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The Battle of the OST's (FFXV vs ARR:XIV vs FFXIII vs FFXII)

A

Afrocious

Member
I was listening to 13's OST in my car on a long drive. Saber's Edge, Defiers of Fate, Born Anew, Fighting Fate, Will to Fight...
 
B

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
So far I like XV the least, or rather it is the most inconsistent of the bunch. Some fantastic tracks amid some really groan-inducing ones. Sadly, thirty hours into the game and I either hear the same (albeit lovely) world track on repeat, or I am listening to the couple twangy gas station/town themes that I fucking loathe. I assume the back half of the game improves the variety and quality of the tracks, but I spend more time with the MP3 player playing superior FF tracks to XV originals.

XIV, XII, and XIII are all wonderful. Pretty much a wash for me.
 
G

Gai Murakumo

Member
The score of XV is pretty top notch. The others are pretty dang close but Shimomura's excellent work in XV really stands out. On another note XIII's battle theme still cannot be beat though.
 
B

brandonh83

Banned
Thing about XV is that it doesn't have as much music as the other soundtracks, which have like a bazillion tracks. But what is there in XV, and there's still enough, is absolutely amazing.

I don't know what I'd pick though.
 
D

djSyndrome

Member
XIV has the benefit of a larger volume of songs, but even then there is no contest. So many great tracks, so much care given to the updates of legacy songs.

On my first time setting foot into Sohm Al I just wanted to stand still and run out the timer to hear that theme.
 
R

rochellepaws

Member
I loved XII, it has the same composer as Valkyria Chronicles and I notice a lot of similarities between the works of the two. Great action pieces and both convey a lot of emotions experienced in a struggle.
I especially like The Battle for Freedom (XII) and Final Decisive Battle (Valkyria) and the way both start with a tone of anguish and danger before turning into something hope filled and determined. It's really powerful and encouraging to hear something like that in a difficult, tense battle and for me an effect like that is exactly what excellent gaming music does.

I think ARR's soundtrack sets the tone fantastically though I don't think I've played enough of its end game to really appreciate it for comparison, I'll definitely say it blows WoW out of the water in this aspect.

I love the soundtrack of XIII and think it may be the best standalone set of music in the series when considered in isolation but I'm not sure it integrates the tone of the game as well as others and especially XII.

XV soundtrack didn't stand out for me at all, it was adequate but this is probably the first mainline FF game I've played where I didn't feel the soundtrack was in any way memorable.


So, my opinion is that XII, XIII and XIV all have very strong soundtracks and for different reasons but I value what XII did the most. XV is still a very good soundtrack but didn't hit the unparalleled heights set by the series.
 
B

Blobbers

Member
FF XV > FF XIII > FF XII
All 3 are great, but XV's is probably my favorite since X.

Haven't delved too much into XIV's soundtrack, but the few songs I've heard I did like.
 
R

rhandino

Banned
Final Fantasy XII has Euryt Village, Theme of the Empire and the most epic victory fanfare in the entire series.

How is this even a question?

EDIT: Second place goes to Final Fantasy XIII and the whole Lightning Trilogy thing.
 
R

Ruff

Member
Nothing on XIII really did anything for me. Don't remember XII at all other than it has a rabbit girl. Haven't played ARR so I'll have to lean to XV. I find a lot of her music sounds pretty similar though, some tracks I could swear I already heard in Kingdom Hearts 2 with how samey her style can be.
 
Z

Zhao_Yun

Member
brandonh83 said:
Thing about XV is that it doesn't have as much music as the other soundtracks, which have like a bazillion tracks. But what is there in XV, and there's still enough, is absolutely amazing.
Click to expand...

That's only because a majority of the tracks are heavily underused. The complete XV OST has 96 tracks. For comparison: FFX had 91, FFXII had 100, FFXIII had 85. XI and XIV have way more but that's because more and more music gets added with every patch.

I think for me it would be... XIV > XV = XIII > XII
 
B

Blobbers

Member
Shimomura always delivers with the boss fight themes. Parasite Eve, Legend of Mana, Kingdom Hearts 2, BBS, Radiant Historia, FF XV
 
W

wamberz1

Member
14's soundtrack is so good it's absurd.
There was a point when I was playing though heavensward where I was listening to the areas theme and thinking "Man, this is really good, I hope it stays at this level of quality!"
It didn't. It got better. And better. And better.
I'm gonna steal this guy's great post because I'm too lazy, but to all the people saying "I'm not familiar with ffxiv's" heres a sample.
Jasbasse said:
Final Fantasy XIV.

There is no other soundtrack the matches the beauty of a world and the music of such tenacity of Uematsu and Soken and co.

It's one of the best soundtracks of all time.

Here are some of the best tracks in the game:

1.0/A Realm Reborn
Torn from the Heavens
SerenityI
On Westerly Winds
Sultana Dreaming
Nemesis
Tenacity
A Fine Death
Under the Weight
Fallen Angel
The Emperor's Wont
Penitus
Primal Timbre
Answers


Before the Fall
Through the Maelstrom
Persistance
Pa-Paya
Battle on the Big Bridge (FFXIV Version)
Thunder Rolls
Out of the Labyrnith
A Light in the Storm
The Warrens
Hamartomania

Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward
Heavensward
A Cold Wind
Against the Wind
Lost in the CloudsSafety in Numbers
Night in the Brume
Limitless Blue
Woe is the Madness
Dragonsong

I tried to make this list as diverse as I could and not to give too many songs away. But this is my case for, not only one of the best Final Fantasy soundtracks, but one of the best VIDEO GAME soundtracks of all time.
Click to expand...

Here's my personal favorite: (warning, massive, MASSIVE heavensward spoilers) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsxIXhYCi5Y
 
T

Thoraxes

Member
hosannainexcelsis said:
Hamauzu is the best active game composer, so of course his work wins over anything else. He's only gotten better since FF XIII too; his work on World of Final Fantasy is really strong. That said, I really like what Soken has been doing with recent FF XIV music, such as Ink Long Dry and Exponential Entropy.
Click to expand...
My sentiments exactly.

And Soken's sound has been maturing quite nicely from ARR to Heavensward. I imagine I will be as impressed with the jump from Heavensward to Stormblood as I was ARR to Heavensward.
 
R

Ruff

Member
Fuck... Uematsu did music for FFXIV? I had no idea, I thought he bowed out from SE games back when X came out. Now I have to listen to all their songs.
 
R

Ray Down

Banned
Ruff said:
Fuck... Uematsu did music for FFXIV? I thought he bowed out from SE games back when X came out. Now I have to listen to all their songs.
Click to expand...

He did some tracks, but I hear most people say they are pretty weak compared to the rest of the soundtrack.
 
I

Ishida

Banned
I'll stand with FFXV.

Somnus, Apocalypsis Noctis, The Hydrean's Wrath, Ardyn's Theme, Noctis' Theme, the Crystal theme arrangement, Starlit Watlz, Hammerhead Theme, Ravus Aeterna, Nox Aeterna, the dungeon theme, Wunderlust, Valse Di Fantastica, pretty much EVERY battle theme in the game, etc.

I just can't get enough of it. On the other hand I can only remember two or three tracks from the XIII soundtrack.

XIV's is also amazing, though,
 
G

guybrushfreeman

Unconfirmed Member
wamberz1 said:
14's soundtrack is so good it's absurd.
There was a point when I was playing though heavensward where I was listening to the areas theme and thinking "Man, this is really good, I hope it stays at this level of quality!"
I didn't. It got better. And better. And better.
I'm gonna steal this guy's great post because I'm too lazy, but to all the people saying "I'm not familiar with ffxiv's" heres a sample.


Here's my personal favorite: (warning, massive, MASSIVE heavensward spoilers) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsxIXhYCi5Y&t=104s
Click to expand...

Great list you quoted. Sultana Dreaming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG-BIMPtC9k is straight god tier. Might be my favourite piece from any FF game

Edit: Ddddaaammmnnnn that's good
Edit: How could they leave Sultana Dreaming out of the FFXV radio soundtracks?
 
D

DarkConfidant

Member
XIV, then XIII, then XV, and in a distant last XII.

When I first started up XII, and was walking around the city, my first thought was "what is this awful music?!"
 
C

Cmagus

Member
Definitely FFXIV, in fact imo it's one of the best soundtracks in all of gaming. It's honestly so consistently good and Soken is creating some amazing stuff.
 
G

Gorillaz

Member
Haven't heard AAR forgot 12s but 13 has its battle theme which alone I think I'd better then most but ost wise I gotta go with the unremarkable one.

Each regions battle theme leidi, duscae and cleigne really capture the such a unique feel. Along with the hunt theme and that wanderlust trsck. The game also did a great job of not overdoing the Latin choir tracks we heard over the years.
 
S

Souless Squirrel

Member
I don't remember anything from 13 or 12. I do remember a lot of 14 though. 15 has some songs still in my head especially the battle music. So i'd Go 14 being a little better than 15 then Idc about the other two they didn't stay with me at all.
 
F

Frumix

Suffering From Success
Sakimoto and Shimomura are geniuses but FFXII and FFXV respectively are by far some of their most forgettable works.

Compared to sheer musical diversity found in XIV and XIII-2... Yeah I don't know.
 
F

Ferr986

Member
Ray Down said:
He did some tracks, but I hear most people say they are pretty weak compared to the rest of the soundtrack.
Click to expand...

Well I disagree with that. In fact, IMO 1.0 music had the better Thanalan and La Noscea region tracks, add maybe I would add Coerthas too.

Frumix said:
Compared to sheer musical diversity found in XIV and XIII-2... Yeah I don't know.
Click to expand...

Naoshi Mizuta is so good. FFXI fans already knew it but glad some more people knows it now. His work in XIII-2 was amazing.
 
W

_woLf

Member
If we're allowed to include the entire FFXIII trilogy, then it wins for me. Then XV, then XIV (but just barely).

XII isn't even in this discussion.
 
mrmickfran

mrmickfran

Member
XIII is in the top 3 FF soundtracks for me, after X and VI

XV, I haven't heard much of, but that fishing music is legit.

The songs from XIV that I heard in Theatrhythm are pretty good, but I don't play MMOs so... :shrug:

Haven't heard much of XII, waiting on the remaster. Giza Plains tho <3
 
M

Meowster

Member
XV has an incredible soundtrack that the game doesn't want you to listen. I was listening through the tracks in the car and realized just how epic in scope the whole thing is. Shimomura really gave it her all. And that's after Hamauzu gave one of the series best in XIII.

Whoever is composing XVI has an impossibly high standard to meet.
 
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