Ratz-At-Han & Old Sharlayan have the same music

[DamianFatale]

I listened to each song side by side many times over and came to the conclusion.. THEY ARE THE SAME, but one is Indian influenced, and the other is more like a classical adventure.

Why is this? In the past the same melodies have shown up through an entire patch cycle of the game, but I've never heard it between two different main city states. I wonder how this will reflect on how the players experience, and why this is in the story. We know that they both share a shell shaped aetherite, which is interesting. I wonder how these two city states manage to have any kind of a relationship, and why they would share the same theme song despite being so culturally different.

Personally, the way I look at it, I think that each city states song is kind of like their own national anthem. I don't know if the songs are known officially in the lore, but to us players, each song is very distinctive in the places that we know dearly.

- Eulmore is very regal and opulent with a classic renaissance feel. You get a sense that the inhabitants are a bit decadent and snooty. It fits.

- Uldah sounds very.. grand. Like you are stepping into a great jewel of the desert.

- Limsa Lominsa has a sound that backs its majestic waters and naval fleet.

- Gridania sounds very quiet, and intimate. It's a quiet reflection of its isolation within the forests that it inhabits.

- Ishgard is very medieval and gothic. It has a beauty to it, but its sad. And cold.

- Idyllshire is extremely Irish. It almost sounds like a Legend of Zelda town.

- Revenants Toll sounds like a call to action. The perfect sound for a city filled to the brim with adventurers. And then for a moment it comes to a gorgeous respite, as if the adventurers within are also satisfied with its high fantasy skies. Perhaps they will settle down one day when they are tired and eager for a permanent home.

- Kugane is exotic and evokes a sense of perfect calm from its amazing cityscape and sunset backdrops. You never forget this song when you leave. You always come sailing back and thinking about your time during your past Kugane adventures.

- The Crystarium has this ultimate end feel to it. It has this climatic feel, but also a sense of beauty in the reflection of all its crystals and purple majesty. You just can't get it out of your head. It's almost like the mother crystal is singing to you.

- Rhalgrs Reach though not a true city by nature, it is a borrowed settlement. It's song is quite calming. You get a sense of a culture you haven't interacted with before. I can't quite put a finger on it, but it is somewhat memorable.

- Though the Doman Enclave might use a borrowed song from Final Fantasy VI, it reflects it incredibly well. It's a soaring anthem about love, war, and strife through ruin. You just can't forget your time there. Although, I do wish there was a night version like other cities have.

And then there are the two newest ones. They seem to be the same song, which are pretty, but I'm not sure making them the same is the greatest idea. Where is the uniqueness of the hubs of our past? Why are they the same, and why do they share the same melody? I don't know if I like it or love it. I'll just have to see how it reflects the lore of Endwalker.

[lezard21]

I'll just have to see.

It's this. It's still 5-6 months away my dude, there are not even jimmies to get rustled yet.

[MikkoAkure]

Radz-at-Han isn't a full-size city-state in-game, it will be a player hub like Eulmore. Old Sharlayan will be a full-fledged city-state like Crystarium. Eulmore and Crystarium both have variations on the same Shadowbringers main theme for their BGM so it looks like they're doing that again here.

Not sure why it deserves a whole analysis on it.

[SilverObi]

It’s almost like towns and areas in each expansion shared a similar musical motif… should check out a few of the numerous YouTube vids that discuss and explain how that works.

Also maybe an actual comparison would help us hear what you’re hearing instead of whimsically describing the themes and how they make you feel.

[swiss_Momo]

Soken just really likes his Leitmotive

[Sotaris]

It's this. It's still 5-6 months away my dude, there are not even jimmies to get rustled yet.

Plus everything shown is still in development. Make the complaint threads after release.

[Vyrerus]

Simple. Old Sharlayan is Amaurot's Sister city from back in the day, and Thavnair was built on top of Amaurot in the relatively present day.

[Iscah]

The Crystarium and Eulmore both use variations of Tomorrow and Tomorrow. And there are plenty of other songs that sound alike in this game.

[kaynide]

I mean, this is standard for each expansion. Each expansion has 1-2 main songs which are used to make almost all overworld/settlement songs.

[Jeeqbit]

I listened to each song side by side many times over and came to the conclusion.. THEY ARE THE SAME, but one is Indian influenced, and the other is more like a classical adventure.

Why is this?

That's just how the music is designed in the game. There is a main expansion theme and then most of the background music is inspired by it but uses different instruments and other variations to make it fit. It ends up so different that if you don't listen carefully you wouldn't even notice it's the same theme.

There are areas which are inspired by older content which already have themes that need to be mixed into the new one, or where the expansion theme wouldn't work but usually it does.

Even Kugane is using the main Stormblood theme with traditional japanese instruments.