This excellent reworking of the Final Fantasy VII boss battle theme by Nobuo Uematsu’s prog metal band The Black Mages is a great burnout. I think it succeeds for me mostly on the merits of the organ part at 0:24 that repeats throughout the song. My feet land with such conviction when that organ plays.
Tag Archives: Final Fantasy
Build a Workout Stride: Nobuo Uematsu – J-E-N-O-V-A
Something about boss battle music in Final Fantasy games is just perfect for running. While most end up as burnouts, “J-E-N-O-V-A” has a more steady pace that lends itself well to a stride.
Build a Workout Mix: Successful Mix 10
If you’re not sure what this is about, start by heading HERE and reading the introduction to this section of my blog.
For my tenth successful mix, I’ve changed things up significantly! The worst enemy of working out is of course: not wanting to work out. And the number 1 reason for me: Its boring!
That means I have to change up my methods from time to time. Its all well and good to run 7 days a week but if by day 3 you hate it, you’re not doing it right. If you cant make exercise new and exciting, you WILL give up. It happens to me all the time. In an effort to stop that, this week I’ve added a serious workout section in-between to short runs. When it comes to lifting weights, just find some music that gets you pumped. Here, I’m going to focus on those 2 small runs that go hand in hand.
10 Minute Warm Up Run
1. Returns a King – Tyler Bates
2. J-E-N-O-V-A – Nobuo Uematsu
3. Those Who Fight Further – The Black Mages
The main idea here is start off you pre-workout with a ten minute warm up run. The format here being Warm Up – Stride – Burnout, and then heading into your physical workout.
10 Minute Burst Run
1. Start Something – Lost Prophets
2. Jesus Walks – Kanye West
3. What’s the Use of Wond’rin? – Amanda Palmer
The burst run has no warm up! In fact, it starts with a Burnout, then Stride and Cool Down. At the end of a workout I always have pent up energy. I think its adrenaline do to the fact that I just used my body to its full potential. The first few minutes of this burst run are meant to be met at full speed to drag out any left over energy in your body before a final rest.
My warm up run started off slow. It had been a while since I heard this song so after the initial choir section, I thought it would pick up immediately. My body felt ready to spring but the music was still chugging along in a second louder choir section. Just when I was ready to accept this song as a failure of a warm up, the song burst forth letting me pick up the pace. Use this as long as you’re prepared for and extended walking period for the first two minutes.
Something about boss battle music in Final Fantasy games is just perfect for running. While most end up as burnouts, “J-E-N-O-V-A” has a more steady pace that lends itself well to a stride.
Speaking of Final Fantasy… This excellent reworking of the Final Fantasy VII boss battle theme by Nobuo Uematsu’s prog metal band The Black Mages is a great burnout. I think it succeeds for me mostly on the merits of the organ part at 0:24 that repeats throughout the song. My feet land with such conviction when that organ plays.
All in all a great warm up run that got me ready for the heavy lifting and woke my body up from a lazy slumber.
My warm up run was more soundtrack oriented so I decided to make my burst run full of modern influences.
I knew I wanted to run full speed for this section so I pulled out the insanely rageful “Start Something”. That guitar riff that leads into the “1 2 3 4!” combined with some pretty heavy rhythm guitars turn this into a great burnout as long as metal and screaming motivate you. And it gives you a bit of respite at the end with some beautiful piano.
The marching nature of “Jesus Walks” provides the perfect momentum for a relentless stride. I cranked up the intensity on this one when the rest of my body was begging for rest and it got me to keep going full power. Not to mention, as a christian, being reminded that “Jesus walks with me” while on a difficult walk… You get what I’m saying. Empowering.
I’ve always wanted to use this really out there almost unrecognizable Amanda Palmer number for a cool down and I finally got a chance. It did not disappoint! As long as you’re a fan of AFP.
So there you have it! Another successful run that brings something different to the table to keep things interesting. Thanks again to anyone who reads these. I hope they help and inspire you to create your own workout mixes!
Build a Workout Cool Down: Nobuo Uematsu – Yakusoku no Chi
This beautiful choral piece off of the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children soundtrack is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever heard. What a great way to cool down for the final three minutes of your run.
Build a Workout Warm Up: Nobuo Uematsu – One Winged Angel (Orchestral)
Most people who know “One-Winged Angel” would immediately think of burnout. The final boss music for one of the most beloved videogame villain of all time. I chose the lighter orchestral version specifically so that I could use it as a warm up. The song does have a slowly progressive nature as it spins and winds toward something grander. This allowed my body to start off at a gentler pace and slowly work my way faster. It never got me running at top speed but it definitely prepared me for the additional ten minutes on the end of this run.
Build a Workout Mix: Successful Mix 5
If you’re not sure what this is about, start by heading HERE and reading the introduction to this section of my blog.
This mix is an altered version of Successful Mix 4 which you can find HERE
1. One-Winged Angel (orchestral version) – Nobuo Uematsu
2. Du Hast – Rammstein
3. IT’S SHOWTIME!! – B’z 2003
4. Aaj Ki Raat – A R Rahman
5. My Body Is A Cage – Arcade Fire
6. Totalimmortal – AFI
7. Baby Boy – Beyoncé
8. Path Vol 2 – Apocalyptica
9. Aint No Sunshine – Bill Withers
10. Down to the River to Pray – Alison Krauss
The first thing you’ll notice about this mix is that it is LONGER! It’s a good idea that you constantly push yourself to run further and faster. To run longer, obviously you want to add more songs but you also want to have more strides since this is the portion where you can gain some steady productivity. Faster requires more burnouts to encourage you to run your hardest. Lets look at the changes.
I started off with a new warm up. Most people who know “One-Winged Angel” would immediately think of burnout. The final boss music for one of the most beloved videogame villain of all time. I chose the lighter orchestral version specifically so that I could use it as a warm up. The song does have a slowly progressive nature as it spins and winds toward something grander. This allowed my body to start off at a gentler pace and slowly work my way faster. It never got me running at top speed but it definitely prepared me for the additional ten minutes on the end of this run.
Industrial Metal and specifically Rammstein music lends itself VERY WELL to the stride. Strides are all about keeping a steady pacing which is most easily found in dance music. Metal rhythms are also great because a good guitar riff works much the same way. “Du Hast” works to combine these two elements into something great. The metal side adds lots of little guitar flourishes to keep your brain occupied and the dance side adds little digital noises like at 2:04. I must also mention that the drums are beast!
Continuing this so far all new mix, we have a new burnout in the form of B’z’s all caps “IT’S SHOWTIME!!” How can a song with a title in all caps and two exclamation points not be a burnout? This song was used a lot in Japan for national sporting events and even the 2004 Olympics. The song was specifically made to ramp you up and thats exactly what it does!
I was then treated to ANOTHER new stride! Here’s another from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. “Aaj Ki Raat” is a monster of a stride topping out at over 6 minutes! It kept me going with its simple danceable beat and trance inducing singers mesmerizing me for the entire time. So pretty!
We finally get to some familiar ground with the newly located “My Body is a Cage” warm up which I absolutely loved in my last run and couldnt bear to part with yet.
This was followed by two other recent staples, the burnout “Totalimmortal” and the stride “Baby Boy” which both continue to succeed completely. I was definitely getting tired by the time I got to “Baby Boy” and thought I’d slow to a walk. The beat was so good I had to keep running for another four minutes!
“Path Volume 2” by Apocalyptica is one of the rare occasions where the band is accompanied by a singer. This song blew my mind the first time I heard it years ago and I knew it would work perfectly as a burnout. I mentioned how tired I was at the beginning of “Baby Boy” and this point I was ready to collapse. The haunting vocals and insane chugging cellos made it impossible for me to slow down and there I was off sprinting all over again!
Wow. What a beautiful cool down! Bill Withers sexy voice and thumping guitar slowed me way down so that I could stretch out my sore muscles walking the last couple minute of my workout in perfect bliss.
“Aint No Sunshine” was originally intended to finish off the mix. This leads to another lesson for a successful mix: ALWAYS CARRY SOME BACKUPS! In this case, my legs just werent ready to stop walking. They were really tensing up and cramping and I needed another couple minutes to walk it off. Thankfully I always pack some spares so I simply pulled out this wonderful acapella spiritual that I first heard on the O’Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack and walked off those extra couple minutes in peace. This song is the perfect way to cool down after a long and tiresome run.
Ode to Final Fantasy VI Part I
I really really wanted to do Chrono Trigger! No seriously, you have no idea! And I still will. But I could not resist writing about quite possibly my favorite gaming experience of all time. If you’ve never played Final Fantasy VI, I’m so sorry. There are going to be massive spoilers ahead. The second I have you convinced you should play it, immediately stop reading and go play it. The one sad thing about the game is that while it is not dated, it is definitely a 16 bit RPG and that may hold a younger generation slightly back. But I’m telling you, dont let it hold you back. Final Fantasy VI is not only the greatest Final Fantasy of all time, it is the greatest JRPG of all time. From the visuals to the story, to the characters, to the combat, to the leveling system to (Obviously) the music, FF VI excels in every way.
It’s all well and good to say it is the greatest RPG but the question still stands, why? I’m glad you asked because I’m planning to go into great detail on the subject, pointing out through the games music, why there really is no other game like FF VI. I’ll try to be brief because I really want to get to the music but I also think its important to see where I’m coming from before we get into the bulk of the music. (MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD)
Atmosphere: Look no further than the games chilling title screen complete with dreadful organs and a vast array of storm clouds. The game then opens on a frozen mountain and the opening scene may be my single favorite piece of gaming cinema. This dark atmosphere permeates through everything I’m going to mention afterwards so please keep it in mind. Even the color schemes chosen for the games battle backgrounds and enemies are vastly darker than the bright flashy colors of earlier Final Fantasies.
Seriously check out the opening scene. It is mind blowingly beautiful. Even now almost 20 years later you can only shake your head at its beauty. This is from 1994! Look at that snow! It reminds me of something out of a Miyazaki film. Still gives me chills. This is Final Fantasy VI and it is perfect.
Setting: The world of Final Fantasy VI is not a loving one. Unlike the magic filled worlds of previous Final Fantasies where magic crystals fuel the world’s energy, Final Fantasy VI takes on a steam punk vibe that takes place in the years after a huge war of magic has ended and now magic is (almost) mythical. Gone are the good natured fantasy kingdoms (for the most part) and in place, we find the Empire, a war centered totalitarian regime that has secretly rediscover magic and weaponized it for its war machines in an effort to take control of the world.
The Characters: What sets the characters of Final Fantasy VI apart is that none of them set out to be heros. They are just trying to live their lives but each of them has some common hatred for the Empire that draws them together to fight against oppression. They dont do it because they are destined heros. They do it because the Empire is knocking people down and if they dont stand up for themselves, no one else will. And this is a ragtag bunch of individuals! A thief, an ice cold commander of the Imperial army, a gambler, a mercenary, and a genetically engineered super soldier to name a few. Oh did I mention there are 14 characters?
The Combat: Which brings me to the Combat. A lot of characters doesnt necessarily mean a better game. Sometimes new characters are just the old characters in different skins. What FF VI does amazingly right is in making each character unique in battle. No two characters have the same abilities and switching different characters in and out of battles strategically can sometimes be the most important part of battle. It also has an early materia system where character can equip summons (known as Espers) that will teach them magic. These must be constantly micromanaged in the background but can result in your strongest tank character also being able to heal your entire party. The game also causes forced party splits from time to time allowing you to try out different character combinations and learn what works best for you. It’s also the first game to feature limit breaks! Not only do the characters have different play styles, their unique personalities allow for different kinds of people to all get attached to someone. Its fun to talk with friends about who ends up in their party because it often reflects a friends nature and you’ll both laugh about how each of you always puts in a character the other never uses. Except Sabin. Everyone uses Sabin! Ill try to go into a little bit more detail on my favorite character skills during their respective songs.
The Story: Ive touched on this already but the story is one of the most important pieces of an RPG. I’ll even suggest that Final Fantasy VI is one of the reasons that RPG’s are expected to deliver great stories. The game takes huge unexpected plot twists never taking the easy way out. Kefka is also tied for my favorite Final Fantasy villain. The man is an insane clown general! Who would think those things would appear together? Do you like the Joker? Because Kefka is basically the Joker with a God complex. The man lives to create mayhem. Some men just want to watch the world burn. When a castle refuses to give up a hidden prisoner, he attempts to burn it to the ground. In order to make one of the empire’s wars go faster, he poisons another kingdoms water supply killing almost the entire population including the wife and son of one of the main characters. Oh and he laughs while doing it. Probably one of the most recognizable and horrifying sounds of the 16 bit era. And you know how villains try to destroy the world? Well Kekfa succeeds! Remember those unexpected twists I told you about. In the supposed final battle of the game, Kefka defeats your party, murders the Emperor and harnesses the power of the God’s to literally blow up the world. He destroys all current continents reshaping the very world map. Not only that you wake up on a tiny island in a cabin as one of the games minor character and have to start all over. Oh and she contemplates suicide. The second half of the game revolves around traversing the post-apocalyptic world trying to scrounge up as many of your defeated party members as possible for a second shot at taking down a God. An insane clown God.
And finally yes(only because I said I’d keep this brief) the music!! Oh yes the music!! I’ve spoken before in my Ode to Final Fantasy VII about how amazing Nobuo Uematsu is and this is what I’m talking about! The man created the single greatest 16 bit soundtrack ever. It’s like FF IV and V were just warm ups for his masterpiece. He uses the tried and true leitmotif (repetitive themes for characters and places) to create instantly recognizable tunes for almost every major character and place. Not only that, the amount of instruments he creates is astounding. Oh and did I mention he actually throws a 16 bit OPERA into the game?? Seriously, there is an SNES Opera in Final Fantasy VI and it is brilliant.
As an aside. I’d really like to highlight artist Yoshitaka Amano! He is responsible for all of the drawings for characters in the first 6 Final Fantasies and his art is absolutely brilliant! I’d like to try and find pictures of each of the characters I discuss drawn by him. I hope it works out. And seriously if you’re a fan of the early FF’s check out his work. He has a ton of it!
So without further ado…
Opening Theme
Soaring clouds. The camera pans over them. Thunder strikes and so does the organ! Complete with 16 bit choir! Then a mysterious harp theme. A bell tolls. The ominous strings bring in a sense of unease as the games history scrolls by in text. A flute plays. There’s a repetitive fading echo and then the main theme begins to play as you watch three mech warriors marching through a land of ice and snow towards a huge foreboding mountain… Who can forget the wonder of the opening minutes of Final Fantasy VI. It’s as if the game is letting you know, this is not a story for the light hearted. This game will rip your heart out and step on it. And then laugh in your face. But you will love it. The piece that plays over the marching warriors also happens to be a piece of the first character introduced into the story: Terra. Terra is a mysterious slave of the empire that can use magic. Her past is shrouded in secrecy and it is her story that truly pushes the game forward.
Terra Riding a Mech Warrior
Caves of Narshe
The isolation you feel in the caves above Narshe are perfectly reflected in this sparse theme with its subtle bass line that keeps you moving forward with a deep feeling of unease that is peaked every time the piano part jumps up on you. I was already in love with the game just from its first two scenes. My heart was all anticipation for what would follow. Terra enters the caves in Narshe with two soldiers in an attempt to find an ancient frozen esper (a creature of great magic power) The esper ends up killing her captors and then knocks her off a cliff.
Locke’s Theme
Locke was always my favorite character in the game. Maybe it was his cool bandana or his no-care attitude or the fact that he was a good guy and a thief (I mean “Treasue Hunter”) at the same time. All I know is the dude never left my party and once I obtained the monster destroying Atma Weapon, there was just no stopping my Locke. The dude is super altruistic and like most of the characters in the game, has a hugely depressing backstory. Locke’s hometown is destroyed by the empire and his amnesiac lover Rachel is murdered in the attack. Her final words? She remembers his name! How chilling is that? His tale is motivated by revenge against the empire but he also has the even darker desire of raising his love from the dead! He doesnt succeed however and she begs him to watch over the two new women in his life. This shines through in his extremely protective nature of the two main female characters in the game. All I know is that I love Locke, and despite his dark past, his theme is one of constant adventure, hope and conquest. It always plays to motivate the crew towards their next objective. Locke meets Terra after her near fatal fall. Unfortunately she has lost her memory (which we all know now is something close to Locke’s heart). He swears to protect her until she can regain her memories and decides to take her to the resistance, a group known as the Returners in hopes that they will be able to find some form of aid.
Locke
Battle Theme
Lets talk battle themes for a second. Battle Themes in RPGs, ESPECIALLY random encounter RPGS are probably one of the most important themes in the game. You will fight MANY battles. Often times they will interrupt whatever you are trying to accomplish in the game. If a battle theme sucks, it can quickly bring down an RPG experience making you hate wanting to play the game. No matter how good the combat is, if the battle theme doesnt pull you in, you’ll eventually grow tired of the fights. Thankfully, Nobuo Uematsu has composed one of the most memorable and energetic battle themes of all time with the Battle Theme of FF VI. In fact, it is so addictive it actually works as a drug! Every time you hear the loud sound of a random encounter and the screen blurs, its like another hit of your favorite drug. You’re like “Damn! Battle! Oh wait though, its that really amazingly addictive song again… and before you know it theyre playing the victory fanfare theme and youre all like “wait, I wanted to here that 16 bit trumpet one more time!”
Fanfare
Which brings us to Fanfare. It has to have that same addictive quality so you want to keep winning battles and this definitely delivers with a happy bass line that gets you fist pumping as much as the characters in the game. Thats right! The characters fist pump when they win! I can remember endless hours of listening to this and being especially elated when I would hear the extended version while watching all the new spells my characters just learned off of an esper.
Edgar and Sabin Theme
Hmm. Where to begin with Edgar and Sabin? Um… THE COOLEST BROTHERS EVER! You meet Edgar first and the man is amazing. The dashing young desert prince of Figaro Castle, he has a shaky alliance with the empire but he secretly funds the resistance. When he hides Terra from the evil clown general Kefka; Kefka decides it would be in his best interest to burn Figaro to the ground. What he doesnt know is that Figaro Castle can actually sink into the sands! So awesome! Whats even crazier is than his brother Sabin is a SICK martial artist. The story goes that neither brother wanted to become king. However, Edgar could tell that he was more suited to the task that is care-free brother. He proposed a coin toss. The winner would be free to leave and the loser would rule. Edgar uses a double headed coin to ensure that he will lose so that he can give his brother freedom without regret. And Sabin. The dude can SUPLEX A TRAIN! Game Informer sited that as the single reason Final Fantasy VI is the best Final Fantasy. Because you cant suplex a train in the others. The gang escapes on Chocobos before the castle sinks into the ground and eventually runs into Sabin who is training in the mountains. Edgar and Sabin also have two of the games best abilities. Edgar can use tools which basically allow him to attack entire groups of enemies at will without spending any magic and they can cause status effects as well. Sabin has a bunch of hand to hand combat moves including a suplex. He’s basically a super charged version of the monks of earlier Final Fantasies. Also, all of his moves require you to input fighting moves a la Street Fighter! He can literally do a hadouken. Seriously the amount of variety added to the games combat is just wonderful.
Edgar
Sabin
Kefka’s Theme
I’ve raved about Kefka’s theme in the past as it actually appeared as one of my songs of the day! This is an excerpt from that post:
Just to give you a picture for why the music has the flair it does, Kefka is an insane clown (like the Joker) except that he’s a general of the Imperial Army. This guy poisons an entire kingdom’s water supply and then says, “Nothing can beat the sound of a hundred voices screaming in unison” and then laughs about it. The craziest part is this guy actually succeeds in his plan to lay waste to the entire earth and succeeds in ruling the world for over a year, before your characters can mount a counter attack. So yeah, his theme kicks ass, and they play it everywhere he shows up.
He can also be actually funny like when he walks through the desert and throws a fit kicking his feet around. Then he gets mad that theres sand on his boots and makes two of his soldiers wipe down his boots. And then you know what he does? He laughs at them. The game is full of similar scenes. Oh and one more thing of note, before Sephiroth ever killed Aerith, Kefka killed General Leo. And it was devastating. More on that later.
Kefka’s Laugh
I’m sorry but you need to hear it to understand the full weight.
Kefka
Mt. Koltz
I mentioned before about meeting Sabin on a mountain. This is that mountain. This is also the first real taste of the games difficulty. This game could be down right brutal and you would learn first hand when it was time to fight Sabin’s masters son Vargas at the summit of the mountain. The fight was brutal and it forced you to learn how to use Sabin’s skills on the fly in the heat of the battle or else lose. I lost. Many times. You have to understand, they had never put fighting game moves in and RPG before! How was a boy of little dexterity supposed to be able to input such complicated commands as back forward back?? Yeah I was young. But it doesnt make it any less memorable!
Returners
I’ve never give this theme enough credit. It starts off kind of slow but once it gets going, it really gets going. This is the theme of the rebels fighting against the army of the Empire and is played during a lot of big decision talks in the game where the characters are trying to decide what to do next. The ragtag crew of Terra, Locke, Edgar and Sabin finally make it through some caves to the Returners hide out. The Returners make a plan to split up with Locke. He will head to a besieged city to slow down the empires plans. The rest of the crew travels by raft down the Lethe River. I believe their plan is to meet up in Narshe.
The Decisive Battle
Arguably the only theme more important than the battle theme is the boss battle theme. It needs to be even more epic and intense than the battle theme to really get your blood pumping for an amazing boss fight where you will most likely get your ass handed to you. Thankfully, Uematsu delivers here in spades! I also bring this theme up now because the rafting Returners crew is stopped by the unlikeliest of villains. An insane octopus named Ultros. Best minor villain ever! You win the battle but not before he knocks Sabin clean out of the raft.
Ultros
I think this is a good point to take a break as this is also where the games story takes a new turn by doing something really awesome. The game converts to a black screen with threw parties standing around. One is Locke, the second is Sabin and the third is Terra, Edgar and Banon(the leader of the Returners). You actually get to pick which order you want to play the now THREE separate stories that are taking place at the same time. This game is just constantly breaking new ground. I love it! I hope you enjoyed reading it as well and that you’ll tune in for my next installment as we continue to reminisce about one of the greatest games of all time!
Banon
Ode to Final Fantasy VII Part III
Finally!! I’ve had a busy few weeks away from the computer and so I’ve been putting off this last installment in the series. But I’m really excited to try something new after this, so I thought it was high time I give you what you all wanted. The stunning conclusion to my Ode to Final Fantasy VII. Until I do a sequel, or something.
To those who were upset that I didn’t highlight Tifa, Yuffie or Vincent, I’m sorry. I know! I love them too. But I said in the beginning I was going to pick and choose, and they have unfortunately had to sit on the side lines. Still I encourage you to share your favorite moments with their songs and characters in the comments section.
You can find a playlist of all the tracks from part III HERE.
So, we last left off with one of the best moments in gaming. Let’s move on to the aftermath.
I’m going to be honest, I’m skipping past the beginning of Disc 2. The Snow caves are really beautiful but they angered the hell out of me. Collapsing in the snow and time limits and all that.
Who Am I
This is where Final Fantasy VII’s plot starts to go insane. You trek through ice and snow in the hunt for Sephiroth and finally find his body buried in a block of ice underground. JENOVA – Ghost – Sephiroth starts sharing all these insane plot points and your mind is like, “WOAH!” Then you LOSE CLOUD!! It was like Chrono Trigger all over again! This is really a music blog, so I’m not going to go into all the minute details of FFVII’s plot. I will simply point out that this music is perfectly named. Whenever they played it, you knew they were explaining some crazy out of this world plot twist in the game that just made you go, “This game is amazing!! I don’t know fully what is going on, but, wow!”
This also relates to one of my favorite parts of the game. Finally finding Cloud in a wheelchair, in a small town and he has lost his mind!!!! Then Ultimate Weapon attacks, the town is destroyed, and Tifa falls into the Lifestream with Cloud, where she enters his mind! Finding out all about Cloud’s past, and just how crazy and twisted it is, was definitely one of my favorite experiences in the game. It’s like you and Cloud both discover who you really are in those scenes. It even has these small scenes of Cloud as a child playing with Tifa. Just amazing.
Weapon Raid
This is where FFVII did something super cool. Most Final Fantasy games have super powerful endgame, optional, bosses. FFVII made sure they tied into the games plot. It made them ten times more ferocious. Who can forget when the underwater Fish Weapon attacks the city of Junon? The music on Disc 2 just has this feeling of, watch out, things just went crazy!
Highwind Takes to The Skies
AIRSHIP!!! The moment you get an airship in a Final Fantasy is always amazing. First of all, it means you no longer have to walk all around that giant world map… You can freaking FLY!! The other thing is you also usually get introduced to the game’s airship theme! Almost every Final Fantasy has an awesome discovering the world airship theme. They have to be cool because you will be hearing them a lot as you fly around the world doing side quests and such. This may be my favorite airship theme in Final Fantasy…
A Secret Sleeping in the Deep
I also really like the submarine theme. In total contrast to the airship theme, it is calming and ambient. FFVII’s submarine was a lot of fun, as you could explore an entire world down there; finding a sunken ship and fighting the terrifying Emerald Weapon.
Sending a Dream into the Universe
Disc 2 is harder to write about in relation to the plot because everyone’s experience is a little different. Definitely more open ended, it focuses on gathering the Huge Materia. It’s definitely one of my favorite moments on Disc 2, when you fly into space on a rocket ship! I also really like the little strumming acoustic guitar in this song.
Mako Cannon – The Destruction of Shinra
Definitely reaching the end of the game here. Cloud is once again in tow after recovering his mind, Diamond Weapon Attacks Shinra! Who can’t remember repeatedly ramming their airship into Diamond Weapon as he slowly walked closer and closer to Midgar?? Or when they fire the Mako Cannon straight through his body! Diamond Weapon was awesome! So was storming Midgar!
Judgement Day
Last Level Theme! I loved the Northern Crater. I think it was a really great final dungeon. Lots of different paths to choose from. Party splitting. Climbing deeper and deeper into this crater with Lifestream blowing up towards you. Lots of sub-bosses. Oh, and a great theme!
Jenova Absolute
I really like the remixed JENOVA music for the final fight with her. Remixed boss music for end game bosses always makes the conflict feel so much more intense!
Birth of a God
It stinks that most people forget this theme because of the one that comes right after it. Birth of a God is a great boss battle theme. It definitely has a lot of that prog rock vibe that becomes prominent in FFVIII’s battle themes. It is more subtle than One Winged Angel, but the parts with the bell that starts around 1:25 are some of my favorite music in the game.
One Winged Angel
Even though this song only play for like 7 minutes in the entire game, it has become probably the most recognized track from the music of Final Fantasy VII. It’s easy to see why. It had a freaking chorus!!! Singing in latin!!! I really don’t think there is a better Final Boss Theme in all of videogames. Please, please prove me wrong! There are some that come close! “Dancing Mad” from FFVI and “Lavos Theme” from Chrono Trigger come to mind the quickest, but I think neither is as good as One Winged Angel. Not to mention the hundreds of covers of this song by real orchestras since then.
Actually, my favorite memories of this song have nothing to do with Final Fantasy VII. One memory comes from a time playing Halo 2, back when you could name your player whatever you wanted. One of our characters was named Sephiroth and two of my friends faced off in a one-on-one tournament and every time my friend got a kill he would sing the choral part of the Sephiroth theme, you know, where they go “SEPHIROTH!” I went to my computer and started playing this song to encourage him. When I hear this, I still think of that.
The second is the greatest moment in a little game, some of you may know, called KINGDOM HEARTS! Hell yes! Definitely my favorite super boss in all of videogames is Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts. Lots of games have super bosses but most of them just have tons of hit point and it’s more of an endurance race than anything else. Sephiroth was different. He was FUN to fight against! Yes, it is true that he had so much health that they ran out of colors to use for additional bars of health. So when you first started fighting him, you couldn’t even tell if you were damaging him. Then the length of his sword was just so crazy it made you laugh. This is a boss that the first time you fought him he would teleport at you, make one swipe and you’d think, “OH! I died…” He was also the best way to level up at the end of the game, so while beating him was ridiculously hard, each time you leveled up he got a little easier. It didn’t help that he also had a move that would take away all your magic and leave you with one health, which he would then follow up by teleport slashing you! If you’ve never seen this fight before, you can definitely check it out on youtube but it won’t fully capture the magic. That’s because the boss is super hard, so the only people posting videos are those who are like, “Oh, I’m really good, and I can be really cheap and beat him without getting hurt and I’m level 100”. You won’t see the thousands of people that he destroys because they didn’t post videos of them losing terribly.
That is my greatest memory of Sephiroth. He wasn’t hard for me in FFVII and he also didn’t look as cool since he was in strange God form. In Kingdom Hearts, he looked liked human Sephiroth, with the all black clothes, except that he also had a giant black angel wing! I remember sitting there for hours fighting him and listening to this theme. Awesome times.
World Crisis
I decided to just post the music over the ending of the game, so you could watch and remember. World Crisis is a really long song that has many themes built into it based on what’s happening in that last scene. I remembered being hugely disappointed in Final Fantasy VII’s ending. No closure! Especially after being spoiled by FFVI’s ending where they told exactly what became of every character! Don’t get me wrong, when that life stream music starts up and you see Aerith’s death given purpose in helping protect the planet from Meteor, that’s amazing! But then what??
That’s why I LOVED Advent Children. To me, it perfectly continued the storyline of FFVII, capturing all the subtleties of the main characters and finally providing us a perfect ending for the series. FFVII was an amazing game, but it wasn’t until almost eight years later that I was able to fully appreciated it. That, plus the release of Crisis Core. If you haven’t seen that movie or played that game and you’re a huge fan of FFVII, then you MUST! They will completely enhance your experience with this game and add a lot of respect to it.
Staff Roll
So that’s it. I hope you enjoyed my 3 part Ode to Final Fantasy VII. Please like it, share it, comment on it. Tell me what you loved. Let me know here or in the suggestions area on my site, what games you hope I work on next. Once again, thanks for reading!!
Ode to Final Fantasy VII Part II
Here we go again! Finally! PART II. In case you missed out on PART I, you can always check it out HERE!
We left off with the gang finally escaping Midgar in an epic motorcycle chase scene, and we finally get a chance to step out into the first 3D Final Fantasy world map! Something that modern Final Fantasy games seriously need to bring back!
[You can find youtube playlists for Part 1: HERE and Part 2: HERE]
And once again: ****SPOILERS****
Main Theme
Ah, the main theme of Final Fantasy VII. I love how dark and foreboding it feels. And sad. It doesn’t make you want to go out on an adventure, it makes you want to sit at home and stare at the ceiling. I think it is fitting since FFVII often strikes me as a game where the adventurers would much rather be at home and hiding from the world, then taking charge of saving it. Especially Cloud.
On That Day Five Years Ago
A large portion of the game’s plot has to do with a series of events that happened 5 years ago. This song has that solemn and ominous feeling present in the main theme, and always reminds me of being a soldier and fighting alongside the legendary Sephiroth on the way to Kalm.
Electric De Chocobo
Who doesn’t love the chocobo theme? So silly! I love the amount of depth that goes into chocobos in FFVII. Especially Chocobo racing. And who can forget catching their first chocobo, so they could ride it across the swamp and avoid the gigantic murderous snake?
Rufus Welcoming Music
This song cracks me up, because I can remember this scene so vividly. Having to beat up a guard and then take his place in a line of marching soldiers was hard enough, but then you had to do the twirling gun minigame. I just remember screwing this up really bad, and cracking up as Cloud tried to fake being a soldier only to fail miserably. I could be wrong, but I remember the officials higher up commenting on how bad you did when you were terrible. I also remembering saving right before, because I wanted to do it over and over to get the best items from doing it correctly.
J-E-N-O-V-A
I was really confused about JENOVA when I first played FFVII. I knew that Sephiroth referred to her as his mother, but I couldn’t make sense of it at the time. In a way she is his mother, since he was created using her cells. JENOVA is a planet eater and the main antagonist of FFVII. She is hell bent on devouring the planet. You fight pieces of her body throughout the game, and each time you’re treated to this awesome theme song. Definitely one of the best and the most recognizable of the Final Fantasy themes.
The Gold Saucer
Everyone loves the Gold Saucer! It is one of the most fun locations in the game, and where a lot of time can be spent doing side quests! On your first time there, you even get to take one of your party members on a date! I took Tifa cause I thought she was smokin’ hot, but I know there’s a lot of Aerith lovers out there. The best was coming back later, after buying a season pass. You could play basketball, arm wrestle, go snow boarding, ride motorcycles, enter a fighting tournament, have submarine battles, and most importantly: RACE CHOCOBOS! I spent many hours at the Gold Saucer. While I love all the minigames in the Final Fantasies, the Gold Saucer was an ingenious idea, and probably the best. Plus, it had a super fun loving song to go along with it.
Fiddle De Chocobo
Chocobo Racing! I spent countless hours catching, racing and mating chocobos in order to get the super coveted Gold Chocobo, and the extremely long Knights of the Round summon!
Valley of the Fallen Star
Another of Final Fantasy VII’s best themes! Finally getting to Cosmo Canyon and learning more about the major plot of the game was great, but hearing this song was what really made making it to Red XIII’s home worth it. I love the tribal drums and the flute theme. This theme made me like Red XIII ten times more than I already did.
The Flow of Life
I love that the Life Stream gets its own theme. It is alive and a major character in the story. The literal source of life in Final Fantasy VII. I also think that the theme works really well to represent the feeling of light. Wow that’s hard to explain. Plus who can forget being inside the strange observatory talking to Bugenhagen.
Those Chosen by the Planet
Many people associate Sephiroth with his One Winged Angel Theme because that is the theme that was carried over into other games and media. Truth be told, that is only his theme in the final boss battle. This song is his regular theme in the game. More haunting and brooding. Whenever you hear this, you know something really awful is going to happen. Like Sephiroth finding out the truth about who he is and burning a town to the ground, then straight up attempting to murder everyone around him. This, all from a man who was originally a huge hero! It’s kind of like if Superman were real, and then one day he just snapped and decided to destroy Kansas.
Cid’s Theme
Cid is one of the few common connections between all Final Fantasy games! While never the same person, there is always a Cid character in every Final Fantasy, with the exception of the original for NES. He is often a time associated with something mechanical. Including, but not limited to: Airships. Cid from FFVII is my second favorite Cid in the series, after the Final Fantasy Tactic’s TG Cid(Thunder God) aka Cidolfus Orlandeau. He is definitely an engineer in FF VII, working on everything from the Tiny Bronco to the Space Rocket. Of course his most famous work is his airship: The Highwind. He named it after himself and even uses it as a weapon for his Limit Break!
The Forested Temple
This song always makes me feel like I’m lost. Maybe it was because there was a lot going on in this temple… I really like the acoustic guitars in this one and the horns. All the music on this soundtrack sounds so FFVII!
You Can Hear The Cries of the Planet
First of all, I love this song! It is so creepy. The first time you make it to the Forgotten City, you are seriously creeped out. It’s so desolate. It feels like there used to be so many people around, and yet now it stands empty. It is also just so white and clean, yet broken down. The music does a perfect job of freaking you out. Your heart feels uneasy. Something just doesn’t feel right. On subsequent playthroughs, the music changes because rather than being worried about something going wrong, YOU KNOW FULL WELL JUST HOW AWFUL things are about to go down. This song actually makes me sadder than any other theme in the game. It’s because I know things will never be the same once I make it through the Forgotten City…
Aerith’s Theme
Ok, I take it back! THIS theme makes me feel even worse! Aerith! It still hurts, even after all these years. Aerith’s death serves as one of the worst moments in all of videogames (Emotionally of course. It is also one of the best scene in video games.). We watch her pray and then see her stabbed from behind. I think many fan’s favorite villain is Sephiroth because his killing Aerith cements your resolve for personal revenge. Even though I’ve always felt that Cloud should be with Tifa, it didn’t hurt any less watching him lose Aerith. Who can forget that iconic scene when he gives her body up to the water? FFVII’s story is just so freaking deep! If you have not played Crisis Core and you love Aerith, then you are SERIOUSLY missing out! Stop reading! GO PLAY IT! That game made me cry. Tears. Probably the only time I ever cried from a videogame, and Final Fantasy VII is largely responsible for how emotional Crisis Core made me.
On that note, I seriously need a break. Who didn’t need a break after Disc 1 ended? HEAVY!
Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to remind me of the songs you love, that I didn’t mention up to this point. BUT don’t forget that there will be a PART III, when the shit really hits the fan in the games storyline.
Ode to Final Fantasy VII Part 1
Come on! We all knew that this was coming, didn’t we? Final Fantasy VII was definitely going to appear on this list. So, a few starting points:
1. SPOILERS!!! If you’re actually reading this and you haven’t played the game: REALLY??? Seriously, how have you not played it? It came out in 1997! Stop reading this and go play one of the greatest games every made!
2. Why this Final Fantasy? Great question! If you must know, Final Fantasy VI is actually my favorite Final Fantasy. TWO reasons. The first reason is that while VI is my favorite, VII is still the Final Fantasy who’s story I cared about the most. Maybe it was because since then they’ve tied some other great games onto the franchise, maybe it was the graphics. Whatever the reason, I’ve mentioned before that Video Game Music is often tied to my experiences with a game. Because I was the most emotionally involved in FFVII, I also remember it’s music the most. The second reason is logistical. I just did an ode to an SNES game so, while I would have loved to do something like FFVI or Chrono Trigger, FFVII seemed like more fun because it was on Playstation. And let’s be honest, a lot more people have played FFVII.
3. PART ONE????? YES! Think about it. My Mega Man X ode was super long and that was based on a game you can beat in a couple hours. This soundtrack was for a game spanning over 50 hours. So yes, Part 1.
4. This soundtrack was composed by Nobuo Uematsu, who just so happens to be my favorite video game composer of all time. Nobuo Uematsu is to JRPG’S, what Joe Hisaishi is to anime soundtracks. He uses a style known as liet-motif, which refers to recurring theme melodies associated with a certain person, place or idea.
5. I’m going to have to pick and choose. There are over four hours worth of FFVII soundtracks just based on the original game. Sad that I didn’t include a song? Post in the comments about your favorites that I left out and why you love them. If people like this project, I may also eventually do a section on covers of the original tracks that are my favorites. But also remember that this is only part one. As with Mega Man X, I will go in order of the progression of the story.
6. As with Mega Man X, you can find a playlist for Part I HERE.
So, now that that’s out of the way, a little history. Final Fantasy VII is the 4th true Final Fantasy to be released in America. Final Fantasy was released for the NES. The SNES saw the release of FFII and FFIII, which were actually FFIV and FFVI in Japan. The real FFII, FFIII, and FFV were not released in America until much later. Confused yet? Whatever the case, FFVII introduced the world of console gamers to the wonders of CGI. It’s absolutely gorgeous visuals (for the time) drew in millions of fans who would never have considered playing a Final Fantasy in the past. I think this is the game’s shining achievement. Way before Marvel and DC became mainstream, Final Fantasy VII was one place where nerds and jocks were on the same page. I had already been playing a lot of RPG’s, so I was very much looking forward to FFVII and I was not disappointed! It is still one of the greatest gaming experiences of my life. I replayed the game last year on my PSP and it was just as enjoyable as always. I’d like to share some of those experiences with you here.
Thanks for being patient through my long introduction! On to the music and the memories!
Prelude
The crystal music! It starts almost every Final Fantasy, so it was refreshing to find it here too. What I love is that it starts out familiar, but then incorporates the FFVII themes and instruments. Beautiful.
Opening Theme, Bombing Mission
Have you played this game before? TELL ME YOU DON’T GET CHILLS EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU HEAR THIS OPENING THEME!!! Seriously, I cannot hear this and not get chills. And then when it cuts to the beginning of your mission on the train. Cloud backflipping off that train! So COOL! Yes this game encouraged terrorism, but seriously, how could this not make you want to mischievously blow something up? My favorite part comes in at 2:17! And the piano! And the trumpet at 2:38?? This is how you storm a building. Ok I have to stop. Full adrenaline just kicked into my body listening to this. I’m getting too emotional. Let’s move on.
Mako Reactor
What’s a mako reactor? Well, it’s a machine that literally draws out energy from the life of the planet. FFVII’s industrial themes focus on the city of Midgar and its senseless destruction of the planet. I just remember the game’s opening moments, as you climb deeper and deeper into the Mako Reactor to this chilling music, while you saw all that green life energy flowing around you. The game just felt so DARK! I love it.
Barret’s Theme
As the leader of the resistance group AVALANCHE, Barret’s theme has a kind of militaristic feel to it. I love all the horns. I like how his theme has a dark underbelly, with some really happy, quirky sounding horns on the surface. I think it perfectly defines Barret’s character. This mostly makes me think of making secret plans in the AVALANCHE base.
The Shinra Corporation
Nobuo Uematsu seems to be a master of creating evil villain music. Obviously there’s the “Dun. Dun Cha.” that is used to create the Turk’s theme, but my favorite part is around 1:22. That theme just embodies the horrifying things that are going on at Shinra and captures that really dark feeling surrounding FFVII as a whole. When I listen to this, I think of the scene where you sneak into the ventilation shafts to listen in on a secret Shinra Executives meeting. The meeting where they all have different diabolical laughs that make the little characters look like they’re having seizures.
Fighting
Probably one of the songs people can sing on command easiest. Every Final Fantasy has an amazing battle theme that boosts your fighting skills as you enter battle. FFVII’s is no exception. My favorite part is at 0:54. That theme got me through so many tough spots. Epic.
Victory Fanfare
Victory! Just like every FF has a battle theme, it also has to have a victory theme to reward you after each difficult battle. Can you imagine not hearing a victory theme in Final Fantasy? It would be so anti-climactic! Every time I hear it, I can’t help but picture Cloud spinning the Buster Sword around his head.
Flowers Blooming in a Church
Ow, I fell through the roof of a church into a flower patch! Who is this beautiful woman walking towards me? FFVII showing its softer side. I loved how peaceful the abandoned church felt. The entire beginning of the game takes place in the dark, so when you see the light shining down through the hole in the church… So artistic!
Turk’s Theme
Who can forget the Turk’s theme? Every time they played this, you knew some dudes in Men in Black outfits were about to show up. I love the drums. The song really invokes that mafia hoodlum feeling.
Oppressed People
Who can forget visiting the slums underneath Midgar. I don’t think I fully understood the geography of Midgar until I saw Advent Children. The slums are literally underneath the city. This music always reminds me of trying to find womans clothing and makeup, in order to dress up Cloud as a woman. Whenever people get excited about an FFVII remake, that’s the scene I laugh about being remade. It also reminds me of doing really awkward squats at the gym there.
Still More Fighting
I love how the boss theme of Final Fantasy VII is a progressive rock song. So cool. One of my favorite songs in the game. I longed to fight bosses just so I could listen to it. My favorite moment is the little part at 2:00.
Crazy Motorcycle Chase
I’m going to be honest, this one is more about the gaming experience than the music. How awesome was it to drive that motorcycle and actually get to hack away at other motorcycles, while trying to escape in real time. My heart was racing so hard the first time I played that part! Nowadays, that scene is no big deal graphically, but at the time it was unheard of. It’s similar to the first time you play Uncharted 2 and think, “am I actually playing this? This is like playing a movie!”
Unfortunately, I’m going to have to stop here. I hope you like it and it’s all that you hoped it would be. If you do: LIKE IT. COMMENT ON IT. SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS. MAYBE EVEN FOLLOW ME. Check out the rest of the site too! I’ll be thankful for any and all love thrown my way. See you again for Part 2.
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