FF song bracket: Round 1, Group 18

[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 Land of Summons - "Town of Illusions"
Secret of the Deep Sea - "A Secret, Sleeping in the Deep Sea"
Battle with an Esper - "Esper Battle"

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

Spoiler: Newer versions of NES songs

 

[Jason Tandro]

This was a harder one for me, but in terms up actually getting up to four.

The Decisive Battle (FF6) was the only easy one. It's the best boss theme in the series in my not so humble opinion.

Secret of the Deep Sea (FF7) was also kind of an easy pick, I love the relaxing slightly chilling feel of being under the sea. And as an American gamer my underwater exploration was haunted by the ever-present visage of Emerald Weapon and thus the relaxing sea voyage turned into a blocky survival horror...

Noel's Theme got a nod just for being a nice and pleasant theme to listen to. I wouldn't rate it in competition with most of the other tracks I've heard thus far, but it does barely beat out the others in this list.

Trisection is probably my favorite Final Fantasy Tactics battle theme so I decided to go against the grain and give the last spot to it.

 

[RedFFWolf]

Never played FFIV, but listening to "The Land of Summons" was enough to warrant a vote. Took the vote from FFVI's "From That Day On...", which almost won over FFXII's "Esper Battle" - but, the battle's theme suitability is too good to ignore.
No problems with "Secrets of the Deep Sea" or "Pandemonium"

 

[ForceStealer]

Matoya's Cave - Basically the first song (maybe after the main theme) that established that FF was gonna have awesome music.

Decisive Battle - Dunno if it's my favorite boss theme, but it's a damn good one.

Tetra Master - I would play the card game for the sole purpose of listening to this song. It's fantastic

Trisection - As Tandro said, great rousing battle theme. And someone has to vote for all these Tactics tracks

Honorable mention to Secret Sleeping in the Sea

 

[Ghost X]

Matoya's Cave (Final Fantasy)
Pandemonium (Final Fantasy IX)
Battle with an Esper (Final Fantasy XII)
Divine Love (Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII)

 

[Lex]

Matoya's Cave - I love this little song, here's the version from FFXIV:

Decisive Battle - This is one of the best boss themes ever
Esper Battle - Such epicness

and finally

Divine Love - It breaks my heart to be honest, because this is the most epic beginning to a final boss in the history of FF, and I don't anticipate it getting many votes aside from mine because people have in inherent bias against XIII, and because there are a few favourites in this round. For its purpose, this song is brilliant and it ouclasses almost everything else on the list, but I am a lone voice against a tide of extreme hatred ;-;

 

[Flintlock]

The poll will close in a little over 24 hours.

My top pick is The Decisive Battle. As has been said, it's one of the best, if not the best, "regular" boss battle themes in the series. I noticed something interesting the other day, though: it actually has a shorter loop than the "random encounter" battle theme. It just doesn't feel like that's the case because it's not as repetitive.

My other votes are for Eternal Wind (this isn't the same composition, but it contains the same theme, and is even better), FFXI Opening Theme and Noel's Theme.

Honourable mentions to Matoya's Cave, The Land of Summons and Secret of the Deep Sea. Sorry, Lex, but Divine Love didn't do it for me. And it's not because of an anti-XIII bias - I've actually been very impressed at most of the LR songs I've heard in this event.

 

[Flare]

Eternal Wind - Always enjoyed this song the first time I heard it. perfect song to explore a world with.

The Decisive Battle - Possibly my very favorite boss battle in the entire series. Not sure what it is exactly, but I love it so much.

Battle with an Esper - I like that there's a different boss battle theme solely for Esper fights, and this one manages to pack in an ominous and powerful theme, showing you that these bosses are different than the rest.

Noel's Theme - Another song I liked the moment I heard it. Has quite a sad and almost lonely tone to it, which is fitting with not only Noel's life and what he's been through, but also the game of XIII-2 as a whole.

 

[Monterosa]

This group has been pretty interesting as half the songs are new to me, but overall I've found it very weak.

My top four

Secrets Of The Deep Sea I find this calming. I like the three layers of instrumentation, and the main melody is very pretty.

Secret of the Deep Sea (FF7) was also kind of an easy pick, I love the relaxing slightly chilling feel of being under the sea. And as an American gamer my underwater exploration was haunted by the ever-present visage of Emerald Weapon and thus the relaxing sea voyage turned into a blocky survival horror...

Yes! I love that you said this. I wouldn't dream of diving down in the submarine if it weren't for this music. I have always been terrified of submerging and landing right on top of Emerald Weapon.

Pandemonium Sometimes those songs that are deliberately hard on the ear can be the most effective. Uematsu proved with "The Castle" that he knows how to make a masterfully ominous tune for the organ, and he did it again on "Pandemonium". The sense of grandeur is all-consuming, and yet there is something about this that is almost, dare I say, beautiful.

Battle With An Esper This is a standout among the more bombastic works in the FFXII soundtrack. The militaristic percussion is engorged with power; I hear sounds like falling boots and metal on metal, while a brass section blares out like a battle cry and the choir heightens the sense of drama.

Noel's Theme I know he's been around for a long time, having worked on the likes of Parasite Eve II and Final Fantasy XI, but composer Naoshi Mizuta is new to me. I'd not heard Noel's Theme before just now, but I am so impressed. As I was listening, I thought "This vocalist sounds so much like KOKIA" (one of my very favourite vocalists). I checked the credits to the song and there her name was. I can't believe she worked on a Final Fantasy game and I never knew. Ladies and gentlemen of TLS, introducing the inimitable KOKIA

Honourable mentions
Eternal Wind
The Decisive Battle
Divine Love

I haven't voted for Divine Love this time, but I want to thank this competition for introducing me to the Lightning Returns soundtrack. I may never play the game, but you can bet I'll be downloading the OST.

 

[Flintlock]

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

The Decisive Battle
Secret of the Deep Sea
Battle with an Esper
Noel's Theme
Trisection

There was actually a four-way tie for second place in this group, but regardless of whether we choose to treat them as automatic qualifiers or runners-up, they have made the top 100. At the moment, everything with at least eight votes (and some songs with seven) look likely to progress, and they all have nine.

Matoya's Cave also has a chance of qualifying as a runner-up with eight votes. We'll find out whether or not it has made it when tomorrow's polls close. Thanks for voting!

 

[Monterosa]

The version of Noel's Theme we have voted through is in fact not Noel's Theme (Disc 1, Track 12) but Noel's Theme -Final Journey- (Disc 4, Track 7). Though the melody is the same, the original does not have lyrics.

Here's a scan from the CD booklet which shows the correct English title.

 

[Flintlock]

That is the version that Howl originally linked to when she nominated the song, so I won't change it. I will update the name though.

 

[trash panda]

Yap, I had the name of the song wrong.

I'm a humongoid KOKIA fan.

 

[Monterosa]

That is the version that Howl originally linked to when she nominated the song, so I won't change it. I will update the name though.

Good good. I'm glad we're keeping the version with the lyrics.

I'm a humongoid KOKIA fan.

Really? Me too.