FF song bracket: Round 2, Group 3

[Flintlock]

Pick your three favourite songs from the selection above!

If you can't decide on just three, you can vote for as many as you want, but only in one poll of the 10 in this 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 two days, and the top three songs, excluding ties, will qualify for the final 32. The best runners-up across the 10 groups will also qualify.

Other popular names for these songs include:

The Darkness of Eternity - "Dark Messenger"
Not Alone - "You're Not Alone"
Final Battle - "Decisive Battle"

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

 

[trash panda]

Tsk tsk tsk. I don't see any votes for Legendary Beast yet. I'm very passionate about that song. :|

 

[Roger]

This is second strongest group for me and so, the most difficult. going with Searching for Friends, The Landing and Answers. HM: Celes' Theme, Battle 2, The Darkness of Eternity, Not Alone and Besaid.

 

[Flare]

I found this super easy myself.

Darkness of Eternity - My favorite 'theme' for Kuja.

Not Alone - IX's music is just so iconic for me, I really love Nobuo's work in this game. This song is a favorite of mine.

Final Battle - Voted for this again, I love that piano that pops in. Really interesting song.

 

[Fangu]

Celes's Theme, Battle 2 and Besaid. I'd never heard the latter before and it just blew me away. I absolutely love it.

 

[RedFFWolf]

Painful - very painful. Refusing to use my Joker because, you know, pain, but here goes.

You're Not Alone - Always going to be a favourite, regardless of what it was up against

Dark Messenger is one I've come to love in the last year. It had to have a spot.

Then there were too many good ones...
In the end, The Landing gets it. Now to cry for the rest, especially The Castle and

Spoiler: Battle 2

and Decisive Battle and Besaid and Searching for Friends and The Legendary Beast

 

[ForceStealer]

FFIX very nearly swept this round for me. But I think FFX's Final Battle just barely ekes in. The issue was I agonized over whether Battle 2 or Dark Messenger would get knocked out, but I think I'm gonna go with Battle 2. Awful decision though.

Honorable mention to Searching for Friends.

 

[Ghost X]

The Castle (Final Fantasy VIII)
The Legendary Beast (Final Fantasy VIII)
Final Battle (Final Fantasy X)

Easy enough to pick two, but not three . Like scraping the cream off a chalk board to get that third one . To me, The Castle and Final Battle were the stand out winners in this one.

 

[AvecAloes]

Battle 2, You're Not Alone, and Final Battle. Mmhmm.

 

[trash panda]

This one's more difficult than assembling IKEA furniture.

The Legendary Beast is one of my all-time favorite songs from the FF series and I'm BLOWN AWAY that hardly anyone voted for it. I guess there's no point in booing and hooing about it. Of course I was gonna vote for this song but seeing as that it's definitely not going to make it I'll use that vote elsewhere.

I voted:
The Castle
FFX Final Battle
The Darkness of Eternity

 

[Flintlock]

The Landing, The Darkness of Eternity and Answers. I'm surprised at how much I've enjoyed Answers during this event. Perhaps it's because I haven't listened to it as much as some other songs. Not Alone used to be one of my best-loved Final Fantasy songs but it's lost something for me over the years. It still gets an honourable mention, along with Celes's Theme.

The poll will close in a little over 24 hours.

 

[Monterosa]

This is a toughie. Three of my favourite FFVIII tracks and some FFX/X-2 goodness all rolled into one group.

The Castle is kind of a no-brainer for me. There is nothing that quite matches its haunting grandeur and beauty, and the composition itself is masterful.

The Landing is another major standout. The piece begins slowly, with a pulsating bass reflecting the focus of the assault party whose hearts beat with serious composure. This is joined by horns and makes way for dramatic staccato strings, later accompanied by a militaristic drum beat. I love the way the composition builds, especially in its call-and-response elements, which evoke military commands being made and repeated.

The Legendary Beast is one of my all-time favorite songs from the FF series and I'm BLOWN AWAY that hardly anyone voted for it. I guess there's no point in booing and hooing about it. Of course I was gonna vote for this song but seeing as that it's definitely not going to make it I'll use that vote elsewhere.

Howl, nooooooooo... Now I definitely can't vote for it. Damn this strategic voting.

Fine, then let's have Final Battle

Opening with a dirty brass-led progression, Hamauzu's "Decisive Battle" develops into an impeccably realised piano concertino dominated by Stravinsky-esque staccato piano lines that glide angularly and convulsively over thick, rasping, and dissonant orchestration. The theme is made delightful through the way it attains a degree of lyricism through the precise, albeit deceptively random, interaction of the piano and orchestra, sometimes in conjunction with the "Song of Prayer" theme.

And a big fat honourable mention goes to Besaid. The FFX Besaid track didn't make it and now nor will this. It seems the top 32 is going to be full of battle tracks.

 

[Channy]

I forgot to vote

 

[Flintlock]

Now that I'm back at my computer, I can confirm the results of the groups that closed over the weekend, starting with this one:

The Darkness of Eternity, Not Alone and Final Battle have made it into the final 32. The Landing has the best chance of getting through as a runner-up but the cut is currently projected to come at nine votes, and it only has eight, so it's unlikely.