This has a similar vibe to ‘Neath Dark Waters from FFXIV to me. You get to the final area, an extremely ancient city (or city like area) and… it’s calm? It’s chill for some reason? I would expect something intense for what might be the end of the world, but no. This feels just like a fun, spacey sky island. The enemies spread around are called Sprinklers and Groundskeepers, showing that this is just… a big garden. And I really find that charming. I love the harp and marimba in this song, in particular, not to mention when the greater melody pops in in the second half of the song.

This is one of the new main settlements in this part of the game, Rabao being an oasis in the desert. I really love the acoustic guitar in this; combine it with the flute and shakers and it really gives you that desert vibe, but with a sense of life. Again, like with the last one, the song really picks up midway through, with a really interesting string pluck/wind instrument combo sound in a super fun melody that I love.

This is another main settlement in RotZ, and the first one you (or at least I) get to first. It’s a little fishing village next to a jungle, founded by the Mithra (the cat people). I’m not quite sure what the main instrument is? it’s definitely a string instrument, but it’s like, metallic in a way. Whatever it is, it’s addicting to listen to. When the song picks up and introduces the drum set (which is slight but also makes all the difference!), it almost reminds me of Zelda in a way? Like something I’d hear in Wind Waker, and that gives me nothing but happy vibes and smiles. And as usual, this song at some point hits a very specific combination of notes, right as it peaks, to just tug on my heart a little bit.

We’ve been chill vibes so far, but now it’s time for the intense stuff. (I say intense, but XI at its most intense is still a lot chiller than most games which I really appreciate) I hated this song at first, because it felt off rhythm and super weird and terrible. But then I started to listen more, I found the really weird tempo it was going at, and that’s when it clicked. For reference, this is the major boss theme in this expansion, where you fight one of the main villains, and also where SMNs get their summons (plus other things but those are the most notable). I love that really deep bassy back track, makes it sound like bubbling lava. You throw in the tambourine to really help you find the strange rhythm, and then finally the horns tell you it’s time to fight. Absolutely one of the weirdest but also most fun songs I have heard in really this whole series. Not because of what instruments it uses, but because of how it’s composed. Shoutouts to Stranger of Paradise where, in a game full of remixes of songs, they just fucking update this guy 1 to 1 and tell you “Yeah, I made this song originally, you get to have it again but even better.”

Ohhhhhh man. I will start by saying: this pick is absolutely influenced by nostalgia. This is the boss theme of the Ark Angels (or Crystal Warriors whatever you wanna call them), and as a kid? I thought these were the coolest motherfuckers I’ve ever seen. Pale warriors with red eyes wearing all black, the physical manifestations of each race’s prime sin?? Dude. I was popping off. They’re still super cool to me I do not care what people say. But also, this song is so fun to listen to. Similar to Tough Battle #2, it has a really interesting backing track. The xylophone with the heavy hits (I think they’re strings?) gives you this really puzzly alien feel that you get lost in listening to. I don’t even really know how specifically to explain why I like the main melody either, other than it’s just really fun! Then it goes into this sort of waltz part, where the bassy horns hit you with this sort of offbeat rhythm to give the main strings more bounce. it’s such a cool theme by itself, and you add on the fact that the things that it is the theme for are also really cool? Amazing combo. This is probably my favorite FFXI song out of the entire game, and if I had just consolidated this onto one list, this would still be #1.