R32: Liberi Fatali vs. Opening - Bombing Mission

[Flintlock]

vs.

Pick your favourite!

This poll will be open for two days, and the winner will make it through to the round of 16. The complete final 32 bracket can be found here.

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

 

[Lex]

This was rough.

I don't want anyone to think this decision was based on bias, so here is why I'm voting for Opening - Bombing Mission:

I think for what it is, it perfectly sets the tone of FFVII. If it wasn't for the fact that one is fully orchestrated and the other uses PSF I think VII might have the edge, but unfortunately here it's just objectively outclassed by Liberati Fatali which I love, so I don't particularly care which one wins.

My decision is based on comparing Liberati Fatali to a version like this:

 

[Jason Tandro]

I voted for Liberi Fatali because even to this day it remains, imho, the single greatest opening to a Final Fantasy ever. It basically shoved in our face that the story was going to be unlike anything we'd ever seen from a Final Fantasy before. True FF7 and FFX did a better job setting the tone than FF8, but neither of them give me the chills like Liberi Fatali.

 

[Channy]

Bombing Mission beacause VII

 

[Tetsujin]

I voted for Liberi Fatali because even to this day it remains, imho, the single greatest opening to a Final Fantasy ever. It basically shoved in our face that the story was going to be unlike anything we'd ever seen from a Final Fantasy before. True FF7 and FFX did a better job setting the tone than FF8, but neither of them give me the chills like Liberi Fatali.

It was a tough choice but it's Liberi Fatali for me because of this ^

 

[Clement Rage]

Liberi Fatali. There's so much in it, that sense of cryptic menace that a sorceress so badly needs. You don't need to know what's going on to understand the menace inherent in that theme, it has the tension and elegance that sorceresses deserve.

 

[Flare]

This is insanely difficult for me, both of these songs are amazing. I'm going to have to mull this over tonight. D:

 

[Kuroto]

I gave Opening - Bombing Mission a chance to win me over, but it just doesn't compare with Liberi Fatali.

And to reply to Lex's video of the orchestrated version of Opening - Bombing Mission, even though I liked the orchestrated version I also dug up a live version of Liberi Fatali, which made my choice clear, because immediately when the strings start playing in the beginning of the song, I got shivers. In my opinion Opening - Bombing Mission has a great beginning and a very average middle part after which it picks up again later. Liberi Fatali, on the other hand, doesn't disappoint, and works perfectly as a whole. Also I absolutely love the very end of the piece where the strings and the piano plays the final chord, calming down the otherwise very fast and almost aggressive mood of the piece.

Here's the live version:

 

[Ghost X]

Liberi Fatali.

In my view, it is a lot better than the other .

 

[Flare]

I gave them both a good listen to, and my vote goes to Liberi Fatali.

I was really thinking of Opening - Bombing Mission because, as Lex points out, it really sets the tone for VII (The original version feels a bit dated to me, but the orchestrated version is perfect).
However, listening to Liberi Fatali gives me chills, and if I was listening to these two songs and knew nothing about the games, I would be instantly enamored and fascinated with what kind of game Liberi Fatali is introducing.

 

[Flintlock]

I find it odd to listen to Liberi Fatali without Balamb Garden playing immediately afterwards. I know there's a period of silence (and footsteps) in the game itself, but my brain has become used to listening to the soundtrack. I need the "calm after the storm" to be able to appreciate the storm itself in all its glory. And it is glorious, for reasons already stated here. It's just also a bit exhausting.

That sliver of reservation has left the door ajar for an opponent, but it's not going to be Opening - Bombing Mission. I love the first 70-odd seconds but I'd quite happily skip the rest. So, Liberi Fatali gets my vote.

 

[AvecAloes]

Opening - Bombing Mission. I actually can't believe it's not winning.

 

[Lex]

I understand why it's not winning, it's a personal taste thing for sure. Flint mentioned Liberati Fatali being "exhausting" and that's what I mean when I say I'm more into the tracks that have peaks and flows and drops. LF is brilliant from beginning to end but the parts of opening-bombing mission that give me joy are exceptional, and they're not in spite of the slower parts, they're because of them.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Liberati Fatali. The entire thing sets the pace for the rest of the game like no other game intro music does.

If Opening - Bombing Mission was just Opening, then it would be a lot harder. As good as the Opening is, Bombing Mission is overshadowed by a lot of other tracks.

 

[Hisako]

Liberali Fatali was basically Nobuo Uematsu taking what he learned from One Winged Angel and giving it a new level of energy in the form of a sickass opening

ed: Also, Liberali Fatali was one of the very first Final Fantasy songs translated to orchestra and it's pretty much a tentpole of the Final Fantasy orchestral experience (The Distant Worlds performance is probably the most refined, and the easiest to compare to since an Opening - Bombing Mission rendition exists by the same albums as well)

 

[Kuja9001]

VIII was my first FF title and I have nostalgia for it however Liberi Fatali gets my vote for another reason.

 

[Monterosa]

I understand why it's not winning, it's a personal taste thing for sure. Flint mentioned Liberati Fatali being "exhausting" and that's what I mean when I say I'm more into the tracks that have peaks and flows and drops. LF is brilliant from beginning to end but the parts of opening-bombing mission that give me joy are exceptional, and they're not in spite of the slower parts, they're because of them.

While I absolutely agree that ebbs and flows in music can make it all the more beautiful, Liberi Fatali for me is so outstanding not only as a masterful composition but because it is precisely so overwhelming. I cannot listen to it without engaging the entirety of my self with it. It grips me, tosses me around and throws me down. It is relentlessly visceral and ends just soon enough to not be unbearable.

 

[Joker]

No contest for me - Lib all the way.

 

[Flintlock]

This poll is now closed. It would have been the upset of the round if the number one seed, had been knocked out by the number 32 seed, but it didn't happen. Liberi Fatali will appear in the last 16.

 

[Fangu]

now go hate yourselves