Mixtape: Best of Final Fantasy

Hi there and welcome to my newest Mixtape. Today I'm paying homage to my favourite video game series and also my favourite game series in terms of original soundtracks, Final Fantasy. Music naturally is very important to a video game; it creates atmosphere and sucks you even further into the game's world. Final Fantasy music does more than that though.

Now before I get into this Mixtape, I just want to talk about the work I've done on Final Fantasy in the past. I have twice before already paid homage to my favourite video game series before. I first did an article called "Why I Want a Final Fantasy VI Remake", which you can read here. I wrote that just over a year ago and it was quite well received, even if people didn't agree with me. My second piece of work was my personal "Top 50 Final Fantasy Characters" listing, which was around two months solid of paying homage to what I think are the best characters in the series. I've also reviewed in the past some of the games, some of these reviews are very old and my writing style wasn't as good back in those days, but you can still read them if you wish. From earliest written review to most recent, I've reviewed Final Fantasy IX six years ago, VI, VIII and X five years ago, and XII three years ago. In the future I will review XIII and XIII-2 when it comes out, but it's not something I want to do at the moment.

Back onto the Mixtape. The best thing about the Final Fantasy series, which is now 24 years old, is the fact that they have certain continuous themes that have been used in nearly every game. There are two themes that are usually used either as the beginning or end of the game. The first is called "Final Fantasy", and this song is considered the official theme of the game series. It's in every single main title in the series, apart from II, X and XIII. The other is called "The Prelude", and is used in some context in all fourteen main titles. There are other themes that are used often in the series too, like the "Fanfare", which is usually played after the victory of a battle, and the "Chocobo" theme, usually played when catching a chocobo, riding a chocobo or just doing anything chocobo related.

If you're not familiar with my Mixtapes, here's what a Mixtape is...

A Mixtape is a playlist of a certain genre, band or era. The list is generally 80 minutes long, the same length of a blank CD, with further recommendations if some of the songs aren't to your taste. Remember kids, downloading is wrong!

So, below is my favourite songs in the Final Fantasy series. Yes I'm biased to my favourite games, VI, VII and IX, but there's a decent variety here. I've included my favourite "Prelude", favourite "Final Fantasy" theme, favourite random battle theme, favourite "Fanfare" and my favourite boss battle theme. The other songs are either my favourite "big boss" battle themes, or just my favourite songs from particular games. It's a good list, it has a good variety. One last thing, some titles have many variances in terms of what the track is actually called, so I've tried to use the official title, and then list other titles too. 

So the format is, the song title, then in brackets what game the song is from, and then bracketed in italics is the other known titles if appropriate. Enjoy the list!

Also, this Mixtape is now available to listen to fully on YouTube so subscribe to me if you want to listen to it properly. 

1. Final Fantasy - (XII)
2. Liberi Fatali - (VIII)
3. Battle - (VI) (Battle Theme)
4. Victory Fanfare - (VI) (Fanfare)
5. Vamo' Alla Flamenco - (IX)
6. Cait Sith's Theme - (VII)
7. Red Wings - (IV) (The Red Wings)
8. Turks' Theme - (VII) (The Turks)
9. Mystery Sword - (IX)
10. Those Who Fight Further - (VII) (Still More Fighting, or Fight On!)
11. Terra's Theme - (VI) (Terra)
12. Electric De Chocobo - (VII)
13. Quina's Theme - (IX)
14. Slam Shuffle - (VI)
15. Snow's Theme - (XIII) 
16. Shadow's Theme - (VI) (Shadow)
17. Heart of Anxiety - (VII) (Anxious Heart)
18. Sulyya Springs - (XIII)
19. You're Not Alone! - (IX)
20. Otherworld - (X)
21. The Darkness of Eternity - (IX) (Dark Messenger)
22. Maybe I'm a Lion - (VIII)
23. One-Winged Angel - (VII)
24. The Prelude - (VII) (Prelude)

Don't like some of these songs? Here are five alternatives:

1. Black Mage Village - (IX)
2. Aerith's Theme - (VII) (Aeris' Theme)
3. Vivi's Theme - (IX)
4. Magitek Research Facility - (VI) (Devil's Lab)
5. Steiner's Theme - (IX)

Well, that's my Mixtape! I hope you like it. These Mixtapes are a lot of fun for me as I create my own personal custom playlists and it gives yourselves an opportunity to play them too. That's it from me today, my next video game related piece of work is most likely going to be my review on Resident Evil 4 HD, but that'll probably be next week sometime. I'll be back in the next few days with football live thoughts more than likely. Until next time, take care.

For the latest updates on my work, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!

My Top 50 Final Fantasy Characters (Part 7)

Please note: This list will talk about spoilers. If you have not played the game that each character represents I'd avoid that entry.

#20: Baku

Full Name (to knowledge): Baku

Game: Final Fantasy IX

Role in Game: Minor Protagonist

Best Quote: Baku: “So, this Tootsie's gonna give us Supersoft?” Marcus: “It's Tot.” Baku: “ACHOO! Whatever. I can't believe Tantalus is at the mercy of some old man. Hmph. I guess we gotta keep babysittin' the princess.” Marcus: “Still?” Baku: “He ain't gonna give you the Supersoft unless you're with the princess. That's the deal, Princess. I'm askin' you to take Marcus to this Toot.” Marcus: "...It's Tot.” Garnet: “I was going to, anyway.” Baku: “Well, go get some rest before you go. I'm sure Ted needs time to prepare.” Marcus: “...It's Tot."

Baku is such a fantastic character. He’s the hard but caring father-like leader of Tantalus and really loves all his “boys” the hard way. He’s so funny though, with his constant sneazing, and him being responsible for the entirety of “Lovenote-gate” in Disc 3, he’s just brilliant. But his best scene, the scene that stands out most with Baku , is when he continuously gets Doctor Tot’s name wrong and Marcus keeps reminding him. Baku is comedy gold and such an awesome character, and yes, most certainly is a better character than Cloud if you ask me!

#19: Shadow

Full Name (to knowledge): Shadow

Game: Final Fantasy VI

Role in Game: Major Protagonist/Antihero

Best Quote: “Leave us. The dog eats strangers...”

When I played FF6 for the first time and saw Shadow, I thought about every other “darkside” character in FF games and in other games as well, and thought “here we go again”. But Shadow beats most, if not all of them. He is an absolute badass mercenary assassin, and tries his hardest to hide his feelings for the main cast, even though it’s obvious he cares. His connections with Relm and his vivid dreams also add that fantastic layer to his character. I just love him, he’s the epitome of the dark and reserved character in a video game, he and Interceptor, who believe it or not came close to reaching the Top 50, are awesome.

#18: Jecht

Full Name (to knowledge): Jecht

Game: Final Fantasy X

Role in Game: Major Antagonist/Antihero

Best Quote: “You’ll cry, you're gonna cry, you always cry. See? You're crying.” (to Tidus upon their reunion)

Jecht’s cool, in fact, he’s really cool. I have a lot of love for this man, because of the fact that he’s seen as this horrible bully according to Tidus, but in truth, he’s just a hard headed man that doesn’t show his feelings very well. He wanted Tidus to grow up to be a strong bloke, a similar man to himself, but because Tidus was a young boy, he cried, and saw his father as a big bully. Jecht was not the best father in the world, but he loved his son, and his wife/girlfriend. He cares so much for Tidus that he leaves spheres in Spira, hoping his son would find them one day. Jecht is a proper antihero, but it is debatable that he is the main antagonist of the game, being the penultimate boss. He is a big badass to look at as well.

#17: Quina

Full Name (to knowledge): Quina Quen

Game: Final Fantasy IX

Role in Game: Major Protagonist

Best Quote: “I...so happy.” (Quina when he/she “marries” Vivi)

Quina is one of the funniest characters in FF history. From the fantastic “Quina’s Theme” song, to her/his brilliant philosophy (world simple place, things you eat, and things you don’t eat), and her/his failed suicide mission (when she/he ends up at Lindblum’s shore and makes the guards shit themselves) just make her/him so brilliant. Someone made a good point in saying that Quina adds little to the plot, which is true, but some characters don’t have to, as long as most of them do, some can get by easily, as long as they provide the player with something, which Quina does. Quina is a phenomenal character, one of my FF9 favourites, and is my 17th favourite in the series.

#16: Red XIII

Full Name (to knowledge): Nanaki (Red XIII is his experiment name)

Game: Final Fantasy VII

Role in Game: Major Protagonist

Best Quote: “An informed question. But difficult to answer. I am what you see.”

Yes I like Red more than Cloud. Red is an awesome character from FF7, he’s the last of his species (which is unnamed) and is a very courageous warrior, he is cool and composed, and says things the way they are. I don’t understand why he seems to be a relatively forgotten character in terms of FF7, so many other characters get much more time and development (he only has one line in the entirety of Advent Children) than him, which is unjustified. Red is as cool as a cucumber, and a character I think fondly of, so much that he’s my sixteenth favourite character.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know your thoughts in the comments box below.

See other parts in the listing!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | The Winner (+ more)