Final Fantasy XVI - Ascension / To Sail Forbidden Seas | Reacting To Video Game Music!

[@KaelinaLovesLomaris]

FFXVI is absolutely one of my favorite games. It catapulted to the top somewhere around the Bahamut fight. My jaw was on the floor through most of it. It is indeed so very epic to play with Ascension playing in the background. Cinematic is definitely the right word to describe this game.

[@lockekappa500]

Ascension is attached to arguably the most impressive thing I've ever experienced in a game. (Which sadly you got a bit spoiled for you) I wouldn't worry about it though, once you experience it under all it's context, it'll hit differently.

[@tiradeee]

yes my thoughts exactly. ascension is a musical masterpiece that will (or should) go down in history as one of the most musically crafted video game pieces. a mix between baroque, opera, and Hollywood style music. soken in a GENIUS. I wish more people would listen to this masterpiece

[@kevinsezhi]

The soundtrack of ff16 is so beautifully melded into the narrative. Each of the eikons(ifrit,bahamut etc) have their own motifs are used perfectly to capture the feel, intensity, and emotion of each scene. It works very well with the character-focused story ff16 is. The hate and controversy is very misleading. Would love to hear more of your reactions in the future!

[@FlickTakFlakAttack]

No joke, when I heard Ascension in the FF16 Ambition trailer, it made me go preorder a PS5 just for the game

[@ShikiRyougi05]

Pre order a ps5? That trailer came out LONG after the ps5 was already out lmao

[@FlickTakFlakAttack]

@@ShikiRyougi05 bro doesn't remember the ps5 shortages 😹

[@ShikiRyougi05]

@@FlickTakFlakAttack oh i remember alright. That shit essentially was my full time job for 2 weeks. But when that trailer came out the shortages where long gone. It wasn't as easy as getting one nowadays but also not difficult at all. Also pre order strictly means to order something before the official release not when shit becomes available again.

[@FlickTakFlakAttack]

@@ShikiRyougi05 there was still a waiting list in my country at the time and i try not to be pedantic, but i just mean i put in my order and had to wait to get it

[@flare9612]

I bought the XVI in PS5, but was late to play it, when i was 3 hours in the game the announcement of PC ver came out and I withheld playing on PS5. And when it came out and turned out to be horsefart I just proceeded to play on PS5 again. If soken made the music, I'm sold immediately

[@Shadyman526]

The Bahamut fight was one of the most batshit, insane, over the top and memorable fights I've ever experienced in gaming. ESPECIALLY with the music, just absolute cinema

[@suros8105]

To Sail Forbidden Seas is a friend of mine's favorite orchestral pieces from Soken so I was very curious to see your reaction. Shout out to the Platinum member that gave their slot to make this possible!

[@lanonyme-vod8090]

YES. Finally Ascension my favorite FFXVI track About what you said with orchestral VGM, I think JRPGs with orchestral soundtracks often made a great job of keeping the melodies in the foreground. It was the challenge of the evolution of the media and I feel like games like FF15, 16, Xenoblade, Octopath, did an amazing job of keeping those striking melodies with a more advanced soundscape, often orchestral

[@spiritskyes]

Distant Worlds _has_ done Ascension, BUT they only debuted it (and three other XVI songs) within the past month!

[@Gnarlbones]

Ascension basically tells you all you need to know about the character it's centred around, about all the pressure he feels, the clash of princely duties and being made to go to war, his people's dependence on him - Dion is easily one of my favourite game characters and his theme suits him perfectly.

[@bushisback112]

FF16 is up there with the likes of God of war for most cinematic action games I've ever played. As others have pointed out and I've found out after playing multiple FF titles, ff16 combines elements from throughout the series its like the ultimate final fantasy setting in my opinion. Its easy to see why it divided some fans its a big departure from classic ff mechanics

[@Zuron]

1. Soken asks "can I have choirs for this" gets the thumbs up, we have the money 2. Someone says "We should have Koji do some English lyrics for the songs, just makes sense in the setting" 3. Soken books a (Japanese) choir that he likes 4. Now in rehearsal, nobody can make out what they're singing, but it sounds fucking awesome, so they roll with it And that's how you get these insanely well produced songs with totally garbled language. Just having one grammar nazi there could have made it even better. I'm sure these choirs are capable of correct spelling. But they won't consider this in their practice if nobody is there to tell them.

[@HitodamaKyrie]

16 is such a great game, and I love this music especially. My only real disappointment with 16 is that the world is so interesting that I want to explore it more than the game can allow.

[@LowSkillPlays]

Ascension is one of my favorite tunes from Final Fantasy period at this point. Its amazing. I listen to it a lot

[@askbjornmusic]

I just did this fight last night for the first time and holy crap. Might be the single most epic fight I've ever done in video game history and the music is just incredible

[@manip1980]

the thing you also can't experience by listening to it alone, is how the transition in the music matched the transitions in the fight. they timed a lot of the music perfectly to match the mid combat cinematic you experience. peak visuals in this game.

[@PetarBladeStrok]

I wouldn't say FFXVI is love or hate. It's more love or like. Some people thinks it's ok. Other adore it. Rarely I hear anyone hate it and its story. BTW. "To Sail Forbidden Seas" is actually a boss theme. Nothing to do with boats and sailing.

[@cherrydragon3120]

Bruh... Bahamuts bossfight did cost square enix like half their annual budget 😂😂😂 the graphics, combat, music is so fucking epic. Its INSANE how good that bossfight is. There IS NO EQUAL OUT THERE PERIOD

[@Maxbeedo2]

The fight where Ascension plays (To Sail Forbidden Seas also plays in that fight) is a legit S-tier boss fight that everyone should experience in some form, basically the peak moment of the game. The lead-up to it and how much it escalates was pretty mind-blowing. There are a couple other "very good" fights with excellent music of their own, and the rest of the game is... not up to the same level, but this one fight (and song) almost justifies the game's existence by itself.

[@cherrydragon3120]

There is no equal in how epic this bossfight against bahamut is in FF16

[@LowSkillPlays]

Regarding what you said at the end I think you should really listen to some other songs from the FF16 soundtrack like the Typhon and Titan fights because there's more going on than just the orchestral stuff. Thats just whats been highlighted the most so far. FF16 has some futuristic tech stuff going on as well in parts and when you get to those places the soundtrack really takes a break from the orchestra. Similar to FF14, FF16 pulls from a ton of genres. 14 has a lot of rock, EDM, some jazz, orchestra. It really runs the gamut of genres. FF15 is composed by Yoko Shimomura. I'll say Soken's music sounds the least like "video game" music out of Shimomura, Uematsu and Soken since he composes for an MMO primarily I don't think that's a bad thing.

[@komurmaldeb]

I'm like 90% certain that the part in To Sail Forbidden Seas that reminded you of previous Final Fantasies is a recurring motif throughout XVI's soundtrack. I've not played it myself, but I certainly remember hearing it in a couple of places. Also, not to get too deep into it--but one potential reason for all these tracks sounding somewhat fire related is probably because the main character himself is fire-related. Unfortunately "Find the Flame" didn't get in for the fire theme video, but it'll come up eventually. Also yes, I went to Distant Worlds recently and they played Ascension, with pretty much the same background video running. It's a whole experience seeing everything come together there.

[@lukes.854]

It's also in a BUNCH of FF14 songs, I like to call it the Hero Motif

[@wisha4884]

Final Fantasy 16 is beautiful. Music, story, themes, characters, and all that comes with it. The music is very orchestral. There's different kinds of orchestral in the game, but just as most music is supposed to do, it forces you to feel something. Whichever emotion that is, it brings it out of you. The layers that build and build take me somewhere else. When people ask me what my favorite kind of music is, it's complicated. Much of it is songs like this, but anything that makes me feel lucky to even get to hear it, is a good start. I saw them at distant worlds earlier this month in Seattle, and I was really excited to hear what they were gonna play. Before the concert started and all the musicians were practicing their own things before they tuned, I heard several violins playing that crazy run in Ascension and smiled. (I am also attempting to play the song on violin in my own time) People say final fantasy 16 is "not final fantasy" but man, I've never said "wow this is so final fantasy" more at every turn in the game than before when I was playing, it's kinda funny when people try to deny that ;) Thanks again for listening to two great pieces! Can't wait for more. 😊

[@LowSkillPlays]

I think people are surprised by just how much variety there is in the 16 soundtrack since you have heavy metal as well and some EDM.

[@wisha4884]

@@LowSkillPlays so true!

[@littevi]

Ascension is the - for me - most amazing song in the whole soundtrack. Was blown away by sound and fight and was really happy when I got the soundtrack and the music on its own was still mindblowing

[@cwhazzoomain]

FF16 is genuinely one of my fav of all time. The boss fights are on a whole other level. They are unbelievably impressive and give me goosebumps every time.

[@ladyvalken77]

It's a very divisive game (and rightfully so, I don't love all of it) but it's definitely my favourite FF overall. Finally a game beat out FF12 as my top tier, and the music is a big part of it. Strongly recommend listening to Do or Die, Titan Lost and Heart of Stone one after another, as well as Hamartia and Catacecaumene as a pair for some of the more out there (or rather, not pure orchestral) elements.

[@thalesn]

Well, the game's logo is Ifrit and Phoenix fighting... So it's only natural that everything will sound fire-y. hehe

[@ArcturusDeluxe]

The baroque violin type bit in Ascension at 4:40 and when they add the pumping backing drums to it is absurdly cool. Regarding your comments about FF going "big orchestral" style since FF12, you're kind of right but it's not the whole story. The FF13 trilogy has a lot of pop/electronic stuff with lyrics (underrated in my opinion), as do the FF7 Remake games. Even FF16 goes experimental with other genres sometimes. I feel like it's more that the orchestral stuff is the baseline for the series and then they branch out from there.

[@MTGHedgefund]

The hate for 16 is completely overblown and nothing like the hate for 8. A vocal minority changed the narrative with 16 because they couldn't cope with a mainline FF going full action and ditching the party system. And it's a shame, because people will tell you it's not an FF and yet it has more FF elements than any other FF, it's just not a turn-based, customization heavy RPG. It's high action, fast-paced, and insanely fun, with an out-of-this-world story.

[@Rixstarian]

W/ 16, you mean. 8 ain't action.

[@MTGHedgefund]

@@Rixstarian good catch! Just updated it 😅

[@Jmespo83]

I agree that the hate is a bit overblown and mostly people complaining about it not being a 1:1 copy of older games. I ended up mixed on FF 16. I didn’t mind the approach to the combat although I think the blend that Remake went with is better. It’s not a bad game but it definitely feels MMO to me which I guess makes sense given it’s done by Yoshi P. I also thought some of the Eikon fights really dragged on IMO. I know I’m really in the minority about that though.

[@ArtificialVik]

yeah as soon as i saw the overblown reaction to a game a friend of mine absolutely loved, i knew it was nonsense. can't wait for the pc port!

[@ShikiRyougi05]

It's ao fucking annoying seeing those fake ass final fantasy fans dismiss the game just because it isn't turn based (completely ignoring the fact thaz ff hasn't been turn based in like 2 decades). This game is fucking great and is as final fantasy as it gets.

[@-L1K-]

This track put me in another existence.

[@nekohara9]

ディオンにぴったりの曲ですよね❤かっこいい❤

[@Tabbycat2701]

I love ascension, it’s so intense. I think the music in the game was definitely written for the sake of enhancing the specific experience of playing the game rather than just to be stand alone music, a lot of the songs in the soundtrack are tailor made for specific cutscenes and the boss music blends very well with the gameplay. It’s a great experience imo

[@jamesriccio1997]

There's so much going on in the fight when Ascension plays that i wasn't able to appreciate it until i looked it up after the fact. It's since shot up to one of my favorite of all time.

[@DanePimp]

So happy to see this. Happy it came so soon, so ty platinum mystery patreon person. J you aught to listen to Ascension’s lighter version (Beyond the Heavens). Glad you liked Ascension btw. You’re right, it requires multiple listens to really hear all of it- so much there. I do hope you’ll play one day- I’ll watch you enjoy

[@cupafail]

Oh it's SO epic when you're playing, as a lot of it syncs with what's going on

[@osurac14vlb]

Theres a very good reason why FF16 won best soundtrack over all its competitors for sure. The game itself may be divisive, but if you want an emotional story that will put you on your ass while wowing you with incredible visuals, its this one. Most complaints are about content or gameplay.

[@Boethion]

On your point on FF16 being musically influenced by FF15, as someone who actually finished FF15 a couple weeks ago the battle theme does have a strong similarity and specifically "Stand your Ground" and "Veiled in Black (Arrangement)" share the aggressively forward vibes of "To Sail Forbidden Seas" imo.

[@arrgber]

I mean, sure, MIDI and "8bit music" sound more subdued, but hasn't FF always been about epic, orchestral and energetic tracks? Yes, 16 mostly does away with guitars and synths, but those ARE used a couple of times. 15 and 16 aren't really THAT diffrent from the older titles. Proof of that are the Pixel Remasters OSTs which were rearranged with Nobuo Uematsu's supervision, and are basically the definitive edition of his work, and it sounds a lot like 15 specially.

[@kaizerzero07]

I've been waiting for these, i love this game.

[@Arksimon2k]

Woo! Two of my favourite tracks from FFXVI.

[@MicahBoy]

Glad you liked the tunes! The calm part in To Sail Forbidden Seas is such a powerful use of contrast. You know it's an intense song in an intense part of the game, but you don't *truly* feel the gravity as much as that moment in the song. Anyways imagine hearing that in game lol About your question for Final Fantasy games sounding like their predecessors, part of that is just Uematsu isn't working on them anymore. His successors are younger, and have different tastes inspiring different genres and moods altogether. I do think major bosses will continue to have big cinematic orchestra themes, but even then, you can look to some of Soken's work on 14 being radically different. I recommend you check out some of the slower, calmer tunes in the newer games. Themes of world zones, towns, and such will really take you back to the classic Final Fantasy games. The newest 14 expansion, Dawntrail, has a lot of themes that transported me back to FF9, more playful, childlike moods. I'm sure you'll get recommendations from that soon, if not already :)

[@tiradeee]

ascension is a musical masterpiece that will and should go down in history as one of the best video game tracks of all time. the mix of baroque, opera, and Hollywood style music creates an intense yet elegant atmosphere to this boss fight. I just wished more people would experience this musical masterpiece

[@puppetMattster]

What's cool about this game is that every boss theme is a turbocharged epic version of that boss character's leitmotif that you already heard several times in cutscenes.

[@daistellae]

hey jesse! I've been into FF pretty much since i have memory, i think the biggest compliment i can give to this game is that im going through my 4th playthrough and i still listen to its OST regularly (?) great videoo!! ❤

[@MsOnisama]

I hope someone requests The Riddle from XVI at some point. My favorite death march, and favorite summon! ( hopefully one with footage! )

[@PalomaMcClain]

I requested more FF16, it’s gonna be so worth the wait. 😎

[@sentinam5810]

Titan and Odin next pls🎉

[@digiopsnyc]

I had the fortune of being able to see Ascension live at Distant Worlds, it was amazing.

[@Mindistortt]

ooooooooooooof i love both songs soooooo much i couldn't stop to listen to sail forbidden seas once the game came out

[@Kuponobu]

It's interesting to hear your views pertaining to the future of the franchise. I for one feel like we have moved past the days of Nobuo Uematsu, but only in a general sense considering he has stepped down for the most part now. However, his inspirations will continue to course through future works by means of his successors. Soken has gone on record many times, citing Uematsu's earliest works as some of his greatest inspirations. With FFXVI in particular, and props to you and your ear for catching on, there are several tracks that have pieces taken directly from other Final Fantasy titles. This was intentional. I feel like the one thing that CBUIII does wonderfully is respect their predecessors, and for Soken in particular he fastens his songs as his own, but with a foundation built on nostalgia and love for a franchise that can never truly be replaced. He is truly a wonderful composer and Nobuo Uematsu has stated that the franchise is in good hands.

[@kingant100]

Somebody needs to request "sixteen bells"(regular battle theme). The motif of ff8 is amazing at the start.

[@stephmendes_]

Intimidating is definitely a good way to describe the game. FFXVI is in the middle for me. There are some things I love about it, others I disliked a lot. But listening these songs right now (especially the second song) made me miss the game so much.

[@SlyAceZeta]

I haven't finished the game yet, so I won't be looking at the other comments yet, but I've been watching your reactions to these themes (as long as I've actually heard them already) and loving them. Ascension is so damn good and To Sail Forbidden Seas is also really awesome. Hearing Ascension live at Distant Worlds last month was so epic. The violins, the violins! EDIT: 7:38 😂

[@TarundiMC]

I think epic orchestral will always be in style, but I don't think it will stay dominant for another decade. I think the FF16 OST worked really in game, and obviously it has very high production value, but it's not one that I find myself listening to much by itself. I think I prefer when orchestral is mixed with other genres over pure orchestral pieces in general.

[@Bdannn1]

To Sail Forbidden Seas is one of the best boss pieces ever made, fight me

[@siencrosse3400]

i love ff16 to death and these are 2 of my favorite songs in the game

[@robintheforeteller]

It's a good point to say this soundtrack has a lot of fire, considering the logo for this game is ifrit and phoenix. Haha.

[@Lanewreck]

Watch the titan fight lol. It's a trip.

[@MizukoMidori]

i got to experience ascension at the most recent distant worlds and it was an amazing experience. (the whole thing was) you're right about this game being very BIG overall. It's boss fights are incredibly epic and cinematic (almost too much so sometimes). As a game over all I liked it a lot, it's a great emotional story with epic fights and memorable characters, but it doesn't rank on my favorites. I think it's polarizing because it's very different from past entries. They tried doing some new stuff and making a purely adult game (like I'm not a fan of over the top gore, but it didn't put me off the game either) and there's a lot of departure from what people might consider final fantasy staples.

[@Varizen87]

One of the more interesting things about 16 is Soken pioneered new tech for music in games that allows it to be adaptive to your performance. However, by design, you should never notice. He’s shown samples but it’s so seamless. 16 is a good game in my opinion. In you like Devil May Cry, the battle director from dmc was brought on, and so a lot of people who don’t like 16 in part dislike the dmc style game play.

[@SolProxy]

They do speak english I believe, they maybe japanese singers though so its hard to tell. I definetly want to hear your reaction to all the boss themes though, they're all sick.

[@mgsRyder]

Ascencion is the best one. Such hype and such craft. This game is incredible, one of my top 10 of all time honestly. Was so hype to see you reacted to these two! Good recommendations right here. Love it.

[@CidtheOutlaw]

i want more ff xvi reactions that was awesome!

[@arjanzweers6542]

Yeah, you really cannot have a healthy discussion online when it comes to FF16. People either believe it is the greatest game ever made or is the worst game ever made and refuse to accept anyone else's opinion that does not agree with them. It is absolutely awful.

[@_..Osh.._]

Someone needs to pass this guy the titan theme

[@rezahydra]

Still waiting for you to hear Heart of Stone from this game haha

[@Kaxuria]

Born in 94, started this saga since I was around 8 I'd say (Wasn't very efficient a it, but very willing !) My first was 8 (I love despite knowing it's flaws) then 10 (Best fucking game ever) I would say 16 isn't a bad game by any means. It's so far away from it was before, it barely can qualify as an RPG anymore. It's now a fairly good DMC-like action game. But people had just other expectations. And personaly, I hate 15. While I think the game is mediocre, it's not even for that, but for the way it has been sold to us. To me, 15 was the point that SE turned from video-game makers to money-printers.

[@DrakeSilvos]

Aww yee Ascension

[@commentwar4802]

You should react to "A Far cry from Heaven" from FF16.

[@OrehBelich92]

Ff16 is a very, very good game if you want a more linear, non openworld experience

[@christianito20195]

FINALLYYY!!

[@markschmidt3081]

Pretty sure the large majority of ffxvi music is vsts and not live orchestra. That was my only disappointment with the game.

[@ShikiRyougi05]

That's just how soken does it. Be happy you get real vocals instead of most ffxiv tracks that don't even have actual language at release but instead are just latin sounding gibberish xD

[@Tom-gp2uo]

the main real negative in FFXVI is the same issue that FF7 remake had, a lot of the side quests are pretty meh and people get tired of doing them(a couple great standouts tho). There's one main lull in the story that has you doing some mundane stuff to advance it for a bit, but other than that it's really excellent. Besides that its just the same garbage part of the franchise fandom that's always been there. "this game isn't turn based and it isn't FF unless its turn based" even though there's been plenty of non turn based games, and even within them the games change nearly every single mainline game mechanically in a significant way.

[@voistar5387]

To be fair, the FF fanbase is extremely inconsistent in their criticisms. I mean Rebirth has all the issues Remake had (+a few additional ones since they tried going open world with it) and has terrible writing and pacing issues and yet its fans try to say its 10/10, greatest FF game ever made with barely any issues. Like I am not going to pretend to be a professional ciritque, but I am pretty sure a game like Rebirth cannot be a 10/10 (or 9/10) when so many design problems in its open world and objectovely fails at one lf the core pillars lf a JRPG woth its story/pacing.

[@TonberrySage]

Time didn’t save 8 though……took me 15 years to beat that game from boredom and I’ve played all the main entries besides 11…..

[@puppetMattster]

FF16 has flaws, but you don't notice them until after the game is finished and you think back on it. It's a 10/10 experience while playing.

[@Catsamex]

I've said this before, but the boss fights are actual peak gaming. However, the story falls apart and loses its established identity in the second half and most of the characters are unfortunately not given enough screentime besides the MC. Where this piece plays is basically where the game peaks for me personally. Soken is the GOAT though.

[@Rhaethyn]

Ff16 is good but flawed. I was frustrated because of just how close it came to being truly incredible.

[@ian2714]

FF16 is fantastic, it's def the vocal minority that whine about it. One of the best stories in the series, a great combat system, one of the best soundtracks imo as well, and top tier characters. Not much more you can ask for.

[@valence686]

Ascension: this is impressive musical writing, but it's also... trailer music to me, sorry if i'm offending some people with this take. It's generic and takes from a lot of classical pieces without... doing something real with it. It's epic though, no qualms about that. Summarizes the game a lot for me, if just with that fight: all flash, little substance. Forbidden Seas: this small bit of bizarre soft music you mentioned felt EXTREMELY jarring to me in the boss fights this music was accompanying. Absolutely out of place.

[@BrandonTjon]

The game is okaaaaay. Lot's of setup, not a whole lot of pay off. Kinda falls apart in the second half. 7 Rebirth is a whole different beast compared to this one, from exploration to narrative. This one has an really crazy presentation though.

[@gabrielnovais871]

Rebirth's narrative pacing is WAAAAY worse than FF16, and they screwed up with the OST and boss battle for that final surprise boss. But, regardless, both games are very good on their own way

[@AndrewHadi07]

lol just okay.. allright sure.

[@kamposteria7307]

I love the story from beginning to end and I feel like it manages tone changes and pacing far better than 7 Remake/Rebirth

[@voistar5387]

​@@gabrielnovais871Just want to clarify you are referring to the boss after Lifeclinger right, because Lifeclinger was amazing and changed my mind about it not working as a final boss if they had decided to be faithful to the original scene.

[@pesjp8244]

dude talked over the best part of Ascension. the pain lmao

[@dphi-uk]

I enjoyed XVI but it is mediocre compared to the earlier games in the franchise. Same goes for the music. Nobuo to Soken is underwhelming. Soken and Yoshi P have developed a cult following from XIV which are pretty hardcore. Soken is great in his own right, but his quirky compositions are no better than what is found in From Software games. We were just spoiled by the GOAT in times gone by. Personally I prefer the melodic chip tunes Jesse refers to over the orchestral/operatic stuff.

[@kamitorings]

Game is pretty much mediocre but Soken is the 10/10.

[@Supernerd471]

FF16 is all flash with very little substance. It LOOKS cool as hell but it's a bore to play. Regular combat is like baby's first action game and the boss fight are little more than glorified quick time events that go on waaaaay too long.

[@gabrielnovais871]

tell me you just mashed without telling that you just mashed and used ultimates the whole playthrough lmao

[@AndrewHadi07]

you control your own difficulty man..

[@makotoamamiya2442]

That is just wrong

[@SolProxy]

​@@gabrielnovais871 I mean I do think when compared to DMC the actual variety in the combat isn't as good.