Square Enix lists 5 Elements that Make a Final Fantasy Game

[Obsidian Fire]

^^Given that it existed in the game world (Rinoa's mom sings it about Squall's dad), I would say it did, or at least more then any other pop song in FF.

 

[Lex]

I think, like all things related to music, whether or not you liked the use of the song in the game is dependent upon taste. They differ

Eyes on Me was pretty amazing because it was the first time a proper vocal song was used in a FF game. Suteki Da Ne was fantastic in it's use, and I still listen to it sometimes. One of the best placed songs in any FF game IMO is the use of Leona Lewis - My Hands at the end of FFXIII, which is ironic because when I heard that was happening before the games release I considered not buying it. It just fits incredibly well and I love the song. Sue me

And while I'm not ashamed to say I cried at the end of Crisis Core, I thought "why" fit well there too. I would never in a million years feel comfortable with a real life person watching it while that part played (because of all the cheese leaking from the screen) but for alone cry taimu, I enjoyed it.

 

[ForceStealer]

^^Given that it existed in the game world (Rinoa's mom sings it about Squall's dad), I would say it did, or at least more then any other pop song in FF.

But it's so baad

Melodies of Life is fine and all, but I really don't think not having it would have been a detriment.

Suteki da Ne, it's also okay, I just hate the way she sings it. I don't know if there's a term for it, but the way she sounds off-key at the end of every line. Grating.

 

[Lex]

I call that "warbling" but I'm pretty sure that's not the technical term XD

 

[Kermitu Kleric Katie]

For its time FFI had a brilliant story. Most console gamers expected the game to end when you defeated the first boss, saved the Princess and went home.

True, but they could have done better, as FFII, which as an actual story and a better one to boot and was released in the same era as FFI, shows.

 

[Drax]

I'm okay with the pop songs, and I like how Eyes on Me was used both times

Spoiler

when Rinoa confesses she was a sorceress

and VIII's ending was very good for me (one of my favorite FF endings).

Even the pop song went well with XIII-2 for me

Spoiler

what didn't go well for me is the fact that they tricked me into a FFXIII-3 with that ending.

It's just that...there hasn't really been a solid FF theme since 10. I mean, the games have their individual music style, XII has the trumpets, and XIII has the battle theme. But the battle theme shouldn't be the main theme of a game, should it? Maybe I'm being traditionalist.

EDIT: This is pretty ace BTW

 

[ForceStealer]

Technically the battle theme is "Lightning's Theme," and I think FFXIII's main theme is actually the theme that recurs in places like the Archylte Steppe. That said, I wouldn't have a problem with battle theme being a main theme, I just don't think it is.

 

[Pixel]

They forgot cheesy dialogue.

I really liked Kiss Me Goodbye from FFXII

Hated that awful song that plays when you run around as Vanille

 

[ForceStealer]

Kiss Me Goodbye is a pretty good song, but it REALLY didn't fit with FFXII at all. That one might be the most dissonant from the game.

 

[looneymoon]

wow fuck you guys i love Eyes on Me.

I was ready to shit on my PSP as soon as "Why" started playing though.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Kiss Me Goodbye is a pretty good song, but it REALLY didn't fit with FFXII at all. That one might be the most dissonant from the game.

Did Force and I just agree about the use of a pop song in Final Fantasy? There might be hope to save this relationship yet!

^^Given that it existed in the game world (Rinoa's mom sings it about Squall's dad), I would say it did, or at least more then any other pop song in FF.

But it's so baad

Melodies of Life is fine and all, but I really don't think not having it would have been a detriment.

Suteki da Ne, it's also okay, I just hate the way she sings it.

Nevermind, you're back in the dog house. Your bags will be on the lawn.

 

[AvecAloes]

It's ok, I'll take him in - I find most of the uses of pop songs in FF games to be jarring, and I guess I can understand that you like the juxtaposition of the cheery pop song against the dramatic/tragic events (especially in FFXIII-2), but I personally do not like that. Nope nope nope.

 

[ForceStealer]

wow fuck you guys i love Eyes on Me.

You are actually the last person I would have expected to like such a cheesy song

 

[HylianMogget]

Kiss Me Goodbye is a pretty good song, but it REALLY didn't fit with FFXII at all. That one might be the most dissonant from the game.

Completely agree. It's nice and all but it just felt so out of place with the rest of the soundtrack and the overall feel of the game. About pop songs in general, I haven't played VIII, X, or XIII so I can't really comment. I like Melodies of Life a lot and thought it worked really well, though.

About S-E's list, I agree with everyone about how the lack of anything about story and characters is sort of odd/worrisome. That they list both summoning and magic seems pretty strange to me (especially since the other three things seem pretty vague). Magic's definitely something I expect to see in FF, but it's such a given in a fantasy setting that I wouldn't really list it as a main element in a FF game - at least not independent of gameplay or setting or something.

 

[Ⓐaron]

Eyes on Me is a good enough song; it just seems so out of place. The only reason Melodies of Life works really well in FFIX is because the melody appears in like ten different songs in the FFIX soundtrack. Granted, there's still a lot of the FFVIII soundtrack I haven't listened to so maybe it appears in some of the songs I haven't heard.

 

[Ite]

Sounds like you haven't played FFVIII -- Eyes on Me has actual story significance, which made it poignant. Melodies of Life wasn't a bad song, but a pop song had no place in that world, at least they saved it for tge credits. Suteki da Ne made stylistic sense for the game world (as much sense as Otherworld) but I hated it. Since then it's been garbage all the way.

 

[Ⓐaron]

I haven't. I said above that I hadn't played much of it.

I'm not worried about it having relevance to the plot; it just seems a lot different from the rest of the soundtrack in FFVIII. It's a little jarring.

 

[Kermitu Kleric Katie]

Well there are like at least 3 different versions of Eyes on Me in FFVIII(there's probably moar, but I can only think of 3 at the moment: Eyes on Me, Julia, and Waltz for the Moon), just like there are like 10 different versions Melodies of Life in FFIX.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

And Julia and Waltz for the Moon are both instrumentals.

 

[Kermitu Kleric Katie]

And Julia and Waltz for the Moon are both instrumentals.

So are all the versions of melodies of life besides melodies of life.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

FFVIII is the teen angst and romance entry of the series. Hell, the main premise is that the son of a soldier falls in love with the daughter of a singer that his dad was in love with. This could have been a Nicholas Sparks book/movie! The logo even looks like one of his movies' posters.

Really, the developers were entirely forthcoming about VIII's theme being romance. If any FF has the right to a pop song, its FFVIII.

 

[Ghost X]

I'm not a fan of the singing. Whether it is tied into other stuff in the game doesn't make the music any better. Choirs and chanting n' stuff like that on the otherhand, I'm all for.

 

[Ⓐaron]

So are all the versions of melodies of life besides melodies of life.

Technically there's a version with Garnet scat-singing the melody, but it's not on the soundtrack.

ETA: I forgot Garnet's singing is also incorporated in "Song of Memories", which is on the soundtrack.

 

[ForceStealer]

The point is, while some of the songs have had more success that others, I say we'd be better off without them. Or at least no worse off.

 

[Lex]

I disagree. Maybe I'm just a bit too emotional or something but I love the use of vocal songs like Eyes on Me etc in FF games. It has far less impact now, but hearing a vocal song while I played FF8 actually blew my mind at the time. Made the scene a whole lot more dramatic/ believable to me.