-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
FINAL FANTASY Community Thread: XV Mainline Entries and Counting
- Thread starter Kagari
- Start date
Professor Beef
Banned
It looks like I forgot to assign a GAF member to Red XIII for my list. So if anyone wants to be named him, speak now since I just got to the Shinra Building.
BTW, I love the dialogue while climbing the staircase. Best part of Disc 1.
BTW, I love the dialogue while climbing the staircase. Best part of Disc 1.
Professor Beef
Banned
Good point!Roto13 said:
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
My boyfriend wants to play FFIX, so we're playing FFIX (in truth, I was leaning towards FFIX as well). I'll start it tonight if I decide to stop studying.
Edit: I think that before you do the Djose Hotspot, you can go back to Bevelle for one cutscene in Chapter 3.
For a soundtrack that has such amazing tracks as "Liberi Fatali", "Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec", "The Landing", "Force Your Way", "The Extreme", "Maybe I'm a Lion", "Silence and Motion", and "The Legendary Beast", it's surprising that something like "Blue Fields" would make the soundtrack in the state that it did. The version of Blue Fields on the Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec album packs a little more punch (and the arrangement is a lot better than the one on the original soundtrack), but I don't really like its original composition very much.
While Final Fantasy IX's soundtrack worked well as a full cohesive soundtrack, the up-and-down nature of Final Fantasy VIII's soundtrack works against it for me. There is a lot of really awesome of FFVIII's soundtrack but the reason why that "really awesome" stands out is because there are really bland tracks that make those tracks stand out even more. I know it's a way of trying to create minimalist work, but some of them just don't seem to do well to me.
In many respects, FFVIII's soundtrack works a lot like a cosine function (because Liberi Fatali was such an amazing opening track, the soundtrack is definitely not represented by a sine wave).
Chapter 5, iirc. You're an enemy of New Yevon now! Be happy they can't summon Dark Aeons to get you.TheSeks said:
Edit: I think that before you do the Djose Hotspot, you can go back to Bevelle for one cutscene in Chapter 3.
I don't like it either. It's my least favourite world map theme in the entire series. It's not just that it's bland, but it's also that it takes so long to get into the rhythm.Billychu said:
For a soundtrack that has such amazing tracks as "Liberi Fatali", "Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec", "The Landing", "Force Your Way", "The Extreme", "Maybe I'm a Lion", "Silence and Motion", and "The Legendary Beast", it's surprising that something like "Blue Fields" would make the soundtrack in the state that it did. The version of Blue Fields on the Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec album packs a little more punch (and the arrangement is a lot better than the one on the original soundtrack), but I don't really like its original composition very much.
While Final Fantasy IX's soundtrack worked well as a full cohesive soundtrack, the up-and-down nature of Final Fantasy VIII's soundtrack works against it for me. There is a lot of really awesome of FFVIII's soundtrack but the reason why that "really awesome" stands out is because there are really bland tracks that make those tracks stand out even more. I know it's a way of trying to create minimalist work, but some of them just don't seem to do well to me.
In many respects, FFVIII's soundtrack works a lot like a cosine function (because Liberi Fatali was such an amazing opening track, the soundtrack is definitely not represented by a sine wave).
Semi-recently did a replay, interesting this thread was recently made...
Blue Fields is bland because it's compared with FF6 and FF7's overworld themes.
Now that I think of it, lots of FF8 music had unusual time signatures going on, it could be why some people can't really get into the songs.
Blue Fields is bland because it's compared with FF6 and FF7's overworld themes.
Now that I think of it, lots of FF8 music had unusual time signatures going on, it could be why some people can't really get into the songs.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Some examples include:Gravijah said:
- Jailed (doesn't do much with intended genre, one motif, monotonous; even in-game it makes the dungeon even more boring because the dungeon sucked)
- Junction (4 chords on... 14-16 bars of a solo synth harp melody... for an entire dungeon... oh god)
- Blue Fields (repetitive underlying bass and poor synth... compared with other world map themes in the series like Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII, Crossing Those Hills, Terra's Theme, Four Valiant Hearts, Main Theme of Final Fantasy IV, Eternal Wind, Main Theme [of Final Fantasy] and Main Theme [of Final Fantasy II], this is extremely lacklustre)
- Fear (short development, repetitive harmony, poor synch, poor atmosphere, uninspired)
- Unrest (poor bass, boring strings, boring)
- Rivals (ambience is appreciated with strings and woodwind, but it doesn't match the tone of the scene it's used in and it's rather repetitive as well)
There are other examples, but I really don't want to get my head chewed off because I get the feeling that some of the tracks I want to mention are popular, lol.
But like you once said to me, it wouldn't be fun if everyone liked the same thing!
ULTROS!
People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Blue Fields is definitely great, especially in the piano collection: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3loF8NmCtLE
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Dear current FF localization crew and Japanese FF scriptwriters/scenario crew,
Please make future FF narratives more like FFV's and FFVI's with a sprinkling of FFVII's and FFIX's, thanks. In case you didn't get the hint, please use more humour than "moms are tough" and "worst birthday ever".
Best,
Me
Please make future FF narratives more like FFV's and FFVI's with a sprinkling of FFVII's and FFIX's, thanks. In case you didn't get the hint, please use more humour than "moms are tough" and "worst birthday ever".
Best,
Me
Definitely. Final Fantasy VI has got to be my favourite FF soundtrack with FFIX and FFX's soundtracks closely following it. So rich with compositional quality and genre-influence. FFVI's piano collection album is my favourite next to FFX's (which is probably my favourite out of all the PCs).Aeana said:
6 is Nobuo's best but he got really creative and established new norms with 8. The adding of vocal tracks (which is now unfortunately done for the sake of adding a vocal track) as part of the story and going with the "no character themes". The whole team did a lot of risky changes with 8, which is why fans got divided.
Speaking of bad synth, I've always thought that Martial Law sounded jarring.
Speaking of bad synth, I've always thought that Martial Law sounded jarring.
Seven Force
Banned
Quick FFXIII question, I'm at the Midlight Reaper boss... About how far into the game am I?
Crash Station
Member
Lucky Number Seven Force said:
Something like a bit less than halfway. Hard to judge since everyone spends a different amount of time in chapter 11.
Aeana said:
the ffvi soundtrack is amazing, but i find i like it more for how consistent it is. it's definitely not my favorite of the soundtracks, though, and i find myself gravitating towards tracks from other games.
but it does have celes theme!
and the weakest battle themes of the snes games. barring dancing mad, of course.
ULTROS!
People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Aeana said:
VI is fantastic. VI, VIII, IX, and X were the fantastic ones.
VI and VIII had the best piano collection pieces in my opinion:
VI's Piano Collection:
Celes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdixtSP2Blw
Tina: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED66swL2gtE
Coin Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTJuK4QWB7A
The Decisive Battle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_9gLGUH-6k
Spinach Rag: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HizdlmU0wwE
VIII's Piano Collection:
The Castle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwEzvEdbIHU
Fisherman's Horizon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3ryiSk995Q
The Oath: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kn4WLyDqGw
Ending Theme (basically, the FF theme song): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbunWCmQ6s8
The Successor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6a2j2wbq_4
Succession of Witches: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfee5Ns1IwE
VI's pieces were more beautiful and romantic whereas VIII's were more environmental and haunting (notably The Castle, Succession of Witches, and The Successor).
Professor Beef
Banned
Beef and his merry companions duckroll and ULTROS snuck inside the extremely large Shinra building by way of the side stairwell to rescue their friend Boney. It was an arduous climb, but not only was Boney safe and sound, they made a new friend named Roto XIII. Unfortunately, Beef's old rival Sephiroth is apparently alive and killing, so the group has decided to head to the nearby town of Kalm to regroup and formulate a strategy.
I wish I could take screenshots so my re-telling of my FFVII adventure would seem more colorful.
I wish I could take screenshots so my re-telling of my FFVII adventure would seem more colorful.
Professor Beef
Banned
True, but the only camera I have is my phone, and the picture quality is awful.ULTROS! said:You could take photographs instead of screenshots and upload them.
I guess it doesn't matter in the end. If I remember to, I'll take some snapshots.
Let's fight about it.Gravijah said:
People always forget The Day After. I still can't believe Uematsu wrote this.Gravijah said:
I liked the FFVI and FFVIII soundtracks the best.
Speaking of FF music.. orchestral medley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qexlgKjN8Z8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzVJPgDuoVk
Speaking of FF music.. orchestral medley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qexlgKjN8Z8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzVJPgDuoVk
Dark Schala said:Some examples include:
A lot of these tracks are boring because they are extremely repetitive and/or they have poor synth. A lot of tracks can be listened to out-of-game and they aren't as repetitive at all, but take some of these examples and it's kind of mindboggling how poor these compositions are in comparison to the other heights the soundtrack demonstrates. The soundtrack simply lacks cohesion. Edit: the time signatures don't bother me, because I like awkward time signatures, lol. For a soundtrack that fixates itself so heavily on bass, I'm a little disappointed (because bass is my favourite kind of sound, even moreso than the guitar (my instrument of choice... though I have played bass before from time to time)).
- Jailed (doesn't do much with intended genre, one motif, monotonous; even in-game it makes the dungeon even more boring because the dungeon sucked)
- Junction (4 chords on... 14-16 bars of a solo synth harp melody... for an entire dungeon... oh god)
- Blue Fields (repetitive underlying bass and poor synth... compared with other world map themes in the series like Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII, Crossing Those Hills, Terra's Theme, Four Valiant Hearts, Main Theme of Final Fantasy IV, Eternal Wind, Main Theme [of Final Fantasy] and Main Theme [of Final Fantasy II], this is extremely lacklustre)
- Fear (short development, repetitive harmony, poor synch, poor atmosphere, uninspired)
- Unrest (poor bass, boring strings, boring)
- Rivals (ambience is appreciated with strings and woodwind, but it doesn't match the tone of the scene it's used in and it's rather repetitive as well)
There are other examples, but I really don't want to get my head chewed off because I get the feeling that some of the tracks I want to mention are popular, lol.
But like you once said to me, it wouldn't be fun if everyone liked the same thing!
i meant to respond to this earlier: i love quite a few of those songs and some of the reasons i love them are... the instruments. ;p can't believe you don't like the bass in unrest!
ULTROS!
People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
It's bad synth and somewhat boring compositionally in that they can sometimes be repetitive. I can't get past that. Listen to a real bass performing that BGM and it's unreal how bad the synth is in the original. FFVIII's poorer quality tracks would have been enhanced so much if better synth had been used. Upon reflection, Uematsu thrives on strange time signatures, so it definitely isn't the odd time signatures at all.Gravijah said:
I'm afraid to reveal the rest of the tracks I dislike because I now know that people heavily favour them.
lol, my boyfriend and I went through the soundtrack track-by-track last night to discuss what was wrong with the instrumentation in some of the tracks. He plays the keyboard, so half the time he was like, "Oh God, this is how it should've sounded!" I didn't have my guitar on me to make similar comparisons. :/
Here're a few themes I do like, though!
Under Her Control
Dance with the Balamb Fish
Silence and Motion
Movin'
SeeD
And I maintain that all of the battle themes on the FFVIII soundtrack are exceptional. I love them all.
Sorry, dear Raichu. I'm siding with Aeana here.Aeana said:
As much as I love Dancing Mad (and it's my favourite final boss theme in the series), however, I can't help but to feel that Final Fantasy V - The Decisive Battle never gets the recognition it deserves. In fact, the bulk of Final Fantasy V's soundtrack never really gets the recognition it deserves. Not even the Dear Friends album, which is really enjoyable.
But FFVI's soundtrack is still my favourite.
Billychu said:
alright, you have to cheat and toss it in an emulator and fiddle with some settings, but i definitely prefer the instruments used in the gba versions. then again, i'm somewhat of a gba sound fanboy. and i devour experimental electronic music, just to give even more insight into my odd tastes.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Some of them, a little bit... they are kind of anachronistic. I've heard worse, but they could have been better. But they work. Because Uematsu has employed MIDI (recall that he worked directly with the PSX's MIDI) instead of samples, the number of futuristic, synthetic sound patches used in the soundtrack is rather small. I can deal with it.Gravijah said:
"You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet" is actually one of my favourite themes on the soundtrack.
What are you saying, man?
We've gotta fight now.
I have friends.
But enough talk, have at you!
Final Fantasy VI SNES/SFC Ver Tracks Condensed
oh god what did they do to the final battle theme those channels ahhhh
Dancing Mad GBA Ver Part 1
Dancing Mad GBA Ver Part 2
Dancing Mad GBA Ver Part 3
Dancing Mad GBA Ver Part 4
Final Fantasy VI SFC - Dancing Mad (entirety)
It's my favourite piece in all of FF because of, in short, its layers and intricacies. So I tend to be a lot more critical when I hear it rearranged for something or remixed.
oh god why
Final Fantasy VI GBA - Searching for Friends
Final Fantasy VI SFC - Searching for Friends
the worst offender to my ears
Final Fantasy VI GBA - The Serpent Trench
Final Fantasy VI SFC - The Serpent Trench
terra what have they done with your soundscape
Final Fantasy VI GBA - Terra
Final Fantasy VI SFC - Terra
Final Fantasy VI GBA - Kefka's Tower
Final Fantasy VI SFC - Kefka's Tower
the fanatics have gotten so fanatical that they killed the theme
Final Fantasy VI GBA - The Fanatics
Final Fantasy VI SFC - The Fanatics
There are so many more that I can choose, but I really dislike the arrangement, the tinny instrumentation, the fact that the composition no longer flows correctly between notes and bars, and some of the added stuff. I completely understand that it's due to the sound chip. But I really dislike the instrumentation changes overall. The only exception might be Aria di Mezzo Caraterre, because I thought the changes were kind of cool.
With regards to Final Fantasy V's soundtrack... it isn't as jarring, really... for reasons Aeana explained months ago. There are a few things that bother me about it, but there are some things that I kind of like. But the sound quality is really good because the original music's instrumentation isn't exactly complex, so they could do much more with it for the GBA version.
Final Fantasy V SFC Ver Tracks Condensed
But man, the Final Fantasy VI soundscape on GBA really really bothers me.
*goes back to listening to Streets of Rage 2's soundtrack*
Celes' voice sounds like a midi sample of an actual person singing, as opposed to the phone dialing sounds she made in the original.Dark Schala said:
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Well, yeah. That's why I thought the changes were kind of cool. I wonder if they would have been able to pull it off with the SPC 700? Probably.Roto13 said:Celes' voice sounds like a midi sample of an actual person singing, as opposed to the phone dialing sounds she made in the original.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n_uDsdPh8EDark Schala said: