The Music of Final Fantasy VI

I certainly have a liking for Final Fantasy games, though I haven't played too many of them. I have much more experience with the Kingdom Hearts series of games, a spin-off of sorts from the series. Of Final Fantasy games, I have only played to a full extent Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, and Dissidia Final Fantasy. I am currently playing through Final Fantasy for the PSP, and I'm writing a walkthrough on the Final Fantasy Wiki (go check it out!). Needless to say, I have an interest in the games.

However, there are also games that I do not like in the Final Fantasy series, the most of which is Final Fantasy VII. Having had it shoved down my throat in the entire Kingdom Hearts series didn't exactly make it a good memory. From the content and characters I have had the utter displeasure to observe and learn about, I can tell the game had truly nothing to make it special, and I can in fact identify many weak points in the game's structure and story. Also, no, Sephiroth is not the greatest thing ever.

Then, you've got Final Fantasy VI. I don't dislike this game, but I can't say that I like it either--because I haven't played it! From what I can only observe through articles and videos, the main character is certainly not one that I like: Terra Branford. Anyway, I was recently asked to critique several pieces of music from this classic game, and I figured it would make a good update here. So, here goes!





Terra
This is the theme of Terra, the main character. Oddly enough, though, I was told that this is not the theme played during scenes that involve Terra, as Cecil's theme is in Final Fantasy IV. No, this is actually played on the overworld map of something called the World of Balance. However, I am critiquing this as a character theme, since that is what it... well, technically is.

The song opens with a repeating movement of three notes and drum, which I found very boring and a bad choice to open up a character theme with. However, a nice flute melody comes in after that. Now, the flute melody was nice... but it was basic. It was not complex enough to stick to the main character and define her. After that is a low brass and violin soli, which I thought was arranged very well. Overall, the arrangement is very nice, but not for a character theme. As a map theme, this functions very well.

Awakening
Now this is the actual theme used during Terra's key scenes, making it a more appropriate character theme. I'm not sure why Nobuo didn't name this one "Terra" and the previous selection "World of Balance".

Anyway, there is a very beautiful, complex and melodic folk flute solo to open it up, which for some reason evokes an image of a Chinese garden of Zen Buddhism... basically, peace and beauty. BUT THEN, these horrid guitar alternations come in right after that, and offset that mood. It's like those guitar strings are a horrible explosion that goes off in the middle of that garden. I hated the sound of that. Afterwords, a nice piano melody comes in that mimics the flute melody--however, I am still left thinking about the flute melody, due to the lack of good transition between solos. The arrangement of alternating guitar notes changes after that to be very pleasing, and I quite liked it. If there was a better transition between the flute and piano solos, this could have been perfect. This fits very well as a character theme.

Dark World
This is the theme of the other world of Final Fantasy VI--the World of Ruin. In direct contrast to "Terra", this piece is odd, creepy, and you can here hollow winds brush softly past empty places.

I found this piece to be unsettling. Now, with a piece titled "Dark World", that's a good thing, right? No; I found it to also be musically unsettling. This does not feel like an overworld theme. In an overworld theme, several instruments are playing at once, solos are not common or at very well blended in. This is just the opposite. The sound effects in the opening are quite literally horrendous until they blend in. The music is so slow that you are forced to focus on all of the played out solos, which are more fitting for a character theme. Everything is focused on one at a time, as though this was defining a character. I asked someone if this was used during cutscenes or events. Sadly, he said no, but I think that "Dark World" would have been perfect being used in that way.

Getting The Falcon
The Falcon is an incredible, landmark of architecture airship in Final Fantasy VI, and is practically a treasure in itself, rather than just a tool for carrying and pillaging treasure.

Now, this being a very specific theme of not a character or scene, but something as specific as an object, I had to watch this in context, during a cutscene. In its context, the music plays great at the beginning, the pitch of the tune getting higher progressively to evoke a sense of hope and uplift, as though there was still a chance for... something. The music was in perfect tandem with the scene in bringing these pathos about. HOWEVER, a flute melody comes in, and it offset the entire mood. The feeling of accomplishment was killed by a melodic flute. A trumpet fanfare here would have been fantastic, but no. A flute killed this piece. A flute took a knife, found this piece sleeping comfortably with its wife, "One Winged Angel", and killed them both... though I can do without the Final Fantasy VII song.

Gogo's Theme
Gogo is a silly little character from Final Fantasy VI. Gogo looks like Gilgamesh from Final Fantasy V, but has an even more intriguing and awkward guise. His very appearance radiates a sense of oddness and a weird character, one that could easily become a cult hit.

His theme, on the other hand, is another arrangement blunder. The music is arranged very well--this time, the transitions between solos are there! The melody and instruments are odd enough to fit the character, which is good. However, this doesn't sound like a character theme! The music is constantly changing and never quite establishes a melody to stick with Gogo. In addition, the music's nature is so contrasting from the other pieces of Final Fantasy VI that it sounds more like a sound effect or medley of effects, rather than a piece of music. However, the song has a nice jazz feel in the middle and end--that's really just a personal note from me, though.

Kefka
Our last song, as well as our sixth! How coincidential... anyway, Kefka is the big baddie of Final Fantasy VI. Kefka is a psychotic clown, bent on destruction and his ascension to a god. Kefka is a defining member of Final Fantasy VI's cast--though his music is not.

The song takes quite a while to pick up, not providing any sense of a villain or evil, at least not until you become familiar with the tune--which may take most of the game! This really weakens "Kefka" by giving it a long and bad start. The transition is okay--it builds, but builds slowly and roughly. Then, the drum and melody come in, and these are N-I-C-E. I quite enjoyed this part... but it only lasts so long before a flute lick down ends it. As soon as that flute ends, we revert to a repeat of that horrendous beginning. This light verse is repeated several times throughout the song, creating contrast. Contrast is nice, but not in a character theme that is used to define a character. It's very catchy and I very much like the middle part, but the contrasting melodic weak verse really takes a blow on "Kefka".


And that's all! Leave a comment with your opinions on these six tracks. Altogether, I like the soundtrack of Final Fantasy VI; I'm being very picky as a musician myself. Though Nobuo's arrangements are nice, his weakness is that he is arranging them wrong. Nobuo is arranging character themes as map themes and map themes as character themes. This may have been Nobuo's blunder or the guy who placed the songs, but the pieces are very, very well made to force emotion out of you, and create the exact feeling in you that Final Fantasy VI wants.