There is some kind of Lore behind the Lyrics. I think it went like this: there was once a Family. The father got killed in a war. The mother couldnt handle the loss and began hurting her daughter. The daughter in her deepest despair prayed to Sophia and received a response. Sophia, fixated on restoring Equilibrium, told the daughter to kill her mother, which she did. After that the daughter stood on a seaside cliff. Sophia still sensed Equilibrium not restored and told the daughter to throw herself into the sea to finally restore it. The end.
To elaborate on this, almost every primal's lyrics are through the eyes of the primal, or its worshipers. That would likely mean that this was sung from the perspective of someone from Meracydia, in their war with Allag.
It's not so much that Sofia was all "wait equilibrium still not done... where did I go wrong" But that since (as she says in her fight) sin gets balanced with punishment, since she commited the sin of killing her mother her punishment was her own death "A heartbeat without harmony Is moonlight without dark The heart seeketh equilibrium With balance will your worry part So still this broken melody And therewith shoulder thee One last step only leaving An empty hearth down by the sea An empty hearth down by the sea"
The story of this song is super tragic. Basically the lyrics tell the story of a daughter who lost her father in a war and the mother becomes abusive as a result. She prays to the goddess Sophia for help and her goddess says that to achieve equilibrium and tranquility in her heart she must balance things out by killing her mother. Afterwards, she is even more distraught and Sophia tells her that to restore equilibrium in her heart she needs to kill herself instead, leaving "the empty hearth down by the sea". Sophia doesnt aim to be good or bad but when there is too much goodness in the world, she will restore balance by inciting atrocities, or vice versa.
Small correction. The second balance after th daughter murders her mother isn't over the despair of losing both. Her hear becomes 'balqnced' as it shares sorrow over the loss of both parents. The second moment of unbalanced is because the daughter regrets being a murderer. So Sophia offers her balance by the loss of her own life to rebalance the murder.
I'm pretty sure Koji admitted that he wrote the lyrics for this song in like 2 hours in order to meet a deadline, and I must say he did a damn well job especially in such a short time frame!
The Heavensward era has a few stories like this about Koji being under stressful deadlines. Sounds like it was a rough point in time for him honestly. lol
Sounds familiar... Like Prelude being written right before the deadline too. I suppose those dire situations of needing to finish something before a deadline can (sometimes, at least) cause some of the greatest spouts of creativity.
Another something new to go along with this. FF14 - Lakshmi's Theme - Beauty's Wicked Wiles .... This game gives you so much breadth of genre of music! It's amazing
@@JessesAuditorium Rad! Been a lot of fun to hear the things you pick up on listening to these. I am not at all musically inclined, but it's fun to hear!
@@JessesAuditorium Oh and not to double up, as I'm sure you're to-do list is becoming massive, but another FF14 dungeon theme - "Ink Long Dry" is a piano jazz track
@@mippa I wouldn't exactly call that genius considering that probably every single track in FF has at least one equaliser in the pipeline. In this case it'd be more descriptive to say they added a narrow band-pass filter.
With most people speaking of needing context, you're probably right. You don't need it. What's worth consideration are musical motifs and how they play into the song. The musical pieces can and do stand on their own, but for example Tsukuyomi's themes are amazing, but knowing that it works Revolutions & Triumph (Which itself is a variation of the Garlean/Ala Mhigan anthem) into it? That Lunacy is Gates of the Moon & Hien's Theme? That Wayward Daughter is itself a rock mix of A Father's Pride, the (Day) theme of Yanxia? And that all of these play into the story of the character embroiled in the center of this? That just takes it from "These are great tracks" to "Soken might just be a god."
This track plays in the second and final phase of the Sophia trial. The first phase theme is (I believe) called "Battle to the Death." It's the first phase track for Sephirot and Zurvan as well. These three make up The Warring Triad both from FFVI and FFXIV. This theme is a direct remix of a FFVI track of the same name. Sophia is easily my favorite trial in the game. Her major gimmick is dropping meteors onto the scales to the left and right of the arena. The arena tilts to the side with more meteors and the players slide to that edge. If they're too close, they fall off to their death. In the harder Extreme version, there's a second, heavier meteor type (it's blue), and you have to quickly check to see which side will have more weight as well as the difference between the sides in weight. Not only can you fall off if you're on the wrong side, but if it's a lighter tilt and you went too far to the opposite edge, you might not slide enough and get punished for it by the floating head (The "Daughter") firing a high damaging beam that also increases all additional damage you take for 2 minutes.
Equilibrium is one of my favourite songs in XIV. It's so haunting and perfect for who Sophia is. She's all about the balance, to the point where her arena is literally a giant set of scales. The words are creepy and disturbing when you listen to them, but there's also a weird beauty to the song itself despite that. I really love it. Amazing, especially since the lyric writers only had 2 hours to work on it.
When Mr. Koji Fox revealed that he wrote the lyrics in two hours, I was floored. What a mad lad! It might not be as bombastic as other songs, but it's so soothing. Damn, we are too late for something creepy for Halloween, aren't we? But I'm just gonna drop a suggestion here that I'm sure not a lot of people have thought of: Edda Blackbosom's theme. It's an earlier song, plays in optional content and it's creepy and rather tragic. Might not be everyone's cup of tea, admittedly.
Thank you for explaining the equalizer effect - how meta is that choice on this song, seeing as the boss you fight with this OST entry is all about achieving equilibrium!
Sophia, Sephirot and Zurvan, aka the Warring Triad, are a reference to a rather memorable element in another FF title. While not going too much in depth into it to avoid spoilers, they were 3 forces that kept each other in check and thus kept a kind of balance in the world that, if even disturbed slightly, would be catastrophic. In FFXIV, while they are presented as 'sealed' summoned entities, it's also hinted that they too were at war at each other and while none of them ever had the upper hand, their mere existence and ever going conflict kept ravaging the world and killing people off... which is why they were sealed away until the empire that summoned them could manage to dispose of them... which no one ever managed before that empire ended. So it comes to the Warrior of Light to do so out of necessity as the facilities keeping them sealed is starting to fail.
So to add to what people have said, Sophia is an ancient goddess we as characters in-game know nothing about. So at some level the text of this song goes a way to explaining why, specifically, she really sucks and it is absolutely a good thing to be waiting there to put her right back down after she wakes up from stasis. Her design is very interesting because she's a reference to one of a trio of bosses from Final Fantasy 6 and is basically a lavish recreation in 3D of the sprite from that game.
when they speak of phases, its the phase of the fight. a lot of battles in this game have a beginning phase (fight) and then a transition into a second phase (fight). the first phase typically isnt really much to think about, especially in trials, since theres usually some unifying theme that plays, like with Sophia/Sephirot/Zurvan, you have the original FF6 battle theme being played during the first portion of the fight then a mid fight transition into part 2 that plays the primals theme. dont always need the first part for context since its rarely attributed to the primal, its a song that ties it into the quest chain or expansion.
So now that you've seen Sophia and Sephirot, a thing I should bring up is that they, along with Zurvan (another in their quite line of fights), are based on the Warring Triad in Final Fantasy 6, the gods of magic there that form the backbone of the main conflict. In 6 they were more plot devices that didn't have much in the way of lore, something 14 expanded on. If you're interested in comparing designs, Sephirot is "The Fiend" in 6, Sophia is "Goddess", and Zurvan is "The Demon." There's no real connection to 6 outside their designs, but I find it really fascinating how the sprite art got translated into 3D and a raid fight.
Remember hearing a rumour that the names Sephirot, Sophia and Zurvan were internal dev names in FF6 and higher ups liked Sephirot a lot and that’s how we got Sephiroth.
When the pretty song is about the effects of war, domestic abuse, and murder/suicide for the will of the goddess. Soken and Koji are mad geniuses. I appreciate you deciphering the context on your own by the way, you really feel that haunting melody even without the explanation.
I think the tribal drums fit really well here. Sophia is one of a handful of very old primals summoned by ancient tribes to avoid being conquered by an advanced empire at the time. Her motif is that of the scales of fate. Very cool fight and song
Traditional southeast asia/Java(?)/Indonesian music, there's a performance called a Gamelan(?) That includes "a wooden xylophone called a gambang, a bronze metallophone called a gendèr, and a row of small bronze pots... called a bonang" I think it's one of those instruments you hear for that fast metallic ticking.
You were recommended to me today and I have to say after the first FFXIV reaction I subbed. :D I love your vibe and I'm so happy to see someone appreciate the music in the game I love so much. :) Even if you don't play, you're welcome here in the FF community! :D
I would like to recommend my favourite FFXIV OST: Kainé (Final Fantasy Main Theme Version). Since you reacted to both Nier: Automata and FFXIV musik already. The soundtrack is from the Nier-crossover event in FFXIV.
I _love_ that distorted sound - used to hear it a lot in the 00s in J-pop a lot as either a build up to the final chorus or to emphasize something. Definitely agree it should be used more.
This is one of my top 3 favorite ff14 songs, it's on one of my playlists and I listen to it often. Loving your reactions; I don't know much about the technical side of music, so it's great to see some favorites analyzed like this
I've actually never noticed the chimes, or whatever they are. I don't know if that's because I have always played using a TV's speakers instead of headphones, despite just needing to plug some into my PS4 controller.
I've listened to this song so much while riding my birb across the skies. (For anyone that doesn't know, Extreme mode bosses like this drop mounts that play the boss music when you ride them.)
I love the beats in the background so much. After that first vocal line hits, those few beats before the next line are pure genius. I also love the sorta mining sound effect that's also present in mining melancholy, a song from one of the donkey Kong games
More context on the fight: The song marks the beginning of phase 2 of the fight after her ultimate attack. When you noticed the background shift, the arena became Sophia's Scales of Equilibrium. the fight has several mechanics that are based around balance, such as needing to position when meteors fall on the scale plates rocking the arena so you don't slide off or needing to balance the party with people marked with light and darkness. The tracks in FFXIV usually sync up very well with their respective fights. Also, Hungrychad is great as he does put up the lyrics, though there are quite a few mistakes. He transcribes them by ear, even when there are official lyrics out. I think in that one he did make use of the official lyric release. But alternate people: Mekkah Dee and Thereisnospoon. They're always on top of day 1 track releases. Also, your comment about how the voice effect was achieved is brilliant, because I didn't realize that, and the fact it was done with an equalizer and the way that it was done holds true to Sophia.
Hey Jesse, I have some recommendations for you, particularly from the world of video games. I'll provide a little context with each. March of the Profane (Crypt of the Necrodancer) - Crypt of the Necrodancer is an excellent study in game music. The soundtrack is only 15 or so songs, but each character's (there are 6 or 7 characters, I forget) soundtrack is done in a different style. For instance, Danny Baranowsky provided the original soundtrack for the first character you play, there's a chiptune soundtrack by Jake Kauffman, a metal version by Family Jules, and several others. Same soundtrack, different styles. It's a fascinating listen and full of bangers as well :) In the Blood (Hades) - To be honest, Supergiant's sound and music work is nothing but gems. You could pick practically any song from any of their soundtracks and find something to love. In the Blood is something of a personal favourite. Become One from Transistor OST is also an outstanding piece. Nightmare King Grimm (Hollow Knight) - Another soundtrack with some beautiful pieces. Christopher Larkin always does excellent work. The song I've recommended is from one of the more challenging and intense bosses, but the ambient pieces in the game are just as wonderful. If you fancy checking out something a bit more background music-y then you cannot go far wrong with the City of Tears or Greenpath themes. Hope you find something to enjoy in these. Kind Regards, Isalan
I think the way "video game" music is composed is based on the setting and what happens during an encounter, or the theme of the zone etc, and I think it's interesting to show that to highlight the choices the composer make. as I think they take a different approach composing a zone music theme than say a boss battle, where they hype it up after a boss does a big phase change for example. It's interesting to hear your take on it from a composing point of view
I think it's great that you listen to the songs individually without context and the fact you pick up the themes without having the backstory knowledge shows how well they have crafted the songs.
Great song! One of my favorites. It sounds not only beautiful, but hunting and dramatic at the same time. And it also has beautiful singing, which is my jam and the melody is even catchy. It has so many great qualities to it. White Town's song Your Woman (the one that uses Jhon William's imperial march from Star Wars) also uses the telephone-y sounding voice I think, right? Typically you can also archive this effect by using a very low bitrate for the voice sample I's say.
Massively off topic to this song, but I strongly recommend "Sleeping In The Cold Below". It's an amazing shanty. Once again though, wonderful selections.
So you have done Fiend, and you have done Equilibruim. To round out the trilogy, you have to do Infinity at some point. That is the third in what is called the Warring Triad.
The effect is done through an "Equalizer" while Sophia is all about "Equilibrium" holy sht they really play theyr player like a fiddle with such details haha
Gonna throw two hats into the ring as a filthy non-Patron, one XIV, one VII Remake. For XIV, "Kainé (Final Fantasy Main Theme Version)" which is part of a crossover with a XIV raid and NieR Automata. For VII Remake, "J.E.N.O.V.A Quickening" (preferably from PureManny so Squenix doesn't nuke you)
Man I've said it before but I will say it again, it's the small things why I love watching musicians react to stuff. I have listened to equilibrium so much, but I never picked up on the really subtle bass until it was pointed out, and now it sounds much more pronounced adding to everything.
It’s been explained a bit but let me break this one down. Firstly this song is popular for two big reasons. The first is obvious, it’s oddly catchy. The second is it’s incredibly messed up in-story. As others have said the songs for any Primal are either from their perspective, or that of their worshippers. In this case, Sophia, the Goddess of the Warring Triad. She was one of the gods to a group of nations at war with the Allagan Empire pretty far in the past of the setting. Her nation was called Meracydia. The tribal drums represent their I suppose pagan nature by comparison but the violin shows the order and dignity of Sophia compared to the rest of the Triad. Her domain however is very specific. She’s a goddess of balance. Sin and punishment. Life and Death. The lyrics reflect this through a story about a family who lived on the coast and the price Sophia demanded from her worshippers, because a primal reflects the emotions and beliefs of their summoners. It is told from the daughters perspective. “The sigh of the shifting sea, the kiss of a salt-sweet breeze. The white of her silken dress, stained in red.” The father was a soldier in the war against Allag, which the Meracydians lost. “A memory fading fast, her mother sits eyes downcast. A torn uniform in hand, farewells unsaid.” The father died at war, and left the family unbalanced. The mother was stricken by grief. She became bitter and cruel, punishing the daughter “That once was certainty, lost in grief. Her daughters desperate cries, unheard pleas. Forsaken, beaten, tried. On her knees. A prayer passes from her lips, into her soul, the goddess whispers.” The daughter prayed for deliverance from her goddess, and Sophia answered. “You have lost your father, and it brought unbalance. You suffer for this, to redress this you must balance the scale by removing the mother. In fact the fight in the video even shows that the fight takes place on a massive scale, that swings as she tips the balance. The first line makes more sense in context now, her dress is stained red with her mother’s blood, who she killed to redress the balance lost in the wake of her father’s death at war. Indirectly, the war took both of the daughters parents away, and she cried out once more for deliverance from Sophia. And Sophia answered the same as the first time, one last step and the balance will be restored. Her family was a scale. She and her father on one hand, and her mother in the other. Her father died in war, so she had been told to kill her mother, lest the scale tip out of control. But now she remains on one hand of the scale still, and it creates a new imbalance. The only solution is to take one last step, to her own death, and leave an empty house behind. The empty scale returns to balance.
Sort of different from what you usually do, but can I make two requests from Zelda - Breath of the Wild? You don't have to do both lol. Anyhow one is Dark Beast Ganon, the theme of the final fight of the game, and the other is Hyrule Castle (Exterior), the theme of (you guessed it!) Hyrule Castle itself. Both are incredible, and Breath of the Wild has such an incredible soundtrack that gets slept on because most of the overworld is so QUIET! Also oh my god so many memories of getting YEETED off that platform by Sophia. So. Many. Yeets.
You know, it's probably worth warning that FF14 actually holds a guinness world record for it's music, so the number of requests may stay pretty high lol. All the same, I enjoy them. There's so much good music in this game. I can log in and literally just sit at the or castration box and listen all day. XD
This was excellent! I really appreciate that you pointed out the different instruments this song utilizes cause even though I love this song I never really 'heard' or recognized the brillant chimes or the tribal drums. It's like having new things to enjoy in a song I already loved ❤
Dang people beat me to it, i farmed this fight when it was introduced so I learned about it aplenty. Really set the mood of the fight. The story of the song hella morbid. Remember with a raid team in extreme version gettin mad at me cause i did it so much my brain would just autopilot and id be singing the song as they are trying to focus. It was chaos. Ah the memories.
There is also a male version of this song, released as part of the "Pulse" album, which has remixed versions of a lot of FFXIV songs, making them more... dancy I guess. And.... yeah this is a song about a murder-suicide. Not really what you'd expect, right?
Did someone already told you to react to Dancing Mad from FFVI? It's on par with One Winged Angel from FFVII, and there is also a billion instrumental versions made later, if you don't want to react to the blips and blops of a 16-bits era music.
Something I've realised (only after hearing you mention the phase changes and listening to them out of order) is that normally the fights begin with an instrumental and as you go into second phase of a fight, the music changes to vocals? I never noticed that before...it's almost as though the beginning is just a lulling melody and once you, I guess smack the boss a bit and piss it off? Then you get their voice, their story, their hurling of abuse at you or their tales of woe...how have I never thought of that until watching this! It went so over my head because, I guess you get used and expect it when you physically play the game? We expect it now of the songs to go from instrumental to bang, vocals! Good examples such as Sophia, Shiva (both versions), Sephirot which you've seen all begin and end in that formula.
I believe most of us (me included) suggested Equilibrium in waiting to see if you catch the meaning theme with Sophia is (scales, balance)... However, I think it was mostly the way the vocals sounded, especially at the very beginning (personally to me xD)
I think that instrument you kept going back to might have been tubular bells, and since you liked that, boy oh boy you should listen to SMT IV's boss battle B2, and then please fall into the rabbit hole that is that series after.
Oh goodie, it's my favorite song in the game! I'm even considering a tattoo of "the heart seeketh equilibrium" lyrics. :D I'm sure you've noticed by now but a lot of the FFXIV songs double the length of the track by repeating the song once. Mainly for a better soundtrack album listening experience. How do you feel about that so far? I think it helps with reactions because you can raw react to the first go around, then kind of break it down piece by piece as it repeats.
The best part is that this song actually only plays when the setting changes. The first battle theme is pretty average, and then suddenly everything falls away to reveal this insane celestial landscape all around you, the music fades out, then THIS song begins.
At this point you may as well give ff14 a try in your spare time. Has a free trial covering through the first expansion story and content to level 60. And all the music that comes with that!
One of the big things about this is to show that the entities we call "Primals" in XIV aren't necessarily all inherently "evil" in a sense Sophia, "The Goddess", is concerned with Equilibrium, balance above all else, and she will commit acts both benevolent and cruel to ensure equilibrium is maintained. To one family she may bless, another, she dooms. All in the name equilibrium. In this song, she tells the daughter that prayed to her that since she has lost her father, she should kill her mother to balance her heart. Yet because she had taken a life, she must continue to bring equilibrium by committing suicide, leaving an empty hearth down by the sea. So, too, must players deal with Equilibrium as a mechanic, where players may be marked with purple or white circles around them. One signifies sin, the other denotes suffering, and you must stack in pairs of purple/white to balance sin and suffering to avoid taking damage and debuffs. Her whole fight also takes place on a giant set of scales that she will tip to send players sliding across the floor and even off the edges of the arena if they're not careful.
I recommend you guys to read a light novel like "Tales of demons and gods" while listening to this. You will fell a vibe like diving deep into the story. The song and book fit to each other, although not made for each other.
I would love to see your reaction to Rise. Though if you can find one that actually goes with what we plan in game. There are decisions made in the song that go with the mechanics of the fight it is from
Most of what you reacted to is a boss fight theme, but if you want a real change of pace I suggest Gangos Theme, or Civilization (Raktika Greatwood theme), both an ambient OST and both amazing .
If you ever listen to Tomorrow and Tomorrow, listen to the official version by FFXIV. Both the in-game version and the one made for that video are good, but the one made for that video has much stronger vocals.
Phase 1 for this one isn't really connected. Sophia is one of 3 gods, known as the Warring Triad. You actually listened to another one of the Warring Triad's songs already too, Sephirot. Phase 1 is the same for all of them, and it's just not as interesting as any of their phase 2s. If you want to finish the trinity, you'll want to look for Zurvan's theme. Personally I like Sophia's the most, so I'm happy you listened to it. But I think you may love Zurvan's theme. It's got some of the elements you seem to like from the others too.
It is a very tranquil and melancholic theme for a boss fight but it does fit the domain of the goddess you fight. If I could make a humble request it would be if you could please listen to "Nightmare King" and "Sisters of Battle" from the game Hollow Knight, composed by Christopher Larkin. Thank you! EDIT: Though if you want an amazing combo you could search for a video called Hornet + Daughter of Hallownest + Mantis Lords + Sisters of Battle | Hollow Knight OST that makes an amazing transition with all the mentioned themes
I haven't played FFXIV, but I have quite some time in Nier Automata -- gotta say, this sounds and looks very, err, reminiscent. Hope it's an homage. ^^
There is some kind of Lore behind the Lyrics. I think it went like this: there was once a Family. The father got killed in a war. The mother couldnt handle the loss and began hurting her daughter. The daughter in her deepest despair prayed to Sophia and received a response. Sophia, fixated on restoring Equilibrium, told the daughter to kill her mother, which she did. After that the daughter stood on a seaside cliff. Sophia still sensed Equilibrium not restored and told the daughter to throw herself into the sea to finally restore it.
The end.
To elaborate on this, almost every primal's lyrics are through the eyes of the primal, or its worshipers. That would likely mean that this was sung from the perspective of someone from Meracydia, in their war with Allag.
also the 'head' sophia ride is the daughter/mother head
Lyrics done in 2 hours btw >.>
It's not so much that Sofia was all "wait equilibrium still not done... where did I go wrong"
But that since (as she says in her fight) sin gets balanced with punishment, since she commited the sin of killing her mother her punishment was her own death
"A heartbeat without harmony
Is moonlight without dark
The heart seeketh equilibrium
With balance will your worry part
So still this broken melody
And therewith shoulder thee
One last step only leaving
An empty hearth down by the sea
An empty hearth down by the sea"
@@kumomeme7852 daughter
The vocalist is Ayumi Murata, one of the developers for the game and the vocalist on a number of FFXIV songs, including "Oblivion" (Shiva's Theme).
The story of this song is super tragic. Basically the lyrics tell the story of a daughter who lost her father in a war and the mother becomes abusive as a result. She prays to the goddess Sophia for help and her goddess says that to achieve equilibrium and tranquility in her heart she must balance things out by killing her mother. Afterwards, she is even more distraught and Sophia tells her that to restore equilibrium in her heart she needs to kill herself instead, leaving "the empty hearth down by the sea". Sophia doesnt aim to be good or bad but when there is too much goodness in the world, she will restore balance by inciting atrocities, or vice versa.
Small correction. The second balance after th daughter murders her mother isn't over the despair of losing both. Her hear becomes 'balqnced' as it shares sorrow over the loss of both parents.
The second moment of unbalanced is because the daughter regrets being a murderer. So Sophia offers her balance by the loss of her own life to rebalance the murder.
I'm pretty sure Koji admitted that he wrote the lyrics for this song in like 2 hours in order to meet a deadline, and I must say he did a damn well job especially in such a short time frame!
The Heavensward era has a few stories like this about Koji being under stressful deadlines. Sounds like it was a rough point in time for him honestly. lol
@@Pompadourius Koji 🤝 Soken performing inhuman feats to bring us amazing music.
Sounds familiar... Like Prelude being written right before the deadline too. I suppose those dire situations of needing to finish something before a deadline can (sometimes, at least) cause some of the greatest spouts of creativity.
yup, this was talked about at the ffxiv fanfest this year when talking about the full endwalker theme
@@Pompadourius still not worse than working on 1.0
The most beautiful song about a suicide murder I’ve ever heard.
Another something new to go along with this. FF14 - Lakshmi's Theme - Beauty's Wicked Wiles .... This game gives you so much breadth of genre of music! It's amazing
It's coming!
@@JessesAuditorium Rad! Been a lot of fun to hear the things you pick up on listening to these. I am not at all musically inclined, but it's fun to hear!
@@JessesAuditorium Oh and not to double up, as I'm sure you're to-do list is becoming massive, but another FF14 dungeon theme - "Ink Long Dry" is a piano jazz track
@@JessesAuditorium **bounces madly in place**
Jeez, the lyrics for this one...Sophia is a fookin' monster
Whatcha talking about, she just wants equilibrium :3
Using an Equaliser on vocals for a song about Equilibrium, we see that clever little touch there Soken
;)
Right? I don't know why I'm surprised, Soken's a genius.
@@mippa
I wouldn't exactly call that genius considering that probably every single track in FF has at least one equaliser in the pipeline.
In this case it'd be more descriptive to say they added a narrow band-pass filter.
With most people speaking of needing context, you're probably right. You don't need it. What's worth consideration are musical motifs and how they play into the song. The musical pieces can and do stand on their own, but for example Tsukuyomi's themes are amazing, but knowing that it works Revolutions & Triumph (Which itself is a variation of the Garlean/Ala Mhigan anthem) into it? That Lunacy is Gates of the Moon & Hien's Theme? That Wayward Daughter is itself a rock mix of A Father's Pride, the (Day) theme of Yanxia? And that all of these play into the story of the character embroiled in the center of this? That just takes it from "These are great tracks" to "Soken might just be a god."
Related note: Recommending Nightbloom, Lunacy, & Wayward Daughter, the three phases of Tsukuyomi.
You don't need context for the music, it's just that context enhances the experience.
This track plays in the second and final phase of the Sophia trial.
The first phase theme is (I believe) called "Battle to the Death." It's the first phase track for Sephirot and Zurvan as well. These three make up The Warring Triad both from FFVI and FFXIV. This theme is a direct remix of a FFVI track of the same name.
Sophia is easily my favorite trial in the game. Her major gimmick is dropping meteors onto the scales to the left and right of the arena. The arena tilts to the side with more meteors and the players slide to that edge. If they're too close, they fall off to their death.
In the harder Extreme version, there's a second, heavier meteor type (it's blue), and you have to quickly check to see which side will have more weight as well as the difference between the sides in weight. Not only can you fall off if you're on the wrong side, but if it's a lighter tilt and you went too far to the opposite edge, you might not slide enough and get punished for it by the floating head (The "Daughter") firing a high damaging beam that also increases all additional damage you take for 2 minutes.
Equilibrium is one of my favourite songs in XIV. It's so haunting and perfect for who Sophia is. She's all about the balance, to the point where her arena is literally a giant set of scales. The words are creepy and disturbing when you listen to them, but there's also a weird beauty to the song itself despite that. I really love it. Amazing, especially since the lyric writers only had 2 hours to work on it.
"As a music fan, not a FF fan, if that makes sense"
That absolutely makes sense, and I'm glad you're enjoying the music!
When Mr. Koji Fox revealed that he wrote the lyrics in two hours, I was floored. What a mad lad! It might not be as bombastic as other songs, but it's so soothing.
Damn, we are too late for something creepy for Halloween, aren't we? But I'm just gonna drop a suggestion here that I'm sure not a lot of people have thought of: Edda Blackbosom's theme. It's an earlier song, plays in optional content and it's creepy and rather tragic. Might not be everyone's cup of tea, admittedly.
Thank you for explaining the equalizer effect - how meta is that choice on this song, seeing as the boss you fight with this OST entry is all about achieving equilibrium!
Sophia, Sephirot and Zurvan, aka the Warring Triad, are a reference to a rather memorable element in another FF title. While not going too much in depth into it to avoid spoilers, they were 3 forces that kept each other in check and thus kept a kind of balance in the world that, if even disturbed slightly, would be catastrophic.
In FFXIV, while they are presented as 'sealed' summoned entities, it's also hinted that they too were at war at each other and while none of them ever had the upper hand, their mere existence and ever going conflict kept ravaging the world and killing people off... which is why they were sealed away until the empire that summoned them could manage to dispose of them... which no one ever managed before that empire ended. So it comes to the Warrior of Light to do so out of necessity as the facilities keeping them sealed is starting to fail.
"Which phase is this?" She just be like that.
So to add to what people have said, Sophia is an ancient goddess we as characters in-game know nothing about. So at some level the text of this song goes a way to explaining why, specifically, she really sucks and it is absolutely a good thing to be waiting there to put her right back down after she wakes up from stasis.
Her design is very interesting because she's a reference to one of a trio of bosses from Final Fantasy 6 and is basically a lavish recreation in 3D of the sprite from that game.
Oh my lord, I am so Excited she is my favorite Eikon and has my favorite music! I can't wait!
when they speak of phases, its the phase of the fight. a lot of battles in this game have a beginning phase (fight) and then a transition into a second phase (fight). the first phase typically isnt really much to think about, especially in trials, since theres usually some unifying theme that plays, like with Sophia/Sephirot/Zurvan, you have the original FF6 battle theme being played during the first portion of the fight then a mid fight transition into part 2 that plays the primals theme. dont always need the first part for context since its rarely attributed to the primal, its a song that ties it into the quest chain or expansion.
So now that you've seen Sophia and Sephirot, a thing I should bring up is that they, along with Zurvan (another in their quite line of fights), are based on the Warring Triad in Final Fantasy 6, the gods of magic there that form the backbone of the main conflict. In 6 they were more plot devices that didn't have much in the way of lore, something 14 expanded on. If you're interested in comparing designs, Sephirot is "The Fiend" in 6, Sophia is "Goddess", and Zurvan is "The Demon." There's no real connection to 6 outside their designs, but I find it really fascinating how the sprite art got translated into 3D and a raid fight.
Remember hearing a rumour that the names Sephirot, Sophia and Zurvan were internal dev names in FF6 and higher ups liked Sephirot a lot and that’s how we got Sephiroth.
When the pretty song is about the effects of war, domestic abuse, and murder/suicide for the will of the goddess. Soken and Koji are mad geniuses. I appreciate you deciphering the context on your own by the way, you really feel that haunting melody even without the explanation.
whoa! :o
I think the tribal drums fit really well here. Sophia is one of a handful of very old primals summoned by ancient tribes to avoid being conquered by an advanced empire at the time. Her motif is that of the scales of fate. Very cool fight and song
Traditional southeast asia/Java(?)/Indonesian music, there's a performance called a Gamelan(?) That includes "a wooden xylophone called a gambang, a bronze metallophone called a gendèr, and a row of small bronze pots... called a bonang" I think it's one of those instruments you hear for that fast metallic ticking.
You were recommended to me today and I have to say after the first FFXIV reaction I subbed. :D I love your vibe and I'm so happy to see someone appreciate the music in the game I love so much. :) Even if you don't play, you're welcome here in the FF community! :D
thanks nikki 🤙
I would like to recommend my favourite FFXIV OST: Kainé (Final Fantasy Main Theme Version). Since you reacted to both Nier: Automata and FFXIV musik already. The soundtrack is from the Nier-crossover event in FFXIV.
this was sung by ayumi murata, part of the localization team and was the same person who sang Oblivion, the first shiva theme.
The instrument you hear in the background playing that arpeggio is a gamelan, i believe! Think of it like a xylophone, but it's like little cymbals
I _love_ that distorted sound - used to hear it a lot in the 00s in J-pop a lot as either a build up to the final chorus or to emphasize something. Definitely agree it should be used more.
This song awoke a creative side of me back in high school
This is one of my top 3 favorite ff14 songs, it's on one of my playlists and I listen to it often. Loving your reactions; I don't know much about the technical side of music, so it's great to see some favorites analyzed like this
I've actually never noticed the chimes, or whatever they are. I don't know if that's because I have always played using a TV's speakers instead of headphones, despite just needing to plug some into my PS4 controller.
I've listened to this song so much while riding my birb across the skies.
(For anyone that doesn't know, Extreme mode bosses like this drop mounts that play the boss music when you ride them.)
I love the beats in the background so much. After that first vocal line hits, those few beats before the next line are pure genius. I also love the sorta mining sound effect that's also present in mining melancholy, a song from one of the donkey Kong games
More context on the fight: The song marks the beginning of phase 2 of the fight after her ultimate attack. When you noticed the background shift, the arena became Sophia's Scales of Equilibrium. the fight has several mechanics that are based around balance, such as needing to position when meteors fall on the scale plates rocking the arena so you don't slide off or needing to balance the party with people marked with light and darkness. The tracks in FFXIV usually sync up very well with their respective fights.
Also, Hungrychad is great as he does put up the lyrics, though there are quite a few mistakes. He transcribes them by ear, even when there are official lyrics out. I think in that one he did make use of the official lyric release. But alternate people: Mekkah Dee and Thereisnospoon. They're always on top of day 1 track releases.
Also, your comment about how the voice effect was achieved is brilliant, because I didn't realize that, and the fact it was done with an equalizer and the way that it was done holds true to Sophia.
One of my favorite tracks from the game! Hype to see your reaction
Hey Jesse,
I have some recommendations for you, particularly from the world of video games. I'll provide a little context with each.
March of the Profane (Crypt of the Necrodancer) - Crypt of the Necrodancer is an excellent study in game music. The soundtrack is only 15 or so songs, but each character's (there are 6 or 7 characters, I forget) soundtrack is done in a different style. For instance, Danny Baranowsky provided the original soundtrack for the first character you play, there's a chiptune soundtrack by Jake Kauffman, a metal version by Family Jules, and several others. Same soundtrack, different styles. It's a fascinating listen and full of bangers as well :)
In the Blood (Hades) - To be honest, Supergiant's sound and music work is nothing but gems. You could pick practically any song from any of their soundtracks and find something to love. In the Blood is something of a personal favourite. Become One from Transistor OST is also an outstanding piece.
Nightmare King Grimm (Hollow Knight) - Another soundtrack with some beautiful pieces. Christopher Larkin always does excellent work. The song I've recommended is from one of the more challenging and intense bosses, but the ambient pieces in the game are just as wonderful. If you fancy checking out something a bit more background music-y then you cannot go far wrong with the City of Tears or Greenpath themes.
Hope you find something to enjoy in these.
Kind Regards,
Isalan
This. This and Primogenitor were what convinced me to play, and then buy this game. Thank you, Soken.
This is by far my favourite XIV song, so glad you covered it!
I think the way "video game" music is composed is based on the setting and what happens during an encounter, or the theme of the zone etc, and I think it's interesting to show that to highlight the choices the composer make. as I think they take a different approach composing a zone music theme than say a boss battle, where they hype it up after a boss does a big phase change for example. It's interesting to hear your take on it from a composing point of view
Congrats on 10k subs bud!
recently discovered the channel. Really surprised people asked for "oblivion" and not "footsteps in the snow"
I think it's great that you listen to the songs individually without context and the fact you pick up the themes without having the backstory knowledge shows how well they have crafted the songs.
"Haunting" is the perfect word to describe this song.
Btw one day after some more reactions you can finally see the FFXIV 2021 fanfest live concert (we all know how much you love live concerts^^)
Great song! One of my favorites. It sounds not only beautiful, but hunting and dramatic at the same time. And it also has beautiful singing, which is my jam and the melody is even catchy. It has so many great qualities to it.
White Town's song Your Woman (the one that uses Jhon William's imperial march from Star Wars) also uses the telephone-y sounding voice I think, right? Typically you can also archive this effect by using a very low bitrate for the voice sample I's say.
Massively off topic to this song, but I strongly recommend "Sleeping In The Cold Below". It's an amazing shanty. Once again though, wonderful selections.
So you have done Fiend, and you have done Equilibruim. To round out the trilogy, you have to do Infinity at some point. That is the third in what is called the Warring Triad.
The chorus is about sophia telling a young woman to kill her mother and then jump off a cliff lol
Two words. Thunder Rolls.
The effect is done through an "Equalizer" while Sophia is all about "Equilibrium" holy sht they really play theyr player like a fiddle with such details haha
Gonna throw two hats into the ring as a filthy non-Patron, one XIV, one VII Remake. For XIV, "Kainé (Final Fantasy Main Theme Version)" which is part of a crossover with a XIV raid and NieR Automata. For VII Remake, "J.E.N.O.V.A Quickening" (preferably from PureManny so Squenix doesn't nuke you)
Oh yes! The J.E.N.O.V.A. them from FF7R is an absolute must. I'm sure you'll see more requests for it as you keep getting through songs haha
Going to second these selections and add the FFXIV version of Weight of the World from the Copied Factory.
"An empty hearth down by the sea." Gets me every time :c
Man I've said it before but I will say it again, it's the small things why I love watching musicians react to stuff. I have listened to equilibrium so much, but I never picked up on the really subtle bass until it was pointed out, and now it sounds much more pronounced adding to everything.
the transition is the best part.
It’s been explained a bit but let me break this one down.
Firstly this song is popular for two big reasons. The first is obvious, it’s oddly catchy. The second is it’s incredibly messed up in-story.
As others have said the songs for any Primal are either from their perspective, or that of their worshippers. In this case, Sophia, the Goddess of the Warring Triad. She was one of the gods to a group of nations at war with the Allagan Empire pretty far in the past of the setting. Her nation was called Meracydia. The tribal drums represent their I suppose pagan nature by comparison but the violin shows the order and dignity of Sophia compared to the rest of the Triad.
Her domain however is very specific. She’s a goddess of balance. Sin and punishment. Life and Death. The lyrics reflect this through a story about a family who lived on the coast and the price Sophia demanded from her worshippers, because a primal reflects the emotions and beliefs of their summoners. It is told from the daughters perspective.
“The sigh of the shifting sea, the kiss of a salt-sweet breeze.
The white of her silken dress, stained in red.”
The father was a soldier in the war against Allag, which the Meracydians lost.
“A memory fading fast, her mother sits eyes downcast.
A torn uniform in hand, farewells unsaid.”
The father died at war, and left the family unbalanced. The mother was stricken by grief. She became bitter and cruel, punishing the daughter
“That once was certainty, lost in grief.
Her daughters desperate cries, unheard pleas.
Forsaken, beaten, tried. On her knees.
A prayer passes from her lips, into her soul, the goddess whispers.”
The daughter prayed for deliverance from her goddess, and Sophia answered. “You have lost your father, and it brought unbalance. You suffer for this, to redress this you must balance the scale by removing the mother. In fact the fight in the video even shows that the fight takes place on a massive scale, that swings as she tips the balance.
The first line makes more sense in context now, her dress is stained red with her mother’s blood, who she killed to redress the balance lost in the wake of her father’s death at war. Indirectly, the war took both of the daughters parents away, and she cried out once more for deliverance from Sophia.
And Sophia answered the same as the first time, one last step and the balance will be restored.
Her family was a scale. She and her father on one hand, and her mother in the other. Her father died in war, so she had been told to kill her mother, lest the scale tip out of control. But now she remains on one hand of the scale still, and it creates a new imbalance.
The only solution is to take one last step, to her own death, and leave an empty house behind. The empty scale returns to balance.
I am once again recommending Wayward Daughter from ff14
This is totally the start of the boss fight. :)
Easily my favorite theme from FF. I played it throughout HS EVERY DAY on the way to school
Sort of different from what you usually do, but can I make two requests from Zelda - Breath of the Wild? You don't have to do both lol. Anyhow one is Dark Beast Ganon, the theme of the final fight of the game, and the other is Hyrule Castle (Exterior), the theme of (you guessed it!) Hyrule Castle itself. Both are incredible, and Breath of the Wild has such an incredible soundtrack that gets slept on because most of the overworld is so QUIET!
Also oh my god so many memories of getting YEETED off that platform by Sophia. So. Many. Yeets.
My favorite 14 song for 2 reasons, 1 i just love it and 2 it was the first extreme fight I cleared on time
There is also a primal version of this one, they are completely different in style and they are both fire (just like ultima)
This is the song that convinced my friend to play FFXIV
You know, it's probably worth warning that FF14 actually holds a guinness world record for it's music, so the number of requests may stay pretty high lol.
All the same, I enjoy them. There's so much good music in this game. I can log in and literally just sit at the or castration box and listen all day. XD
You should defently check out Titanias theme "what angel wake me"
And my favorite from the 2nd expansion, Lakshmi's theme "beauty's wicked wiles"
Oooh I love this song! Can't wait to watch this!
This was excellent! I really appreciate that you pointed out the different instruments this song utilizes cause even though I love this song I never really 'heard' or recognized the brillant chimes or the tribal drums. It's like having new things to enjoy in a song I already loved ❤
One of my favorite song is the dungeon ost of raktika, qitana ravel dungeon, unwound
Dang people beat me to it, i farmed this fight when it was introduced so I learned about it aplenty. Really set the mood of the fight. The story of the song hella morbid. Remember with a raid team in extreme version gettin mad at me cause i did it so much my brain would just autopilot and id be singing the song as they are trying to focus. It was chaos.
Ah the memories.
There is also a male version of this song, released as part of the "Pulse" album, which has remixed versions of a lot of FFXIV songs, making them more... dancy I guess.
And.... yeah this is a song about a murder-suicide. Not really what you'd expect, right?
bruh
Also, not a patreon supporter, but Lakshmi's theme is great, would greatly recommend.
Have you done "Under the weight" and "landslide" from FFXIV?
both are coming
Did someone already told you to react to Dancing Mad from FFVI? It's on par with One Winged Angel from FFVII, and there is also a billion instrumental versions made later, if you don't want to react to the blips and blops of a 16-bits era music.
It's coming!
Something I've realised (only after hearing you mention the phase changes and listening to them out of order) is that normally the fights begin with an instrumental and as you go into second phase of a fight, the music changes to vocals? I never noticed that before...it's almost as though the beginning is just a lulling melody and once you, I guess smack the boss a bit and piss it off? Then you get their voice, their story, their hurling of abuse at you or their tales of woe...how have I never thought of that until watching this! It went so over my head because, I guess you get used and expect it when you physically play the game?
We expect it now of the songs to go from instrumental to bang, vocals! Good examples such as Sophia, Shiva (both versions), Sephirot which you've seen all begin and end in that formula.
whoa, I'll have to look out for that now
I would love to hear what you think of “Beauty’s Wicked Wiles” from FFXIV.
it's coming soon!
I believe most of us (me included) suggested Equilibrium in waiting to see if you catch the meaning theme with Sophia is (scales, balance)... However, I think it was mostly the way the vocals sounded, especially at the very beginning (personally to me xD)
I think that instrument you kept going back to might have been tubular bells, and since you liked that, boy oh boy you should listen to SMT IV's boss battle B2, and then please fall into the rabbit hole that is that series after.
Oh goodie, it's my favorite song in the game! I'm even considering a tattoo of "the heart seeketh equilibrium" lyrics. :D
I'm sure you've noticed by now but a lot of the FFXIV songs double the length of the track by repeating the song once. Mainly for a better soundtrack album listening experience. How do you feel about that so far? I think it helps with reactions because you can raw react to the first go around, then kind of break it down piece by piece as it repeats.
Should check out Lakshmi's theme too
These Patreon requests have been on point, damn
The best part is that this song actually only plays when the setting changes. The first battle theme is pretty average, and then suddenly everything falls away to reveal this insane celestial landscape all around you, the music fades out, then THIS song begins.
The meaning of this theme aside, man i love this track so much... This and beauty wicked wiles are a couple of my favorite tracks from heavensward
Holy God, the premiers are stacked tonight! 3/3 all bangers
At this point you may as well give ff14 a try in your spare time. Has a free trial covering through the first expansion story and content to level 60. And all the music that comes with that!
oh this one is fire
that genre is Final Fantasy
It's the Soken genre.
One of the big things about this is to show that the entities we call "Primals" in XIV aren't necessarily all inherently "evil" in a sense
Sophia, "The Goddess", is concerned with Equilibrium, balance above all else, and she will commit acts both benevolent and cruel to ensure equilibrium is maintained. To one family she may bless, another, she dooms. All in the name equilibrium. In this song, she tells the daughter that prayed to her that since she has lost her father, she should kill her mother to balance her heart. Yet because she had taken a life, she must continue to bring equilibrium by committing suicide, leaving an empty hearth down by the sea.
So, too, must players deal with Equilibrium as a mechanic, where players may be marked with purple or white circles around them. One signifies sin, the other denotes suffering, and you must stack in pairs of purple/white to balance sin and suffering to avoid taking damage and debuffs. Her whole fight also takes place on a giant set of scales that she will tip to send players sliding across the floor and even off the edges of the arena if they're not careful.
I recommend you guys to read a light novel like "Tales of demons and gods" while listening to this. You will fell a vibe like diving deep into the story. The song and book fit to each other, although not made for each other.
The genre is Soken.
I would love to see your reaction to Rise. Though if you can find one that actually goes with what we plan in game. There are decisions made in the song that go with the mechanics of the fight it is from
Most of what you reacted to is a boss fight theme, but if you want a real change of pace I suggest Gangos Theme, or Civilization (Raktika Greatwood theme), both an ambient OST and both amazing .
Civ is coming!
The lyric video leaves out that they're actually chanting "Chintamani"
If you ever listen to Tomorrow and Tomorrow, listen to the official version by FFXIV. Both the in-game version and the one made for that video are good, but the one made for that video has much stronger vocals.
Phase 1 for this one isn't really connected. Sophia is one of 3 gods, known as the Warring Triad. You actually listened to another one of the Warring Triad's songs already too, Sephirot. Phase 1 is the same for all of them, and it's just not as interesting as any of their phase 2s. If you want to finish the trinity, you'll want to look for Zurvan's theme. Personally I like Sophia's the most, so I'm happy you listened to it. But I think you may love Zurvan's theme. It's got some of the elements you seem to like from the others too.
Ohhh.. this is my most fav primal song in HW!
It is a very tranquil and melancholic theme for a boss fight but it does fit the domain of the goddess you fight. If I could make a humble request it would be if you could please listen to "Nightmare King" and "Sisters of Battle" from the game Hollow Knight, composed by Christopher Larkin. Thank you!
EDIT: Though if you want an amazing combo you could search for a video called Hornet + Daughter of Hallownest + Mantis Lords + Sisters of Battle | Hollow Knight OST that makes an amazing transition with all the mentioned themes
I listen to sapphire’s cover of this didn’t know it was a cover
Amazing track
She was a really hard fight at the time but enjoyable, my fiance refuses to go near her if he can help it xD
I haven't been subbed for long, but does anyone know if he has listened to Eden: Inundation (E3s)?
i have not
I haven't played FFXIV, but I have quite some time in Nier Automata -- gotta say, this sounds and looks very, err, reminiscent. Hope it's an homage. ^^