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I'm working on another Eyes on Final Fantasy soundtracks article which is going to focus on the music of A Realm Reborn.
I have some favourite pieces of my own, but I'd like to know what your favourite tracks are. You may even get a special shout out in the article. :)
-Coerthas field music
-Ultima battle music
-Garuda battle music
-Answers remix that plays somwhere in Praetorium.
Okay and what do you like about them? How do they make you feel?
Personally, I can't decide on a single favourite other than Answers. It's so moving given the context of the song within the game cutscene but I'm gonna focus on the more musical themes of the game.
First up would be Fallen Angel, known by most as the Garuda boss theme. The music is a great song that drives you through the battle. The electric organ opening is reminiscent of older Nobuo soundtracks, such as his brilliant usage during the FFVI soundtrack. The guitar that follows brings the music to the more modern games, and boy is it a memorable riff. It's one of my favoured boss themes to date.
My second choice is Twilight Over Thanalan. I don't recall this theme being used as much in ARR as it was in 1.x, but it's one of the game themes that sticks with me whenever I hear it. It's one of Nobuo's soothing and moving pieces of music for those dialogue heavy cutscenes. It's a beautiful piece that I favour greatly.
My final choice is The Sands' Secrets. I love a good piece of rousing music and this theme is strong in that aspect. It really lifts your spirits and makes you psyched for what's to come.
Yes, I have picked all music available in 1.x, I just feel that the original music is better than some of the new arrangements that replace Nobuo's score.
For a metalhead, definitely the Garuda and Titan battle themes. Even better are the metal covers on Youtube! Also that brief tune we hear at the start of Pharos is nice.
- Answers: For a long time, "Melodies of Life" was probably my favourite Final Fantasy song, until "Answers" came along and blew it straight out of the water and over the horizon. The music, the vocals, the atmosphere, the lyrics... Everything about this masterpiece just works. Even if it hadn't been the background piece for one of SE's best cutscenes ever (the "End of an Era" movie), this would still be a fantastic song. It's lyrics are very deep and moving, especially when combined with the "End of an Era" cutscene, but even on their own they are thought-provoking and meaningful. It's just a gorgeous track all around, one that nobody should miss out on hearing at least once.
- Rise of the White Raven: Final Boss tracks are always an important part of a game for me, especially in a Final Fantasy game. A good Final Boss track can add so much to the final battle. "Rise of the White Raven" is one such track. It's grand, it's dramatic and it's bombastic. It gets your blood pumping for the fight, but even outside of the battle is a pleasant enough song to listen to. The singing I like as well, the way it is done almost make this sound opera-ish. Definately a great track and one of the best Final Boss themes in the series.
- Fallen Angel: I think it's no surprise that this one made it onto my list. Everybody and their mother probably heard the praise people heap on this track and for a good reason! This is, hands down, one of the best boss themes in the series, even of RPGs in general. It adds so much to the Garuda fights. It matches the opening sequence perfectly. The soft, soothing intro as Garuda gracefully descends from the heavens as an angel, only for the track to kick off in a racing, fast-paced melody as the madness of the Primal is revealed. It's brilliant and I love every second of it. Fallen Angel is dramatic, fast and epic; in short, everything a great boss track should be.
There are probably more, but these are the three that stand out the most for me at the moment. I haven't been able to listen to the Ultima-fight music yet outside of the game, so I can't really comment on it. Honourable mentions go to "Primal Judgement", the music for the fights with Ifrit, and "Good King Moggle Mog XII", for the battle with the moogle of the same name. The first is a bombastic track that pulls out all cliches for making music sound epic and doing so in a way that works, while the second track is just too insane and crazy not to love.
- La Noscea Field 4: This is currently my favourite track out of A Realm Reborn.
- Twilight Over Thanalan: I loved it in 1.0 and I love it even more now.
- Good King Moggle Mog XII: Just so damn cute! And a good take on Mogri's theme.
- FFII Battle Remix: I thought it was a nice remix.
- Second Phase of Ultima: This is just an amazingly epic song.
Other notable mentions but I can't find the names for is the track that plays during Castrum Meridianum and during the Gaius Van Baelsar battle. Otherwise I'm extremely happy with ARR's soundtrack! You should also consider doing a sub-section for 1.0's music by Uematsu, some of that is just amazing but not used in ARR.
I don't listen to much of the music considering that Danielle and I both play the game and we often have other things like the TV etc. going on. However, I will say that Answers is probably my favourite ever Final Fantasy song now. The impact of End of an Era was incredible and the video and song go hand in hand for me. Haunting, epic and beautiful at once. Also, although I'm not sure what version it is, at the actual end of FFXIV 1.23, there was a warped version of Answers that played all the time and it was very haunting indeed. I can't recall exactly how it worked but it sounded like the singer was quite some distance away, and only patches of it were audible. It was very clever.