In-Game music - do you like it??

[Moomba33]

I'm not the biggest fan of Oblivion but I enjoy Footsteps In the Snow a lot, and the acoustic version of Oblivion is really great!

Hey same here!
It's nice to see another Footsteps in the Snow enjoyer, it tends to get overshadowed by Oblivion.

[WhiteArchmage]

I'd just like to point out that, even though Soken is amazing and To The Edge is one of the best songs I've ever heard and the orchestral version makes me tear up (not to mention the orchestral version of Flow, good gods...), he's not the sole composer in CBU3.

He's the music DIRECTOR, and as such he writes the Main "Theme" of the expansion (although the actual Main Themes, re: Answers, Dragonsong, and Revolutions, were written by Uematsu, Shadowbringers, aka, Tomorrow and Tomorrow, and Endwalker, aka, Footfalls, were written by Soken), while OTHERS work on individual songs building from the main theme. So claiming Soken is the sole composer unintentionally diminishes the work of the OTHER creatives in the team, namely Daiki Ishikawa and Takafumi Imamura. And 3rd party musicians like Yoshitaka Suziki and KEIKO (what, did you think she only showed up in FanFests because she plays the piano?) who've also done work in the soundtracks. Granted, this is because the streaming services only list Soken as the composer and I don't know why they do so, but of course he can't physically shoulder the entire soundtrack alone.

More on topic: I rather like a lot of songs from the ARR to StB era, particularly the trial songs for Ramuh, Garuda, and Shiva, as well as Ravana's Phase 1 and Bismark's Phase 2, and Thordan's, and the Azim Steppe's Day Theme. And I wouldn't say that one rarely hears the trials songs and "only" hears the overworld music since... uh... I raid? I spend more time either in my house (with Orchestrions so I can listen to the OTHER songs of the Soundtrack), the housing areas, or... in trials...

I also happen to like the Yanxia theme, so...

Hey same here!
It's nice to see another Footsteps in the Snow enjoyer, it tends to get overshadowed by Oblivion.

Footsteps in the Snow is very underrated by the fanbase, yes yes.

[Avenger]

So here's my question for all the super-fans: do you actually LIKE the music that you end up hearing for 99% of the game (overworld themes and that one cutscene they used for every planning/suspicious conversation scene)? Or did you just forget that they exist and are rating Soken purely based on the songs that you actually DO like?

The city and overworld night themes are actually some of my favorites. One of the reasons I like living in Empyreum is so that I get Night in the Brume at night. It's beautiful with the snow falling. I also love listening to the night themes (e.g. Gridania) when it's raining in game (and you can hear it mixed with the rain sounds, sometimes falling on the roof if you are in a building.) I spent so much time crafting in Ul'dah and the Crystarium and still love the night music in both places (though getting woken up by the blaring Ul'dah day music is still terrifying.) Some people are apparently tired of Close in the Distance but I just finished the shared fates and have no problem listening to it again. Also finished the tribe quests with the remix which I also like. I currently have a bunch of EW music on our orchestrion now that I finished the shared fates. It's serene.

My only complaint with some of the overworld themes (such as the beautiful Contention and Stars Long Dead) is that their loops are too short! I think Dragonsong/Contention is an Uematsu piece.

I like the dungeon music but I don't listen to it much outside of dungeons, with the exception of a few favorites like Tricksome (WPHM) and The Warrens (Snowcloak - on my holiday playlist.) And of course the brilliant (and memed) A Long Fall (based on Alex themes.) Some music just perfectly puts you into the groove for the duty. I usually make orchestrion playlists for every seasonal event, as well as on various themes or however the mood strikes me, and dungeon themes sometimes show up on those lists as well.

One thing we might share in common though is an affinity for trial and/or raid themes; personally I really like the Alex raid themes, though I may be biased somewhat having seen some of them performed by the Primals. I also liked the Nier raid music as well as the current 24p raid music.

So, it may very well be a matter of differing taste in your case, or for OP an apparent distaste for sampled or synthesized arrangements vs. acoustic. In any case, if you look on youtube you can see that FFXIV's music resonates with many people (though it's self-selecting since the people it doesn't resonate with probably don't make as many youtube videos about it.)

[edit: How did I miss the Raincatcher Gully music? It's beautiful.]

[Cleretic]

There are plenty I like less than others - I'm not the biggest fan of Oblivion but I enjoy Footsteps In the Snow a lot, and the acoustic version of Oblivion is really great! But in-game? Nah, it's pretty mid.

I think Oblivion works for two reasons.

A: The actual spectacle. Like, this is the first time the soundtrack really breaks from expectations and stops being what Final Fantasy sountracks have already been before. Even the genre breaks before that point had some roots in classic themes; Good King Moggle Mog is based on FFV's moogle theme, Under the Weight (which I think is generally underrated probably because people don't expect it to have meaning) is kinda Soken's attempt at Otherworld from FFX. But Oblivion breaking into female-vocals rock doesn't actually have an equivalent, everything with female vocals before that in Final Fantasy was either more of a ballad (Answers) or a lot more pop (like Real Emotion).

B: It's the first time we really start noticing the music helping to tell the story, honestly to a degree that even most earlier FF games never did. Again, Under the Weight probably got overlooked for how well it works at that, but Oblivion's the first song where it actually tells us things about the character it's for. Not only do the lyrics do a hell of a lot to tell the story of Ysayle, who at that point in the game was mostly an unknown, the fact the song busts into a rock version of the song that was playing before kinda helps to outline her emotional storytelling; that Ysayle puts up this elegant and composed air even when she's fighting, but when she lets loose, it turns out she's PISSED.

If I were actually ranking songs from the soundtrack, yeah, Oblivion probably wouldn't wind up super high, and I also prefer the piano version if I'm going strictly by what my ears like to hear. But I think Oblivion is a landmark part of the game's soundtrack because that's the point where the game starts actively using its musical choices to help tell the story, rather than just it being supplemental 'stuff that sets the tone and sounds good'. And I think perhaps you could argue that only Oblivion could've opened that door so well; the song so very clearly has something to say that requires you to sit and listen to it, but also isn't too impenetrable when you do. Contrast that with what would come in 3.0--Unbending Steel is almost too easy to read, while Locus was incomprehensible to the point of potentially coming off as gibberish if we weren't actually trying to interpret it.

[Naoki34]

Mostly I love it, most of Endwalker I'm still listening to on repeat from 6.0 - There's also some cool old boss themes that I leave running in my house.

I hope we get the Heroes Forged Ahead orchestrion roll soon.

In dungeon and raid, it's the in-game music. However, the non-Dungeon combat theme in non-instance areas sucks.

[Avenger]

Mostly I love it, most of Endwalker I'm still listening to on repeat from 6.0 - There's also some cool old boss themes that I leave running in my house.

I hope we get the Heroes Forged Ahead orchestrion roll soon.

In dungeon and raid, it's the in-game music. However, the non-Dungeon combat theme in non-instance areas sucks.

Are you talking about the EW combat theme or all of the expansions? I think they're pretty good, though I wouldn't mind having more overworld battle themes though. And longer loops.

But... it's hilarious hearing any of the ARR battle theme variants (The Land Burns/Breaks/Breathes/Bleeds/etc.) come on IRL (especially at a convention or fanfest) and you're like "oh no, what did I aggro?!"

I appreciate how the same ARR battle theme varies somewhat across areas. The Mor Dhona variant (bleeds) is particularly good.

The HW battle theme (Melt) is pretty cool as well.

[VictorTheed]

Go listen to theme of the main boss in the 2nd 24 man alliance raid for Endwalker, I forget the name of the 24 man raid, lol I just got out of it to.

Very awesome music, plus I enjoy Ravana's theme, Brute Justice theme, Shinryu theme, Kugane theme & many others.

This game does everything from orchestra music to dance clubbin music and it does it greatly.

[Fenral]

Under the Weight (which I think is generally underrated probably because people don't expect it to have meaning) is kinda Soken's attempt at Otherworld from FFX. But Oblivion breaking into female-vocals rock doesn't actually have an equivalent, everything with female vocals before that in Final Fantasy was either more of a ballad (Answers) or a lot more pop (like Real Emotion).

I now feel obligated to point out the Black Mages cover of "Otherworld" with vocals by KAZKO as a possible musical precedent, though not in-game.

[RyuDragnier]

I think Oblivion works for two reasons.

A: The actual spectacle. Like, this is the first time the soundtrack really breaks from expectations and stops being what Final Fantasy sountracks have already been before. Even the genre breaks before that point had some roots in classic themes; Good King Moggle Mog is based on FFV's moogle theme, Under the Weight (which I think is generally underrated probably because people don't expect it to have meaning) is kinda Soken's attempt at Otherworld from FFX. But Oblivion breaking into female-vocals rock doesn't actually have an equivalent, everything with female vocals before that in Final Fantasy was either more of a ballad (Answers) or a lot more pop (like Real Emotion).

B: It's the first time we really start noticing the music helping to tell the story, honestly to a degree that even most earlier FF games never did. Again, Under the Weight probably got overlooked for how well it works at that, but Oblivion's the first song where it actually tells us things about the character it's for. Not only do the lyrics do a hell of a lot to tell the story of Ysayle, who at that point in the game was mostly an unknown, the fact the song busts into a rock version of the song that was playing before kinda helps to outline her emotional storytelling; that Ysayle puts up this elegant and composed air even when she's fighting, but when she lets loose, it turns out she's PISSED.

If I were actually ranking songs from the soundtrack, yeah, Oblivion probably wouldn't wind up super high, and I also prefer the piano version if I'm going strictly by what my ears like to hear. But I think Oblivion is a landmark part of the game's soundtrack because that's the point where the game starts actively using its musical choices to help tell the story, rather than just it being supplemental 'stuff that sets the tone and sounds good'. And I think perhaps you could argue that only Oblivion could've opened that door so well; the song so very clearly has something to say that requires you to sit and listen to it, but also isn't too impenetrable when you do. Contrast that with what would come in 3.0--Unbending Steel is almost too easy to read, while Locus was incomprehensible to the point of potentially coming off as gibberish if we weren't actually trying to interpret it.

I really love Oblivion, since it's essentially punk rock, which is anti-establishment music, and paints Ysayle and her turning into Shiva in a different light. First phase we thought she was engulfed by Shiva, and then when Oblivion kicks in and you hear the lyrics, you realize that she has done the one thing that hasn't happened before in the story. Ysayle is in control of Shiva, breaking our established beliefs that fully summoned Primals cannot be controlled (outside of Ultima Weapon).

[Vyrerus]

I still remember doing Titan HM for the first time, and my roommates stopping and listening to Under the Weight. My roommate's wife coming out of the bedroom like, "Is that music from the game? It is? Whoa..."

I don't think I understood what was being sang in it for a couple of years though, mainly because I misheard the lyrics for a long time/assumed some of them were just frenzied yelling.