FF song bracket: Round 1, Group 15

[Flintlock]

Pick your four favourite songs from the selection above!

If you can't decide on just four, you can vote for as many as you want, but only in one poll of the 20 in the first round. The full list of upcoming polls can be found here.

You can listen to the songs in the playlist below.

This poll will be open for three days, and at least four songs will qualify for the next round.

Other popular names for these songs include:

The Evil Lord X-Death - "The Evil Lord Exdeath"
Let the Battles Begin! - "Fighting", "Those Who Fight"
Shinra, Inc - "Shinra Company", "Shinra Corporation"
Movement in Green - "Sprouting"
Lust for Power - "Seeking Power"

For more information on this event, visit the discussion thread.

 

[ForceStealer]

Evil Lord Exdeath - A traditional villain song, but suitably imposing all the same.

Fighting - Growing up I heard this song SO much, I had come to overlook it. Never thought much about it one way or the other. But since hearing the Piano Collections version, as well as the orchestrations in Crisis Core's Fulfilled Desire and Distant Worlds III, I've gained a new appreciation for it. It's deceptively complex, a great action theme.

Movement In Green/Sprouting - While this song has always been nice, it's honestly getting my vote due to the HD Remaster version. The erhu is such a fantastic addition to the song and along with new fade-ins and outs make the song sound much more ethereal and beautiful.

The Archylte Steppe - This song sounded nostalgic the first time I heard it. I love listening to it, and it was great for exploring that huge, gorgeous area with all the wildlife running and flying around.


It hurt not picking Liberi Fatali and Freya's Theme, but these are my favorites, I think.

 

[Jason Tandro]

Okay first off I have to go with Cele's Theme because it is probably the best character theme in FF6 musically speaking, and that is quite a statement considering there are 13 characters.

Next up is Liberi Fatali. The afforementioned Latin Choir from Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec goes full insane here and this is how they OPENED the game! One hell of an intro to a game and still my favorite opening cutscene.

Crazy Chocobo. It beat out Archyltte Steppe which is arguably a better song, but I gave it the props for this one fact: It's a song that shows that deep within their microtransaction spewing corporate heart is an organization that can still have fun with themselves.

I Am The Sea. I just love this town theme, I love the adventurous feel. Pirates have always been a part of the earlier Final Fantasy's but they fell off around FF7 and we haven't seen much of them (unless you count Tantalus in FF9 and the Al Bhed in FFX). Limsa Lominsa in FF14 gave us true honest to god pirates and one hell of a theme to go along with them.

 

[Roger]

Celes' them, Liberi Fatali and Let The Fighting Begin! suffer no competition here. When with Movement In Green for my fourth pick even though it's just a another rendition of a song we're already voting for.

 

[Lex]

Let the battles begin, eyes on me, liberati fatali and I am the Sea.

All so gewd <3

 

[Ghost X]

Shinra, Inc (Final Fantasy VII)
Liberi Fatali (Final Fantasy VIII)
Freya's Theme (Final Fantasy IX)
I Am the Sea (Final Fantasy XIV)

 

[trash panda]

Oh, y'all know I had to vote for Crazy Chocobo. That's my jam.

I knew Liberi Fatali would have one of the highest vote counts but I voted honestly and this is one of those songs I'll never tire of.

Let the Battles begin also got my vote, and...

Silence and Motion is one of my favorite tracks from FFVIII.

 

[Flare]

Shinra, Inc - The perfect song for this company.
Freya's Theme - A melancholic song that suits her well.
Movement in Green
The Archylte Steppe - I like the way this song sort of sweeps into the area, but yet it's very much in the background, a nice tune to wander on that gigantic steppe to.

 

[Flintlock]

The poll will close in a little over 24 hours.

My top pick is Memories Erased in the Storm. It's short, and it only plays once in all of Final Fantasy IX, so I'm not that surprised to be only the second person to vote for it. But I absolutely love it, it's majestic.

My other votes are for Celes's Theme, Eyes on Me and Silence and Motion. Never would have thought that I'd vote for those two VIII songs when I first played the game; it's only been in the last year or two that I've started to enjoy either. I'm probably throwing my votes away on them, but whatever.

Honourable mentions to Let the Battles Begin! (stupid name btw) and Liberi Fatali.

Dishonourable mention to Crazy Chocobo. My ears are offended.

 

[Monterosa]

Top Four

Eyes On Me This song is a joy to sing along to and I love how the lyrics are a meaningful part of the game. I can imagine Julia composing this song, longing for Laguna. That romance is one of the most touching (and believable) in Final Fantasy; a love that never could. Bad timing, eh? I'm actually a huge fan of Faye Wong, who sings this. Her vocal performances are unique and effortlessly beautiful, and I adore her artistry (though we can't really hear the latter until we look at her wider discography).

Liberi Fatali I can still remember the first time I put FFVIII's disc one in my PlayStation and hit "NEW GAME". Those cinematics with this incredible song made for one of the most astonishing moments in any video game. I can never listen to this song without stopping everything. Otherwise I just have to skip it; it's too much to bear. Liberi Fatali engulfs me; sometimes my mind even shuts off and I am there in that world, part of the song. This could be my top pick in virtually any group.

Silence and Motion Is my FFVIII bias showing yet? To be fair, that soundtrack is inconsistent, but there are some remarkable compositions like this that stand out from Uematsu's entire repertoire. This is a very eccentric piece, with sweeping melodies overlying futuristic beeps and squishy bits.

Movement In Green This is one of those FFX Uematsu compositions that has potential but falls a bit flat owing to an unvaried arrangement and unfortunate choice of synth samples. However, Hamauzu's arrangement for the HD remaster takes the very pretty original refrain and transforms it into a much more accomplished and interesting song. The choice of instrumentations and small alterations to the melody add variety and make it a real pleasure for me.

Honourable Mentions

Freya's Theme Even though this is based on a repetitive melody line, the fact that it builds in layers as it nears its end gives it a sense of trauma and drama that moves me.

Memories Erased In The Storm This is undeniably gorgeous and perfect for the scene in FFIX. I just wish it were longer! It lifts me up and drops me too soon.

Seeking Power Very aptly titled, this song seems to be on the edge of something big, perhaps a little sinister, though those little piano-led interludes tell me what's happening is more clever than sinister. If this had a hope of qualifying, I might vote for it.

Archylte Steppe This arrangement of the "Final Fantasy XIII - The Promise" motif, while not my favourite (see "Fabula Nova Crystallis" for that), is wonderfully atmospheric. I particularly like the choice of flute to carry the melody, and the percussion works surprisingly well.

Not an honourable mention but, um, can we talk about Crazy Chocobo? Uematsu, what have you done? I really hope this is a self-parody.

 

[Kuroto]

Eyes on Me - I really love this song. I actually found out about this song before I really even knew about Final Fantasy so it's also very nostalgic. It is so beautiful and has really nice lyrics. It should be doing better in this group.

Liberi Fatali - Never before did I really give this piece the credit it deserves. But now that I listened to it I can really see why everybody likes it so much. It is an absolutely amazing composition. I really love the choir. It is really the best part in this piece.

Freya's Theme - This one was my last pick for this group. First I thought I wouldn't vote for this piece, but then I changed my mind when I didn't really feel like voting anything else on the list that much. I don't think this theme is good for Freya really, but the theme is still nice.

I am the Sea - I like the grandness of this song. It also has a nice melody to it. It sounds like a piece that could play in the end of the game, even though it's not (that I know of). Also bagpipes. I like bagpipes.

Kinda week group in my opinion. I'm not sure I feel like giving honorable mentions this time but I'm going to give them anyway to Celes's Theme, Let the Battles Begin, and Lust for Power.

 

[Flintlock]

This poll is now closed. The songs which have definitely made it into the top 100 are:

Let the Battles Begin!
Liberi Fatali

Remarkably, after I thought it was unlikely to happen at all, four songs have tied for third place again. They haven't qualified automatically but I still expect them to go through. They are:

Celes's Theme
Shinra, Inc
Freya's Theme
Movement in Green

Thanks for voting!