i truly hope some of the people who worked on the FFXVI music find this video so they can see how someone noticed and help show off all their hard work!!!!!!!!!!
I HATE youtube. I search for a *lot* of FFXVI content (especially music), and this is right up my alley--- but I never see this in a search result or recommend. No, I find this video linked in a subreddit post! Great job on the video!
I agreed! I have listened to almost all the other RUclips video about ff16 soundtrack since game released, only to see this video 5 months after its posted.
I jumped from my chair at the Ascension jumpscare just after Barnabas HELP BEAUTIFUL VIDEO!! This is extremely helpful to appreciate more the soundtrack of the game, thank you for this!
That scene with Barnabas, Clive and Jill under water (well, between the ocean sides lol) was epic. What a visual, one of the best in the FF series I think.
I don’t know if it means I’m a dumbass or the music team is perfect that it didn’t feel like there were 190+ songs in the game, was super surprised when I read that number
Yes it’s very surprising! One of the deceptive reasons is because many of those tracks are used just once in a cutscene and never again. The town and location themes often get reused ad nauseum, which sometimes gives the score the impression of being quite short!
Incredible video, deserves way more views. The piece that plays when it shows young Joshua holding Clive’s hand and sharing a smile breaks me down man. Also Heart of Stone is so underrated, so loved how the lyrics work for both Clive and Hugo as it really is a clash of two titans
when you mentioned you kept a spreadsheet of the music for this game, I knew I'd found a kindred spirit. This is an outstanding analysis, and my favorite kind of material to listen to on youtube
Yeah! That was so wild! Considering how subtly they've buried that melody within Control, I suppose there's still a possibility some of the other primal themes are referenced in XVI, but so far I haven't found any!
My thoughts have been consumed by FF16's music and more specifically the use of repeated themes it uses for the past year. Let me tell you how wonderful it was to find someone dedicated to put it all together in a Video. Thank you soooo much! You sir, need more views!
Thank you! Yeah, I was about halfway through making the spreadsheet for my own entertainment when I realised some folks might find this information useful! Thank you for the kind words and for subscribing! I'm starting on a video covering the XVI DLC in the next few weeks. I'm not sure how long that will take to make... And please check out my videos covering FFVII Rebirth's music, if that's your thing too!
I just found this video, and can I just say, this is AMAZING. Thank you for putting this together - it's easy to listen to with the clips from the various tracks, and I love the clips you used. Just that spreadsheet alone is a work of art. I can't wait to watch your other videos too!
aaand if you ever want to get lost in the sauce of Ascension, I want to say that I am HERE FOR IT. I want to watch an hour long video analysis of Ascension
Thank you very much! That is very kind of you. I'm glad the format resonated with you. Please stick around for the part 2 and 3 videos as well, if you haven't already. And you know what, I too would watch an hour long video about Ascension!
Thank you so much!! That is very kind of you to say. I appreciate you taking the time to comment. I am currently putting the finishing touches on the third part of the video right now, so should be up in the next few days :)
Amazing video, checked this one out after you posted about the second part on Reddit, thank you for your work. I have to admit I personally guilty of giving Soken credit for a lot of the work when as you showed a lot of talented people also worked on this, so thank you for teaching me about them ! Going to watch part 2 now !
I just got recommended this video and wow, this deserves more views than it has. You did a great job organizing this soundtrack. I'm learning a lot, including the word 'antepenultimate.'
Thank you, Godot-san! I really appreciate the comment. Please stick around for part 2 and 3, and also the ongoing FFVII Rebirth vids, if those are your cup of tea as well. Do you mind if I ask where you were recommended the video? The few gaming/FF communities I'm in don't allow self promotion, so I'm always very happy to hear that someone has recommended my video (although as I type this, I realise you might mean that RUclips recommended this video to you... in which case, thanks RUclips! :P )
This was such a wonderful listen--I had absolutely no idea how many permutations of the themes occurred throughout other scenes and you taking the time to find them all is incredible. This gave me a new appreciation for this soundtrack and your commentary felt like gushing with a friend over how good this soundtrack was. Thanks for the delightful video!
Oh my God, this is an excellent video! Thank you so much for all of your hard work and for sharing! I'm not very musically inclined but I love soundtracks and have been searching around for a place to listen to all of the music because I love trying to pick out everyone's litemotifs and seeing what moments are calling back to them. Your video is so cool and did all of that for me! I was presently surprised when I learned that 'Away' was considered Joshua's theme (due to how intense it is, paired with his 'gentle' demeanor) and your breakdown of it is really incredible. Amazing, the amount of variations on these, also some of the theme titles are incredibly insightful. I hope you do more videos friend! THANK YOU for sharing!
Oh wowww Ryo Furukawa arranged Ascension, In The Riddle, Logos and No Risk, No Reward??? And apparently he also arranged one of my favourite FFXIV track called "In The Balance"??...he definitely is underappreciated!
oh awesome! I don't know the Endwalker music very well at all, so I look forward to discovering that. Furukawa has been keeping quite busy! Between Endwalker and FFXVI... but also I've noticed he's done a LOT of great tracks in FFVII Rebirth as well. This is really turning into his time to shine :D
Yup, that's his only contribution in FFXIV so far. He's not involved in Dawntrail 7.0. He also did All as One in FFXVI. The OST has a typographical error for the credit and miscredited it to Yoshitaka Suzuki but they've put up a notice on the OST official website on the correction.
Fantastic video, really made me understand what makes this soundtrack so amazing. I feel bad that I couldn't appreciate the usage of character themes and only noticed some motifs while playing myself (mainly Joshua's and Ultima's) but now I can listen to the soundtrack and really enjoy the great work the composers did.
What an awesome analysis! I love how you broke it down, and def learned more about the lesser-known arrangers/contributors. Idk if you plan on making more music analysis videos but I’m subbed in case you do!
Okay first, LOVE this vid. Love FFXVI music and watching the breakdowns were amazing because I could geek out about this all day. (or week, or year so far as it's been over a year since release). Can't wait to see part 2. I do have to say I feel like you dropped the back half of Cid's theme? The graceful backhalf? For as much as the other tracks were broken down it's like you couldn't get off Cid's theme fast enough - I know there's not much, but feels like what little there was you still trimmed. One of my favorite little bits in the game is how during the quest where you find a piece of Mid's questchain in the Orchestration, and the song that played (Old Bones) *is* Hide, Hideaway missing it's lead part reflecting Cid's absence in the Hideway itself was just one of the biggest emotional punches of the game, and it's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. That, and the fact it's tied to two huge emotional beats in the game (Clive discovering he's Ifrit and Cid's Death) - it's just something that one of the shortest, smallest, simplest songs in the game carries so much of its emotional weight.
That’s a fantastic moment in the game! Great analysis, thanks for sharing. I agree, the back half of Hide Hideaway is very beautifully arranged, but I felt it was outside the scope of a video covering recurring leitmotifs since it didn’t add anything on that front. Similarly, I cut several incredible sections from Away and Ascension because they were one offs, not repeated elsewhere in the soundtrack :( But thanks for the feedback! Hope you enjoy part 2 and 3! The episode covering the DLC should be out in a week or so!
Thank you very much! Based on your profile icon, I will recommend to you my ongoing Rebirth music analysis series as well! Might be of interest to you :)
Incredible video! It was amazing to hear all the variations on the themes back to back like that, really helps to show all the ways that those themes get repurposed for different musical and emotional contexts. This must have taken a staggering amount of work. Your analysis is very insightful, I'll watch as many of these as you make!
Amazing video. Not really done watching it, but will continue with part 2 soon. You deserve more subscribers and way more views. It's so well made. Thank you!
Recently came across your XVI analysis series and I've been constantly coming back to rewatch since I really enjoy hearing all the different versions of the passages that I missed during my own playthrough. The self referential soundtracks have always been a favorite for me with Final Fantasy and it's very fun to see someone go into such depth. I don't know if any others have pointed it out, but the 1st passage of Hugo/Titan's theme is also featured briefly in FF XIV during Titan's boss theme (Under The Weight) as a bridge to the second verse of said song. Amazing video series! Excited to see more of your analyses ❤🔥
I love this video so much! Thank you for the analysis and for highlighting all the other soundtrack contributors. This was such a joy to watch and to listen to. If you ever have the time to spare to get lost in the Ascension sauce, I will definitely be seated for that.
Thank you! That's two votes for an Ascension video now hmm... 🤔 Although right now I am very much in FFVII Rebirth/Remake mode, I'll add Ascension to the eventual to-do list! Please check out parts 2 and 3 if you haven't already! Thank you again.
Crazy this doesn't have more views watched the whole thing. I appreciate you talking about more of the sound team since I'm always curious how much effect people like Soken actually have when there is also a great team behind them.
Thank you very much! Yes, I find Square notoriously brushes many of their lesser known composers and arrangers under the rug because their main composers are micro-celebrities. Same thing happened with XV and Yoko Shimomura. An all time great composer, but there are SO many talented composers working on that game so it feels disingenuous when she becomes exclusively synonymous with the game (same with Soken in XIV/XVI, Hamauzu with Remake, Uematsu with X, etc..!). The other composers' names rarely mentioned in the opening credits, always just buried deep in the post game credits.
@@patrickrainville yeah its just easier to market single names I assume, since saying "its a Square Enix game" loses its luster from the variety of quality from them Either way still have respect for the big names im sure they contribute a significant amount but the others should not be lost in those long credits lol
Found the video from a reddit thread you posted it in. Really great work. It needs more views. I really appreciate it when people delve deep into soundtracks.
Incredible video. I absolutely loved the game, and for me, the soundtrack is my favorite soundtrack of any game (and possibly of any media) of all time. It's been the soundtrack to my life since it came out. Just a masterpiece. Thank you for making this video. Excellent work on your part!
@@patrickrainville 😉 Will be back next week! And thanks again for the time and effort you put into your work. Your passion is deeply appreciated by all of us over here.
I love this analysis. I think I got lost in the visual spectacles that the eikon battles are, and so I didn't really notice how much thought was behind the music. This is my second watch, now that I have listened to the soundtrack again and again, I love that I can identify the recurring melodies thanks to this video!
Thank you very much for the comment! I'm so glad this video connected with you. I agree, during the spectacle of the Eikon battles I often felt like I wasn't appreciating the music nearly enough. The game really warrants a second playthrough for the music alone. edit: also, if you haven't watched them yet, please check out part 2 and part 3 on my channel!
Great video, love the work put into highlighting the contributions of the various arrangers. Deeply agree with you regarding the virtual instruments but, like you, gonna keep this entirely positive :)
I loved that game and I loved its OST, though not really the electro (?) tracks playing during big battles betweens Eikons. During playing the game, I had difficulties to distinguish Clive's and Josh's themes. But I guess it's because they are both Rosfield and Eikons of fire. I think it's so sweet that they are so connected throughout their story, the game and their themes. So thank you for your video analysis because it is a bit clearer in my mind now. 😊 I have to admit that my favourite theme is Jill's. So much beauty, sadness, betersweet and a bit of hope in that brutal world. And by the end of the game, My Star hit harder thant the spectacular melodys play during epic battles. I cried so much with this gentle melody. Sometimes, less is more. But I agree with you, they could have been much more with it and with Jill's character. Also, you mentionned in the begining that FFXV and FFVI both started with a battle against Ifrit. I finished FFXV just before FFXVI, and I noticed it too. FFXVI is a kind of rewriting FFXV (the father death, the absorbing all the Eikons powers, Ifrit and Shiva impossible love story...), and so, when I heard Jill's theme during Shiva battle against Titan, I immediately understand that Shiva was Jill and that she will be Clive's tragic love. Or at least I feard for it. And I'm so sad that I was right. 😭 Music can convey so much emotions. They nailed it once again with FFXVI. ❤
Very well said. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Yes, I agree I found it pretty tricky to differentiate the fire eikons/brothers themes at points. Also damn that's a great a epiphany about the sort of reverse symmetry on the XV/XVI narratives... good catch!
This is a great, great, great video analysis, and I’m grateful that I was able to notice the link to this video. But I kinda see, why RUclips fails to recommend it, as the rest of the channel isn’t FF-related. And probably the theme is kinda niche… but anyway, thank you for all your effort, I hope that you had even more fun making this video than I had while watching/listening to it, and I did enjoy it immensely
Thank you very much Anton! Yes I agree, the channel is a bit scattershot. In 2024 hoping to figure out the specific focus for all of this. Definitely some more music analysis to come in the future. This was too much fun not to pursue :)
De grâce, svp faire d'autres analyses et nous les partager ! Cette analyse des thématiques musicales, qui influencent énormément notre intérorisation de l'expérience du jeu, devrait être incluse au jeu en bonus. ALLÔ : ALLUMEZ Square Enix !!! IL Y A QUELQU'UN???
I have no words...... I began to accept that the excellence and sublimity of ffxvi music are lost on people. I had been desperately searching for YT vids that discuss the topic in-depth but to no avail (until now). I'm a person who is deeply affected by music, and when 'Ascension' came on during the throes of the battle against one maddened Bahamut, i was completely swept away by the aesthetic perfection of the music, the plot, and the visual, which had come together to create a singularly unforgettable moment in storytelling. This may sound cheesy, but that moment in gaming and the track changed my life. I might get an FF16 bahamut tattoo just because of that 😂 And now Rising Tide is out, please do 'Cascade'!
Wow, that would be an amazing tattoo! I'm glad you found this video, and I hope you stick around for part 2 and part 3, also on my channel. I definitely plan to do a video covering the DLC at some point! :)
@@patrickrainville I'll definitely be following you closely--among the many view-count-oriented and hollowed vids, yours are substantial and a rare find. Thank you for all the work you've put in :)
Superbe, j'aurais préféré un peu plus de subjectivité mais c'est très bien quand même ! Je vais écouter les deux autres. J'ai remarqué une inspiration provenant de allegro moderato de Tchaïkovski ( ~9 minutes) pour le premier leitmotiv de ultima, tu en penses quoi ? ( Tout le monde s'inspire, d'ailleurs je suis sur que cette composition a aussi influencé John Williams pour leia's theme.)
Merci beaucoup pour le commentaire! En effet, je n'ai jamais fait la connection entre ce morceau par Tchaikovsky et cette parti d'Ultima, mais je l'entend, oui. Belle découverte! Et je dirai que les deuxièmes et troisièmes parties de l'analyse on un peu plus de subjectivité de ma part... for better or for worse! ;)
"Priceless" is part of Disc 8, which I think was only included in the Ultimate Edition of the soundtrack. Disc 8 is mostly unused tracks, along with a few tracks that didn't make it onto the regular soundtrack, for whatever reason.
Why haven’t I seen this in the last 10 months. I’m always looking at FF music analysis’ but this has never popped up. Bad RUclips. Dion is best man btw.
@@Duckman8213 RUclips has been slow to promote my videos, so I’m very glad you’ve found it! Please check out the other three parts of my XVI analysis, and my ongoing Rebirth series! 🙏
Absolutely, it’s on my short(ish)list!! I would probably do the original/Replicant first though, because of the recurring themes that show up later in Automata.
@@patrickrainville there is a reason that both Replicant and Automata won awards for best soundtrack. I’m actually more partial to Replicants soundtrack just slightly more than Automata solely because of Emil (Sacrifice) and the multiple variations of Shadowlords theme and Shadowlords Castle.
I need to play as Dion. Please...dlc...for characters.... I'm also hoping they add a patch like in 15 where they allowed you to play as other party members.
I would love that! Jill and Joshua seem superficially easier to program, since they are both “sword in one hand, magic in other” types, but it would be really interesting to play as a dragoon!
I got recommended this video. As much as I dislike 16 for the story, the music was great. I think I enjoyed the whole thing more compared to 15. Clive’s theme was really good and I really like Yonezu’s theme song… too bad how the story was told and the overall game put me off the whole thing… 😢 I’ll be surely binging your videos for a couple of days.
I saw someone on Reddit saying that this was the worst Final Fantasy soundtrack. He has also only played FF12 and FF15 so he automatically has bad taste, and can’t be trusted.
i truly hope some of the people who worked on the FFXVI music find this video so they can see how someone noticed and help show off all their hard work!!!!!!!!!!
I dusted off my old Twitter login to tweet it at Soken but I doubt he’ll see it. He probably gets inundated with fan vids
@@patrickrainville ....sohee MIGHt see it !!
I HATE youtube.
I search for a *lot* of FFXVI content (especially music), and this is right up my alley--- but I never see this in a search result or recommend. No, I find this video linked in a subreddit post!
Great job on the video!
Thank you, and welcome! Yes, I agree, RUclips is not very charitable when it comes to channels with microscopic subscriber counts 😭
I agreed! I have listened to almost all the other RUclips video about ff16 soundtrack since game released, only to see this video 5 months after its posted.
this whole video is painfully underrated. you deserve so many more views
Thank you Lake Dentist! 🙏
I jumped from my chair at the Ascension jumpscare just after Barnabas HELP
BEAUTIFUL VIDEO!! This is extremely helpful to appreciate more the soundtrack of the game, thank you for this!
Lmaoo sorry I never meant to scare you!! 🙇🙇♂️😏😼
Thank you for watching, and for the kind words. Stick around for part 2 and 3!
0:00 Introduction
2:24 Joshua/Phoenix
13:21 Hugo/Titan
17:28 Jill/Shiva
25:17 Ultima
31:53 Clive/Ifrit
36:58 Cid/Ramuh
40:43 Benedikta/Garuda
44:52 Barnabas/Odin
49:52 Dion/Bahamut
This is amazing. You deserve more likes.
Thank you Mr Bruce! I appreciate the kind words!
The theme that plays each time they destroy a Mother Crystal's core is my favorite, it's so ethereal.
Heck yeah, excellent track! Will cover some of the variations of the prelude in my part 3 vid ;)
That scene with Barnabas, Clive and Jill under water (well, between the ocean sides lol) was epic. What a visual, one of the best in the FF series I think.
100% incredible moment
I don’t know if it means I’m a dumbass or the music team is perfect that it didn’t feel like there were 190+ songs in the game, was super surprised when I read that number
Yes it’s very surprising! One of the deceptive reasons is because many of those tracks are used just once in a cutscene and never again. The town and location themes often get reused ad nauseum, which sometimes gives the score the impression of being quite short!
My favorite moment of the game was the Crystal opening up and blooming like a flower with the Bahamut music playing. Absolute tranquility.
Wonderful moment! I love that flower imagery.
Incredible video, deserves way more views. The piece that plays when it shows young Joshua holding Clive’s hand and sharing a smile breaks me down man.
Also Heart of Stone is so underrated, so loved how the lyrics work for both Clive and Hugo as it really is a clash of two titans
Thank you!
I hadn’t considered the parallels in Heart of Stone’s lyrics… good call!
when you mentioned you kept a spreadsheet of the music for this game, I knew I'd found a kindred spirit. This is an outstanding analysis, and my favorite kind of material to listen to on youtube
Thank you kindly, friend! 🙇♂️
as someone who's favorite game of all time is ff14, hearing that little bit of 14's garuda theme in control felt so fucking cool.
Yeah! That was so wild! Considering how subtly they've buried that melody within Control, I suppose there's still a possibility some of the other primal themes are referenced in XVI, but so far I haven't found any!
My thoughts have been consumed by FF16's music and more specifically the use of repeated themes it uses for the past year. Let me tell you how wonderful it was to find someone dedicated to put it all together in a Video. Thank you soooo much! You sir, need more views!
Thank you! Yeah, I was about halfway through making the spreadsheet for my own entertainment when I realised some folks might find this information useful!
Thank you for the kind words and for subscribing! I'm starting on a video covering the XVI DLC in the next few weeks. I'm not sure how long that will take to make... And please check out my videos covering FFVII Rebirth's music, if that's your thing too!
I just found this video, and can I just say, this is AMAZING. Thank you for putting this together - it's easy to listen to with the clips from the various tracks, and I love the clips you used. Just that spreadsheet alone is a work of art. I can't wait to watch your other videos too!
aaand if you ever want to get lost in the sauce of Ascension, I want to say that I am HERE FOR IT. I want to watch an hour long video analysis of Ascension
Thank you very much! That is very kind of you. I'm glad the format resonated with you. Please stick around for the part 2 and 3 videos as well, if you haven't already.
And you know what, I too would watch an hour long video about Ascension!
the audio balancing of your voice and the music is wonderful, and your commentary is insightful
Thank you Joey! This being a video about sound, that's as high a compliment as I can get!
You’re a legend for this video series ❤
Literally my pleasure! Thank you for watching!
This was a fantastic analysis. I'm so glad to find another person who recognizes the beautiful work of art that is this OST
Thank you so much!! That is very kind of you to say. I appreciate you taking the time to comment. I am currently putting the finishing touches on the third part of the video right now, so should be up in the next few days :)
@@patrickrainville ahhhh so exciting!!! I still have to watch the other part but i'm looking forward to part 3!
Amazing video, checked this one out after you posted about the second part on Reddit, thank you for your work. I have to admit I personally guilty of giving Soken credit for a lot of the work when as you showed a lot of talented people also worked on this, so thank you for teaching me about them ! Going to watch part 2 now !
My pleasure! I aim to inform! I hope you enjoy part 2 as well : )
Thank you for making such a detailed video.
My pleasure! Thank you for watching.
I just got recommended this video and wow, this deserves more views than it has. You did a great job organizing this soundtrack. I'm learning a lot, including the word 'antepenultimate.'
Thank you, Godot-san! I really appreciate the comment. Please stick around for part 2 and 3, and also the ongoing FFVII Rebirth vids, if those are your cup of tea as well.
Do you mind if I ask where you were recommended the video? The few gaming/FF communities I'm in don't allow self promotion, so I'm always very happy to hear that someone has recommended my video (although as I type this, I realise you might mean that RUclips recommended this video to you... in which case, thanks RUclips! :P )
Yeah, it was just RUclips. It showed up a few scrolls into my home page and I decided 'yes, I do wanna sign up for an hour of FF16 music analysis.'
A very fine decision!
This was such a wonderful listen--I had absolutely no idea how many permutations of the themes occurred throughout other scenes and you taking the time to find them all is incredible. This gave me a new appreciation for this soundtrack and your commentary felt like gushing with a friend over how good this soundtrack was. Thanks for the delightful video!
Thank you VintageAerith (sick name btw)! You might also enjoy the ongoing Rebirth music analysis videos on my page as well :)
Oh my God, this is an excellent video! Thank you so much for all of your hard work and for sharing! I'm not very musically inclined but I love soundtracks and have been searching around for a place to listen to all of the music because I love trying to pick out everyone's litemotifs and seeing what moments are calling back to them. Your video is so cool and did all of that for me! I was presently surprised when I learned that 'Away' was considered Joshua's theme (due to how intense it is, paired with his 'gentle' demeanor) and your breakdown of it is really incredible. Amazing, the amount of variations on these, also some of the theme titles are incredibly insightful. I hope you do more videos friend! THANK YOU for sharing!
This is very kind of you to leave this long comment. Thank you very much! I will likely get started on the locations themes in the coming weeks!
Oh wowww Ryo Furukawa arranged Ascension, In The Riddle, Logos and No Risk, No Reward??? And apparently he also arranged one of my favourite FFXIV track called "In The Balance"??...he definitely is underappreciated!
oh awesome! I don't know the Endwalker music very well at all, so I look forward to discovering that.
Furukawa has been keeping quite busy! Between Endwalker and FFXVI... but also I've noticed he's done a LOT of great tracks in FFVII Rebirth as well. This is really turning into his time to shine :D
Seeing Furukawa being praised makes me happy
Yup, that's his only contribution in FFXIV so far. He's not involved in Dawntrail 7.0. He also did All as One in FFXVI. The OST has a typographical error for the credit and miscredited it to Yoshitaka Suzuki but they've put up a notice on the OST official website on the correction.
@@LightKeyDarkBlade I meant to cover the soundtrack liner note errata in my Part 4 video but it slipped my mind 🤦
@@patrickrainville You can still make a part 5! 😆
Fantastic video, really made me understand what makes this soundtrack so amazing. I feel bad that I couldn't appreciate the usage of character themes and only noticed some motifs while playing myself (mainly Joshua's and Ultima's) but now I can listen to the soundtrack and really enjoy the great work the composers did.
@@Jozeffuccio thank you Josef! I hope you get as much enjoyment out of the other three parts!
Away is my absolute favorite battle theme in the entire series. It's so damn good.
Nice, I can’t fault that choice. It’s way up there for me too.
What an awesome analysis! I love how you broke it down, and def learned more about the lesser-known arrangers/contributors. Idk if you plan on making more music analysis videos but I’m subbed in case you do!
Thank you very much! Yes, I'm starting to think I definitely have at least the locations theme video in me.
Okay first, LOVE this vid. Love FFXVI music and watching the breakdowns were amazing because I could geek out about this all day. (or week, or year so far as it's been over a year since release). Can't wait to see part 2.
I do have to say I feel like you dropped the back half of Cid's theme? The graceful backhalf? For as much as the other tracks were broken down it's like you couldn't get off Cid's theme fast enough - I know there's not much, but feels like what little there was you still trimmed.
One of my favorite little bits in the game is how during the quest where you find a piece of Mid's questchain in the Orchestration, and the song that played (Old Bones) *is* Hide, Hideaway missing it's lead part reflecting Cid's absence in the Hideway itself was just one of the biggest emotional punches of the game, and it's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. That, and the fact it's tied to two huge emotional beats in the game (Clive discovering he's Ifrit and Cid's Death) - it's just something that one of the shortest, smallest, simplest songs in the game carries so much of its emotional weight.
That’s a fantastic moment in the game! Great analysis, thanks for sharing.
I agree, the back half of Hide Hideaway is very beautifully arranged, but I felt it was outside the scope of a video covering recurring leitmotifs since it didn’t add anything on that front. Similarly, I cut several incredible sections from Away and Ascension because they were one offs, not repeated elsewhere in the soundtrack :(
But thanks for the feedback! Hope you enjoy part 2 and 3! The episode covering the DLC should be out in a week or so!
I absolutely love the way this is set up, you lay out the information nicely and the moments of comedy are perfect 🙏
Thank you very much!
Based on your profile icon, I will recommend to you my ongoing Rebirth music analysis series as well! Might be of interest to you :)
@@patrickrainville I was already planning on checking it out once I finish the XVI ones!!
Incredible video! It was amazing to hear all the variations on the themes back to back like that, really helps to show all the ways that those themes get repurposed for different musical and emotional contexts. This must have taken a staggering amount of work. Your analysis is very insightful, I'll watch as many of these as you make!
Thank you, kind stranger! Def more to come! (eventually!)
Amazing video. Not really done watching it, but will continue with part 2 soon. You deserve more subscribers and way more views. It's so well made. Thank you!
Thank you kindly! Welcome to my channel! 🐺
wtf did youtube not recommend this sooner. Amazing video!
Thank you! Please stick around for parts 2 and 3. I’m currently working on the DLC video so stay tuned for that too!
Recently came across your XVI analysis series and I've been constantly coming back to rewatch since I really enjoy hearing all the different versions of the passages that I missed during my own playthrough. The self referential soundtracks have always been a favorite for me with Final Fantasy and it's very fun to see someone go into such depth.
I don't know if any others have pointed it out, but the 1st passage of Hugo/Titan's theme is also featured briefly in FF XIV during Titan's boss theme (Under The Weight) as a bridge to the second verse of said song.
Amazing video series! Excited to see more of your analyses ❤🔥
I didn’t know that about Titan’s Theme!!! Thank you so much.
I was about to export the XVI DLC video but that information is too good to pass up on!
@@patrickrainvilleExcited to see!
If you haven’t already watched it, the DLC video is up!
I love this video so much! Thank you for the analysis and for highlighting all the other soundtrack contributors. This was such a joy to watch and to listen to. If you ever have the time to spare to get lost in the Ascension sauce, I will definitely be seated for that.
Thank you! That's two votes for an Ascension video now hmm... 🤔 Although right now I am very much in FFVII Rebirth/Remake mode, I'll add Ascension to the eventual to-do list!
Please check out parts 2 and 3 if you haven't already! Thank you again.
Yep this is what i have been searching for after finishing the game
Yeehaw! Stick around for parts 2, 3 and 4!
@@patrickrainville I'm glad to see it. I was a bit dissapointed in the game itself but the music is some of the best from FF i have ever heard
Crazy this doesn't have more views watched the whole thing.
I appreciate you talking about more of the sound team since I'm always curious how much effect people like Soken actually have when there is also a great team behind them.
Thank you very much! Yes, I find Square notoriously brushes many of their lesser known composers and arrangers under the rug because their main composers are micro-celebrities. Same thing happened with XV and Yoko Shimomura. An all time great composer, but there are SO many talented composers working on that game so it feels disingenuous when she becomes exclusively synonymous with the game (same with Soken in XIV/XVI, Hamauzu with Remake, Uematsu with X, etc..!). The other composers' names rarely mentioned in the opening credits, always just buried deep in the post game credits.
@@patrickrainville yeah its just easier to market single names I assume, since saying "its a Square Enix game" loses its luster from the variety of quality from them
Either way still have respect for the big names im sure they contribute a significant amount but the others should not be lost in those long credits lol
Omg you have put all my thoughts about this music into a coherent video. Thank you 🙏
Thank you Adrian! Hopefully parts 2 and 3 of my analysis don't dispel that mutual feeling :)
Found the video from a reddit thread you posted it in. Really great work. It needs more views. I really appreciate it when people delve deep into soundtracks.
Thank you Jonahsahn! I greatly appreciate that. Please stick around, more to come in the future :)
Incredible video. I absolutely loved the game, and for me, the soundtrack is my favorite soundtrack of any game (and possibly of any media) of all time. It's been the soundtrack to my life since it came out. Just a masterpiece. Thank you for making this video. Excellent work on your part!
Thank you very much! Yes, I agree. They really knocked it out of the park!⚾️
Excellent work, sir! Looking forward to the next :)
Whoa, is this THE Koji Fox?! Thank you very much 🙇♂️
Should have the next episode done next week!
@@patrickrainville 😉 Will be back next week! And thanks again for the time and effort you put into your work. Your passion is deeply appreciated by all of us over here.
@@kojifox8535 That means so much to me. Thank you!
I've been binging your videos on FF16 all morning, awesome stuff.
The Riddle reminds me a bit of Dancing Mad FF6, the fervor.
Oh that’s a great observation about Dancing Mad and the Riddle; I can definitely feel some commonalities in their intensities!
I love this analysis. I think I got lost in the visual spectacles that the eikon battles are, and so I didn't really notice how much thought was behind the music.
This is my second watch, now that I have listened to the soundtrack again and again, I love that I can identify the recurring melodies thanks to this video!
Thank you very much for the comment! I'm so glad this video connected with you. I agree, during the spectacle of the Eikon battles I often felt like I wasn't appreciating the music nearly enough. The game really warrants a second playthrough for the music alone.
edit: also, if you haven't watched them yet, please check out part 2 and part 3 on my channel!
There is a lot of attention to detail in this video, gj
@@sciencepluspotato1294 thank you very much!
Great video, love the work put into highlighting the contributions of the various arrangers. Deeply agree with you regarding the virtual instruments but, like you, gonna keep this entirely positive :)
Thank you! I miiiight go harder on that point in the locations theme video ;)
Insane video, so detailed. Can’t wait to watch all of your other videos, especially Rebirth! 😂
Thank you Mason! I hope you enjoy them :) Working on Part 4 of Rebirth atm...
@@patrickrainville Can’t wait to see it 🤩
Thank you thank you thank you for this amazing video. I'm mad it was just recommended to me bc I try to watch all the music stuff behind xvi
thank you! ❤️
I loved that game and I loved its OST, though not really the electro (?) tracks playing during big battles betweens Eikons. During playing the game, I had difficulties to distinguish Clive's and Josh's themes. But I guess it's because they are both Rosfield and Eikons of fire. I think it's so sweet that they are so connected throughout their story, the game and their themes. So thank you for your video analysis because it is a bit clearer in my mind now. 😊
I have to admit that my favourite theme is Jill's. So much beauty, sadness, betersweet and a bit of hope in that brutal world. And by the end of the game, My Star hit harder thant the spectacular melodys play during epic battles. I cried so much with this gentle melody. Sometimes, less is more. But I agree with you, they could have been much more with it and with Jill's character.
Also, you mentionned in the begining that FFXV and FFVI both started with a battle against Ifrit. I finished FFXV just before FFXVI, and I noticed it too. FFXVI is a kind of rewriting FFXV (the father death, the absorbing all the Eikons powers, Ifrit and Shiva impossible love story...), and so, when I heard Jill's theme during Shiva battle against Titan, I immediately understand that Shiva was Jill and that she will be Clive's tragic love. Or at least I feard for it. And I'm so sad that I was right. 😭
Music can convey so much emotions. They nailed it once again with FFXVI. ❤
Very well said. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Yes, I agree I found it pretty tricky to differentiate the fire eikons/brothers themes at points.
Also damn that's a great a epiphany about the sort of reverse symmetry on the XV/XVI narratives... good catch!
Thank you for the music breakdown! ❤
My pleasure! More to come in the future
Just found the video - it's amazing. Great work! Thanks a lot :)
Thank you! I just published the LAST video, covering the DLC, yesterday, so good timing!
This is a great, great, great video analysis, and I’m grateful that I was able to notice the link to this video. But I kinda see, why RUclips fails to recommend it, as the rest of the channel isn’t FF-related. And probably the theme is kinda niche… but anyway, thank you for all your effort, I hope that you had even more fun making this video than I had while watching/listening to it, and I did enjoy it immensely
Thank you very much Anton! Yes I agree, the channel is a bit scattershot. In 2024 hoping to figure out the specific focus for all of this. Definitely some more music analysis to come in the future. This was too much fun not to pursue :)
omg this is so good! thank you for doing this analysis! (youtube algorithm finally doing its work)
My pleasure! Part 4, covering the DLC should be out in the next 24 hours.
37:00 the wrong cids had me dying especially the owl one
Glad you appreciate my humour 😎
Lol
This is excellent all three parts will be watched- and youve gained a new subscriber
Thank you, Venom Snake! Welcome! Look forward to more music analysis vids in the future :)
Awesome analysis, I'm trying to learn a bunch of songs from XVI and this is excellent!
Hell yeah, Seb! Thank you. What are you learning them on, guitar? Piano?
Piano, Greatwood theme and twilight are my favorite @@patrickrainville
@@sebmeyer2151 Oh wow those would both sound great on piano. Please share them with me if you ever decide to record them! Would love to hear them.
Not alone is my absolute favorite track from ffxvi. Instantly captivated me !
Agreed! Great track.
De grâce, svp faire d'autres analyses et nous les partager ! Cette analyse des thématiques musicales, qui influencent énormément notre intérorisation de l'expérience du jeu, devrait être incluse au jeu en bonus. ALLÔ : ALLUMEZ Square Enix !!! IL Y A QUELQU'UN???
Merci beaucoup! Oui, une très bonne idée! On s'achète des billets d'avion destination Japon ensemble? ;)
Im a big ff16 fan because of ita music. This video alone worth ny subscription.
Thank you very much, I really appreciate that! Please check out part 2 and 3, if you haven’t already! :)
Underrated video! Great job!
Thank you very much, I appreciate that!
The rise of tide DLC released even more music you can play during hideout
That is awesome to hear! Really looking forward to playing the DLC (once I am done with Rebirth!)
FFXIV players are now waiting for videos about their game ;)
I'd love to see your work on Soken's other musical masterpiece
Would love to! I’ve only played up to Heavensward so I am maybe not the best equipped to take on the job, but never say never!
I have no words...... I began to accept that the excellence and sublimity of ffxvi music are lost on people. I had been desperately searching for YT vids that discuss the topic in-depth but to no avail (until now). I'm a person who is deeply affected by music, and when 'Ascension' came on during the throes of the battle against one maddened Bahamut, i was completely swept away by the aesthetic perfection of the music, the plot, and the visual, which had come together to create a singularly unforgettable moment in storytelling. This may sound cheesy, but that moment in gaming and the track changed my life.
I might get an FF16 bahamut tattoo just because of that 😂
And now Rising Tide is out, please do 'Cascade'!
Wow, that would be an amazing tattoo!
I'm glad you found this video, and I hope you stick around for part 2 and part 3, also on my channel.
I definitely plan to do a video covering the DLC at some point! :)
@@patrickrainville I'll definitely be following you closely--among the many view-count-oriented and hollowed vids, yours are substantial and a rare find. Thank you for all the work you've put in :)
Thank you!!! Such a great video!!
Thank you very much! All three parts are now available on my YT channel, in case you need to go deeper!!
Superbe, j'aurais préféré un peu plus de subjectivité mais c'est très bien quand même ! Je vais écouter les deux autres.
J'ai remarqué une inspiration provenant de allegro moderato de Tchaïkovski ( ~9 minutes) pour le premier leitmotiv de ultima, tu en penses quoi ? ( Tout le monde s'inspire, d'ailleurs je suis sur que cette composition a aussi influencé John Williams pour leia's theme.)
Merci beaucoup pour le commentaire! En effet, je n'ai jamais fait la connection entre ce morceau par Tchaikovsky et cette parti d'Ultima, mais je l'entend, oui. Belle découverte!
Et je dirai que les deuxièmes et troisièmes parties de l'analyse on un peu plus de subjectivité de ma part... for better or for worse! ;)
GREAT VIDEO I LOVE YOUR WORK AND I LOVE FFXVI🔥⚔️❤️
Another satisfied customer! 🫡
Why isnt Priceless coming up on their official digital music release list?! 😭
"Priceless" is part of Disc 8, which I think was only included in the Ultimate Edition of the soundtrack. Disc 8 is mostly unused tracks, along with a few tracks that didn't make it onto the regular soundtrack, for whatever reason.
@@patrickrainville ohhh, thank you for explaining 🥲
Great video!
Thank you!
Why haven’t I seen this in the last 10 months. I’m always looking at FF music analysis’ but this has never popped up. Bad RUclips.
Dion is best man btw.
@@Duckman8213 RUclips has been slow to promote my videos, so I’m very glad you’ve found it!
Please check out the other three parts of my XVI analysis, and my ongoing Rebirth series! 🙏
@@patrickrainville Nier Automata music analysis. I dare you.
Absolutely, it’s on my short(ish)list!!
I would probably do the original/Replicant first though, because of the recurring themes that show up later in Automata.
@@patrickrainville there is a reason that both Replicant and Automata won awards for best soundtrack. I’m actually more partial to Replicants soundtrack just slightly more than Automata solely because of Emil (Sacrifice) and the multiple variations of Shadowlords theme and Shadowlords Castle.
100% agree
Damn are you kidding me this is fucking crazy i cant wait to watch this !!!!!
Thank you Kind Sir!!! Praise be to Yevon
18:30 I remember this moment
So you DO know Lahee!!!!
❤ascension ❤ this ost 🙏🏻 for this video
Thank you Sir Dane!!!!!!!!!
27:54 is that ultimas theme speed up?
It's what I'm implying, yes! Although to be honest I think it is the most tenuous of links and could very well just be coincidental!
i want the leviathan theme analysis so baaaaaaad
It’s coming soon! The research is done, I’ve captured all the footage I need, and I’m 80% through writing the script!
@@patrickrainville wooooow im hyped man!!!
I need to play as Dion. Please...dlc...for characters.... I'm also hoping they add a patch like in 15 where they allowed you to play as other party members.
I would love that! Jill and Joshua seem superficially easier to program, since they are both “sword in one hand, magic in other” types, but it would be really interesting to play as a dragoon!
30:38 bro gave up had me dying
I’m a simple man
Lol
I got recommended this video. As much as I dislike 16 for the story, the music was great. I think I enjoyed the whole thing more compared to 15.
Clive’s theme was really good and I really like Yonezu’s theme song… too bad how the story was told and the overall game put me off the whole thing… 😢
I’ll be surely binging your videos for a couple of days.
Thank you, and welcome! For me too, the music was easily the best part of the experience.
I saw someone on Reddit saying that this was the worst Final Fantasy soundtrack. He has also only played FF12 and FF15 so he automatically has bad taste, and can’t be trusted.
xD you gotta be kind to the FF purists 😂
I want to see that spreadsheet
Fair! I’ll try to share it when I finish the XVI DLC video
49:48 can someone pls explain?
Ascension is just mega powerful imo :)
19:32 whats that game
Theatrhythm Final Bar Line!!!!
Thanks!
Clive foi superado
Superado?
Thank you thank you thank you for this amazing video. I'm mad it was just recommended to me bc I try to watch all the music stuff behind xvi
Thank you! Yes, the RUclips Algorithm isn't super interested in my videos T_T
Please stick around and watch Part 2 and 3, if you haven't yet :)