Board 8 > My Top 100 Final Fantasy Songs

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I compiled a list of my Top 100 Final Fantasy Songs, and decided to post it. It's an ambitious project! There's a LOT of songs. This list isn't SUPER Comprehensive. There's some Final Fantasy Songs I've still not heard, so it's somewhat a rough list. I'm not as familiar, for example, with the FFXIV soundtrack. I also decided against including songs that were too similar. I feel like they would rank together. I also combined some songs into one because of their similarities. You can probably guess which ones. But I'll save that as a surprise. This list considers both personal taste, meaning, and how much I like the song. There's probably a few notable omissions, but that's just because Final Fantasy has some amazing soundtracks.

List Composition:
Final Fantasy I: 4 songs
Final Fantasy II: 1 song
Final Fantasy III: 1 song
Final Fantasy IV: 9 songs
Final Fantasy V: 5 songs
Final Fantasy VI: 9 songs
Final Fantasy VII: 12 songs
Final Fantasy VIII: 10 songs
Final Fantasy IX: 10 songs
Final Fantasy X: 7 songs
Final Fantasy X-2: 2 songs
Final Fantasy XIII: 3 songs
Final Fantasy XIV: 2 songs
Final Fantasy XV: 2 songs
Final Fantasy XVI: 7 songs
Final Fantasy VIIR: 5 songs
Final Fantasy Tactics: 7 songs
Various: 4 songs

Final Fantasy XI I didn't really listen to the soundtrack. I've never played the game. It may have some real bangers, but I'm not going to bother with it. I only listened to a few songs from FFXIV. I've played but not beaten it. But I didn't want to exclude it from the list because it has some really strong songs. Final Fantasy XII I've never beaten, but I did listen to the whole soundtrack and couldn't really find a single song to put on there. That's nto to say I think the soundtrack is bad, it's just there's a lot of really great songs from Final Fantasy. Easily enough for a top 100. I mean it's close to 20 games!

But First! I will have two honorable mentions. And they are super honorable mentions, because they would totally be in my Top 20, maybe Top 10 rather than being on the cusp of making the list. Instead, they aren't on the list because I decided they aren't eligible, but I wanted to mention them anyway!

Feel free to make predictions and whatnot.

Tag!

With 10 FF8 songs, I'm hoping one of them is the Overworld Theme, which has lived rent-free in my head for more than two decades.

I think every FF overworld theme lives rent-free in my head except like 1s

nah even 1s

taggin

Tag

I'm here for this

Honorable Mention #1: Final Fantasy 6 - Ending Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu2sztIxQko

This is an amazing song that combines many of the character themes of Final Fantasy VI seamlessly into a single song. And the outcome is incredible! If this song were on the list, it'd probably make the Top 10 easily. But I decided against including it because it shares so many themes with other songs, some of which are (spoilers!) on the list. You could potentially just move a lot of the list down one spot, and just put this in the Top 10 somewhere, and it'd totally deserve it. The transition between songs is just excellent, and it's one of the most memorable ending themes in all of Final Fantasy. It's a very long song, and it's one that actually changes depending on who you have and haven't recruited! The way the songs blend together make for a musical masterpiece, showing Nobuo Uematsu at his best. The way the songs fit together like pieces of a puzzle certainly makes an argument it shouldn't be excluded.

Honorable Mention #2: Final Fantasy XIV - Weight of the World (Prelude Version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVAgd9dbYIs

Weight of the World is one of the best ending themes to a game ever. It's just... that game isn't Final Fantasy, it's Nier Automata. And if you've played it, it might just make you cry hearing it. It's a powerful song, and they did an amazing job incorporating it into Final Fantasy XIV as a battle theme. But I can't really put it on the list when it's a Nier song more than a Final Fantasy song. Even if it's included in Final Fantasy XIV. But even here the combination between Prelude and Weight of the World is beautiful. Again it's something I could see myself putting in the Top 10, though a lot of that is weighed more in favor of Nier Automata than with Final Fantasy. Again, if you feel the song should be eligible, you could move everything down one or two spots, and put this somewhere in the Top 10. It's deserving of it. I do think End of Yorha version is better, but that's not even remotely a Final Fantasy song. I do regret to say I never got to hear it in the game itself (the same goes for the other two FFXIV songs, unless I'm forgetting them). But this is an incredible song, and if I'm not including it in the list, it should at bare minimum get a mention.

Final Fantasy I: 4 songs -- Gurgu Volcano, Fight Scene, Prelude, Opening Scene
Other possibilities: Matoya's Cave, Chaos Shrine, Victory Theme

(I don't really know 2-6 beyond the big hits like Gilgamesh and Terra)

Final Fantasy VII: 12 songs -- Main Theme, Fighting, Still More Fighting, Crazy Motorcycle, J-E-N-O-V-A, Interrupted by Fireworks, You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet, Aerith's Theme, Jenova Absolute, Birth of a God, One-Winged Angel, Staff Roll
Other possibilities: Bombing Mission, Anxious Heart, Tifa's Theme, Hurry, Flowers Blooming in the Church, Under the Rotting Pizza, On Our Way, some Chocobo theme

Final Fantasy VIII: 10 songs -- Liberi Fatali, Don't Be Afraid, The Landing, Force Your Way, The Man With the Machine Gun, Fisherman's Horizon, Compression of Time, Maybe I'm a Lion, The Extreme
Other possibilities: Never Look Back, Breezy, Shuffle or Boogie, Only a Plank Between One and Perdition, Succession of Witches, Premonition, The Oath, Slide Show Part 2 =), Ride On

I'll consider doing more of the list later.

Tag

Hopefully there's some Mystic Quest in that Various group

Tag

#100: Final Fantasy II - The Rebel Army
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPaqiLZ7mlg

I'm not a huge fan of Final Fantasy II. I don't think many people are. I doubt that it helps that the game wasn't released officially in the United States until 2003! That's a fifteen year gap between release in Japan and the US. To put that into perspective, it would be like if Final Fantasy XIII were released this year. But this is a theme I feel captures a lot of feelings: An innate sense of heroism that fits the protagonists very well. You can get the sense that this song is about a group of heroes who rise up against an oppressive regime. It's a simple song, but it works so well. Someone once described what Nobuo Uematsu could do with his limited tools available to him as akin to Michaelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel with crayons. I think this song incorporates a lot of the themes of Final Fantasy II into it. Like many of the earlier Final Fantasy songs, this one has aged like a fine wine. The song doesn't mean quite as much to me as some of the other songs, as I've only played through FFII a few times. But this song stands out among the rest.

#99. Final Fantasy IX - Black Mage Village
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5IZTeAffjQ

This is an upbeat song that plays when you get to the titular Black Mage Village. I think the song may be paying slight homage to Mystic Mysidia from Final Fantasy IV. There's also a bit of Vivi's theme in there as well. Final Fantasy IX plays homage to a lot of the older games, it's kind of a love letter to Final Fantasy games before Final Fantasy X (which made a break from a lot of traditions, and was sort of a start to a new generation of Final Fantasy games). Black Mage Village is a location that's very important in the later part of Final Fantasy IX, as a lot of major events occur there. Ranging from serious to silly, much like the rest of the game. It fits the vibe of the village and the villagers, and it's pretty easy to listen to.

#98: Final Fantasy X-2: 1000 Words
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuqMbCCUclQ

1000 words would probably mean a bit more to me if I actually beat Final Fantasy X-2. I found the gameplay really fun, but the story made it hard for me to stay involved. I might go back to it some day. But still, 1000 words is a nice vocal song. The first on the list (but certainly not the last!). It's not exactly my genre of music, but it's got nice lyrics and a good sound to it. And it's very story related, and is an in-game song (few of the songs on the list are in-game songs, but there's definitely a few on there). Final Fantasy X-2's story could be very silly at times, but there were some good serious moments too. And I think it holds up pretty well as a sequel (though not the first Final Fantasy sequel).

#97: Final Fantasy VII Remake: Stand Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kvKN_UFOhk

One of Final Fantasy VII's most famous scenes features Cloud Crossdressing. Back in the 90's, it probably would have been a bigger deal for a macho man like Cloud to crossdress. But... for some reason, it just wasn't. Nobody made a big deal about it. It was a little funny, but the way it was done was kind of perfect for its time. It wasn't treated as some sort of big joke. I can't remember people saying "OMG why would you do this Cloud?!" When the remake was announced, though, most people wondered how they would handle it. And how they handled it was: Perfectly. Aerith's reaction. Andrea Rhodea. The scene is really perfect for the moment. They did the crossdressing section true justice with a dance number like Stand Up. This is a fun song that really fits the scene, though I do think the scene makes the music work a lot better, and I'm not sure I could really just listen to this by itself that much.

Love Black Mage Village and 1000 Words

Tag

Definitely did not expect Stand Up as one of the 5 for 7R but it certainly fits that scene so well! (cycling through my favs playlist in my mind to pick other four and will see if any hit!)

tag! XIV's is my fav version of Weight of the World full stop. And I don't know much of FF2's OST but I like Pandaemonium, though maybe the IX remix of it is in here.

Final Fantasy X: 7 songs -- To Zanarkand, Battle, Besaid (WUBWUBWUB), Seymour Battle, Silence Before the Storm, Suteki Da Ne, Ending
Other possibilities: Otherworld, Blitz Off, Auron's Theme. Feel like I'm missing something obvious here.

Final Fantasy X-2: 2 songs -- Real Emotion, 1000 Words
Other possibilities: YuRiPa Battle 3

Final Fantasy XII: 0 songs -- lol.

Final Fantasy XIII: 3 songs -- The Sunleth Waterscape, Saber's Edge, Blinded by Light
Other possibilities: Snow's Theme, Archylte Steppe

Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Lightning Returns: 0 songs -- lol?

Skipping 15 and 16, which I don't know.

Final Fantasy Tactics: 7 songs -- Trisection, Antipyretic, Apoplexy. Under the Stars, Run Past Through the Plain, Battle on the Bridge, Decisive Battle
Other possibilities: Bland Logo ~ Title Back

Not even gonna take a stab at the miscellaneous beyond maybe The Price of Freedom and Kaze no Ne.

This is the kind of thing that I wish I could do at work but no sane boss would ever give me the greenlight to rank 100 songs

Which is why B8 rocks

Love these writeups thus far

azuarc posted...

Feel like I'm missing something obvious here.

A Fleeting Dream is probs what you're thinking of

Maybe Tidus or Yuna's Theme could be on there, or Servants of the Mountain

On the one hand 100 seems like a lot

On the other it's probably not given the number of games

andylt posted...

A Fleeting Dream is probs what you're thinking of

Maybe Tidus or Yuna's Theme could be on there, or Servants of the Mountain

Movement in Green also great

Tag. This'll be a fun one!

FFX-2 story > FFX story

MZero posted...

Movement in Green also great

Yes Movement in Green (or Sprouting I think is the official name now) is a fav of mine! Not sure if being a mix of Zanarkand would keep it off the list though

NBIceman posted...

FFX-2 story > FFX story

my goodness what a take

Rebel Army is definitely the best FFII track.

Sad that there's no FFXI songs, while I haven't listened to the full soundtrack myself I've played through the selection in Theatrhythm. Ronfaure is one of my favorites as a result.

FFII has one of the weaker scores in the series - which is by no means an insult given the general quality of them all - but yeah. "Rebel Army" is the standout. It's terrific.

NBIceman posted...

Tag. This'll be a fun one!

FFX-2 story > FFX story

Zanarkand is better as a tourist trap where you play matchmaker with monkeys

Tag

8 bit versions, nice

For some personal favorites from XI as someone who didnt really play it, Heaven's Tower and Gustaberg are peak for me.

Meanwhile, my guesses for 8:
Salt Flats, Silence and Motion, Time Compression, The Castle, The Extreme, Find Your Way, Force Your Way, Dont Be Afraid, Fisherman's Horizon, and The Man With the Machine Gun

Isquen posted...

Gustaberg are peak for me.

yeah I love this one. I did actually play FFXI for a bit, and this was my starting area so I got to hear it a lot. Did make it to Ronfaure too which is another banger.

Isquen posted...

Meanwhile, my guesses for 8:
Salt Flats, Silence and Motion, Time Compression, The Castle, The Extreme, Find Your Way, Force Your Way, Dont Be Afraid, Fisherman's Horizon, and The Man With the Machine Gun

Wow, a man of exquisite taste guessing Salt Flats. Underrated track! I'd be pleasantly surprised if it made the cut.

I'd guess Maybe I'm a Lion is on here somewhere, even though I think Legendary Beast is better.

I considered nominating Salt Flats for VGMC this year! Also sneakily hoping for a Movin' appearance, and I expect Eyes on Me to be on there.

Actually I could probably rattle off a dozen underrated FFVIII tracks, such a good OST

The Spy
Movin'
The Salt Flats
Premonition
Drifting
Overture
Breezy
My Mind
The Mission
Dance with the Balamb Fish
Rivals
Only a Plank Between One and Perdition (one of the best track titles in the series)
Ami
Heresy
The Oath
Love Grows

Maybe some of those are properly rated, but what a deep OST

VIII is probs my fav FF OST and up there as one of my fav gaming OSTs as a whole, glad to see it get so much representation on here. (In addition to your list I am also partial to Under Her Control)

I recoiled at seeing Salt Flats but I am also getting flashbacks to Ink Not Dry, eh Isquen ;) lol

(I'm also still always biased towards battle and/or higher-energy tracks so lack the general chill track appreciation...)

I meant to put Under Her Control on there, too, whoops!

Some interesting guesses. I'll try to do 4 more tonight, but I have to take my daughter out to dinner for her birthday so it'll probably be later.

I'm sad about the lack of FFXIII-2 music, but at least you have a good amount of music from FFIV!

There's only one song from XIII-2 we need and that's the New Bodhum theme

Rebel Army Theme probably ends up near the top of my list. Black Mage Village I've also been quite partial to.

As for FFXI, I'm not super familiar but the few songs I have heard have been great. Ronfaure and Vana'diel March are fantastic, and Distant Worlds is probably a top 5 FF song.

XIII has the best soundtrack IMO, followed by VIII, X, X-2 and XV

I'm excited for another edition of Besaid (FFX) vs Besaid (FFX-2).

SaveEstelle posted...

This is the kind of thing that I wish I could do at work but no sane boss would ever give me the greenlight to rank 100 songs

Which is why B8 rocks

Love these writeups thus far

Audiences love lists and rankings and this could be a niche that can be filled by a site willing to let somebody do it. The debates that it can spur are a boon to comments sections, especially if you do it in segments and have something unexpected like Yuna's Theme climbing high and building anticipation about when it will finally drop. There's a pitch to be made here.

#96: Final Fantasy IX - Amarant's theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdKfN-wuEX8

Amarant as a character is underutilized. Which fits a lot of FFIX characters outside of the main quartet. Sometimes I feel like less would've been more. I mean obviously you needed a second team, and to pair everyone off at some point. But they could've just... not done that? But Amarant has a good theme. It's probably one of the few things about him I actually like. He has one of the better main character themes in FFIX imo. It's just too bad he doesn't fit into the story very well, even though he's not an optional character. I feel like FFVIII and FFIX both run into the same problems, with characters who aren't optional, but feel like they have low impact on the story. I feel like that's a product of the Playstation era, where with optional parties it becomes more difficult to incorporate all characters into the game. Chrono Cross is a bad example of it, with every character just having different ways of saying things. but at the same time I feel like FF7 dealt with it pretty well.

#95: Final Fantasy VIII - Man with the Machine Gun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj_MqRAA8es

A little low? Maybe. But all the songs in the top 100 are pretty awesome. I think it just speaks to the strength of the music of the series for it to be ranked here. I think you could easily get 250 songs, and still not have a bad song on the list! Man with the Machine Gun has a great beat, and serves perfectly as Laguna's battle theme. For me, a lot of battle themes get old pretty quickly. I think it's because you hear them so many times over the course of the game. Though I do think it's one of the better non-boss themes in the series. Also, you have to admit in game it looks like the monsters are dancing to the music sometimes. Like it's one of the few songs I could just see people dancing to. I don't think it's a song I could listen to on a loop for too long, but that might just be flashbacks of all those battles I fought in FFVIIi.

#94: Final Fantasy III - Boss Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdCQEsRw-oA

The only Final Fantasy III song on the list. Final Fantasy III is another game that isn't as appreciated as the others, in large part becuase it was released so many years later for the first time in English. This one is a bit Final Fantasy meets Mega Man. At least the 8 bit version is. And it hits pretty hard. I think the 8 bit version is the best (no offense to the pixel remastered version or the 3DS Version) but it just sounds better in 8 bit to me. Obviously it plays during all the boss fights in the game. I've only ever beaten Final Fantasy III once (Pixel Remastered version), but this song really stuck out to me among all the songs in the game. It's a great song, even if the game is a bit... lacking.

#93: Final Fantasy I - Gurgu Volcano
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYdSH34z5hg

I'm kind of dating myself here, but for my 7th birthday my mom got me Final Fantasy for my birthday. She had bought all of us an NES a few years earlier. It was the first thing she bought with her own money. She had us very young, and was still practically a kid herself. For me, Final Fantasy I was THE game as a kid. There was nothing quite like it. Granted i had never heard of Dragon Quest or anything like that. Mom and I learned the game together. She had a bit more of a balanced party, while I picked 4 fighters. Swords, yo! The game holds a special place for me, and introduced me to a love of JRPGs and one of my favorite series of all time. So a lot of songs from this game holds a special place for me. And Gurgu Volcano is definitely one of them. It's got a really nice beat, has an adventurous feel to it, and is used in one of the better dungeons in the game imo. They would reuse the theme (And the Volcano itself!) in Final Fantasy IX. Though I still prefer the 8 bit version. Anyone who's played the original game, probably can't hear the song without thinking of the volcano (and by extension Maralith AKA Kary at the time). I've probably beaten the first Final Fantasy more than any of the others. Probably in no small part to it being first. The song also features in Dissidia NT. I think the 8 bit version adds something to it that's just missing with all the other versions of the song.

Leonhart4 posted...

There's only one song from XIII-2 we need and that's the New Bodhum theme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbYnoqS50ys

Glad Gurgu Volcano made the list. Sad it's a little low, but impeccable taste preferring the 8-bit version.

Gurgu Volcano good shout, fun song

I prefer the ffix version but it's based on a very solid original

#92: Final Fantasy XIV - Endwalker (Footfalls)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vJn7MXRBX4

I never beat Final Fantasy XIV. I bought the game when it was on sale, and got a free month. But I ignored the main quest for the most part, and it was kind of dull playing by myself. My daughter played a little, but we never played at the same time. I don't recall if I heard this song in game, but I'm guessing not. But it's a very nice song. But it's hard for me to rank it higher because I haven't heard it in game. To me it doesn't have the meaning that it could have. But it's still a very nice song, and i wanted to showcase it. It was in the opening trailer, though. It's a very nice song. I might go back to FFXIV some time, but probably not until next summer.

#91: Final Fantasy IV - Hey, Cid!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwmRV9_7kas

I can't hear this song without thinking of Cid working on his airship. Because it very much embodies Cid Pollendina. Getting the airship was such a pivotal moment in early Final Fantasy Games. It gave you a freedom to explore the map to your hearts content. This is THE song I think of when I think of Cid's in the series, because they've long been associated with Airships. This music just fits really perfectly for people working on fixing the airship up. It's kind of a shame we don't get quite that same level of freedom in airships like we used to have. This song is upbeat and energetic, and though Cid is 54 years old (which is kind of properly 'older' and not 'old wisened 21 year old general') he's definitely got a LOT of energy. Especially when he fixes The Falcon, and performs his heroic sacrifice. This theme just embodies him so well.

#90: Final Fantasy X-2 - Real Emotion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQac53qqyvo

If you've ever played FFX-2 you've almost certainly heard this song, as it plays at the beginning. It's a pretty catchy pop song. I remember when I was playing FFX-2 for the first time I found the theme kind of embarrassing. I was 18, and naive and immature. (I'm still immature. Just a little less now!) But now I have to admit I really like this theme. It's not the best opening to a Final Fantasy game by any means, but it's definitely a catchy theme. I will say that my music tastes have definitely evolved over time, and I like pop music a lot more now than I did back then. It definitely had this Charlie's Angels meets Final Fantasy X vibe, that I'm not sure whether it realy worked or not.

#89: Final Fantasy VI - Slam Shuffle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6PHBz-8xc8

Zozo? Never heard of it. Back before Gamefaqs existed, I spent a long time with my younger brother in the city filled with monsters talking to every townsperson to figure out what time it was. And I will just say that I'll never forget that it's always 6:10:50. This song really fits this rainy city full of liars and thieves almost perfectly. There's a remix version of the song in Chocobo GP, but that game kind of sucks, and so does the music (Chocobo Racing is a far superior game). The song kind of reminds me of windshield wipers with the rain playing in the background. Rarely did towns get their own theme, but Zozo deserved it. I think it's more common now for different cities to have different themes. This one though, kind of kicks ass.

If theres only one 13-2 song I have three thoughts about what it could be. Historia Crux, Noel's theme, and its rendition of Battle on the Big Bridge.

Okay, and maybe "Run!"

Real Emotion over 1000 Words? Interesting choice!

Slam Shuffle is a good pick though. Super catchy tune.

Oh hey theres the first XIV drop in the top 100 itself.

Yeah, Footfalls only plays on the trailer... which played on boot up for the entirety of Endwalker's life. Considering Dawntrail main theme is a bit underwhelming in comparison, I miss it- all the more so because Footfalls calls back to the main themes of Heavensward, Stormblood, and Shadowbringers during it. Then it has a little portion of With Hearts Aligned, which played during the final boss fight, and it was just.... mmph. A good pick (though if I was expecting main themes of an expansion, I'm surprised it wasn't Shadowbringers.)