Labyrinthos Music

It's no secret that fans are divisive about this song. What do you think is wrong with it, and how could the developers improve it?

From what I see, I think it's supposed to be similar to the Great Gubal Library which really was an interesting experimental jazz composition, but unlike that one, it took some interesting risks that I don't know if fans can all appreciate. I'm curious what players thoughts on the matter are. Do you like it the way it is? Or do you wish it to be changed?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DamianFatale

It's no secret that fans are divisive about this song. What do you think is wrong with it, and how could the developers improve it?

From what I see, I think it's supposed to be similar to the Great Gubal Library which really was an interesting experimental jazz composition, but unlike that one, it took some interesting risks that I don't know if fans can all appreciate. I'm curious what players thoughts on the matter are. Do you like it the way it is? Or do you wish it to be changed?

---

When they first showed off Labyrinthos and let us hear the music for the first time, I was reminded of a level in Ys Origin where you have to go through a tunnel that plays music by having air pushed through holes in the wall. Because one of the antagonists did something to the wall, it caused the music to become discordant, and it actually hurt your character. At first I thought the music in Labyrinthos was out of tune, but it wasn't. I actually liked it. The music is uncanny, much like the zone itself, and I hope SE doesn't change it at all.

I love the labyrinthos music, lol. I think it’s very cute and a bit unsettling, like an abandoned theme park sort of thing. I am guessing it will be where the Hummingway live, along with possibly Lunarians. It’s hard to describe but it gave me a very sort of “the inhabitants here are very out of touch” sort of vibe. That’s the best way I can describe it. Like a forced cheeriness. I’m looking forward to that area.

I liked it. Its sounds whimsical and not something you'd expect from a location like that. It reminds me of FF4 Mysidia theme song.

If anything needs to change, I'd say the pitch of some of the instruments used is a bit too high when listening on headphones.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BunniEclair

I love the labyrinthos music, lol. I think it’s very cute and a bit unsettling, like an abandoned theme park sort of thing. I am guessing it will be where the Hummingway live, along with possibly Lunarians. It’s hard to describe but it gave me a very sort of “the inhabitants here are very out of touch” sort of vibe. That’s the best way I can describe it. Like a forced cheeriness. I’m looking forward to that area.

---

I think this is very spot-on. It's like something from a funfair barrel organ, and I want to hear more to see if it dives right in or if it remains treading water above some very deep currents. I suspect if it's not what you say regarding the inhabitants being out of touch or having a forced cheeriness, it could err on this side of funhouse.

When I heard that song, it felt like the zone was an abandoned toy land lost to time... maybe it fits, since it's supposed to be an artificial oasis underground.

wait where, did i really miss that part when they showed more of it?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kuroka

wait where, did i really miss that part when they showed more of it?

---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umBo...INALFANTASYXIV

It was shown during the keynote. Personally, wasn't the biggest fan when I first heard it, this rang true for a few members of my FC, however, I also believe, since we have basically no context about the area, there is no context for the music as well. It might be it fits the area well when we go there ourselves.

It was...strange, but I like strange. It will probably grow on me. I'm more excited about the zone as a whole. To me, it looked to be inspired partly by Hollow Earth. It even has an artificial sun.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollow_Earth

Maybe it was my stream messing up music (the sounds for the Reaper video were...Something...) but the song as a whole just sounded too shrill for my liking.

I honestly thought my sound was messing up on that. I'm sure it fits the zone and it does bring to mind a certain setting. It's definitely not friendly to my ears, though. I'll probably have to turn the sound off there. Don't think I could stand doing normal city stuff or fighting with that coming through my headphones.

I think before we go hating on this piece, we may want to actually see and hear it in game. With how unique it is, I feel there's a heavy lore reason behind it.
Didn't Yoshi mention briefly that Labyrinthos was something of an enigma in the stream?

Somehow it gave me impression resemble a mixture of Digimon and Christmas.
Not disliking it, but like TaleraRistain said, not friendly to my ears either.
Could be one of those music that similar to the bgm played in Kholousia first, to facilitate a "discomfort" feeling, and will change to other version after certain point of the MSQ.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DarkDaifuku

Somehow it gave me impression resemble a mixture of Digimon and Christmas.
Not disliking it, but like TaleraRistain said, not friendly to my ears either.
Could be one of those music that similar to the bgm played in Kholousia first, to facilitate a "discomfort" feeling, and will change to other version after certain point of the MSQ.

---

Yeah, exactly. I'm sure it fits the zone perfectly and the discordant tone will be explained well. I'm sure this is probably exactly the sort of reaction it's supposed to engender. I just hope it's bearable in game since there's a certain point my ears have to nope out.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TaleraRistain

Yeah, exactly. I'm sure it fits the zone perfectly and the discordant tone will be explained well. I'm sure this is probably exactly the sort of reaction it's supposed to engender. I just hope it's bearable in game since there's a certain point my ears have to nope out.

---

Most likely it will be less intensive in game, many music sounded different in game versus on youtube.

i think only reason people didn't like probably is because it was a bit loud and sounded kinda distorted at times, but i think for it being a weird mystery place it kinda fits the aesthetic. =3

I like the music. It's whimsical with sinister undertones - perfect for Sharlayan given what we've seen of it so far of its abandoned settlements.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Theodric

I like the music. It's whimsical with sinister undertones - perfect for Sharlayan given what we've seen of it so far of its abandoned settlements.

---

I liked it too! For similar reasons. My boyfriend said it reminded him of an amusement park and that he hated it because of that. That got me thinking - maybe some people's hate is subconsciously coming from that? Not a lot of people like amusement park music.

I liked it :) But I like all music coming from FFXIV cause it's all gold!!!

It's also possible that instead of remaking the song as a whole, they could consider looking into the way that the song is mixed. It's possible that some undertones in the song are just a bit too much, and need to be toned down. I know this as a music producer. No one is immune from making simple mistakes, not even Soken. Everyone has their quirks, and its really easy to make a mistake when you are heavily ambitious on a larger scale. I hope that rather than feeling down, that Soken takes our feedback, and considers the fact that we value him enough to have honesty. I don't want him to be disheartened, or to feel down. In my eye honesty is respect, and if we do so with a constructive way of talking about things, then there isn't anything wrong with said honesty. I hope that makes sense to you all here. >o<

The area exists underground, so it's a completely artificial sun and sky. The music is trying to make you feel like it's all a wind-up, clockwork, mechanical area and it does that very well.

It may be a bit hard on the ears but if it is you can adjust the volume. It's unlikely you'll be spending a lot of time there once you're done with the quests.

It definitely stood out. I don't mind unsettling, weird music at all (heck the Moon theme from FF4 is one of my favourite tracks of all time) but it just sounded sort of unpleasant as is. My biggest concern with it from the tiny amount we heard is more that I don't know if I want to be listening to that for the entire time I'm in a zone questing, exploring, etc. 5 minutes might be okay and mood appropriate. 5 hours maybe not so much.

It's not really the same, but it kinda strikes me in the same way as this old song:

Little Boxes by Pete Seeger