FF song bracket: Round 1, Group 3

[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:

Esper World - "Another World of Beasts"
Jenova Complete - "Jenova Absolute"
A Contest of Aeons - "Summoned Beast Battle"

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

 

[trash panda]

BAH! These are getting more difficult.

Slam Shuffle
Succession of Witches
Kuja V
The Wavering Blade <3<3<3

 

[Jason Tandro]

This was a touch tougher, but Wedding - Duel, and Jenova Complete were a given. Also had to give the nod to Auron's Theme and Phantom Train.

 

[Lex]

OK so I didn't find this bracket too difficult, but the one thing I found semi-difficult was deciding between tracks that I don't like or dislike. I wanted to pick Eiko's theme rather than The Wavering Blade because I think it's a technically better track from an objective standpoint, but Wavering Blade brought back more nostalgia so it won. Damn my subjective experiences to hell!

Jenova absolute was a given. Honestly if there are people who don't vote for that you should jump off a cliff into a collection of jagged rocks because you don't deserve life

Succession of witches was another easy choice. I then went for "Hymn - Valefor" because I like SHIVA's version of that and I wanted to pick Auron's theme but decided to resist temptation because I don't touch myself while thinking of Auron like every other easily taken-in by "omg im too cool for school" FF characters fans.

 

[Roger]

Dang this was tough, honourable mentions to Slam Shuffle, Wedding Waltz, Kuja V and the Hymn, really wanted to vote for you but you got edged out.

 

[RedFFWolf]

Three were real easy to decide (Succession of Witches, The Wavering Blade and Servants of the Mountain), but there was such a close tie between a handful after that, and I gave it to "Iifa, the Ancient Tree of Life", as a replacement of Auron's Theme

 

[Ghost X]

Jenova Complete (Final Fantasy VII): Nice "facing adversity" kind of music, or something . Surely something to have in the playlist when persevering against something . Eg: "Holy shit, I could totally die here" *presses play*.
Succession of Witches (Final Fantasy VIII): Fitting music for the possessed Edea.
Kuja V (Final Fantasy IX): Best of the Kuja themes, which are all awesome in themselves .
Servants of the Mountain (Final Fantasy X): Probably my stand-out favourite from FFX.

 

[Jason Tandro]

Eg: "Holy shit, I could totally die here" *presses play*.

This is the greatest out of context quote ever conceived I think, and I may have to steal it.

 

[Flare]

These are getting more tough; I couldn't pick all my faves.

Kuja V - I sang this song so often growing up. It's the first badass song in a FF game I really latched on to, and I love it just as much today.
A Contest of Aeons
Auron's Theme
Servants of the mountain - Possibly my favorite song from X; it's just beautiful.

Oh God I'm a sucker for X's music.

 

[Flintlock]

The poll will close in a little over 24 hours.

My top pick is A Succession of Witches. I particularly love the six notes of percussion.

My other votes are for Wedding Waltz - Duel (sad to see one of the iconic pieces of music from the series going out at this early stage, but I guess splitting the opera into separate parts hurt its cause somewhat), A Contest of Aeons and Servants of the Mountain.

An honourable mention to Slam Shuffle (so catchy!), but that's it. Not the toughest group for me.

 

[Monterosa]

My top four picks:

Slam Shuffle It was tough choosing between this, Esper World, and Phantom Train. I love Esper World for its highly unusual time signature and bewitching melody, and Phantom Train is somehow both haunting and entertaining, which is a feat in itself. Ultimately Slam Shuffle wins because it does what Phantom Train did so well but even better. Zozo both freaks me out and makes me smile, and credit must go to this song.

Succession of Witches Like Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec, this is one of the most perfectly fitting character themes of any FF game.

A Contest of Aeons is one of composer Junya Nakano's many outstanding battle tracks. I like how the Hymn of the Fayth leitmotif and elements of "Enemy Attack" (the main boss battle music) are incorporated into a beast.

Servants of the Mountain is an impressive track, but it truly comes into its own through its rearrangement for the HD remaster (YouTube link). The rearranged violin soundscape is stunning against the percussion backdrop, each beat crashing like an icicle. This is absolutely my favourite from all of Group 3.

Honourable mentions
Esper World
Phantom Train
Wedding Waltz - Duel
Hymn of the Fayth - Valefor (the piano arrangement is breathtaking)

 

[Kuroto]

Jenova absolute was a given. Honestly if there are people who don't vote for that you should jump off a cliff into a collection of jagged rocks because you don't deserve life

Oh hi there Lex! I regret nothing.

For me this group was a bit of a massacre but in the end I chose Eiko's Theme, Auron's Theme, Hymn - Valefor and Servants of the Mountain.

My first pick was Hymn - Valefor because it was short and simple and just beautiful.

I picked Auron's Theme because I think it's a really good character theme. Like this theme Auron is cool, a bit distant and doesn't talk too much.

Servants of the Mountain was another quite obvious one because it is one of my favourite pieces in FFX. It's really atmospheric and I like how different instruments have been used in it. It's hard to think a piece where the vibrato would be a more important detail than in this.

The last pick was a tough one but in the end I went with Eiko's theme because it makes me feel nice. That might be partly because of where it was in the list but I believe it deserved to be picked because it made me feel more than the other two songs that were still in the competition. And that being said my honorable mentions go to Succession of Witches and Iifa, The Ancient Tree of Life.

Jenova Absolute didn't make my list because it just doesn't really work for me. I prefer the other Jenove themes to this one and to be quite honest Jenova Absolute for me sounded if not boring then at least mediocre. Of course for me it also doesn't have the same nostalgia as for many others which is also another reason that it was so easy for me to pass it pretty quickly.

Wedding Waltz - Duel (sad to see one of the iconic pieces of music from the series going out at this early stage, but I guess splitting the opera into separate parts hurt its cause somewhat)

For me the splitting is exactly the problem. I'm not saying that if there would be the whole opera instead of just the Waltz I would have voted for it, but it would have been more likely. The Walz on its own just feels separate.

This group really made me feel like an outsider. I feel so alone with my choises. Also my X bias is starting to show...

 

[Flintlock]

For me the splitting is exactly the problem. I'm not saying that if there would be the whole opera instead of just the Waltz I would have voted for it, but it would have been more likely. The Walz on its own just feels separate.

I know, but since they appear separately on the FFVI soundtrack, it's only fair that they are included separately here.

This group really made me feel like an outsider. I feel so alone with my choises. Also my X bias is starting to show...

I voted for Servants of the Mountain and I don't think Jenova Absolute is great either, so You're Not Alone!

Anyway, I've been thinking about adding something to my spreadsheet that lets you see which other members share your tastes, based on how you voted. Would anyone be interested?

 

[Kuroto]

Yey for not being alone.

And I would like that, if it isn't too much work for you.

 

[Flintlock]

And I would like that, if it isn't too much work for you.

It might be difficult for me to do, but I enjoy a challenge and I enjoy learning new stuff about spreadsheets.

Edit: it's done (spreadsheet link - it's the rightmost tab). It wasn't too hard to figure out. Kuroto, your votes in the first two polls were most closely matched (62.5%) to Lex and Tetsujin. You shared at least one song with everyone who voted.

I also came up with a page of voter stats (same link, one tab to the left). You can see which games each voter is favouring and how many of their picks have qualified. So if someone complains that things aren't going their way, we can look at the stats to see if they're telling the truth.

Finally, I updated the game stats page (same link, one more tab to the left). Even at this early stage, a bias for Final Fantasy VII (and VIII, a little more surprisingly) is coming through. I hope everyone listens to all the songs in each poll before casting their votes to give them a fair chance.

Note that I'm only including votes from completed polls.

 

[Kuroto]

That looks fantastic! Just one thing: the Voter stats and voter match doesn't seem to work for me. I've tried refreshing the page but it still doesn't show the voters.

 

[Flintlock]

That's funny, it was working last night. I'll look into it.

Edit: it seems like the formulas required to show the list of voters are a little too slow for the published spreadsheet. They load when I edit the spreadsheet, but there's a delay of a few seconds after I open it.

I've replaced the formulas with a static copy of the data for now, so I'll have to update it manually, but at least it'll work. I'm going to add the data from groups 3 and 4 now since I'll be out when they close in a few hours' time (I'll update them if there are any last-minute changes, of course).

 

[Kuroto]

It seems to work fine now. Thank you so much!

 

[Flintlock]

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

Jenova Complete
Succession of Witches
Auron's Theme
Servants of the Mountain

If your favourite song isn't on this list, don't despair! It might still get in as one of the best runners-up.

Thanks for voting!