Oh fuck. It’s the best one. Officially stated by Sakaguchi himself to be the best one. IX is absolutely in my top 3 FFs. I love this game, it makes me cry, it makes me smile, it has a wonderful cast, a heartwrenching story, and it has an absolutely amazing soundtrack. There’s something about the way this game sounds that’s almost… echoey? and it makes it feel magical in some way, like this is right out of a storybook being told to you and you’re imagining it in your mind.
This list was so hard to pick. A part of me was almost like “let’s do more than 5 songs” because of how difficult it was.
5. Battle 1
It’s been a minute since I’ve picked a main battle theme, but this one is absolutely deserving of its place. This song I think encapsulates the sound of FFIX, which is just the thing I guess I’m doing with these top 5s. It’s like a synth rock orchestra, which I think is just Uematsu’s jam (have you ever listened to The Black Mages cause the same sound goes over to there but with more rock/metal). The intro has the perfect sound for how the battle transition scene Looks, and the slower (key word -er, not slow) tempo matches the speed of the battles (I’m phrasing this in a good way here but FFIX battles are slooooow). I love the horn going higher and higher into a short guitar interlude, then repeating with even more instruments. This whole song sounds like you’re continually building up and up, it absolutely rocks.
4. Vamo'alla Flamenco
I certainly never would have expected my medieval fantasy game to have a flamenco song, especially during a play, but I absolutely fucking love it. It’s absolutely perfect for the moment it happens, with the played up sword duel, the show for the people; it’s like some Princess Bride Inigo Montoya shit. I love the guitar and the constant clapping, like the audience themselves is playing the song alongside the show orchestra. I feel like my words are just saying the obvious, they were clearly aiming for these vibes but I guess what I’m saying is they absolutely succeeded.
3. The Final Battle
Also known as Grand Cross. Say what you will about this fight and how the final boss makes no sense (it makes some sense but yeah I get it), this song slaps. You have this Minute Long creepy intro where it’s like “oh yeah my favorite instrument? the souls of the damned” and then it goes into this heavy rocking banger. This game has killer synth instruments, man. I love the organ in the back absolutely rocking out, especially on the off beats, I love how the song sometimes goes back to its creepy opening with some more souls of the damned and some haunting instruments. I love the main melody and how everywhere it goes, and I love the drums going ham. This song is hype as fuck.
2. Not Alone
How do you make an emotional moment even stronger? Music. ….That’s a stupid statement, literally everyone knows that. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. The scene this plays in is incredibly powerful; Zidane finds out what he truly is, pushing all his friends away, and they come to his side regardless to help him. It’s LITERALLY in the name; He’s Not Alone. This friendly ass monkey looking motherfucker who has been an absolute joy to everyone has his breaking point and his kindness is repaid. I should talk about the actual song and not the moment, but the moment is part of why specifically I love this song. You have this somber opening with this really neat pipe sound in the back, and this plucking noise (I think it’s a harp? I’m not sure) with a deep, almost empty flute. It gives you the emotion of what Zidane is feeling. And then the guitar and the synth comes in, and it feels stronger. The choir comes in, and it gets even stronger. These are his friends! This is the backing of strength he needs! The song makes itself more powerful with friendship!!! aaaaaaaa!!!!
1. Over the Hill
I swear to god. Uematsu was doing something magical with all of the PS1 overworld themes. All 3 of them made their respective lists. Over the Hill is my absolute favorite Final Fantasy overworld theme in the entire series; I could honestly listen to this song for hours. The quiet boops in the background with a slow synth violin playing like the wind across the fields, then one of the main melodies of the game playing with a really cute synth piano. The song builds up more and more, with more layers dancing with each other; a little guitar, a pan flute, a horn, some shakers and quiet percussion, and another dream-like wind instrument playing as well. This might just be me, but when I think of every part of this song, I think of the main cast of characters, each instrument being one of them, and all of them together creating something more than what they are individually. I swear to god dude I’m honestly tearing up right now listening to this song and writing my feelings down that’s what this does to a motherfucker
We’re doing a second fucking paragraph for this song alone. Listen to the Dissidia version too. It keeps that same magical feeling that IX has, but throwing some heavier noises in there, befitting of the fighting game that it’s in, with a quiet droning guitar playing in the background intensifying this soft ass song but also making it really work??? It’s incredible. The other song that I’m plugging in here because they share the same leitmotif, is Melodies of Life, the credits theme. It takes that same main melody but makes it a vocal track. The reason I bring it up, is to me these songs are inseparable. When I listen to one I think of the other, and it lifts it even higher.
Honorable mentions go to the entire goddamn soundtrack, but if I had to pick a list; Oeilvert (which was so close to making it onto the list you have no idea), Battle 2, Festival of the Hunt, Quina’s Theme, Black Mage Village, Iifa, the Ancient Tree of Life, Aboard the Hilda Garde, Pandaemonium, Crystal World, The Darkness of Eternity, and Behind the Door. (yeah it’s fucking bad man this entire ost is a masterpiece) (also shoutouts to The Sneaky Frog and the Scoundrel)
