I Love Leitmotifs: The Endsinger - Final Fantasy XIV OST
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- This is such a fantastic piece. A True Musical final boss. It's such an amazing culmination of everything we've fought for over the last 9 years.
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Credits:
Composer: Yoshitaka Suzuki
this ended up turning into a jam fest. I mostly wanted to celebrate the culmination of everything that had come before. Also, analyzing this in any sort of way scared the crap out of me because it matters so much to me and definitely to you. So, sorry it wasn’t super in depth❤
We're all happy to jam along with you. Sometimes nothing needs to be said, and less is more. :)
No need to worry! The themes need no analysis. They did what they set out to do perfectly.
If the emotions a song conveyed could be better conveyed in words, we wouldn't need music. Sometimes the best way to communicate what an experience is about, at its core, is just to experience it again together.
I loved everything you had to say. Obviously, we all share in the of love video game music and is a game, the last expansion and this expansion, that is so interesting to unpack especially from the musical perspective.
Just a little anecdote as I don't want dump all my stuff on your thoughtful wonderful commentary. I've been dealing with grief depression and some PTSD from military service that I really in the last few years come around and consistent part of that journey was playing this game. I've had some breakthroughs in my personal life that were happening while playing Endsinger. This song is so impactful for me at least because of the cinematography. When the music begins in this particular video the way Meteion swoops and how beautifully imposing she is just made me reflect on how it felt when I face mental illness she seemed to be and literally was honestly a visual representation of the despair and as your defeating and you see her flayling at you I just felt that the game was so in sync with what I was going through and I like think that others felt the same way.
This song made me feel like I was confronting myself and my own depression and I'll even que up for the fight when I'm struggling with thinking that maybe , I might be be helping someone else in that que that might be struggling to confront whatever is hurting them. I hope that makes sense. Thank you for analysing these songs both phases are so dope and even more so, hope inspiring. I've totally subscribed and I love your content Marco.
this ending hit me hard ive played this game since 2.0 during the playstation 3 beta test
I will never get over how Zenos' persistence even pushes Stormblood's portion of the song to the first spot in this otherwise chronological medley.
Allow me to blow this up even further.
Soken and Ishikawa admitted that Endwalker Footfalls and the final fight with Zenos were basically written as some of the first things solidly for Endwalker, that scene + that music was one of the first things they had in mind. Now let's extrapolate that. When we get into the fight , some of the first lyrics we hear are:
As we ride again (As you turn your eyes to the stars)
To another end (Oh, I'll be there)
Where it all begins (With my chorus guiding you)
Forge ahead (Forge ahead)
"With my chorus guiding you"
When we go into the Endsinger fight, what's the first thing we hear as we're guided on Shinryu's back to battle? A chorus specifically singing Shinryu's theme. HIS chorus. ;)
@@theegocollective2695 ...oh my god you're right, and the only other time the full song has backing vocals is not only during the StB segment, but they start RIGHT when Zenos's throne appears in the cinematic trailer. Our dear supportive friend!
A shame all that is wasted on a shitty thing that is zenos
imagine having the need to come out to the ass end of some niche video on the internet two months after the fact into the comments of people who obviously enjoy a character to comment on how you dislike them. Did you gain some temporary warm fuzzies in the spectrum of otherwise boring humdrum to total disappointment that must be your life?
@@theegocollective2695 That's just your interpretation. That verse fits more with Meteion.
Leitmotifs are a damn drug, and Soken is the dealer. Never gets old
I can stop whenever i want. Endwalker piano starts... Oh... oh no
And given the Free Trial, the first hit is free. If you want more, you gotta pay up. XD
@@Spectacular_Insanity What's crazy about that is the later in you go, the better the leitmotifs get because there's so much more to reference. A song like this simply wouldn't work if it didn't have a decade of leitmotifs to draw from. And that's how they get ya.
@@ugxsan Idk about that... The music sounds great enough in an of itself, it's simply elevated when you know the context.
@@megamage911 I mean, it'd still slap, but it'd feel kinda schizophrenic. I mean, literally it'd sound like it's referencing songs you haven't heard. Would just be pretty weird.
The moment Phase 2's music hit, I could feel it: We just *won.* She was running, scared, because she just realized she was wrong. We just shattered her entire worldview. (And if you look back to just before The Dead Ends, we LITERALLY shattered her world). With the theme of the Warrior of Light blaring, triumphant, and the prayers of the Scions at our back, I felt like I was embodying the Hope of the Universe in that moment... so when the lyrics came in, solidifying that link, tears started flowing down my face. The emotional climax of that fight, I'm proud that I kept my rotation going.
Also Phase 2 her attacks became erratic, she throws everything at the party, her attacks are actually individually weaker (also we are buffed so) but there is more of them. She is desperate, throwing a fit that these tiny little specks dare to defy what she thinks is absolute truth.
That moment when you just gotta become .. grossly incandescent.
Endsinger failed the Enrage check
@@GearheadPrime lmao WoL and gang becoming a goddamned flashbang yet again
Endsinger: hey my second phase music sounds odd
WoL: thats cuz it isnt your music
When I hit part 2, I was like, "Wait, *WAIT-* THAT'S OUR THEME SONG?!" My mind was actually blown because I was not expecting to become the boss fight. A literal clashing of Despair and Hope, and Hope won.
Endsinger: Wait, why do I hear boss music?
It's also visually represented in the background. As the endsinger health goes down, light fills more and more of the background until we defeat her
@@drachepumpernickel7056 Bonus points on the extreme:The extreme OPENS with the part 2 cutscene,but since the prayer fails to overpower her ,the background is much more the shadow of her despair than the light of our hope. (also makes me feel like a lot of people skipped the extreme opening cutscene,since a common complaint i saw was that the extreme doesnt have the phase 2 theme)
@@zecendia That's still a valid complaint because the Endsinger Extreme could have been redone just like Hades where there's phases and slowly transitions into the phase 2 theme from Endsinger Normal. It didn't need to be the story of "what if the Scions prayers weren't enough?" The Minstrel could have spun the tale a different way to elevate the overall experience like how Hades EX was elevated by the Minstrels imagination.
I still think Endsinger Extreme was the worse of final boss Extremes. Ultima, Thordan, Shinryu, and Hades were all better in capturing the moment you felt in the msq and expanding upon it.
It’s absolutely incredible how the team held those With Hearts Aligned vocals in their pocket the entire expansion until this final phase on the final boss for maximum impact.
I finished 6.0 this week. By the time I originally got to Heavensward, the EW cinematic trailer was already out, so I've spent the last year having each piece of Endwalker - Footfalls slowly fall into place. I was THRILLED for this last one to land, and I'm so grateful that the last phase is a victory lap because I don't think I'd have been able to do mechs with tears in my eyes.
@@CasualCoreK That is actually an amazing insight. A friend of mine recenty started playing (currently in HW) and I am very careful about spoilers. There's so much I want to show him but just can't, it drives me crazy. However, that also means I can celebrate every step he takes with him, appreciate story beats and music, hinting at things to come and powering him on.
For you to have heard Footfalls and then discovered where it comes from is also a super cool way to do it, a whole different context. I love it!
Man, I almost yelled at the top of my lungs when the kicked in at the start of the second phase. I gotten into the instance and everyone was new to the fight. We almost wiped during our attempt but man, when that second song started, we legit had that anime moment, you know where you see the cutaway of the character's eyes? It felt just like that, and rest of the run went flawlessly. I've been playing games since I was 5, and this is single-handedly, one of the best moments I ever had.
To this day, if I play with people new to the fight, I gaslight them into thinking we failed the mechanic and wiped... to make the phase transition that much more special.
@@WillKazeOh "Welp, failed enrage."
*phase change*
"Our enrage."
One of the best moments in one of the best games of all time. Truly something special!
@@WillKazeOh My friend group had one of our players lag behind a bit due to IRL circumstances, so when we ran it with him for his first time, we had him pop the LB3 for the first time you have to use it, then told him to use it again. He was so confused.
The whole fight is a sequence of anime moments, enough that most games would have that many in their entire run. Enndsinger packs that into a single fight and yet doesn't feel over done it feels deserved! We played for a decade to get to this point, it's heavily implied we are not only the Sundered Azem but the majority of them (Source +7 rejoinings + Ardbert makes 9/14 of the original) and we have come into our own wielding not only Azem's powers but the strength of all those we have helped over the years.
The song of hope is my favourite snippet of music in the entire game.
Also a great touch that the story chapter achievements are the lyrics.
I don't know how they would make a full song out of it, but I definitely need a full song of the song of hope, with lyrics and everything.
To this day I can’t make it through wings of hope without tears. The culmination of the story and defying the personification of the end just hits me to hard
“Welcome to the enrage phase ;)”
My absolute favorite thing about when Phase 2 starts, the Scions each have a cutaway that parallels with the praying scene during Bahamut's end with Answers (Alisaie and G'raha taking the place of Yda and Papalymo.) But then the Scions have a phrase. To push their prayers to you. You can hear them and it sends you forward. Empowered by them. Right as G'raha's phrase ends is exactly when Hearts Aligned starts and it is just so, so powerful in its delivery.
I can just imagine countless time Ishikawa asked Soken to make the song fit the timing of those lines perfectly for extra impact.
it's also a massive ff4 reference when the entire party is wiped out by zeromus and then everybody on earth prays for your safety and for you to win and slowly everybody gets to their feet and the final battle begins, its easier to watch a video than for me to explain it xs
The first time I did this fight when phase 2 hit I was shaking
ITS MY BOSS MUSIC! Feels so amazing to experience
It's the ultimate power of friendship move. I believe Persona 3 did the same thing for the final fight when the protagonist fights the final boss. He's about to go down but is strengthened by the voices of his friends.
One of the things I absolutely ADORE about all of this is the culmination.
The music is telling our story. It puts us where we've constantly been: Desperate, alone, and clawing with every fiber of our being to survive and overcome. We go through Shinryu, Ultima, Thordan, Emet Selch, every single one of them has been a do or die situation where arguably all of existence has depended on us to succeed. And we did. This song is our CV, our Resume, our rebuke against despair itself, that we WON'T be overcome.
And then, after a lovely bit of dramatic suspense, the veil's lifted.
And it ends, as it ALWAYS has. The reprisal of the Maker's Ruin, the Warrior of Light's Leitmotif, that little chord gets elevated, broadcast, as unlike every boss we've fought before where their song identifies them, the Endsinger ironically has no song. Because we can't hear it, we can't hear the end, all we hear is *us*. Because the boss here isn't the Endsinger. The boss here is the Warrior of Light. And it shows all throughout that ending section - Color returns to the arena, some of it even warming the Endsinger herself, the Endsinger behaves like players sometimes do when faced with overwhelming mechanics, unable to do much more than flail about.
As to the lyrics popping up, one of my favorite interpretations of that is that we, the world, and the Scions are so filled with hope made manifest through dynamis that the tiny, singular Meteion that had desperately tried to call out to the rest of the collective of the Endsinger all of a sudden finds her voice, which is such a lovely message. How it takes so much misery and despair collected and built and stacked on top of itself to create a seemingly invincible wall - And all it takes for that wall to begin crumbling is hope and determination. How even the smallest, tiniest voice can be heard so long as there are those who want to help make the world a better place.
🙌
There's something you wouldn't notice about each section from each of the Final Battle Themes, Unless you've listened to the Symphonic Orchestral Versions of each of the songs. Each of the Final Boss second phase songs gain lyrics in the Symphonic Orchestral Releases (written by Koji Fox, the Localizing/Lore lead in English). Each section of the Final Boss themes used have very poignant lyrics: "Witness! Witness! Ultima!" "Guide Us, O' Mighty Fury!" "Lasciate, Ogne speranza/ These memories ache with the weight of fate." Are lyrics from each of leitmotif used, and they perfectly describe Meteion/Endsinger, She is the Witness to the End, whose song Guides the stars to final death, so abandon all hope, for the memories she carries are the weight of fate. I can't wait for this to get a Symphonic version like the other boss fights so they can use clear vocals unlike what we've got in game as of now.
Oh I had…no idea?!
@@MarcoMeatball I'm replying to an old comment, because the Eorzean Symphony Orchestral album Volume 3 is out now, and the full Blu ray version comes with The Final Day. I was right about the lyrics! The lyrics of each section are perfectly fit for their original boss, but together ever still point to the Endsinger.The Lyrics in their entirety are:
Come, Don the mask of Blind Betrayal
E're does the Head devour its Tail
As iron bends to steel
O'er my rivals I prevail!
Beat, the Heart of Sabik, The Heart of Sabik, the Heart of Sabik
Beat, the Heart of Sabik, The Heart of Sabik, the Heart of Sabik
Witness Ultima
Witness Ultima
Witness
Witness
Witness
Ah, Rise, Ultima
Guide us, O Mighty Fury
Guide us, to Victory!
Justice, No Forgiveness
Vengeance, No Deliverance
Witness to their Trespass
Pass this Final Sentence!
Dys an sohm in (Our Slumber Disturbed)
Rhos an kyn ala na (All my Brothers wake)
Now Breathe deep of the darkness beneath the flood
Where all of the Proud Angels drink to their Deeds of Blood
Their lies, twisted and torn, into dreams they're spun
Yet Ever we still stand tall
Never we Fall
Invincible
Ecce Venio (Behold I am come)
Ego Primus (I am the Beginning)
Ego Novissimus (And the End)
Novissimus (The End)
Ecce Venio (Behold I am come)
Ego finis (I am the Last)
Ego Principium (I am the First)
Et Principia (And the Origins)
Thank you for doing this Marco. Before this, I didn't really noticed about the first phase song much, but after watching this video makes me think that, the song is like we(WOL) are telling Meteion about our journey and hardship (Each boss theme chronologically, except starting with the Shinryu since he is with us now), and ends with "with heart's align" to finish it up with how we overcame each hardships with our hope.
Thanks again for doing the video Marco. I really love your content, especially with FFXIV and AKs stuff, because I love those games.
PS. Sorry for the bad english. not really my language
Fun fact- square enix actually changed their tos right before endwalker to ban specific ost vids from TH-cam, such as answers and the main chapter boss themes…only to reverse it a few months after endwalker’s release. My guess is they were doing a massive anti spoiler so people wouldn’t accidentally be linked to endwalker content
Separate note, whenever Emmett selch’s theme plays, I can’t help but play in my head the cutscenes and narration “the light within her champion grows dark…”
This was the most satifying videogame boss I have experienced since I was a child and everything was new. It was so impactful because it was like reliving the past decade and a half of my life. Remembering it almost has me crying again.
I love how all the other themes come into play because all your previous fights lead up to this climax of a battle. You the character are remembering each time you were driven against the wall and pushed back, and you're using that strength to face even more impossible odds. This game truly is amazing.
As much as I loved Shinryu for being the only legit hard MSQ X.0 boss on release (which, not saying that to be elitist/old guard or anything, but I love an endboss that actually wipes you a bit), Endsinger definitely beats him when it comes to just the entire presentation of the fight, from the spectacle of throwing planets/rewinding fate to murder you to the soundtrack melding everything together so well. Great end to the original story, can't wait to see the first expansion of the new one.
man endwalker was a trip. can't be understated how big the payoff is when you've been playing through it all, step by step. Through A Realm Reborn, through Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers, and then finishing Endwalker. All the real people and characters I met in the game are all my friends. Having gone through the thick and the thin with both and coming to the end of the journey. For those we have lost, and for those we can yet save.
And all the loose threads we took up, like the sidequests at sharlayan letting us meet friends or relatives of the scions... or Uriangier's closure...
editing error at 3:05 pretend I didn't do that.
It was emet.
What editing error ;)
I remember getting this trial in roulette when Endwalker first came out, and like every single time somebody on their first clear would accidentally run off the edge when Of Hearts Align started playing cuz they were crying so hard.
When I tell you that my goosebumps had goosebumps when I ran this trial for the first time... My mouth was grinning, my eyes were tearing up, my body was trembling with excitement.
And then when the second phase hit... let's just say there was a lot of headbanging. 🤣
Man I love this game.
Look, I'm a simple man. Every time I hear The Maker's Ruin in any form, I get weepy. I don't know why. There's something just so *powerful* about that song.
This video is everything. I can't even tell you how much joy your enthusiasm spreads!!!
I think that Soken inherited his love for the leitmotifs from his hero Nobuo Uematsu. And that's honestly the best I could ask for since I love both of them to death!
Man, the Endsinger music makes me tear up, especially 2nd phase. So, SO beautiful & emotional!
When I tell you I BURST into tears when the horns for Invincible started blaring... because in this moment he wasn't fighting AGAINST us, he was WITH us. We were carrying on that invincible legacy and avenging not just our (Azem's) friends but our entire ancestral civilization. Invincible is us borrowing Hades' determination, his righteous rage, a ghost of his presence to witness the downfall of the thing that destroyed him long before we did. It was PERFECT closure for that character and our arc with him.
This song, this moment when i was at the end of endwalker cemented itself in my mind as one of the most important moments in my gaming life. The combination of years of conflict and story telling all clashing at once in one song really reminds me of everything my character had faced up into this point and quite literally motivated me to stop the end of the world as i know it. It made me the player feel like the final boss. And man did i shed some tears. Final Fantasy XIV. What a beautiful experience.
Hey there, Marco.
Thank you for tackling these songs, since they are most definitely some of the strongest pieces of Endwalker-for the simple reason that they incorporate the entirety of the journey from ARR up to this point.
One thing I personally did notice is that Shinryu's theme only played at the beginning of the Endsinger's theme. You probably noticed it, but it does bear pointing out that even during the looped section, it goes straight to Ultima Weapon's theme, rather than going to Shinryu first.
I think this is meant to convey that the Warrior of Light is remembering all of the battles that led to that moment facing down the Endsinger, and drawing on the experience and resolve that came with those past encounters. But at the same time, they've managed to exclude (or omit) Shinryu/Zenos, because he's presently helping out.
Speaking through the language of the music itself, Zenos isn't considered a boss or a hindrance in that moment, but an ally. The leitmotifs pretty much loop to 'remind' you of those past fights, but you don't presently have to worry about Zenos getting in your way-because his power is brought to bear for your benefit, rather than against you.
In the arrangement of With Hearts Aligned, I wanted your opinion about something. In the piano section that bridges Maker's Ruin and the 'Song of Hope' lyrical section, I don't know if it's just me that notices it, so I wanted to ask you-and I hope it doesn't color your judgment of it, so bear with me:
The notes played on the piano invoke to me a bit of Wayward Daughter from Stormblood, particularly the last bit of the female vocals before transitioning to the male choir.
I don't know if it'll be the same for you, but I wanted to get your thoughts on it if you think I'm on to something. And if it is from Wayward Daughter, why do you think Soken snuck that in context-wise?
Thanks in advance, Marco :)
Thanks for posting this during Matience so I can get my FF14 Fix before bed, Love your work!
When I first hear the song when I faced the final boss on launch week, I was so hyped and excited. Then Phase 2 it and I got even more hyped. Then the piano roll into the “Our Song of Hope..” line gave me Goosebumps. It was one of the best fights musically wise I’ve enjoyed.
The first time I fought her, I started crying from the point With Hearts Aligned started playing. I was tanking, and I already had goosebumps of having to LB3 the transition, than, the second part broke me. "Dude, I'm the protagonist - the HERO - of this AMAZINGLY EPIC story, and this music is for ME!" (which, for each one of us in our games, is the case). And I felt so great that I nearly cried nonstop all the way to the end of the credits. To say that Soken is a genius is almost an understatement.
Reliving these moments with you and seeing how much fun you're having just jamming out to the themes actually reminded me of how my own experience of Endsinger went. The culmination of not only all the expansions but Endwalker itself all being wrapped up during this fight definitely made me (and doubtless everyone too) incredibly emotional to the point of bringing me to literal tears when phase 2 punches you right in the gut!! So thank god they designed the fight the way they did because the twelve KNOWS I was not seeing shit through the tears in my eyes during that fight!! 😃
Of all the stories I've experienced in my life, I don't believe anything will ever take the top spot away from my memory of this boss battle's 2nd phase. My main is a female hyur bard, and when the lyrics kicked in it was like it was about -her-. About my Warrior of Light and all that she's been through and she's still here, bring hope to the literal End. "Our song of hope, she dances on the wind..." hits so hard when you're a bard, dancing through all those AoEs while weaving in your abilities as fast as they become available. Soken is a genius and I'm so thankful I've gotten to experience his work through this game.
I love that the first theme that takes us into the fight is the Intro to Shinryu Phase 2. Not just because of the logical reasons (riding on him), but for the entirely selfish and nostalgic reason that Shinryu was the first "Current End Game" trial I hit when I started playing in summer of 2017 with Stormblood. Shinryu's Phase 2 theme will always hit different just for that pure nostalgia factor, let alone the raw adrenaline rush it inspires. It's one of the best examples of a genuine Fanfare in modern music, imo, and using it as the Intro/Fanfare into the Endsinger fight is such a perfect pick.
really love how you pointed out each sort of nod to previous experiences that we have heard from the past. its so obvious but seeing it aprpeciated really jusut feels good
I'm tearing up right now just reliving my experience with this fight. This game, this story, these characters, this music, this community, this dev team . . . EVERYTHING . . . Is just goddamned fucking amazing. I didn't think it was possible to be this good and everytime I am pleasantly surprised.
The Final Day I feel is an echo of the Footfalls, because Footfalls goes through all the major expansion themes while the Final Day goes over the major expansion boss battles. A bit in a different order, because we happened to join forces with one of the major baddies, but still! I think it’s a beautiful interplay between two major themes of Endwalker.
And second part is just so beautiful and poignant. I love it to death.
Absolutely!
Sokens music makes me feel like I can run through a brick wall with ease.
I do this trial on PF every chance I get, partially to help the sprouts but partially because this song and the voice acting is pure dopamine for me, I love it so much.
It's so nice to actually sit and listen to the music. I had to remind myself after a few seconds that I don't have mechanics to dodge and I can just relax and enjoy it haha
Ah man.. been waiting for you to review this one.. so amazing!! been playing the game for many years, 2500+ hours, this one nearly drove me to tears. the way it culminates and consolidates all the most iconic, nostalgic songs that came before in one grand finale that also just happens to be an absolute BOP. I love how because this area of space is only dictated by Dynamis, through the cutscene playing and your allies praying and channeling all your good hope into you, you can even see the edges of the arena turning into this flood of dark and light, clashing against each other. Soken's made so many awesome pieces in the past and this is him really showing it all off together, just churning out wonder again and again. the man's survived cancer for god's sakes, he should be the first to know the fight between light and dark, good and evil. Soken, Yoshida, Ishikawa and so many other talented staff are truly treasures to humanity and gaming, when this is the result of accumulating a large playerbase of people that love your game, displaying gems like these time and time again instead of corporate greed and malpractise as so many others seem to do these days.
Big hug! :)
LET'S GO! ITS THE ENDSINGER! I actually recorded the second phase and looped it for weeks whenever I'm in the bath. Its just so good!
I just love how animated you get xD it's wholesome
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
This is the best game I've ever played hands down. The emotion in the musical leitmotifs is just so universal if you've taken the time to experience all of them
when the lyrics cut in in phase two, every single time, I get goosebumps and misty eyes ;o; it's so good
I keep going back to this Trial again and again just for the full experience, it kicks every time
Fanservice done right
emotional as this song is, I love the cut to phase 2 and the callbacks to the other expansions.. I just.. can't hear the first part without 'big soft tacos' playing in my head in place of the actual words.
What I love is that this song instills the opposite of despair
Hope. And not just hope. The hope we have gained on every step of our journey. And that's the answer Metion was looking for.
Nothing felt so powerful to me as clutching the crystal of Azem riding Shinryu as the Final Fantasy theme swelled in the background.
That was it.
That was peak Final Fantasy.
THE MUSIC GETS BETTER AND BETTER!!! also really cool listing to you explain things in the song!! simple enough for my smooth brain
Ive been on this journey since 2.0 launched, I'd forgotten literally every one of the songs from the main bosses (if i'm not on my first run through i tend to turn music off so i can listen to podcasts while grinding). Thank you for reminding me why the chorus kicked in for the final day and my heart blasted tears out my eyes on the spot.
I got into this game recently because the music for it in Theatrhythm was so good and I've never been happier to be suckered in by some really kicking themes! This is the best MMO I've played by a huge margin!
Enjoy the ride it's really amazing also yes theatrhythm fans
Thank you for making my day. I woke up to this video and it had me smiling. Your insight, review and positive energy is just on point! Thanks again for your content, please keep it up!
So glad you're talking about this amazing piece. It encapsulates the whole journey up to this point. I was totally geeking out when I came to this point in Endwalker and heard all of the X.0 boss themes wrapped in one.
I cried so hard when phase 2 kicked in. I've been playing since the PS3 beta and the feeling that this is it, the final battle after all those years. It felt like I myself had been empowered by the Scions prayer
Will never not get an eargasm from this theme 😭✨ so beautifully done…! Thanks for analysing it and exploring it with us
It makes me so happy to you enjoying the music so much. I love seeing how it effects you! The music in FFXIV makes me very very emotional, and I love seeing it infect other people, too ;_;
Ya emotional vampire 🤣
Phase two, more so than the music, what stuck with me is how the Endsinger behaves. In Phase 1, she's all composed, attacking us while barely moving her body, all things considered. In Phase 2, she's reeling back. She's flailing to attack us. She's desperate to kill us, to get us to stop, because she realizes she's losing. She realizes she's wrong.
I got several waves of ASMR goosies going down the back of my scalp, then onto my arms, then down my legs, while listening to this (for the umpteenth time). I think that's when you know you're too emotionally invested in a thing, when you've listened a million times and it still can give you that kind of physical reaction. I think it's only because both the music AND the story are so good that my brain likes to do this with XIV songs.
Ill never forget my first battle with Endsinger. the power behind the music the hype, the culmination of my journey... the fact that in the phase transition attack where she was about to throw the massive planet at us.... and then everything stopping completely because ff14 went down. My confusion the boss just holding the sphere of despair above her head for like 3 minutes before the game went down.. I had to laugh and when i had the next chance.. I was game for round 2.. and then came the fight after.. My Friend.
Phase 2 of this fight is my favorite. You know you have already won, this was just Metion failing her DPS check and hitting YOUR enrage state.
"Witness Ultima"
A fitting line considering it means witness the end
I never caught that bit about the Final Fantasy theme being in the start. I always felt it sounded familiar. Its like... instead of the usual theme which goes down in the 2nd part of its line, the one for Endsinger continues to go higher (oh, higher)
It’s nearly a year since we all first encountered the Endsinger. Every time I listen to these songs, I’m reminded of how extremely overwhelmed I was during my whole first run for MSQ. Emotionally from the music, mentally from all the mechanics.
It truly was amazing that the Big Soft Tacos followed us to the very end.
Soken is just a musical genius. Man meshes so many musical genres together and makes it seem like they were always meant to be combined like that. On top of that he reuses old themes and makes them feel new while also bringing in that nostalgia from the past themes with it and the way he times the music to the fights and how they transition is amazing.
/screen goes black
/light shines and music plays
Endsinger "what is that?"
/THE WARRIOR OF LIGHT HAS ENRAGED
jokes aside, that will stick with me as one of the best transition moments in a game, with innocence being very close 2nd for me. My favorite touch of phase 2 is the fact the scions are doing the exact prayer that louisoux did back in arr cinematic to help summon the 12 and bind bahamut. Making you, in essence, a primal a hope temporarily. and its, such a beautiful moment to signify how far we've come to conclude such a long story. What a beautiful and artful moment in gaming.
What I love about this beautiful medley is just how much there's packed into it. It does not just call back to boss battles themselves that we've gone through, but this absolute, unbending conviction of each and every character that it evokes, their willingness to die for their ideals. Zenos as Shinryu (but also Ilberd as its summoner), Gaius and the Ultima Weapon, both Nidhogg and his Horde, as well as Thordan and his knights (and a millenia of Ishgardians versus dragons) - and then, with the flair characteristic to him, Emet-Selch Hades, this man that has watched aeons pass in unyielding toil to piece back his broken world, even after his defeat stating that his ideals are resolute, invincible. It's all in here, all these themes, all this suffering and pain, all this fury - this is the answer to the Endsinger: it does not matter if it was painful, if we give up now, it has all been for nothing!
And then, guided on those wings of wrath (quite literally, too), we bring about the Maker's Ruin theme and teach the Endsinger a song of hope.
All of this encapsulated in some 10 minutes of music, it's truly incredible how expertly these emotions have been seeded into us with the story, how these character moments have formed associations with each and every song, to weave it together in the end. It's magnificent.
I hope you got to play through endwalker, getting to experience everything in the story really builds up the feeling of this song, it's as you said - a great reward.
I did! The playthrough is on this very channel!
I love your passion that you pour into this content!! I've been binging a lot of your videos today haha keep up the awesome work!
I appreciate that! Thank you
Finally you react to the Endsinger. I wanted to hear you talk about this track!
Thank you so much for this video, I truly love your work and the way you react to FFXIV music's
Chills the moment the music started. I literally started tearing up when the WoL’s theme started in phase two. The music brings forth all these emotions I never expected to get from an mmo (I had never paid attention to story in any other mmo before xiv) but XIV really captured my heart. Such an amazing game with music to match.
Still probably one of my most favorite groups of songs in FF14. Endsinger was my first Extreme I ever completed as current content and I adore this fight and its themes.
Loved this video, Marco. You put into words very clearly what most of us somewhere deep down feel about Soken's music and this piece in particular, but might not know clearly how to express. Also, this is day one of me requesting Lilium from Elfen Lied. Well, technically, it's the second time I ask, but it's day one of the campaign.
The Warrior of Light goes into battle on the back of the final boss of Stormblood, after having received the aid of the final boss of Shadowbringers. Now THAT's Epic.
I had such feels with this on my first run, dayum.... and I can't believe that I won't experience it the same way again.
Ever since Ruby Weapon, I can't unhear the Ultima theme lyrics as 'Big fat tacos', which nearly killed me in this fight the first time because it came out of nowhere and made me giggle.
I absolutely love With Hearts Aligned, as a Phase in the fight. Its a BEAUTIFULLY made Victory Lap. You still stand after The Endsinger's tried twice to destroy you utterly. And it shows in the mechanics too. After the scene where your friends shield you, there's nothing really all that threatening coming after. This is your moment. Your triumph. and the music reflects that
One thing I always like in XIV's music is the tonal shift between Phase 1 and 2 in Primal/Big Boss battles. Phase 1 is usually more broad and symphonic, with Phase 2 typically being a bit harder and punchier.
It's almost like the Phase 2 music is saying, "Ok, the players are done playing with you. Their limiters are off. They're in ass-kicking mode now."
It's funny how often my favorite song in FF14 is just the most recent one I've listened to. SbH opener was amazing? Oh wait, Tomorrow and Tomorrow! Neath Dark Waters was great! Wait, that dungeon theme though was really epic! Pfft, forget that, Invincible is the best! To the Edge? Well, can't top that. Guess I'll watch the Endwalker trailer. Oh. Well surely this will be the best song of the expansion? And it was, until I heard the mid boss theme in my first dungeon. And then the first trial... But then Miracle Works from the 4th dungeon! But then the other trial... and the cutscene associated with that calling back the entire series... And then we have Endsinger! What could possible top that. Surely not In the Balance, or the retro Endwalker boss theme, or Scream... And definitely nothing that'll come out in 6.3. Surely this was the best...
I always figured that of the two themes:
The first was a tribute to the journey. The second was a tribute to the player.
Soken LB4 pops up the second Zenos rears up to charge forward for you and just never stops.
the Ultima portion is actually the music from the ULTIMATE version of the fight. the ultimate has its own orchestral version of hte song, which has the lyrics
"Beat, the heart of
Sabik, the heart of
Sabik, the heart of Sabik."
Phase 2 will NEVER stop making me feel insanely heroic, i love MMOS for the very reason you are part of an ever growing community and world and FF14 in my opinion does this the best and that 2nd Phase is years in the making, Soken is a goddamn genius and he knocked it out the park with this theme and you knocked it out the park with your video ! ^_^
:)
Since you've seen this you might've already watched Marco's video on "Proof of a Hero", but if not I recommend checking it out. It is exactly what it says on the tin.
Apparently revenge twofold was originally going to be the final boss theme for Heavensward, but they decided it wasn't epic enough or something, and made it the dungeon boss theme for 3.4 and 3.5, and made Heroes instead for the Thordan fight
Another great detail is how in the second Phase the tide of the whole battle turns. While usually things get more and more desperate for the player with the HP of the boss going down, this is just the opposite. We are gaining the upper hand.
During the first phase Endsinger is all high and mighty calmly using the power of the cosmos against us while talking in a very condencending way.
In the second Phase she succumbs to her own despair, frantically flailing her wings at us and getting more and more flustered as the realizations sets in that after all those eons she still cannot extinguish hope.
You are listening to this song and want to play through the whole game once more. All of our experiences in one track, beautiful 🥰
The second that song started playing I had tears shooting out of my eyes. I was not prepared
The music of the first phase is literally singing the ends of the previous adventures to us. It is the 'final' fight and therefor fitting that it plays for us the themes of our previous grand battles. But is it me or are they all in a little more ominous-sounding key?
And then the Makers Ruin remix... OUR themesong...
I love how they were so careful with where they sprinkle the melody from Maker's Ruin across the game. Only really using it for the important moments for the Warrior of Light's triumph, since it was your theme. Then we suddenly get it as a sad, slow version in More Than Truth for Ardbert in Shadowbringers only for it to make sense later. Of course it's his theme. He's the warrior of light too.
Just watching you enjoy the music reminds me how good it came to my ears the first time I heard it. Good content, you earned a subscriber, keep it up! :)
Hi!
@@MarcoMeatball Oh hi, hope you have a fantastic day!
i think one of my favourite comments i've heard about phase 2 is that "we hit enrage state, not the boss but the player"
my favorite boss from both gameplay, lore, visuals and soundtrack 😭 i love my depressive birb so much 💜
I remember the 1st time doing this was so epic
Second phase of this fight never disappoints, the song grabs you and sends you into a rage filled hope of all moment that you cannot help but feel in your heart!!
Simply this whole fight with this music places you inside as if you are there. Soken is the dealer.
Endsinger is amazing. Phase one is all ominous and she is doing confident targeted attacks and the music is showing she's in control. Then phase 2 hits and she starts wildly flailing and loses composure as makers ruin builds and you realize YOU are HER boss fight now. Everyone loves song of hope from the trailer and all xpack long you never hear it used the same, you hear the piano in Sharlayan and a couple others but never as in the trailers. Then all of a sudden at the end of the game phase 2 of the final boss of all final bosses it hits during makers ruin and you realize that YOU are the song of hope.
I am not usually one who cries from video games. There are very few exceptions. FF14 is one of them. Speaking from experience, I am really happy that phase 2 of Endsinger was easy, because I could barely see the screen through my tears when I first fought her. Every bit of this game was lovingly crafted to the point that it feels criminal to call it a game when we should be calling it what it really is; a work of art.
Doing this last year on launch week, I was already a mess from the zone before this like most were... but being a musician myself, this homage of Sokens strokes of absolute genius did make me turn into a sobbing mess again. The re-done Hades theme especially. At the moment in the fight your scions are gone once more, and the biggest themes blasting to the biggest bad in the universe, literally. Felt like so, so so much had boiled up to that moment. Like the intense editing in return of the king: lord of the rings.. just before the ring finally melts.
We ride through space on the back of Zenos, who is a dragon btw, to fight the cosmic embodiment of despair. Nothing will ever top this.
I might add something to that. You see in heavensward part of Bard questline you are tasked to search for the ballad of oblivion, to prove to the Order of the Twin Serpents bards are important and strong. At the very end the ballad is revealed to be a syrene sealed in an ancient stone... which we of course realize after freeing her.
Thanks to one of bard that was constantly arguing with our task giver (kind of a lone wolf, who did not care about others' opinion) we are able to beat the syrene(which is a traditional one, with wings)
but wait, there is more!
I wanted to main bard in EW, when everyone rushed excited to the journey I tried my best to level this class up asap and I kind of finished the story the last.
Bards do operate on dynamis (force basing on your feelings, the same force The Endsinger used to end things), I had no slightest clue what is to come, but when Meteion screamed "Silence it! Silence the song of oblivion!" something clicked in my mind.
Then fast forward to the second phase, I felt it is literally my part, that I am singing the song of hope, the stars literally aligned for me and I am to this day thankful I was patient enough to level up my bard because I felt so tempted to grab my highest class and FINALLY jump on the ship to Sharlyan...