Prelude theme.
  • Warrior Of Light, one of the original battle themes, feels suitably heroic.
  • The various versions of Wol's theme make for a wide gamut of emotions from a single motif.
  • Legend sets a powerful, impactful tone.
  • Endless Fight is a remix of III's Road to the Mountain Top, making it more adventurous.
  • The silly Cait Sith Suit job comes with Capricious Cait Sith, a surprisingly funky Shibuya-Kei tune.
  • Seaside Queen is something perfectly suited for a tropical island resort.
  • Ultimate Hyper, the boss theme for the final acts, is suitably intense.
  • Princess Sarah's default battle theme, Princess of Illusion, is an intense rave beat mixed with a somber violin that somehow manages to work.
  • The battle theme for the Reisender job is an Electro House song in the vein of "Satisfaction", of all things.
  • Sohpie's Theme mixes funky vocals and guitars with the series trademark orchestral sound for a great battle tune.

Remixes and the like

• The album Final Fantasy: Pray. All of it. It's essentially tracks from Final Fantasy games remixed and set to vocals. Just one example of the awesome is Pray, based on Prologue. Yes, they made the freaking PROLOGUE more awesome than it already is.
  • They did it with the Prelude as well.
  • Au Palais De Verre (Matoya's Cave), Hikari no Naka e (Theme of Love), and Toki no Horosha (Terra's theme). All incredibly beautiful tracks.
• The Black Mages, Uematsu's rock band. They've produced some utterly amazing remixes of pretty much every track mentioned above, and then some.
• Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy, taking various tracks from all across the FF series and orchestrating them to awesome proportions. The whole soundtrack qualifies, but the ones of note are One-Winged Angel, Swing De Chocobo, Medley, and last but most definitely not least, Memoro De La Stono.
  • Many of the arrangements found on Distant Worlds first appeared on 20020220 Music from Final Fantasy, the live recording of a concert held in Tokyo in 2002. These arrangements would go on to be performed during the Dear Friends - Music from Final Fantasy concert tour in 2004 and 2005 and then used again during the Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy concert series from 2007 to 2010. Which then brings them to the CD for Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy.
  • Distant Worlds II and its subsequent world tour have brought an even greater selection of music to the orchestra hall, including the above-linked "Dancing Mad".
  • Distant Worlds III brings more variety with a chilling rendition of "The Sending" and the funniest Chocobo Medley yet.
• Heavy Metal Arrange Album GUARVAIL, taking tracks from a ton of the games and turning them into metal of awesomeness. The whole album is pretty sweet, but the ones of the most note are the arrangements of The Extreme, The FF Main Theme, Battle Scene A, and last but most definitely not least, Dancing Mad.
• Nearly all of Love Will Grow, the Spiritual Successor to the aforementioned Final Fantasy: Pray album, belongs here.
• The remixes from Sega Fantasy 6, a parody video taking the 7th Gen console wars and fitting them in flawlessly into Final Fantasy VI's last battle, deserve mentioning here.
• CROW'S CLAW, known for its Touhou arranges, has also done some awesome remixes of Final Fantasy songs.
• While most of his other work has been humorous, Brentalfloss' take on the main theme is nothing short of masterful.
• Final Fantasy Song Book: Mahoroba is the the sort-of-but-not-quite spiritual successor to Pray and Love Will Grow, being stylistically a bit different. And fantastic. (Examples including Evanecense (Home Sweet Home) and Maybe, Goodbye having the most unlikely theme, VII's "Farm Boy".
• This is what happens if Chocobo meets operatic rock: Awesomeness ensues.
• Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec. This album as a whole is one of the better arrangement albums by Shirō Hamaguchi, including "Liberi Fatali" and the complete ending theme with the reprise of "Eyes On Me" (as well as the original)...but it also gives us the above-mentioned "Don't Be Afraid", "Fisherman's Horizon", "The Oath", and a Tear Jerker string-quartet rendition of "Fragments of Memories". Definitely Awesome Music.
• If you weren't already convinced by the selections already mentioned: Balance and Ruin.
• From the "Untempered Final Fantasy XIV Primal Battle Themes" album, we have the Oblivion (Never Let it Go) song. As the name indicates, it is a remix of "Oblivion", FFXIV Shiva's battle theme. However, this version turns the rock song into a sorrowful, melancholic ballad, trading the electric guitar for an acoustic one, and giving a whole new vibe to this theme. One could say it is the perfect fit for Ysayle's sacrifice.
• What do you get when you combine FF1's normal battle theme with FF4's boss theme? This face-melting thrash metal remix of pure energy courtesy of S.S.H.

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