I thoroughly enjoyed comparing and connecting some of my favorite opera motifs to those created by Soken for final fantasy xiv. It’s amazing seeing classic music technique being applied even today. I hope you found this interesting!
Your videos are amazing, both exposing younger generations to beautiful classical music and showing the throughline between them and modern works. Your channel shows that art can be anywhere, from centuries-old Greek tragedies to modern-day number-go-up grindhard MMORPG's.
My favorite leitmotif has to be "To the Edge" in "Neath Dark Waters." The ticking of the clock and melancholic atmosphere of a time long lost and those who still live struggling to cope with that loss and desperately trying to get it back. The fact Soken made this piece while in the hospital getting treatment for cancer just makes me appreciate the music more. He puts his heart and soul into his music and you can feel it in everything he does.
This was going to be my pick too. Can't overstate how much of a brain jolt that was when I realized what the song was. I was thinking "why is this underwater theme so perfect" when suddenly I realized, it's not just an underwater theme, it's *the* theme of the expansion, just... made to fit. Genius. And from an in-game perspective, it's really the Hades leitmotif writ into the backdrop of this haunted, grotesquely hollowed out ocean bottom, where Emet lurks inside his fake city.
To me it's the twinning theme. While I appreciate the amaurot themes more from a musical standpoint, a long fall is a masterclass in leitmotif. It encompasses at least 4 different leitmotifs in one song, with each being hugely relevant and still being a great song musically
Also them throwing in "Shattered" when you do that single duty battle with G'raha in Kholusia, not long before the big identity reveal.... *chef's kiss*
I swear to god, when we get to 14.5 and it's the final update ever, they'll play Prelude/Torn From The Heavens/Close in the Distance/Flow to make us cry for the rest of eternity
One of my favorite uses and transformations of leitmotif is the "Answers" theme. In ARR, it's the theme of the calamity, of the main cutscene and the destroyed world, and then over the course of the story and raids it solidifies as the theme of Bahamut. The game is so content to leave it as Bahamut's theme that the only time we see it again is in UCOB in Stormblood - Other major dragons like Tiamat and Shinryu take on other themes. But then, from 5.3 forward, Answers takes on a new meaning. In the 5.3 solo instance, Answers plays as the expansion theme for ARR in the 2.0 callback, and then starts playing whenever we get distant contacts from Venat. In a way it transforms from being the theme of the calamity into the theme of Venat herself, or at least the part of Venat that sunders the world and becomes Hydaelyn. And then we get Venat's Walk, a cutscene which ENTIRELY reframes the original song and lyrics. I still haven't pinpointed exactly what it is that makes this transformation of the theme so perfect, but it just works so naturally.
@@MarcoMeatball Thanks! I write stuff like this in my spare time because it's a hobby of mine to do deep-dive analysis, but usually it never comes up lol
@@MythrilZenith though, you forget one time that Answers also plays. When Shinryu is summoned in 3.5. So I felt at that point that Answers took on the idea of “the sound of a calamity”. As we connect it to Bahamut and Shinryu’s potential powers; then in Shadowbringers, it becomes related to the Final Days, deepening that connection to calamity. Endwalker connects it to Hydaelyn, and her defiance *against* calamity, and THAT I think, makes it even more powerful.
What I find fascinating is how Answers started as Uematsu's theme, and Soken and his team ended up morphing it into a completely different context from its original composition. While initially for Dalamud/Bahamut, it came to represent the core question of why the world often sucks, and how the response is to...push forward. I like how Eternal Wind from FF3 is worked into the OST as well; it's another of Uematsu's tracks given different meaning and context. Even though a lot of the earlier FF games didn't use leitmotif *as* much as FFXIV for a multitude of reasons, it is fascinating to see how they're implemented throughout all of FFXIV. Personal favorite one is probably how "Dragonsong" is used throughout Heavensward, in part because Dragonsong is one of my favorite tracks Uematsu ever composed.
It's wild cause I always felt like there were so many things in that song that clicked but so many that didn't, but when I watched THAT cutscene at level 88, I literally had to sit back from my computer and have a moment with myself coming to terms with what I'd just watched. Never has a scene chilled me so thoroughly.
When I recognized the melody from Amaurot in "To The Edge", I can't put to words the feeling of gravity and excitement in that moment. Hearing lyrics put to this melody that was already soaking with emotional weight was something that just can't be delivered from other artistic mediums for me.
My favourite leitmotif is probably the traces of Azys Lla's theme in both Omega and Shinryu's themes. It's like their music is intertwined, much like the two of them during their fight.
It's present in a bunch of tracks, as it's essentially the "Allagan" leitmotif. As mentioned above it's present in Thordan EX's theme, as he's fought at the Singularity Reactor trying to steal the powers of the Warring Triad. It's also present in the themes of both versions of the Fractal Continuum as it's located in Azys Lla, and in Regula van Hydrus' theme, given his entire arc is centered around Allagan technology. We can infer that Omega carries the motif since it was reverse engineered by the Allagans and provided the basis for their technological leaps, but tbh Shinryu is kind of an outlier. Any connection it has to the Allagans is a bit tenuous.
I love, love, love how the Garlean leitmotif is used in Endwalker and the side content of Shadowbringers in contrast with its previous iterations. It’s shifted from a warlike, imperial march to this… morose, wistful, lonely tune. It feels like you’ve watched the disgraceful fall of an empire- which you have. Home Beyond the Horizon never fails to give me that exact sensation and take me through a musical memory lane. It’s… haunting for the player. The music is a massive part of the game’s story. There’s too many leitmotifs to choose from, but we all recognize them immediately. Such is the power of how those melodies are presented in context.
@@MarcoMeatball It’s present in the Sorrows of Werlyt, specifically in And Love You Shall Find, Terncliff’s theme. It’s a wonderful, wonderful atmospheric touch. Definitely worth keeping an ear out when around Garlemald.
@@fridgegremlin5496 I loved the Terncliff theme for that exact reason! When I realised the leitmotif was there, it suddenly added so much more emotion and weight to the song.
The entire Tsukuyomi theme is a masterclass in this. Revolution, Ala Mhigan theme, Triumph, Hien's theme, Gates of the moon, Father's Pride / Mother's Pride all mixed in. It hits super hard in the narrative and was a roller coaster of emotion in that single fight.
I think my favorite piece out of all of Sokens absolutely amazing work is "The Final Day." It's every boss theme from the X.0 patches merged together representing the journey of the character and of the player all the way to this point in time where we finally deal with the final boss. I love the song but I think I love the end part the best, the part where Emet Selchs theme plays. The original score of Invincible ends with a minor chord that sounds uneasy and like the fate of the star is in the balance. But in The Final Day, the part is changed and ends with a major chord, giving a final resolution to that song just as we give a final resolution to the final days that the Ancients faced.
Not to mention Soken is probably the composer who implemented both FF theme songs (the arpeggio one and the main theme) the most in his songs. I swear they're sprinkled everywhere. Torn from the Heaven, Insatiable, Heavensward, The Worm's Tail, you name it. Feels like he's saying: "Remember, this is still FF!" I don't think Nobuo Uematsu himself does it this much.
Should also be mentioned that a lot of these tracks are done by different people. Insatiable is Ken Ito, Worm's Tail is from Yoshitaka Suzuki. The arrangers on the music team make up a huge part of the overall soundtrack and as arrangers it's literally their job to do variations on existing compositions.
He works both the FF theme and Prelude in so well that it always makes me a little giddy when I hear him do it. And hearing the XVI trailer and how he did it there was icing on the Soken cake for me.
My favorite leitmotif is Amaurot. Emet-Selch took a while to grow on me but then once I finally understood where he was coming from, that area and its theme became so much more meaningful. Then when they reprised that theme as Emet-Selch was talking about all the things the WoL has yet to discover and then he and Hythlodaeus went off into the aether...just wholly unmitigated sobbing on my part. Same thing goes with Flow...with the exception of hearing the leitmotif in Radz-at-Han, I cry every time.
Oh my god, when we went to Mare Lamentorum and that newer version of the Amaurot theme with louder, more disjointed piano played in the Watcher's tower... I was already sobbing that early in EW's MSQ
I like Tomorrow and Tomorrow. You hear it throughout Shadowbringers, notably as the Crystarium and Eulmore themes, and then suddenly it comes up in the second phase of the Hades fight. And then you go back and listen to the lyrics again, and realise what it really is: Hades' message to us now that we've freed him of Zodiark's tempering. "Stand tall my friend. May all of the dark deep inside you find light again. This time, tumbling, turning we make amends. Eternal winds from the land ascend, here to lift us that we won't end." Brilliant to have Amanda Achen sing it so you wouldn't connect it to a male character until all's said and done.
To add to this the intro to the ARR generic town theme is reused in the theme "Those we can yet save" which is the town theme of Endwalker, which helps solidify that Endwalker is a finale of sorts where almost everything comes together.
My favorite leitmotif comes from the latter part of "Heavensward." It's what you hear in Ishgard and during the Thordan fight, and is utterly evocative of anything regarding the Dragonsong War and the people involved and affected by it (Estinien especially). Personally, it was also evocative of the aftermath of "The Parting Glass," because the piano piece of the night music is what played once I had arrive in Ishgard afterwards, so in some ways the quieter piano piece also came to represent refuge to me. (Edit: fixed spelling)
Right? On a similar note, I have been playing through again on an alt and just finished ARR two nights ago, and as I walked through the Gates of Judgment for the first time, hearing the Ishgard theme play, all I could hear was, “Dys an sohm in…” from “Footfalls”..! Same motif from literally the very beginning of Heavensward all the way through Endwalker! That’s some solid consistency in themes!!!
Without a doubt, my favorite leitmotif in all of FFXIV is the Amaurot Neath Dark Waters melody. I cannot tell you how ELECTRIC I felt during the climax of 5.3 - FINALLY getting the lyrics in To The Edge, such poignant, deep lyrics and meaning to match the somber hurt of the Amaurotine's theme. I deeply love so much of the music in FFXIV for this reason. Loved the video very much, thank you!
One of the most marking for me was the Baldesion Anex music. Not because its a recurring motif on XIV but because its a motif from FFV, which is one of my favorites FFs of all time. When I got there and listened to the song, a tear dropped instantly.
Mine definitely has to be from Neath Dark Waters to To The Edge. I remember always humming Neath Dark Waters from time to time but then after hearing To The Edge, its hard to just not sing the lyrics instead. Its crazy how a melancholic song turned into an epic piece. I remember thinking Neath Dark Waters didnt need lyrics but here we are and am better off because of it.
My fave leit motif in FFXIV is the Warrior of Light "theme" (Makers Ruin). Though it's not my favourite track by any means, it's been with us since the start of the game. In other FF's.... probably FF8's Leit Motif, Liberi Fatali/Succession of Witches.
My favorite leitmotif has to be the "Guide us o' mighty fury! Guide us to victory!" from the Heavensward song. You hear it all throughout HW (even in the aetherchemical research facility before Thordan's trial.) The weight and meaning behind those words, a desperate cry of hundreds of men and women who desperately want for guidance during the Dragonsong War. They want this war to end, they pray to the Twelve Halone for victory. And then when you fight Endsinger, which in and of itself is an entire song made up of leitmotifs from every final expansion boss (Ultima, Nidhogg, Shinryu/Zenos, and Emet-Selch/Hades) you hear it again: "Guide us o' Mighty Fury! Guide us to victory!" as if we, the WoL, are begging for this victory against a creature that can wipe out all life in the entire universe. I got literal chills when I heard it when I fought Endsinger for the first time.
The Dragonsong leitmotif was the first to get me crying, hearing it playing in Zenith at night. But then the Amaurot ticking leitmotif is probably the one that shook me the most. Hearing it in the 5.3 trial, and then in Elpis... I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
Both of my favorites are where you actually hear the vocals to a central theme of the expansion very early in, but it’s hasn’t fully developed or is somehow distorted. This happens both with the Crystarium night theme giving you vocals from “Tomorrow and Tomorrow” and the Old Sharlayan day theme giving you vocals from “Flow.”
As a Nier fan as well, all three boss themes from the Nier raids made my jaw hit the floor. They feature Prelude, the Main Theme of Final Fantasy and Torn From the Heavens motifs and they were blended in masterfully with the Nier music which already carry so much emotional meaning
My favorite use of the main "Torn From The Heavens" motif is in Final Omega's theme "From The Heavens", which a fair number of XIV fans, especially more recent ones, haven't even heard because it was a Savage-exclusive boss phase. In particular, the section around 3 and a half minutes in where the tone really shifts and your hear the motif again but slow and drawn out and expansive in a way that has always felt to me like the final moment of good squaring up and overpowering evil. I was actually shocked when I first heard this track--I was like, "This sounds like the conclusion to the whole *game*, or at least the Hydaelyn & Zodiark story, you're really going to use it *here*?!?" The "Final Day" medley in Endwalker is fun but I could just as easily seen this track in that place. That section also reminds me a lot of the Dearly Beloved sections in the KH ending tracks, for example around 4 and a half minutes in to "Fantasia alla Marcia" from KH2, though those sections resolve very differently from this one. (I can imagine a non-looping version of "From the Heavens" where they resolve in a similar way though.)
In my opinion I think Soken's magnum opus was Stormblood OST, from the regular boss theme to Shinryu phase 2 and O12s phase 2 are Soken at his most epic. I respect peoples opinion on SHB being his best but my God Stormblood was just MAJESTIC! STORM OF BLOOD! Best Leitmotif!
In terms of Leitmotifs my favourite will always be the Stormblood one. You hear it in the reveal trailer and you are just absolutly stunned. You get to the first boss in a dungeon and will be greeted with the best Dungeon Boss Battle theme. Its just way to good. But which Leitmotif really got me was the version of Answers that has been used in the Hydalyn fight. When you finally understand what it means to Hear.....Feel....Think after 7 years.
You know, I got talked into trying ff14 on a whim from a friend because it was free. I kind of just went through the motions of ARR and it wasn’t until heavensward,specifically I think the moment you’re walking towards niddhog on the bridge and Dragonsong starts playing that I realized just how much I love this game. And since then I’ve taken care to experience the music along with the plot and honestly there’s nothing like it in my experience. The only thing that comes close to me is bloodborne. But this game, its community and its music are phenomenal and I can’t wait to see where they go next.
Especially when you consider the lyrics. Sure we've been emotionally connected to the sound, but when you realize that the song is basically playing out in real time at that moment, and that it's really YOU making it happen? Chills. Extra impact if you're playing a Dragoon at that point. Heck, I think that it was that exact moment that made me want to play through each expansion in its 'star' job. It made Shadowbringers especially a real trip.
@@MarcoMeatball Really? That’s insane. I just find the whole thing so absolutely motivating. You alone are the only one walking towards this massive threat. Even after everything that’s happened. It’s inspiring stuff and something I hadn’t really experienced till then
This is exactly the kind of video I’ve wanted for forever. There are so many leitmotifs in this soundtrack, but I’m hopeless at identifying them half the time. I’m just left thinking “I’ve heard that before right?” Now finally someone catalogues at least a few of them! Ty
Torn From The Heavens (the first leitmotif mentioned) is also regarded as one of soken's personal faves, and it's arguably THE theme song for FFXIV as a whole, showing up in bossfight themes, trailer music (even the latest Endwalker trailer has it). Practically every expansion has it in one form or another. The funny thing is that in-game, the track is mostly associated with ordinary FATE events, not events or characters of utmost significance. It's not an expansion flagship theme song like Answers or Dragonsong, or even an iconic boss theme like a One Winged Angel, yet Torn From the Heavens has enough significance that it's earned a place in the repertoire of the Distant Worlds concert.
My favourite is the 'Tomorrow and Tomorrow' motif in 'Invincible' The way a motif from a beautiful and hopeful song was turned into something ominous and desperate was masterful. Soken strikes again.
Shadowbringers is where everything changed for me. Up till then the story and the music were good and interesting. In ShB though both of them became phenomenal. *Do you know La Hee?!*
I really enjoyed what Soken did with Cyan's Theme in FF14. At first they use it as Hein's theme as both Cyan from FF6 and Hein are both Samurai that have lost their kingdom and family. The theme has a feeling of loss and loneliness. This changes however for the Doma Castle dungeon music where it's a faster version of the theme mixed with the Stormblood theme which now feels inspiring and hopeful. Cyan's theme has been one of my favorite since I was a kid and seeing what Soken did with it was incredible.
My favorite one is the Amurot/Elidibus leit motif, i believe we first hear it when we arrive at The tempest and are presented with Amaurot, this copy of a city stuck in a moment created by Emet, with this ticking sound on the back that always made me feel uneasy and remember that time was passing by, and later we hear the full version in "To the edge" vs Elidibus Primal form, it's one of my favorite songs, if not my favorite, from the whole ost and also a super fun trial, the lyrics always fill me with different emotions, and also knowing that Soken wrote it in the hospital while he had cancer it's like "OMG this man is a legend"
The Heavensward motif gets me every time. Hearthsward is literally my favorite song in the game. It’s so beautiful and uplifting after all you know the ishgardians have been through and yet they came through it better on the other side. That song made me cry the first time I heard it. Just the song ❤️
though it doesn't have the emotional impact of the many story motifs like answers or neath dark waters, i really enjoy the main la noscea theme "on westerly winds", especially hearing it morphed into a spooky ghostship theme in the dungeon "the sirensong sea." i started in limsa, so hearing that melody that i had spent so many hours with in the early game suddenly transformed into a horror theme years later was a great experience
i've been wanting a video about ffxiv's leitmotifs and just like that, it popped into my feed! really enjoyed this video. it's tough for me to say what my favourite motif is, but i think the heavensward motif might take the cake for how much of a gutpunch it is three whole expansions later - and answers, even though soken didn't compose it, the way he weaves it in through endwalker and references it is just brilliant
My personal favorite is the Bozjan Resistance leitmotif that shows up in Blood on the Wind and The Queen Awakens and all those related tracks. When it shows up, it's a reminder of the struggle of the resistance and the will power to keep going and fighting in the face of nearly impossible odds. It's like a reminder of the culture you're fighting to preserve. Similar to the Garlean theme reminding us who we fight against. Also, on a similar note... Gotta note Diablos's motif showing up in Wrath of the Harrier (The Diablo Armament).
My favorite leitmotiff in the game is the Maker's Ruin theme. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that More Than Truth from Shadowbringers was based on Maker's Ruin!
Because of story context, I feel that The Maker's Ruin is the theme of the Warrior of Light themselves, while Torn From The Heavens is more the theme of the Warrior of Light's heroics. They both are so intrinsically linked to the hero, that when Omega tries to emulate them in the final battle, Omega even steals their themes for Heartless, a song which incorporates The Maker's Ruin, and Torn From The Heavens.
I love that you made this video!! I tell my friends all the time about how much I love the leitmotifs that Soken incorporates, and you covered a lot of the really memorable ones and explained it in such a great way to those who may not be familiar with the classical and opera genres.
My favourite leitmotif is definitely "Maker's Ruin" one that you have shown in this video. It's basically the player's leitmotif. Wherever we go, the theme goes. I love it especially how it is used in the 12th fight of the Omega raids. Since the enemy is copying the player and adopts the theme. Or how Torn from the Heavens mixes it with the Prelude, FF's most iconic leitmotif, to make OUR actions feel even more grand. It's basically our boss theme.
Ultima / Heart of Sabik is a constant favorite of mine. Obviously the original rendition in Preatorium is great but it pops up in UWU, the Primals remix is used in three of the Weapons fights, there's another remix used in the Diamond Weapon fight, and it's part of the medley in the Endsinger's theme.
One of my favorites is "Lunacy," the middle phase of the Tsukiyomi trial. It's a pivotal moment for her character, and a transition from Nightbloom (which is heavy with the Garlean anthem motif) and Wayward Daughter, which is fully Tsuyu's theme. Lunacy itself, though, is a beautiful mix of "A Father's Pride" (the bgm of Yanxia) and "Cyan" (Hien/Doma's theme). Chills. Every time.
Japanese composers in general love using leitmotifs. Like motif of "To destroy the evil" in Demon slayer or "Sis puella magica" both done by Yuki Kajiura.
It's absolutely amazing to have more experienced and qualified people talk about the things I myself am unable to create words for. Thank you for the video, and I can't wait for more (Answers mentioned below, To The Edge?)!
to me mostly reference/call back to other FF series. two of which are Eternal Wind from FF3, you can hear a short theme played in the Shadowbringers theme and some area as well. another one is The Day Will Come from FF5, i heard this on your previous livestream i kinda teared up when i heard it. i didn't mention it when you were livestreaming that time.
Soken really got his way to pacing the themes. When the melody in the seat of sacrifice started, you are literally hit by the weight of the ruined city and the people. And you recollect the memories and the faith you succeed, to walk on. One battle, two sides, both weights. EPIC.
My favorite use of leitmotifs tends to be when two or more are brought together to show the concepts they represent coming together or clashing. 'To the Edge' is a great example -- it's primarily the Amaurot theme, of course, as heard in ''Neath Dark Waters' and 'Mortal Instants,' but it also includes significant elements from the Shadowbringers main theme. And so it's the past clashing with the future, the Warrior of Light fighting the Warrior of Darkness, the full resolution to everything the expansion's been building up to as two of its strongest themes unite. 'One brings shadow, one brings the light' indeed.
'Invincible,' the music that plays during the final phase of the fight with Hades also has some of Tomorrow and Tomorrow's melody in it, and man is it effective. Flow though...god. Even hearing it in the context of 'Flow Together,' when the WoL cheerfully spars with Venat, I was basically sobbing. Soken is a genius and a villain.
Its a testament to Soken as a composer to be such a master manipulator when it comes to player emotions and how the music can influence it. The flood I felt during the end scenes of endwalker hit like a bus. And above all, the Hades fight really hit that peek feeling of "this is it, this is the fight". Ive never in my life been so excited to fight a boss in any game, ever, as I was with him. Too this day all it takes is the first few notes to send goosebumps all over my arms. All that alongside the bits of the Amaurot theme that you hear during the pre Warrior of light fight scene sent me through the roof, given Amaurot is both one of my top zones both aesthetically, and by its music.
Loved every part of the video! The little tidbits of music history and defining the concept of motif and leitmotif helps the understanding of what they entail. They expand on how it has strong effects on players who are familiar with a theme that has carried them throughout the game/expansion. I would also like to mention that Deception (from Kugane Castle Dungeon) is somewhat similar to Insanity with the main Shadowbringers theme. Deception feels like a corruption of the Stormblood motif. I feel a lot of people don't talk about it when it is a Stormblood motif but reworked to invoke a different feeling.
I enjoy some motifs more than others. To me, the ones that use Azys Lla's theme ("Order Yet Undeciphered") are superb, just like in Regula's fight ("He Who Continues the Attack"). But one that I felt imense pleasure in hearing for the first (and subsequent) times is "To the Edge", from Seat of Sacrifice. Simply amazing, also given the context of everything that happened before (and during) the duty.
I noticed the leitmotifs in Heavensward because the Heavensward theme and Dragonsong really stuck with me. They reminded me a lot of my childhood. But I think the strongest impact they had was when we first saw the full Cinematic trailer with Footfalls in its entirety at FanFest and Heavensward played loud, it took my breath away, and I was so excited as Storm of Blood and Shadowbringers made their appearances. But that first note of Heavensward in the Endwalker trailer just stunned me.
Wonderful video and tribute! There are so many leitmotifs and plots I love in FFXIV it's really difficult to choose. Literally every single one is incredible and memorable. The one that comes to mind right now as being the culmination of everything I love about FFXIV though is probably the use of The Maker's Ruin leitmotif in the song With Hearts Aligned that plays in the 2nd phase of Endsinger. Realizing that the "WoL's theme" is actually "the theme of all Etheirys" was like an out of body experience. The emotions I felt during that moment were so insanely raw, I couldn't help but think, "This is it, this is the essence of FFXIV!"
I love every single leitmotif in the OST tbh. But my personal favorite is Soken weaving Eternal Wind so much in Shadowbringers, also making it essentially G'raha's theme -- a character already symbolizing "hope everlasting," as he himself says it. I held onto my resilience during the Ultima Thule section of EW's MSQ... up until it was G'raha's turn to go and the piano-only Eternal Wind came on
As a guy who grew up with Final Fantasy 3 and not much exposure to the other episodes as a kid, the presence of the Crystal Tower an all its musical themes back in ARR was already awesome, but then hearing Eternal Wind in the Shadowbringers cinematic was just on a way different level, it felt like the game was telling me "You thought you were going further and further into this story, but all along your journey was actually bringing you back home". Then you have that victorious yet melancholic arrangement after the fight against Hades as the Scions emerge back on the shore that I didn't have enough mitigation to tank the emotional damage, and then of course the soft piano arrangement during the sad moments with G'raha Tia sundered me in probably more than 14 shards. Although I've been knowledgeable about a number of other titles and musical themes throughout the years before playing XIV, to me "Final Fantasy" always makes Eternal Wind play in my mind, and hearing Soken weave that theme all throughout what remains for me the best expansion that XIV has had so far was an incredible icing on an already incredible cake.
My favorite motif and leitmotif in FFXIV would have to be Endwalkers "Flow" motif. I'm glad it was highlighted in the video, because the music helps represent the overall theme of Endwalker and respects it. Old Sharlayan's theme is probably one if not my favorite hub zone themes. So peaceful, but also gives off the feeling of there still being more knowledge to be learned from Sharlayan. Just a masterful game with masterful music and it will forever be one of the greatest games of all time because of it.
It’s very hard to choose between the Dragonsong and Flow leitmotifs, as both of them has major impacts on me while playing through the story. Many, many tears
my favourite one in XIV is probably Torn from Heavens, it's absolutely everywhere, and was the reason I started crying mid-fight for the first time in Endwalker
When I first was doing MSQ for Shadowbringers and got to Hades, my group pulled the boss RIGHT as the "For whom weeps the storm" line started... got literal chills from that moment. Everyone was so pumped for that entire pull of that fight. I think my personal favorite Leitmotif from FFXIV is Answers. That Answers cutscene for ARR is what initially drew me to the game, I was so completely impressed with them doing an entire sunsetting of the original game IN universe to the tune of this bardcore rock opera sound, it was like nothing I'd experienced before and Answers still brings me chills to this day.
One of my favorite pieces is Footsteps in the Snow, which I liked when I first heard it and then loved after it was used in a certain crucial scene near the end of the base Heavensward story...it just stuck with me after that. So it doesn't show up often as a leitmotif, if much at all...except in the song Return to Oblivion, which features both Footsteps in the Snow and the original Oblivion song in a remix that you'd never expect to have both. Oh, and it of course has the FF Prelude in there too.
My favorite leitmotif has to be "Answers" with "Flow" as close second and "To the Edge" in "Neath Dark Waters" as third. All of these give such an atmosphere that varies from serious to sad to calm to happy. It's really amazing. "Answers" is my favorite, because it pretty much stays with us the whole way in many forms, making us feel so many emotions and it pays off so well. Flow, because of the final version and the meaning behind it. It always feels so emotional.
As someone who is not a musician but I grew up in a musician family, always enjoyed hearing these reoccuring themes in FFXIV. Personally my favourite is Neath Dark Waters and how it is presented in the song To the edge. That song really hits hard 😀
Shadowbringers and all it's offshoot themes. Man you just can't beat the ending of 5.0 when you inherit Ardberts soul and fight Hades. Just immaculate execution from everyone involved. I mean literally, one brings shadow and one brings the light!
Honorable mention to Flow and the Sharlayan themes... I bawled like a baby when I heard the first few lines and realized that the melody we hear is the same as in the city. Our Mother singing to us at all times, we just needed the right context to understand.
definately flow and footfalls, flow is engrained in every bit of etheryis throughout endwalker, excluding garlemald- and footfalls is in nearly every battle.
It should be a crime to talk about such a topic and not mention "The Black Wolf stalks again" Leitmotif. From Garlean empire theme in ARR to Trial theme in shadowbringers was an incredible throwback.
The "Torn from the Heavens" and "The Maker's Ruin" leitmotifs in my opinion are used exceptionally well in Stormblood for the battles against Omega. "Heartless" is the battle theme when fighting against Omega M&F and has the triumphant sound of a typical Final Fantasy protagonist going up against a final boss. It's just a stylized medley of "Torn from the Heavens" and "The Maker's Ruin" BUT it thematically makes sense since it's a fight where Omega is trying to imitate you the WoL. It's doing everything it can to try and replicate your existence in appearance, having the tropes of a protagonist going against a strong enemy by STEALING YOUR THEME, being modeled after Amano style art (and even looks like the Amano art interpretation of the WoL from the ffxiv 1.0's collector's edition box art), and even doing things like shouting out a name for big moves like how you'll see some players do. "From the Heavens" is the Savage exclusive theme to Final Omega. It's still a stylized medley of "Torn from the Heavens" and "The Maker's Ruin" but now the tone is COMPLETELY different. It sounds like a confrontation with an unworldly being and has a sense of foreboding, stakes, and eerieness. This ties in with the idea that Omega after trying to so hard to imitate you as Omega M&F still cannot comprehend what in the world makes you the WoL so powerful, so monstrous in power. In its final gambit against you it tries to reconfigure into something that it thinks will match you in strength, a monsterous robotic amalgamation, and the theme fits that as it's a corruption of your theme, the WoL's theme. The chaos of the song goes along with the chaos of the fight as Final Omega in the fight is doing mechanics named things like "hello world", "patch", "critical overflow bug" showing that it's struggling to contain what it interprets to be impossible, improbable power that you somehow have.
Ope. Thanks for the spoiler warning. I have NOT even beat A Realm Reborn but I'm planning on it someday. Looking forward to watching this again when I'm done with FF14.... Eventually
The Ancient/Amaurot motif breaks my heart every time, and is definitely the strongest in my opinion. However, the Dragonsong motif is amazing and the time that has passed from HW, then hearing it in EW, is incredible. It’s a bout of nostalgia. The one that I think sounds the best, however, is the chorus from “With Hearts Aligned”. That melody and… everything about it is so *so* good.
The Stormblood leitmotif was used so much that it was burned into my brain. To the point where I felt like, at the time, that the expansion had like 2 recurring motifs (Storm of Blood and the resistance theme that plays in Rhalgr's Reach). I know that's not true, but it sure felt like it at the time haha.
Awesome breakdown. Another game that I love that does this so well is one called The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. It has two leitmotifs that it introduces from the opening cinematic. One that comes to represent the two main characters (who are also the main romantic interests) and the other representing the major conflict of the game. I just love it when games do this, and FFXIV in particular hits hard every single time since I have been playing this game for years. Flow definitely brought me to tears in that cutscene.
I have a few favorite leitmotifs that constantly fight for the top spot in my mind, but specifically I’m going to namecheck two: the Ancients theme - your “Neath Dark Waters”, “Mortal Instants”, “To The Edge” and oh MAN is it cool how that last one is blended with the RIDING HOOOOOME from thr ShB theme - and Eternal Wind, which is itself a revisiting of Uematsu’s composition from wayyy back in ten SNES days, but pops up prominently as a cool riff at the Crystal Tower bit in the Shadowbringers trailer, directly linking it to Official Best Boy G’raha Tia Don’t @ Me. It’s already a beautiful piece as that wistfu capper after you defeat Hades, or the high energy, triumphant version while the Exarch plays his trump card against Elidibus in 5.3. But my favorite version will always be the low key, warm piano version that serves as G’raha’s theme. It’s a lovely little encapsulation of everything that’s wonderful about that character: warm, melancholic, endlessly hopeful.
What I call the "Mariner's Leitmotif" or the "Maelstrom Leitmotif" first heard (as far as I'm aware) in "Through the Maelstrom" or the Leviathan boss theme. It reoccurs very often whenever Allagan technology is involved, I believe in reference to Omega who may have inspired Allagan technology and who is, himself, a sailor of the sea of stars, having come from the farthest corners of existence in pursuit of his target. It always makes me think of a vessel on the open ocean, something that no matter how big it may be seems impossibly small in comparison to its surroundings. It's kinda wild hearing all the places this theme sneaks into the music.
The science behind why I cry and vibe so much while playing this game, only nier and drakengard music rivals the amount of raw emotion I get from FFXIV
Honestly, one thing I can kind of relate to your flow example but in a more meta sense is the song of phase 2 of the final boss of EW. It was given to us in footfalls, teased in the zodiark music, but more importantly you realize that the story progress achievements are the words to it building up. And then the payoff in the final fight
The Allagan leitmotif is snuck into a lot of themes to both show the influence of the Allagan Empire in modern Eorzea as well as the machinations of Hermes/Fandaniel/Amon. It doesn't hurt that nearly every appearance of the Allagan theme is followed by a pulse-pounding buttrock synth soundtrack!
I thoroughly enjoyed comparing and connecting some of my favorite opera motifs to those created by Soken for final fantasy xiv. It’s amazing seeing classic music technique being applied even today. I hope you found this interesting!
and i enjoyed your love letter thoroughly. thank you for the awesome video, Marco!
@@wienzard93 ❤️❤️
Thank you for your thoughtful analysis Marco, I enjoyed this video!
@@JackofNothingess I’m glad you liked it!
Your videos are amazing, both exposing younger generations to beautiful classical music and showing the throughline between them and modern works.
Your channel shows that art can be anywhere, from centuries-old Greek tragedies to modern-day number-go-up grindhard MMORPG's.
My favorite leitmotif has to be "To the Edge" in "Neath Dark Waters." The ticking of the clock and melancholic atmosphere of a time long lost and those who still live struggling to cope with that loss and desperately trying to get it back. The fact Soken made this piece while in the hospital getting treatment for cancer just makes me appreciate the music more. He puts his heart and soul into his music and you can feel it in everything he does.
This was going to be my pick too. Can't overstate how much of a brain jolt that was when I realized what the song was. I was thinking "why is this underwater theme so perfect" when suddenly I realized, it's not just an underwater theme, it's *the* theme of the expansion, just... made to fit. Genius. And from an in-game perspective, it's really the Hades leitmotif writ into the backdrop of this haunted, grotesquely hollowed out ocean bottom, where Emet lurks inside his fake city.
To me it's the twinning theme. While I appreciate the amaurot themes more from a musical standpoint, a long fall is a masterclass in leitmotif. It encompasses at least 4 different leitmotifs in one song, with each being hugely relevant and still being a great song musically
Eternal Winds as G'raha's theme gets me every time. I love it.
Mhm it is so beautiful
Also them throwing in "Shattered" when you do that single duty battle with G'raha in Kholusia, not long before the big identity reveal.... *chef's kiss*
Darn right with the musical conditioning. Wanna see me cry?
*plays Close in the Distance*
Wanna see me do it again?
*plays Flow*
I still can't believe they did just that on the last live letter. It's like they want us to cry forever xD
I swear to god, when we get to 14.5 and it's the final update ever, they'll play Prelude/Torn From The Heavens/Close in the Distance/Flow to make us cry for the rest of eternity
And now for the final blow
*Dynamis*
One of my favorite uses and transformations of leitmotif is the "Answers" theme. In ARR, it's the theme of the calamity, of the main cutscene and the destroyed world, and then over the course of the story and raids it solidifies as the theme of Bahamut. The game is so content to leave it as Bahamut's theme that the only time we see it again is in UCOB in Stormblood - Other major dragons like Tiamat and Shinryu take on other themes.
But then, from 5.3 forward, Answers takes on a new meaning. In the 5.3 solo instance, Answers plays as the expansion theme for ARR in the 2.0 callback, and then starts playing whenever we get distant contacts from Venat. In a way it transforms from being the theme of the calamity into the theme of Venat herself, or at least the part of Venat that sunders the world and becomes Hydaelyn.
And then we get Venat's Walk, a cutscene which ENTIRELY reframes the original song and lyrics. I still haven't pinpointed exactly what it is that makes this transformation of the theme so perfect, but it just works so naturally.
Big time. Which is why that answers video I want to make is going to be hyper involved and can’t just be watching the arr video! Beautifully written!
@@MarcoMeatball Thanks! I write stuff like this in my spare time because it's a hobby of mine to do deep-dive analysis, but usually it never comes up lol
@@MythrilZenith though, you forget one time that Answers also plays. When Shinryu is summoned in 3.5.
So I felt at that point that Answers took on the idea of “the sound of a calamity”. As we connect it to Bahamut and Shinryu’s potential powers; then in Shadowbringers, it becomes related to the Final Days, deepening that connection to calamity. Endwalker connects it to Hydaelyn, and her defiance *against* calamity, and THAT I think, makes it even more powerful.
What I find fascinating is how Answers started as Uematsu's theme, and Soken and his team ended up morphing it into a completely different context from its original composition. While initially for Dalamud/Bahamut, it came to represent the core question of why the world often sucks, and how the response is to...push forward.
I like how Eternal Wind from FF3 is worked into the OST as well; it's another of Uematsu's tracks given different meaning and context.
Even though a lot of the earlier FF games didn't use leitmotif *as* much as FFXIV for a multitude of reasons, it is fascinating to see how they're implemented throughout all of FFXIV.
Personal favorite one is probably how "Dragonsong" is used throughout Heavensward, in part because Dragonsong is one of my favorite tracks Uematsu ever composed.
It's wild cause I always felt like there were so many things in that song that clicked but so many that didn't, but when I watched THAT cutscene at level 88, I literally had to sit back from my computer and have a moment with myself coming to terms with what I'd just watched. Never has a scene chilled me so thoroughly.
When I recognized the melody from Amaurot in "To The Edge", I can't put to words the feeling of gravity and excitement in that moment. Hearing lyrics put to this melody that was already soaking with emotional weight was something that just can't be delivered from other artistic mediums for me.
My favourite leitmotif is probably the traces of Azys Lla's theme in both Omega and Shinryu's themes. It's like their music is intertwined, much like the two of them during their fight.
You can even hear it in Thordan EX's theme.
It's present in a bunch of tracks, as it's essentially the "Allagan" leitmotif. As mentioned above it's present in Thordan EX's theme, as he's fought at the Singularity Reactor trying to steal the powers of the Warring Triad. It's also present in the themes of both versions of the Fractal Continuum as it's located in Azys Lla, and in Regula van Hydrus' theme, given his entire arc is centered around Allagan technology.
We can infer that Omega carries the motif since it was reverse engineered by the Allagans and provided the basis for their technological leaps, but tbh Shinryu is kind of an outlier. Any connection it has to the Allagans is a bit tenuous.
Spoopy Allagan Leitmotif
I will never not get chills at the Stormblood leitmotif. From the opening cinematic to The Worms Tail it's such an effective rallying theme.
The Stormblood dungeon boss theme is probably my favorite of every expansion
I always sing at the top of my lungs every time I get a Stormblood dungeon's final boss. It's impossible not to.
Stormblood is my fav OST till this day (I'm upto date in EW) Shinryu Phase 2 and Omega 12s phase 2 just took my breath away! His best imo!
@@Salt_Mage easily the best boss theme lol
I love, love, love how the Garlean leitmotif is used in Endwalker and the side content of Shadowbringers in contrast with its previous iterations.
It’s shifted from a warlike, imperial march to this… morose, wistful, lonely tune. It feels like you’ve watched the disgraceful fall of an empire- which you have.
Home Beyond the Horizon never fails to give me that exact sensation and take me through a musical memory lane. It’s… haunting for the player. The music is a massive part of the game’s story. There’s too many leitmotifs to choose from, but we all recognize them immediately. Such is the power of how those melodies are presented in context.
Wow I didn’t even realize that the endwalker version is freaking the garlean leitmotif holy crap!!?!!
@@MarcoMeatball It’s present in the Sorrows of Werlyt, specifically in And Love You Shall Find, Terncliff’s theme. It’s a wonderful, wonderful atmospheric touch. Definitely worth keeping an ear out when around Garlemald.
@@fridgegremlin5496 I loved the Terncliff theme for that exact reason! When I realised the leitmotif was there, it suddenly added so much more emotion and weight to the song.
The entire Tsukuyomi theme is a masterclass in this. Revolution, Ala Mhigan theme, Triumph, Hien's theme, Gates of the moon, Father's Pride / Mother's Pride all mixed in. It hits super hard in the narrative and was a roller coaster of emotion in that single fight.
Soken was doing some amazing things in SB. Suzaku's theme Sunrise chokes me up every time after reading the lyrics.
I think my favorite piece out of all of Sokens absolutely amazing work is "The Final Day." It's every boss theme from the X.0 patches merged together representing the journey of the character and of the player all the way to this point in time where we finally deal with the final boss. I love the song but I think I love the end part the best, the part where Emet Selchs theme plays. The original score of Invincible ends with a minor chord that sounds uneasy and like the fate of the star is in the balance. But in The Final Day, the part is changed and ends with a major chord, giving a final resolution to that song just as we give a final resolution to the final days that the Ancients faced.
Not to mention Soken is probably the composer who implemented both FF theme songs (the arpeggio one and the main theme) the most in his songs. I swear they're sprinkled everywhere. Torn from the Heaven, Insatiable, Heavensward, The Worm's Tail, you name it. Feels like he's saying: "Remember, this is still FF!" I don't think Nobuo Uematsu himself does it this much.
absolutely!
Should also be mentioned that a lot of these tracks are done by different people. Insatiable is Ken Ito, Worm's Tail is from Yoshitaka Suzuki. The arrangers on the music team make up a huge part of the overall soundtrack and as arrangers it's literally their job to do variations on existing compositions.
Also that crystal prelude in Weight of the World (copied factory boss) is just the best.
He works both the FF theme and Prelude in so well that it always makes me a little giddy when I hear him do it. And hearing the XVI trailer and how he did it there was icing on the Soken cake for me.
Worms tail is my 2nd fav track after omega 12 savage phase 2 From The Heavens
My favorite leitmotif is Amaurot. Emet-Selch took a while to grow on me but then once I finally understood where he was coming from, that area and its theme became so much more meaningful. Then when they reprised that theme as Emet-Selch was talking about all the things the WoL has yet to discover and then he and Hythlodaeus went off into the aether...just wholly unmitigated sobbing on my part. Same thing goes with Flow...with the exception of hearing the leitmotif in Radz-at-Han, I cry every time.
Oh my god, when we went to Mare Lamentorum and that newer version of the Amaurot theme with louder, more disjointed piano played in the Watcher's tower... I was already sobbing that early in EW's MSQ
I like Tomorrow and Tomorrow. You hear it throughout Shadowbringers, notably as the Crystarium and Eulmore themes, and then suddenly it comes up in the second phase of the Hades fight. And then you go back and listen to the lyrics again, and realise what it really is: Hades' message to us now that we've freed him of Zodiark's tempering. "Stand tall my friend. May all of the dark deep inside you find light again. This time, tumbling, turning we make amends. Eternal winds from the land ascend, here to lift us that we won't end." Brilliant to have Amanda Achen sing it so you wouldn't connect it to a male character until all's said and done.
I love the Crystal Tower/Eternal Wind motif. Used all over the place in CT raidset and is now considered Graha's theme.
To add to this the intro to the ARR generic town theme is reused in the theme "Those we can yet save" which is the town theme of Endwalker, which helps solidify that Endwalker is a finale of sorts where almost everything comes together.
My favorite leitmotif comes from the latter part of "Heavensward." It's what you hear in Ishgard and during the Thordan fight, and is utterly evocative of anything regarding the Dragonsong War and the people involved and affected by it (Estinien especially).
Personally, it was also evocative of the aftermath of "The Parting Glass," because the piano piece of the night music is what played once I had arrive in Ishgard afterwards, so in some ways the quieter piano piece also came to represent refuge to me.
(Edit: fixed spelling)
Right? On a similar note, I have been playing through again on an alt and just finished ARR two nights ago, and as I walked through the Gates of Judgment for the first time, hearing the Ishgard theme play, all I could hear was, “Dys an sohm in…” from “Footfalls”..! Same motif from literally the very beginning of Heavensward all the way through Endwalker! That’s some solid consistency in themes!!!
That leitmotif is so good. And the night themes in ishgard are so calming. It’s a great start to your time there when it works out like that.
Ah that one was amazing!
My favorite leitmotif so far would be Penitus/A Land Long Dead/And Love You Shall Find. Which has been positioned as, unofficially, Gaius’ theme.
I liked Stormblood's motif so much I learned to play it in performance mode even though I am not a musician in any way.
Without a doubt, my favorite leitmotif in all of FFXIV is the Amaurot Neath Dark Waters melody. I cannot tell you how ELECTRIC I felt during the climax of 5.3 - FINALLY getting the lyrics in To The Edge, such poignant, deep lyrics and meaning to match the somber hurt of the Amaurotine's theme. I deeply love so much of the music in FFXIV for this reason. Loved the video very much, thank you!
You’re so welcome!
One of the most marking for me was the Baldesion Anex music. Not because its a recurring motif on XIV but because its a motif from FFV, which is one of my favorites FFs of all time. When I got there and listened to the song, a tear dropped instantly.
Similarly, the evolution of Eternal Wind from FF3’s map theme to one of the most recognizable character themes of ARR, ShB, and EW
Mine definitely has to be from Neath Dark Waters to To The Edge. I remember always humming Neath Dark Waters from time to time but then after hearing To The Edge, its hard to just not sing the lyrics instead. Its crazy how a melancholic song turned into an epic piece. I remember thinking Neath Dark Waters didnt need lyrics but here we are and am better off because of it.
My fave leit motif in FFXIV is the Warrior of Light "theme" (Makers Ruin). Though it's not my favourite track by any means, it's been with us since the start of the game.
In other FF's.... probably FF8's Leit Motif, Liberi Fatali/Succession of Witches.
My favorite leitmotif has to be the "Guide us o' mighty fury! Guide us to victory!" from the Heavensward song. You hear it all throughout HW (even in the aetherchemical research facility before Thordan's trial.) The weight and meaning behind those words, a desperate cry of hundreds of men and women who desperately want for guidance during the Dragonsong War. They want this war to end, they pray to the Twelve Halone for victory.
And then when you fight Endsinger, which in and of itself is an entire song made up of leitmotifs from every final expansion boss (Ultima, Nidhogg, Shinryu/Zenos, and Emet-Selch/Hades) you hear it again: "Guide us o' Mighty Fury! Guide us to victory!" as if we, the WoL, are begging for this victory against a creature that can wipe out all life in the entire universe.
I got literal chills when I heard it when I fought Endsinger for the first time.
The Dragonsong leitmotif was the first to get me crying, hearing it playing in Zenith at night. But then the Amaurot ticking leitmotif is probably the one that shook me the most. Hearing it in the 5.3 trial, and then in Elpis... I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
Both of my favorites are where you actually hear the vocals to a central theme of the expansion very early in, but it’s hasn’t fully developed or is somehow distorted. This happens both with the Crystarium night theme giving you vocals from “Tomorrow and Tomorrow” and the Old Sharlayan day theme giving you vocals from “Flow.”
As a Nier fan as well, all three boss themes from the Nier raids made my jaw hit the floor. They feature Prelude, the Main Theme of Final Fantasy and Torn From the Heavens motifs and they were blended in masterfully with the Nier music which already carry so much emotional meaning
Oh absolutely!
My favorite use of the main "Torn From The Heavens" motif is in Final Omega's theme "From The Heavens", which a fair number of XIV fans, especially more recent ones, haven't even heard because it was a Savage-exclusive boss phase. In particular, the section around 3 and a half minutes in where the tone really shifts and your hear the motif again but slow and drawn out and expansive in a way that has always felt to me like the final moment of good squaring up and overpowering evil.
I was actually shocked when I first heard this track--I was like, "This sounds like the conclusion to the whole *game*, or at least the Hydaelyn & Zodiark story, you're really going to use it *here*?!?" The "Final Day" medley in Endwalker is fun but I could just as easily seen this track in that place.
That section also reminds me a lot of the Dearly Beloved sections in the KH ending tracks, for example around 4 and a half minutes in to "Fantasia alla Marcia" from KH2, though those sections resolve very differently from this one. (I can imagine a non-looping version of "From the Heavens" where they resolve in a similar way though.)
In my opinion I think Soken's magnum opus was Stormblood OST, from the regular boss theme to Shinryu phase 2 and O12s phase 2 are Soken at his most epic.
I respect peoples opinion on SHB being his best but my God Stormblood was just MAJESTIC!
STORM OF BLOOD! Best Leitmotif!
In terms of Leitmotifs my favourite will always be the Stormblood one. You hear it in the reveal trailer and you are just absolutly stunned. You get to the first boss in a dungeon and will be greeted with the best Dungeon Boss Battle theme. Its just way to good.
But which Leitmotif really got me was the version of Answers that has been used in the Hydalyn fight. When you finally understand what it means to Hear.....Feel....Think after 7 years.
You know, I got talked into trying ff14 on a whim from a friend because it was free. I kind of just went through the motions of ARR and it wasn’t until heavensward,specifically I think the moment you’re walking towards niddhog on the bridge and Dragonsong starts playing that I realized just how much I love this game. And since then I’ve taken care to experience the music along with the plot and honestly there’s nothing like it in my experience. The only thing that comes close to me is bloodborne. But this game, its community and its music are phenomenal and I can’t wait to see where they go next.
wait that was also my exact experience.
Especially when you consider the lyrics. Sure we've been emotionally connected to the sound, but when you realize that the song is basically playing out in real time at that moment, and that it's really YOU making it happen? Chills. Extra impact if you're playing a Dragoon at that point. Heck, I think that it was that exact moment that made me want to play through each expansion in its 'star' job. It made Shadowbringers especially a real trip.
@@MarcoMeatball Really? That’s insane. I just find the whole thing so absolutely motivating. You alone are the only one walking towards this massive threat. Even after everything that’s happened. It’s inspiring stuff and something I hadn’t really experienced till then
This is exactly the kind of video I’ve wanted for forever. There are so many leitmotifs in this soundtrack, but I’m hopeless at identifying them half the time. I’m just left thinking “I’ve heard that before right?” Now finally someone catalogues at least a few of them! Ty
Oh of course!
Torn From The Heavens (the first leitmotif mentioned) is also regarded as one of soken's personal faves, and it's arguably THE theme song for FFXIV as a whole, showing up in bossfight themes, trailer music (even the latest Endwalker trailer has it). Practically every expansion has it in one form or another.
The funny thing is that in-game, the track is mostly associated with ordinary FATE events, not events or characters of utmost significance. It's not an expansion flagship theme song like Answers or Dragonsong, or even an iconic boss theme like a One Winged Angel, yet Torn From the Heavens has enough significance that it's earned a place in the repertoire of the Distant Worlds concert.
My favourite is the 'Tomorrow and Tomorrow' motif in 'Invincible'
The way a motif from a beautiful and hopeful song was turned into something ominous and desperate was masterful. Soken strikes again.
Shadowbringers is where everything changed for me. Up till then the story and the music were good and interesting. In ShB though both of them became phenomenal.
*Do you know La Hee?!*
I really enjoyed what Soken did with Cyan's Theme in FF14. At first they use it as Hein's theme as both Cyan from FF6 and Hein are both Samurai that have lost their kingdom and family. The theme has a feeling of loss and loneliness. This changes however for the Doma Castle dungeon music where it's a faster version of the theme mixed with the Stormblood theme which now feels inspiring and hopeful. Cyan's theme has been one of my favorite since I was a kid and seeing what Soken did with it was incredible.
My favorite one is the Amurot/Elidibus leit motif, i believe we first hear it when we arrive at The tempest and are presented with Amaurot, this copy of a city stuck in a moment created by Emet, with this ticking sound on the back that always made me feel uneasy and remember that time was passing by, and later we hear the full version in "To the edge" vs Elidibus Primal form, it's one of my favorite songs, if not my favorite, from the whole ost and also a super fun trial, the lyrics always fill me with different emotions, and also knowing that Soken wrote it in the hospital while he had cancer it's like "OMG this man is a legend"
The Heavensward motif gets me every time. Hearthsward is literally my favorite song in the game. It’s so beautiful and uplifting after all you know the ishgardians have been through and yet they came through it better on the other side. That song made me cry the first time I heard it. Just the song ❤️
though it doesn't have the emotional impact of the many story motifs like answers or neath dark waters, i really enjoy the main la noscea theme "on westerly winds", especially hearing it morphed into a spooky ghostship theme in the dungeon "the sirensong sea." i started in limsa, so hearing that melody that i had spent so many hours with in the early game suddenly transformed into a horror theme years later was a great experience
i've been wanting a video about ffxiv's leitmotifs and just like that, it popped into my feed! really enjoyed this video. it's tough for me to say what my favourite motif is, but i think the heavensward motif might take the cake for how much of a gutpunch it is three whole expansions later - and answers, even though soken didn't compose it, the way he weaves it in through endwalker and references it is just brilliant
🥹 I so agree with you.
My personal favorite is the Bozjan Resistance leitmotif that shows up in Blood on the Wind and The Queen Awakens and all those related tracks. When it shows up, it's a reminder of the struggle of the resistance and the will power to keep going and fighting in the face of nearly impossible odds. It's like a reminder of the culture you're fighting to preserve. Similar to the Garlean theme reminding us who we fight against.
Also, on a similar note... Gotta note Diablos's motif showing up in Wrath of the Harrier (The Diablo Armament).
My favorite leitmotiff in the game is the Maker's Ruin theme. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that More Than Truth from Shadowbringers was based on Maker's Ruin!
Because of story context, I feel that The Maker's Ruin is the theme of the Warrior of Light themselves, while Torn From The Heavens is more the theme of the Warrior of Light's heroics.
They both are so intrinsically linked to the hero, that when Omega tries to emulate them in the final battle, Omega even steals their themes for Heartless, a song which incorporates The Maker's Ruin, and Torn From The Heavens.
I love that you made this video!! I tell my friends all the time about how much I love the leitmotifs that Soken incorporates, and you covered a lot of the really memorable ones and explained it in such a great way to those who may not be familiar with the classical and opera genres.
My pleasure! I’m glad you liked it!
My favourite leitmotif is definitely "Maker's Ruin" one that you have shown in this video.
It's basically the player's leitmotif. Wherever we go, the theme goes. I love it especially how it is used in the 12th fight of the Omega raids. Since the enemy is copying the player and adopts the theme. Or how Torn from the Heavens mixes it with the Prelude, FF's most iconic leitmotif, to make OUR actions feel even more grand. It's basically our boss theme.
Ultima / Heart of Sabik is a constant favorite of mine.
Obviously the original rendition in Preatorium is great but it pops up in UWU, the Primals remix is used in three of the Weapons fights, there's another remix used in the Diamond Weapon fight, and it's part of the medley in the Endsinger's theme.
Also, everyone loves Big Fat Tacos! ;)
One of my favorites is "Lunacy," the middle phase of the Tsukiyomi trial. It's a pivotal moment for her character, and a transition from Nightbloom (which is heavy with the Garlean anthem motif) and Wayward Daughter, which is fully Tsuyu's theme. Lunacy itself, though, is a beautiful mix of "A Father's Pride" (the bgm of Yanxia) and "Cyan" (Hien/Doma's theme). Chills. Every time.
Yesssssss
Japanese composers in general love using leitmotifs. Like motif of "To destroy the evil" in Demon slayer or "Sis puella magica" both done by Yuki Kajiura.
The Amaurot\Emit-Selch leitmotif is my personal favorite.
It's absolutely amazing to have more experienced and qualified people talk about the things I myself am unable to create words for. Thank you for the video, and I can't wait for more (Answers mentioned below, To The Edge?)!
❤️❤️❤️❤️☺️
I am always here for deep dives into music composition and theory.
to me mostly reference/call back to other FF series. two of which are Eternal Wind from FF3, you can hear a short theme played in the Shadowbringers theme and some area as well. another one is The Day Will Come from FF5, i heard this on your previous livestream i kinda teared up when i heard it. i didn't mention it when you were livestreaming that time.
I absolutely love those references. the Eden raids felt very special for that reason too.
Soken really got his way to pacing the themes. When the melody in the seat of sacrifice started, you are literally hit by the weight of the ruined city and the people. And you recollect the memories and the faith you succeed, to walk on. One battle, two sides, both weights. EPIC.
Insanity from the Innocence trial blew my mind when I first heard it, and it’s still one of my favorites!!!
My favorite use of leitmotifs tends to be when two or more are brought together to show the concepts they represent coming together or clashing. 'To the Edge' is a great example -- it's primarily the Amaurot theme, of course, as heard in ''Neath Dark Waters' and 'Mortal Instants,' but it also includes significant elements from the Shadowbringers main theme. And so it's the past clashing with the future, the Warrior of Light fighting the Warrior of Darkness, the full resolution to everything the expansion's been building up to as two of its strongest themes unite. 'One brings shadow, one brings the light' indeed.
'Invincible,' the music that plays during the final phase of the fight with Hades also has some of Tomorrow and Tomorrow's melody in it, and man is it effective.
Flow though...god. Even hearing it in the context of 'Flow Together,' when the WoL cheerfully spars with Venat, I was basically sobbing.
Soken is a genius and a villain.
So true 😂
Its a testament to Soken as a composer to be such a master manipulator when it comes to player emotions and how the music can influence it. The flood I felt during the end scenes of endwalker hit like a bus. And above all, the Hades fight really hit that peek feeling of "this is it, this is the fight". Ive never in my life been so excited to fight a boss in any game, ever, as I was with him. Too this day all it takes is the first few notes to send goosebumps all over my arms. All that alongside the bits of the Amaurot theme that you hear during the pre Warrior of light fight scene sent me through the roof, given Amaurot is both one of my top zones both aesthetically, and by its music.
Loved every part of the video! The little tidbits of music history and defining the concept of motif and leitmotif helps the understanding of what they entail. They expand on how it has strong effects on players who are familiar with a theme that has carried them throughout the game/expansion.
I would also like to mention that Deception (from Kugane Castle Dungeon) is somewhat similar to Insanity with the main Shadowbringers theme. Deception feels like a corruption of the Stormblood motif. I feel a lot of people don't talk about it when it is a Stormblood motif but reworked to invoke a different feeling.
I’ll take a listen!
I enjoy some motifs more than others. To me, the ones that use Azys Lla's theme ("Order Yet Undeciphered") are superb, just like in Regula's fight ("He Who Continues the Attack"). But one that I felt imense pleasure in hearing for the first (and subsequent) times is "To the Edge", from Seat of Sacrifice. Simply amazing, also given the context of everything that happened before (and during) the duty.
I always love finding out more about music and opera and how they compare to video games. Awesome video marco!! Looking forward to more!
Thanks Cless!!!
I noticed the leitmotifs in Heavensward because the Heavensward theme and Dragonsong really stuck with me. They reminded me a lot of my childhood. But I think the strongest impact they had was when we first saw the full Cinematic trailer with Footfalls in its entirety at FanFest and Heavensward played loud, it took my breath away, and I was so excited as Storm of Blood and Shadowbringers made their appearances. But that first note of Heavensward in the Endwalker trailer just stunned me.
Wonderful video and tribute! There are so many leitmotifs and plots I love in FFXIV it's really difficult to choose. Literally every single one is incredible and memorable. The one that comes to mind right now as being the culmination of everything I love about FFXIV though is probably the use of The Maker's Ruin leitmotif in the song With Hearts Aligned that plays in the 2nd phase of Endsinger. Realizing that the "WoL's theme" is actually "the theme of all Etheirys" was like an out of body experience. The emotions I felt during that moment were so insanely raw, I couldn't help but think, "This is it, this is the essence of FFXIV!"
It really is stunning.
I love every single leitmotif in the OST tbh. But my personal favorite is Soken weaving Eternal Wind so much in Shadowbringers, also making it essentially G'raha's theme -- a character already symbolizing "hope everlasting," as he himself says it.
I held onto my resilience during the Ultima Thule section of EW's MSQ... up until it was G'raha's turn to go and the piano-only Eternal Wind came on
As a guy who grew up with Final Fantasy 3 and not much exposure to the other episodes as a kid, the presence of the Crystal Tower an all its musical themes back in ARR was already awesome, but then hearing Eternal Wind in the Shadowbringers cinematic was just on a way different level, it felt like the game was telling me "You thought you were going further and further into this story, but all along your journey was actually bringing you back home". Then you have that victorious yet melancholic arrangement after the fight against Hades as the Scions emerge back on the shore that I didn't have enough mitigation to tank the emotional damage, and then of course the soft piano arrangement during the sad moments with G'raha Tia sundered me in probably more than 14 shards.
Although I've been knowledgeable about a number of other titles and musical themes throughout the years before playing XIV, to me "Final Fantasy" always makes Eternal Wind play in my mind, and hearing Soken weave that theme all throughout what remains for me the best expansion that XIV has had so far was an incredible icing on an already incredible cake.
Ugh. Thank you for this analysis. It’s super satisfying seeing exactly why the music hit me so hard laid out. Great video!
Sure!!
My favorite motif and leitmotif in FFXIV would have to be Endwalkers "Flow" motif. I'm glad it was highlighted in the video, because the music helps represent the overall theme of Endwalker and respects it. Old Sharlayan's theme is probably one if not my favorite hub zone themes. So peaceful, but also gives off the feeling of there still being more knowledge to be learned from Sharlayan. Just a masterful game with masterful music and it will forever be one of the greatest games of all time because of it.
I love this video, but Marco you can't just hit me with the glory that is La Hee without warning. Nearly spit my drink on the screen.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 i hoped someone would appreciate that!
It’s very hard to choose between the Dragonsong and Flow leitmotifs, as both of them has major impacts on me while playing through the story. Many, many tears
I think some of my favorites were of the Nier Collab. Hearing my favorite nier songs mixed with the FFXIV leitmotifs was something else.
Astounding. And Okabe!
Flow is easily my most listened song of EW, I listen to it every day, especially the variant called Flow Together
His work in FFXVI will be phenomenal
my favourite one in XIV is probably Torn from Heavens, it's absolutely everywhere, and was the reason I started crying mid-fight for the first time in Endwalker
10:42 "On the flip side"
Bro hold on, lemme finish crying 😭
LMFAOOOOO
When I first was doing MSQ for Shadowbringers and got to Hades, my group pulled the boss RIGHT as the "For whom weeps the storm" line started... got literal chills from that moment. Everyone was so pumped for that entire pull of that fight.
I think my personal favorite Leitmotif from FFXIV is Answers. That Answers cutscene for ARR is what initially drew me to the game, I was so completely impressed with them doing an entire sunsetting of the original game IN universe to the tune of this bardcore rock opera sound, it was like nothing I'd experienced before and Answers still brings me chills to this day.
Thank you for making this video
Its my absolute pleasure
One of my favorite pieces is Footsteps in the Snow, which I liked when I first heard it and then loved after it was used in a certain crucial scene near the end of the base Heavensward story...it just stuck with me after that.
So it doesn't show up often as a leitmotif, if much at all...except in the song Return to Oblivion, which features both Footsteps in the Snow and the original Oblivion song in a remix that you'd never expect to have both. Oh, and it of course has the FF Prelude in there too.
The kugane leitmotiff is probably my favorite from the entire game.
My favorite leitmotif has to be "Answers" with "Flow" as close second and "To the Edge" in "Neath Dark Waters" as third. All of these give such an atmosphere that varies from serious to sad to calm to happy. It's really amazing. "Answers" is my favorite, because it pretty much stays with us the whole way in many forms, making us feel so many emotions and it pays off so well. Flow, because of the final version and the meaning behind it. It always feels so emotional.
You’d probably like the answers video on the channel then! ;)
As someone who is not a musician but I grew up in a musician family, always enjoyed hearing these reoccuring themes in FFXIV. Personally my favourite is Neath Dark Waters and how it is presented in the song To the edge. That song really hits hard 😀
With how often Soken uses leit motifs, I would think that he takes quite a bit of inspiration from John Williams.
This is the first mmo that I've enjoyed listening to the music in and out of game. Thanks for the great explanation!
Of course!
"I'll catch your tears~"
GOOD CUZ HERE THEY COME ;A;
😂
Shadowbringers and all it's offshoot themes. Man you just can't beat the ending of 5.0 when you inherit Ardberts soul and fight Hades. Just immaculate execution from everyone involved. I mean literally, one brings shadow and one brings the light!
Honorable mention to Flow and the Sharlayan themes... I bawled like a baby when I heard the first few lines and realized that the melody we hear is the same as in the city. Our Mother singing to us at all times, we just needed the right context to understand.
thank you! very good video! Soken my love!!
definately flow and footfalls, flow is engrained in every bit of etheryis throughout endwalker, excluding garlemald- and footfalls is in nearly every battle.
It should be a crime to talk about such a topic and not mention "The Black Wolf stalks again" Leitmotif.
From Garlean empire theme in ARR to Trial theme in shadowbringers was an incredible throwback.
*cries in too many good motifs*
Also it being used in the terncliff city theme (that got reused in EW). I love that song.
The Crystarium daytime theme. Hearing the Shadowbringer theme mixed with Prelude gets me everytime.
The "Torn from the Heavens" and "The Maker's Ruin" leitmotifs in my opinion are used exceptionally well in Stormblood for the battles against Omega. "Heartless" is the battle theme when fighting against Omega M&F and has the triumphant sound of a typical Final Fantasy protagonist going up against a final boss. It's just a stylized medley of "Torn from the Heavens" and "The Maker's Ruin" BUT it thematically makes sense since it's a fight where Omega is trying to imitate you the WoL. It's doing everything it can to try and replicate your existence in appearance, having the tropes of a protagonist going against a strong enemy by STEALING YOUR THEME, being modeled after Amano style art (and even looks like the Amano art interpretation of the WoL from the ffxiv 1.0's collector's edition box art), and even doing things like shouting out a name for big moves like how you'll see some players do.
"From the Heavens" is the Savage exclusive theme to Final Omega. It's still a stylized medley of "Torn from the Heavens" and "The Maker's Ruin" but now the tone is COMPLETELY different. It sounds like a confrontation with an unworldly being and has a sense of foreboding, stakes, and eerieness. This ties in with the idea that Omega after trying to so hard to imitate you as Omega M&F still cannot comprehend what in the world makes you the WoL so powerful, so monstrous in power. In its final gambit against you it tries to reconfigure into something that it thinks will match you in strength, a monsterous robotic amalgamation, and the theme fits that as it's a corruption of your theme, the WoL's theme. The chaos of the song goes along with the chaos of the fight as Final Omega in the fight is doing mechanics named things like "hello world", "patch", "critical overflow bug" showing that it's struggling to contain what it interprets to be impossible, improbable power that you somehow have.
Ope. Thanks for the spoiler warning. I have NOT even beat A Realm Reborn but I'm planning on it someday. Looking forward to watching this again when I'm done with FF14.... Eventually
😂 you’re welcome. I wouldn’t want to ruin the whole game for you lmfao
The Ancient/Amaurot motif breaks my heart every time, and is definitely the strongest in my opinion.
However, the Dragonsong motif is amazing and the time that has passed from HW, then hearing it in EW, is incredible. It’s a bout of nostalgia.
The one that I think sounds the best, however, is the chorus from “With Hearts Aligned”. That melody and… everything about it is so *so* good.
The Stormblood leitmotif was used so much that it was burned into my brain. To the point where I felt like, at the time, that the expansion had like 2 recurring motifs (Storm of Blood and the resistance theme that plays in Rhalgr's Reach). I know that's not true, but it sure felt like it at the time haha.
Hhaha I agree
Awesome breakdown. Another game that I love that does this so well is one called The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. It has two leitmotifs that it introduces from the opening cinematic. One that comes to represent the two main characters (who are also the main romantic interests) and the other representing the major conflict of the game. I just love it when games do this, and FFXIV in particular hits hard every single time since I have been playing this game for years. Flow definitely brought me to tears in that cutscene.
Ugh I know time and time again
Either the Warrior of Light theme, or Answers... Can't decide which one I love more.
Oof both so good
I have a few favorite leitmotifs that constantly fight for the top spot in my mind, but specifically I’m going to namecheck two: the Ancients theme - your “Neath Dark Waters”, “Mortal Instants”, “To The Edge” and oh MAN is it cool how that last one is blended with the RIDING HOOOOOME from thr ShB theme - and Eternal Wind, which is itself a revisiting of Uematsu’s composition from wayyy back in ten SNES days, but pops up prominently as a cool riff at the Crystal Tower bit in the Shadowbringers trailer, directly linking it to Official Best Boy G’raha Tia Don’t @ Me. It’s already a beautiful piece as that wistfu capper after you defeat Hades, or the high energy, triumphant version while the Exarch plays his trump card against Elidibus in 5.3. But my favorite version will always be the low key, warm piano version that serves as G’raha’s theme. It’s a lovely little encapsulation of everything that’s wonderful about that character: warm, melancholic, endlessly hopeful.
What I call the "Mariner's Leitmotif" or the "Maelstrom Leitmotif" first heard (as far as I'm aware) in "Through the Maelstrom" or the Leviathan boss theme. It reoccurs very often whenever Allagan technology is involved, I believe in reference to Omega who may have inspired Allagan technology and who is, himself, a sailor of the sea of stars, having come from the farthest corners of existence in pursuit of his target. It always makes me think of a vessel on the open ocean, something that no matter how big it may be seems impossibly small in comparison to its surroundings. It's kinda wild hearing all the places this theme sneaks into the music.
The science behind why I cry and vibe so much while playing this game, only nier and drakengard music rivals the amount of raw emotion I get from FFXIV
Honestly, one thing I can kind of relate to your flow example but in a more meta sense is the song of phase 2 of the final boss of EW. It was given to us in footfalls, teased in the zodiark music, but more importantly you realize that the story progress achievements are the words to it building up. And then the payoff in the final fight
*TH-cam Video Playing in the Background*
Me doing laundry: "Why am I crying??"
Lmfao Kenny
whenever hopeful dynamis plays i LOSE it ;w; i loved this video. thanks so much for making it! ♥
Any time!
As Marty O’Donnell once said. It builds emotional equity.
The Allagan leitmotif is snuck into a lot of themes to both show the influence of the Allagan Empire in modern Eorzea as well as the machinations of Hermes/Fandaniel/Amon. It doesn't hurt that nearly every appearance of the Allagan theme is followed by a pulse-pounding buttrock synth soundtrack!