MUSIC DIRECTOR REACTS | Answers - Final Fantasy XIV
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- Опубліковано 7 тра 2024
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Thank you Robin for the patreon request!
i dont know if i wanna ask but can you react to dusttrust phase 3? i would love you to react to it!
I'm very glad you enjoyed this piece of music, this game Final Fantasy 14 has done so much in the world of music I'd recommend even more from the series. personally I vote for Footfalls or close the distance, but anything from that game especially in recent years is fantastic. 100% in love with this reaction by the way. keep up the great work!
You should do XIV's Endwalker - Footfalls! plz
@quicknugg you guys might want to check if he's done footfalls already before you recommend it lol, besides in the balance is better
Bold of u to assume we aren't here already.
the ffxiv community will come, it is only a matter of time, now somebody with more money than me go pay him to do in the balance or tomorrow and tomorrow
this is just another huge rabbit hole
You may accept this fate, or defy it, but you cannot deny it.
We’ve arrived
@@ultraboy971 :)
We are here!
I'm a simple man.
I hear Answers, I cry and I like.
Thank you. I cry. Every. Single. Time.
Bro fucking same, this song makes me fucking weep.
Ngl. Listening to those ending lyrics. I never realized fully how much they fit with the end of the story. Like it's literally as if they knew exactly what they were going to write 10 years before it happened.
@@TNTspaz They have mentioned that they didn't have all this fully planned out, so instead I would say that the writers did a phenomenal job of taking the pieces that were already placed down and making it fit into a story that felt like they had planned from the very beginning. I do feel like that is an even far greater achievement too.
Hearing Answers especially in Shadowbringers and then in Endwalker and hearing the lyrics and coming to understand them more and more felt really good.
Any dislikes on this video are probably people who missed the like button because their eyes were too wet
Answer has 2 meanings,
You get the first meaning by starting the game
You get the second meaning by finishing the game
The second meaning wasn't even a concept when this song was written. It was shoehorned into meaning something with the song after the fact.
It's like hearing a song on the radio and applying it to whatever your current situation in life that you're going through, is.
@@VaultArchive72incorrect. The devs actually wrote Endwalker to fit with the song, not the other way around.
Or you could say the second meaning was a tree that grew out of the first meaning. The whole game has had a chance to grow over time with the song always being an element. The “our souls have been torn” certainly gained a new meaning. I wonder how it felt to hear it in Endwalker for those who went through the end of 1.0 with that playing as overworld music?
@@VaultArchive72 This game is always written with lots of open ends that are developed later. It's not a crystalline entity made once ten years ago in its entirety and doled out in small increments. It gets written on the way, like any MMO, but unlike many others, it's always looking forward and back unto itself, to leave breadcrumbs for the future and to pick up those threads later and weave them.
No, the second meaning didn't exist when it was first written. It was resignified later. This is a good thing.
Not only does this play in the final 1.0 cutscene but somehow they managed to incorporate it 10 years later into the story again but with a completely different meaning and context. To me this isn't just the best song from FFXIV but one of the best in all of video games due to it's importance to the story.
For reference, since that scene 10 years later, I literally can't hear this song without crying. It was this good of a moment.
@@NibelungJ i'm out of that phase but that was me for some months after endwalker too xD
Seeing a particular cutscene in Endwalker (you know the one!) while this is in the background and the lyrics are lining up so well… WOW. I have no idea if they planned that far ahead or were just clever enough to mold things to fit the song, but either way, it was fantastic.
@@madpolitico we know almost for sure that they did not play this before shadowbringers! They took these super lame villains, the ascians and made them incredibly layered and complex RETROACTIVELY! It's so cool.
Agreed. It's one of the best video game stories I've ever seen. I started playing a few months before Endwalker released, so basically I played through the whole story in one go. It was incredible, and the music at various points was way better than I expected from a MMO.
This piece is context immortalized. It came with a cutscene that played when the servers for the game's original launch shut down. Narratively, it was the Bad End and an Armageddon the player characters had failed to prevent. But the context of the lyrics changed with the most recent expansion as a result of new insights about the setting and its origin. It was a prayer to Hydaelin asking why life was suffering, and interestingly enough, a decade later, you actually get the answer in the game's storyline.
And the fact that it has a version of it for the fight with Hydaelyn called "Your Answer" i must say i was truly crying during the first few times i was fighting her, having played the game since 2.0...
"No more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise. Henceforth, he shall walk."
@@evandavis5223 And by walking he will become stronger. by being weaker individually they will become stronger collectively!
@@evandavis5223Such an incredible line. 😭
@@evandavis5223I teared up just reading that 😭
"No more shall men have wings to bear him to paradise. Henceforth, he shall walk."
The one single sentence that immortalised this song, along with FF14, into the gaming Hall of Fame
"From that temptation...I sunder us."
Literally one of the best writing in the last decade. The fact they made this song 10 years before they even knew where they were taking the story and incorporated it into one of the greatest moments in media blows my mind still.
That scene gave me the chills. It gave Answers suddenly a different context.
It's incredible how biblical this track actually is..
That whole cutscene was amazing and made her my favourite Final Fantasy character. Well, she's tied with Zenos.
The game's context aside, this song speaks to me on a painful level. When I started playing this game about 4 years ago, I was in a dark place and questioning my reasons for living.
Why was I given live, only to suffer? What is it all for? What are my reasons for living? Why endure this pain?
Then this song comes around and just slaps you firmly in the face with all these reasons to live.
To make promises. To witness beauty. To feel emotions. To hear music. To listen to the tales of my elders. To follow in the footsteps of those before me.
To wander the earth in search of something new. To stumble, make mistakes, and learn. To teach what I have learned to others. To whisper sweet nothings to a loved one.
To value a gift I was given. To hope that tomorrow will be better. To ponder a fascinating topic. To welcome new people to my family.
I could go on and on and on.
I can't hold all these reasons for living, Hydaelyn, pls calm down.
Lol trying to type through my tears but I wanna let you know how much I appreciate you o’ stranger on the internet. I am beyond words and overjoyed to share these feelings and experiences with you.
I’m so glad this “game” exists and that it’s …just… I don’t know. The words are gone. God I love it and what the creators have given us. Thank you Yoshi P and team.
This game is free therapy of the best kind.
I know it sounds cringe to some people but I had the same epiphany as you. The game taught me about the things that are worth living for, and I was really down bad back then. It probably saved me tbh
I'm glad this comment resonated with people, but I want to caution people that it's not that this game cured my depression or something, that's not how that works.
But it DID change my perspective from "I wouldn't mind if a truck hit me rn" to "Actually, I probably would mind a bit."
Even among deepest despair, my friends, there can be joy. Good luck out there.
@@veradrost9654 excellent disclaimer 👍✨
The FFXIV OST is a can of worms that no one on music reaction UA-cam is prepared to open. Uematsu's torch for this game was passed to Masayoshi Soken, a man who takes every genre of music as a challenge to surmount. His genre is "Yes." Uematsu you've got orchestral pieces and rock pieces. Off the top of my head, Soken's work on FFXIV includes those, punk, ska, electronic, metal, industrial, surfer rock, what I can only describe as 'whimsical Disney music', hip hop and probably a ton of other genres I'm forgetting. Every content drop for this game is a treat not just for the story that comes with it, but because we're always unwrapping a mystery box of "What has Soken decided this thing's theme should be?" He writes one of the game's most beautiful and powerful pieces while in the hospital with cancer, ad then at Fanfest after he recovers, he runs up on stage with an otamatone and then sings one of the game's songs so horrendously off key that another of the game's composers who was playing piano for this has her chin attempt to withdraw into her neck out of horror. The man is a chaotic mad genius.
Soken is a treasure. Because of him.....
We all know La Hee! ;)
"His genre is 'Yes'.
Perfect 😂
So very much this! Uematsu is a master and Soken is a gift. The music is a HUGE part of why I play FFXIV. (I'm stealing the 'genre is "yes"' line, btw, too good :D)
All I gotta say is "LA-HEE!!"
This :D .. Genre: 'Yes' ... its perfect :D
The song by itself is great but the foley and other sound effects from the original video really enhances the song, in my opinion. The dragon roar, the shields hitting each other, the giant fire ball getting closer, everything. The song is also altered a bit to fit with the drops in the original cinematic, so I can understand why, as a musical analysis channel, you would prefer to breakdown the pure song version, but you do miss a bit of the impact the original cinematic has.
Think this the theatrythmn version on the 3ds... haven't seen it on switch one yet
I agree, the trailer adds so much to the emotion. Bahamut's roar really sells "you're screwed"
100% agree, This is an ok version, but the original cut scene version really really adds more impact. The live Distant Worlds version is also stunning
as someone that came in to this game at 2.0 ARR and heard this anytime i went afk and with the trailer, i 1000% percent agree. without the background noises it doesnt hit home . but it still a amazing ost and i love it. FFXIV music is soooo good. i listen to it on its own alot.
6:18 Susan Calloway (The female singer, and 'voice of Hydaelyn' in this song) is Answering the choir.
15:00 It's actually the reverse here. It's the choir answering to Susan. to Hydaelyn, the very world they call home.
That second part, is the people's answer to Hydaelyn. That even through this chaos, this unparalleled destruction. They WILL find a way to go on.
"In the same fleeting moment, thou must live, die, and know". I absolutely love that line so much, it's such a perfectly ominous yet thought-provoking line to end such an intense piece of music with.
One thing I really love about Answers (along with a lot of other music from FFXIV, for that matter), is that you don't really need any lore or story context to be able to appreciate their lyrics. They're open-ended enough to where a person who knows nothing about Final Fantasy can listen to it and interpret meaning behind them. The lyrics play more into the themes and morals behind the game's story, rather than the specifics of the story itself.
You can figure out without any prior knowledge that this song is a lament of life itself. The suffering that it necessarily includes, the death that it inevitably ends with, and questioning the reason or point behind all of it. Why do we even live if our lives are destined from the start for suffering and death? The name "Answers" is not referring to the song actually answering these questions; it's the people of a world demanding answers from whatever higher power may or may not even be listening, and finding none of the answers they beg for.
FFXIV seems pretty lighthearted and whimsical from the outside, but it tackles a lot more dark and heavy themes than you'd probably expect.
And i feel like its so with most of the games story, sure there is plot and its fictional story. Its open ended, the player feels, hears, seeks and finds answers. Probably their own answers and so it shall be. Its amazing song in so many ways, but there were circumstances that lead to its existance.
Tldr i agree, i just really appreciate the whole package.
Also i remember i listened to this song way before i even knew of ff14's existance and yes i was mesmerised.
And in my experience it just got amplified when i got into the game and saw the cutscene years after hearing the song alone. (Maybe i am just biased for fantasy worlds)
All FF has a dark side. It wouldn't be proper writing without it. But Ishikawa turned out to be a bloody master at it. From the DRK quest line, which is just psychotherapy, to Shadowbringers and Endwalker, there's not been an FF that has been so dedicated to not just telling a story and teaching hard truths, but also to provide hope, meaning, therapy and even ... Answers.
The fact this song was 10 years old and the way it was utilised in the most recent expansion is actually peak. Ff14 has an amazing story
Big Endwalker spoilers:
It makes it really cool when you think about it in the context of: We got the Answers before the game had even launched. We've had them the whole time, from the very beginning.
Endwalker was the journey of us finally coming to understand the question.
Whats even more impressive that they took this complete masterpiece and started writing the plot based on the themes of the song. So this song both began and ended a story told over 10 real time years.
You can break a ff14 player by just singing to them: "thou must live, die and know"
Oh and now you have opened a box of a decade of incredible music you can make videos on. Personal favourites "Scream" and "Dragonsong".
I'm seeing a lack of "And Love You Shall Find," "In the Balance" and... *ahem* "La Hee."
I legitimately like Civilisations (aka La-Hee). And don’t forget A Long Fall (from The Twinning). Although some of my favourite tracks are The Warrens (Snowcloak) and A Land Long Dead (The Burn).
@@TheWickedWizardOfOz1Don't forget "Close in the Distance."
@@ConManAUCivilisations was my most listened to song on Spotify in 2022. So I'm there with you.
You know...la hee?@@TheWickedWizardOfOz1
I wasn't ready for Answers either the first time I heard it. Still utterly stirred in spirit every time I hear it, even more so thinking of the memories of the game itself.
And now after Endwalker it stirs up emotions even more in a new way.
@@mccoyrj452 Extraordinarily so
@@mccoyrj452 I just started down the End Walker path and with the main story I'm like why did I see it heading this way. It make me feel kind of like Sherlock Holmes from the BBC TV series where you see it coming and you like they are going to do this. Then you get the cutscene showing what you knew was going to happen then they throw in one little twist. Then your like there is always one thing just like Sherlock.I figured the whole thing was just the result of the fight between Hydalin and Zerg, or however you spell his name sorry, I called it a fight between mommy and daddy. Daddy took the Ashians and Mommy took the rest. Did not figure them to be the first and oldest Summoned Primals, should have from the fact that they are being praied to all the time but you know hind sight and all.
Oh man, Tony, you just opened a can of worms. Prepare for the FFXIV requests to Flow.
Important context about the vocals is that they represent a prayer. The people petition their goddess, asking why life is only hardship. She responds, telling them they must decide. The first call and response features the male vocals lamenting over their woes while she responds with things they don't understand. But, progressively, their prayer becomes more positive, and they begin to live with more conviction, upon which they reach a unanimous conclusion with their goddess.
In the second verse, the goddess speaks from her perspective, regarding her own hardships. Only once the people understand the value in their lives can they be receptive to what she needs from them. The second call and response flips the vocals, such that the people have achieved the conviction to answer their own question. Thus, they harmonize to deliver a conclusion: That only in life and death--rapture and sorrow, but also the dreams and conviction that come with them--may you find the answer to existence.
I see what you did there.
Flow is beautiful but I think it hits harder when you know about Answers and understand the context. That 10-year later callback is why it makes so many people cry.
Edit: and, of course, Amanda's vocals are absolutely insane (Flow).
Man. Listening to this gave me the same chills I had in that part in Endwalker.
Tahnk you for posting this. it is the same thing I was going to post and say.
@@guzhenn This wasn't Amanda. This was susan calloway. Amanda replaced her.
Oh no, we’re doing Answers? Getting the popcorn ready
This is at 69 likes. Out of respect, i will not like. Nice.
@@agntzeroness You're getting popcorn? I'm getting tissues bro
Don't forget the tissues
This is why Nobuo Uematsu is revered as one of game OST's legends. Completely immortalized through his compositions in FF.
Uematsu didn't directly work on that much music in XIV but DEFINITELY left his mark on the legacy of the game. So much of the OST is just references or arrangements of his previous works, and Answers gets referenced constantly in Endwalker.
The man, the myth, the legend.
@@ZephWraen I think they said that in reference to Answers which was composed buy Uematsu
@@sehrverrueckt3358 yeah, I know Uematsu composed Answers. I was just mentioning how much of his legacy is respected in XIV's OST. I was agreeing with their comment.
@@ZephWraen My misunderstanding then, carry on.
Uematsu paved the road so Soken could run
It's one of those songs where you listen to it and you're like, this is amazing, then you beat the game and now you cry every time you hear it.
Man, this is one of my absolute favorite songs. I struggle to actively listen to it, without being almost moved to tears. Nobuo Uematsu is an absolute master of his craft.
There is so much about this song that I adore that I can't put it all into words, but I just love its deep connection to the game. The story of A Realm Reborn, of the development, that is, less so the one of the actual game, is one of my favorite stories, and this song just represents it so beautifully.
The men's choir at the start is the people of Eorzea, begging for answers, wondering why they have to suffer so, and then the rest of the song is sung by Hydaelyn, the Goddess of Eorzea. It's such an interesting song, since you start playing the game, and you have that song in mind, and slowly connect things to it, and then the game goes on and on, and it actually gets recontextualized a few times. Especially towards the end of Shadowbringers and then in that one scene from Endwalker, which is one of my favorite scenes out there, due to this song.
What a beautiful piece of music. Thank you for your perspective on it.
The cutscene in Endwalker where this song plays hits me harder than I think anything I've ever experienced in a game. It's such wonderful storytelling.
@@SomeCallMeAku "We will find our way, Venat"
OMG right in the feels! @@rosariofloridia6882
Man. Ten years later, I can't hear this song without flat out sobbing. What a masterpiece.
And it just keeps getting better.
This song was always pretty heavy, even back in A Realm Reborn. That said, what they did with it in Endwalker.... wow, just wow. They made this song just so much more impactful with the added context.
It took THIS long for Answers to be requested?!
That's shocking
Footfalls was reacted to first saddly lol plus this song has been copy struck before.
bro i watched this video and it made me not wanna listen to the ff xiv soundtrack
@@JButterZJIf this makes you not want to hear the rest, then you probably shouldn't. The game isn't for everyone.
But check back in 20 years and you might get it.
I consider "Answers" to be the most important song ever written and a part of our cultural heritage, it's a true masterpiece. The lyrics are a testament to that, especially the last 5 verses. The song perfectly describes humanity, what it means to be human, the trials and tribulations, but also the hope, the effort, the beauty, the future. We are here but for a "fleeting moment", might as well make the most of it. "Thou must live, die and know". Certainly was an awesome surprise to see you react to it.
Here's some other songs from FFXIV to check out:
"Flow" (on the same level of importance as Answers)
"Dragonsong"
"Dedicated to moonlight"
"Return to oblivion"
"What angel wakes me"
"In the balance"
"Scream"
Shadowbringers.
"Dragon Warrior."
And with that, Tony proved he was indeed from the old school.
It's true
Certified hood classic right here
I have always seen Answers as a cry to a mother, first the children are crying out for help with a world they don't understand, the mother answers them and gives them the nurturing they need to grow. They then start to grow and learn to live, the mother encouraging them and then the children have grown into their own and can stand side by side with her. Finally they grow old and think back on their life and take up the mantle to keep that cycle alive for those who come next. Such a beautiful song that perfectly captured the rebirth the game was about to go through.
It kind of is. without context just watching the cinematic it feels like Hydaelyn (The woman) is speaking to us, the characters being killed in the war between the Empire and Eorzean alliance, and the dragon which got released (Bahamut). but after you start the game the song changes it's meanings, especially in Shadowbringers where you first find out more about how the world was before our time. before the time of what the cinematic portrayed. We then start hearing this song as the call from the original people who lived before, crying out for help, crying in misery and pain with Hydaelyn as the voice for it all, but with Endwalker...
With Endwalker we found out the whole truth, of what happened, and how even if her own people would scorn her, even with them all dying in hatred of her, she had to do what she did to ensure there would be a tomorrow to fight for. And before we got to this, we had to fight her kin (Ascians, the original occupants of the Planet) and why? to live. to die. to know. which is what in the end of the song is said. Ascians all just wanted to live, to know everything, why they had to suffer for us to come and take their place while all they wanted was to go back to living as they had. And in the end the last of them we fought, not as a real enemy. but as someone who had been there with us the whole journey, guiding, helping us. We gave our answer to Hydaelyn and showed her that what she did was not in vain, and that we were strong enough to take the mantle of responsibility now. Not too unalike how a mother becomes old and its now the children whos job it is to propel us to the future whatever it may be. At the end of it all, we got to finally end the threat to the planet, we got the revenge for Ascians who had died in what they thought would be in vain, and we survived. In a poetic way it's all just a story of Humanity, from our infant stages to adulthood and now we are the ones with the reins to guide the next generations.
Some quotes that sticks with me ever since Endwalker that all still in a poetic way all come from the same concept that Answers showed us back in the end of 1.0
-A quest to find your purpose, knowing your end is assured. To find the strength to continue when all strength has left you. To find joy even as darkness descends...and amidst deepest despair, light everlasting.
-So let there be no way back. From that temptation I sunder us. No more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise. Henceforth, he shall walk.
And of course both Hydaelyn and Zenos's quotes.
-“Has your journey been good? Has it been worthwhile?” -Hydealyn/Venat
-"Was this life a gift? or a burden?" -Zenos
It's all a matter of perspective for everybody. for many of us even today are like Ascians who cling to what they know, not being able to see a better future because they might not get to live to see it. but in all of that darkness and misery, and only there we might find light everlasting. a beautiful conclusion to the story of Realm reborn.
I had the pleasure of hearing this song live during the last Final Fantasy Distant Worlds tour. It completely changes the experience of listening to this song. I cried hearing it live, feeling the energy in the room and the emotion of pouring the last 10 years into this game. I cry almost every time I listen to the song now--just totally overwhelmed by the emotions it carries. Her voice is something else and this song carries so much meaning and memories. The song selection is a surprise every time they do Distant Worlds, so I had no idea that this would be the song she sang, but I'm so glad that it was. I'm so glad that I got to witness this live.
You have no idea what kind of beacon you just lit, hahaha. There’s a whole fandom about to break down your door looming. Myself included!
Names you’ll see are Nobuo Uematsu and Masayoshi Soken a bunch with this one.
This song has an insane amount of meaning for the FF14 community. Not only was it used at the end of 1.0 and for the intro trailer of ARR, it was recontextualized in one of the hardest hitting cutscenes I've seen in the game 10 years later in the expansion that concludes the story started in 1.0.
Mom (Hydaelyn) was everything I ever wanted out of a MMO Christ analogue.
@@highlyeducatedtruckerOh, same. She's in my top three favourite characters of FFXIV.
One thing I love about Answers is the part that's like "Walk (Think)" because the first grouping of it has the male vocalists do the first word and the female vocalist do the parenthesis, but the second group of it does it in reverse.
"Thou must live, die, and know." 😭
Absolutely chilling.
The Distant Worlds orchestra recording of this is also incredible and has even more interesting lyrical and melodic lines.
Thing with FF14 music, a lot of these pieces are specific to events in the story and carry an emotional connection for those that play and experienced that moment which makes the music even more so meaningful.
You can't be disappointed with a FFXIV song :D Can't wait for the reaction
Trust me when I say Final Fantasy 14 has one of the best soundtracks you will ever hear. There are so many tracks that fit so many different moods and genres. Soken's work is nothing short of incredible.
Hell ya! Thank you Robin for the request.
This song was so powerful back then, and it only became that much more so with it's use in Endwalker. That one simple line, Answer together, took on so much meaning.
Yeah, this one is special for a lot of reasons!
Great video, dude!
Hearing this performed live is a transcendental experience, as someone who was there when FF14 originally shut down and then back for ARR until now there is so many feelings that come up with this song.
i swear, everytime i listen to this piece. i pick up words and phrases from it that they managed to use in the current / new patches of the game and it makes me break down sobbing when i tie down those connections :(( and i gotta love that church organ ugh.
you cannot listen to this piece once and expect same stuff. there are times id watch it to grasp the cinematics. there are times i wanna just enjoy the instruments and music itself. there are times i pick up pieces for the lore. ugh brilliant ;w; i saw this on my youtube front page and i loved how you broke down the whole thing and explained things :3
First video I have seen and been suggested(which make sense that it's this video because it's one of my favourites).
Sadly I didn't play Final Fantasy XIV when it came out so I was unaware of any of this sort of content until years later, I don't know why but this song seems to evoke intense emotions for me and I can't really put my finger on why. Perhaps it's that I am very interested in the story, perhaps the lyrics have a sentimental meaning but this is an absolute masterpiece in my opinion. The folk who put it together, the haunting singers and everyone involved did such an amazing job.
Thanks for the breakdown.
The shivers everytime I listen to this piece, especially the line "Walk free, walk free, walk free, believe". I can't get enough.
Nobuo Uematsu and Susan Calloway. Such an amazing piece.
Prepare for more FF14 song requests!
If you like Answers, then Tomorrow and Tomorrow is one to listen to.
Absolutely!
When I got to see this at a live Final Fantasy concert event with Susan singing, it's probably one of the most chilling and beautiful things I've heard in terms of music. It's amazing that no matter if it comes from a soundtrack from a video game or a more commercial piece of music. If it's good you will get a feeling!
The way you described the lyrics falling through the cracks and not lining up, when you go through the story of ffxiv and in your adventure quests you start learning more and more and filling up the spaces. Such a beautifully woven story with amazing music that when you listen to each song, they take you back to every part you experienced and the goose bumps mixed with tears and laughter.
I just love ffxiv T_T
Those of us who played ARR and did Coils feel much different when listening to Answers. You hit T13 and listening to it while trying to prog the fight and then suddenly the crescendo kicks in and the entire Sony carries you through the raid.
The entire raid had a bitter sweet feeling. My group were excited about clearing the fight but there was always moments of silence as people were rocking and the music would just be playing.
Damn it still hits hard even to this day.
god i love this song so much. I listen to it all the time and whats better yet is that the song is given an entirely new meaning after the most recent expansion, tying the whole story together. Its great music writing and ties into the great story writing too. Theres some really great pieces from this game.
Been a ffxiv player for 10 years, this song and Close The Distance make me cry every time
MAN I LOVE THIS PIECE. The algorithm sent me here and I'm glad it did. The cinematic blows my mind every time I see it. As a musician and gamer, I am so happy when my worlds cross like this
This song literally brings a tear to my eye when I think about 2.0 and its launch.
I can understand looking at the lyrics version, but the original version is sync'd up MUCH better music to visuals and it makes a HUGE difference.
With the context of the original and then endwalker, I can't help but become emotional whenever I hear this song.
I haven't been in band class since 2010 but watching your videos, even with music that I've listened to an uncountable number of times, always makes me try to pay attention and listen to the music without the emotional attachment I have to it.
You're gonna get swarmed with FFXIV requests now lol. Not that it's a bad thing, Nobuo and Soken are geniuses.
Now that you’ve finished 86 I think it’s time for the LilaS reaction!
For me, this was one of those songs I listened to over and over when I first heard it and I just couldn't hear it enough. Every time I restarted it, I heard something that I missed the last time. Haven't heard it for years and it was really cool to hear you go through it!
oooh shit dude this is gonna be good
Thank you for covering this Tony. FFXIV has a special place in many peoples heart.. especially after the last expansion. My only hope after seeing you cover this is that you could experience why singing the last line "In the same fleeting moment, thou must live, die, and know" would bring so many people that have played the game to literal tears. So i hope one day you will be able to play this game all the way to endwalker. It is.. a journey.. one that is worth it. :) Thanks again! Oh and, please do flow.. same game. :)
Song brings me tears every time. So glad you got to experience this :D
Answers is such a good piece, cool to hear it here, and I just noticed on the sidebar a video of yours on Dragonsong, definitely gonna watch that next :D
Im pretty sure Answers can draw a tear from anyone who has played FFXIV for any period of time. Not only that bit about the servers getting shut down and rebooted that you heard about in the request but they also use it in other places to tie things back to that event and there are a couple different mixes of the piece but when it plays during a fight its the most amazing thing ever!
Always always get chills when I'm listening to this, what an incredible piece just so full of emotion
This piece honestly stands strong even outside of the context of the game, it's haunting even ten years later, and is both heavy with sorrow and hope. It really stays with you and I'm hoping to hear it live in concert someday! Answers is heavy but always worth the suckerpunch to the feelings.
As someone who went through the end and the new beginning of this game, thank you. I was crying as soon as the song started. This video is so special to me.
Over a decade later and this song still makes my hairs stand on end❤
My favorite part during the triplet section is that the tenor/bari/bass half of the chorus sings the first word, the solo voice speaks the response, then the soprano/alto half of the chorus repeats the response. Then it switches for the next set of four words, with the women singing the first word and the men repeating the response.
Answers always makes me cry. It's just so well-done and fits perfectly with the cinematic.
I just was searching if you had covered "Answers" like a week ago, glad i didn't have to wait long i knew you'd love it lol. It is what i pretty much expect to hear in heaven
I love the construction of this song. The singing of the men's chorus at the beginning is the broken hearts of mortals, then we have the response from the world's Goddess who is basically say: I'm here, I hear you, I am here for you.
As someone who's played through every Final Fantasy, Answers is certainly the most cohesive letter to the fans of one of Square's worlds. I loved the technical dissection of the first half, it's nice seeing the work receive the praise it demands with each passing year on YT.
As a FFXIV player since 1.0, this game has meant so much to me. This piece of music move me every time I hear it. It is amazing the ranges of emotions you can feel from one piece of music. Thank you for this video and breaking it down!
Great analysis thanks 🤩
Love to see more.
I heard this in concert where Susan Calloway was there to reprise it, and man, it was impressive and amazing! This music is some of my favorite to come back to over and over. And as a long time 14 player, I appreciate this!
Answers always hits hard. Every time I hear it, it just takes me back to when I first started xiv, first time hearing it. Never gets old. Great video, man
I was a 1.0 player. Before the servers shut down, the usual music in the cities went away and this played instead, female vocals only, in a distorted echo. We couldn't really understand it but we tried to get what we could from the distorted stuff... Then in the final days before shut down, the GMs and devs flooded the servers with monsters, and not even the cities were safe any more. And then at shutdown, they had this cutscene play. (They gave us a UA-cam link too so we could rewatch it.)
Susan Calloway's raw, anguished voice near the end brings me to tears every time. This song is called "Answers" and as others have said, the lyrics give us an answer to why we should live on even though living hurts sometimes. (Or in the case of the players of XIV, why we should continue playing the game even though 1.0 was kind of bad. Paying for XIV Legacy was one of the better financial decisions I ever made)
That is so cool. What a moment
One thing I like that wasn't mentioned by Tony here is that when we have that first chorus call and response part, the call comes from the male bass choir who represent defeat and despair, with the female voice doing the response which represents hope and defiance. It's almost like hope is doing its best to just barely cut through overwhelming despair.
But then in the second half when we return to the same call and response format, the roles are reversed - the female voice is doing the call while the male choir responds. And with how defiant the female vocals are in this part, as well as the male choir no longer sounding defeated, it's almost like hope finally prevailing over despair and uplifting the spirits of those who were about to give up and perish.
Really powerful stuff.
Been playing FFXIV for a few years now. Can't listen to that song without tearing up.
When you do have the context through playing the game and all its story, I think this song just becomes the peak of video game music. Somehow you can hear this song throughout 10 years of the game and every time its played you'll think you find a different meaning to the lyrics. Absolutely love this masterpiece.
This was one of Nobuo Uematsu's best works, I believe. I been a FF fan since the OG 7, but played all of them up to the current gen, and his work still outshines even most of the new items (with the exception to Soken, who does most of the music now for FFXIV.) Answers was just a song that hits in ways that you would never think, and then it continues to hit even after you think it's done. He is a legend in the FF music space.
Ive heard this soooo many times over the years and it still gives me goosebumps evey time.
Maaaan, I really can't listen to this one without dropping a tear. It always gets me. Years later after playing the Endwalker-Expansion it hit's so different.
I had to drop what I was doing when I saw this video show up in my feed. Amazed you haven't reacted to this one yet because the FFXIV music community is very passionate lol. Looking forward to watching!
It's been over 10 years that i've first heard this song, and to this day i can't listen to it without tearing up. It blew me away back then but after playing the game for over a decade all the additional story context created an even deeper emotional connection for me. I just LOVE it, easily one of my favorite pieces of gaming music ever.
This song also held its true meaning secret for 10 years. Its true meaning was finally revealed in the Endwalker expansion. It goes even deeper than you know. Endwalker ended up being therapy during the pandemic. Nobuo, Soken, Yoshi P. have given us something special that a great community has formed around. I count myself lucky to be among them and to have experienced the gifts they have given gamers. Nobuo's music saved this Marine's life when I was at my lowest. Soken has carried the torch into the next generation with his talent and heart that exceed anything I could have hoped for. This music carries the hopes, dreams, trials and pains of a community. What you appreciate in technical expertise, we measure in memories burned into our hearts. Memories of times spent with friends. Stories of loss and love and courage in the face of despair incarnate. We also appreciate you. We are seen. You find value in what we hold dear. This could just be the ramblings of a man who definitely feels older than his age, but thank you none the less.
Thanks Tony. Great to hear your analysis on this masterpiece of a song.
Answers is my favorite track from XIV - I have favorites from all the expansions (Dragonsong from Heavensward and Tomorrow and Tomorrow from Shadowbringers are examples), but Answers still tops them ALL. I get shivers and chills each time I listen to it, which sometimes isn't good because it plays during the final fight in the Coils of Bahamut raid series AND during the Bahamut phase in Unending Coils of Bahamut (Ultimate), but it still stays.
I can never hear this song without crying. It's so sad and touching at the same time.
This is the song/trailer that first got me into FF14 in the first place. Susan Calloway's performance of both Answers and Dragonsong are enough to move one to tears. As a long time fan of Nobuo Uematsu, he really hit this one out of the park; I'm a huge fan of electric organ used well and Nobuo is a madlad with the electric organ in several of his compositions.
This song is EPIC. Thanks for reacting! It really helped me understand why it feels so satisfying
The emotional level that everyone who stuck with 1.0 experience when the server was shut down, and this video was dropped by Square Enix and we finally found out what the big red moon was.... Contextually if you play the game now through Endwalker... the meaning behind the words, the apology by the voice for what is to come.. gets me choked up even though i've seen it dozens of times.
I cant listen to this song without tearing up, it always reminds me of how beautiful the story is built from ARR to Endwalker, how powerful a character Hydaelyn/Venat was.
this song always brings chills down my whole back, its crazy specially remembering all my moments in game.
Uematsu's a chameleon. He'll go fuckin anywhere with a piece of music. He'll start classical, dip into prog rock, go metal, drop a bossa nova riff, throw in a guitar solo, whatever. Dude was doing some crazy avant garde stuff, and he was doing it in children's games in the 90's using midis. It's so fun watching people who haven't heard much of his stuff before get their hair blown back by it.
This song gives me the chills every time. So good!
I love this song was a story beat and every lyric intentional in refrencing the end of the story to come ten yrs after this song was done.
Here we go! Time for the community to find you and let the music from XIV absolutely shatter your expectations. Loved the react.
Final fantasy has always had brilliant music and this is by far one of my favourites, good video!
Gosh, I get chills every time. What a piece.
One thing I love about FFXIV is there is a deep meaning behind the lyrics. A lore there that tells a story. If you want a dive into it, The Eorzean Archives on here has videos that go over the lyrical lore. The Meaning of Answers 2.0 - FFXIV Lyrical Lore if you want it for this song.
Like how the opening cries out, asking why with all of Hydaelyn's power and will, why must man suffer, what is man to do where is man to go when every path seems to end in doom. Then she answers, she begs they look to those who came before them to help guide their path. In the end, it is WE who answer back to her, that we bear the weight of our own sins of the past, and must continue forward. It is not in the course of life that we alone bear the burden of joy and sorrow, it is side by side that we feel and suffer, we teach and we live, dream and answer this question together. Life is to live, and to live means we suffer to find our way forward, to find hope. To shape what we have for the next generation that follows after us. That in our short lives on this world, we live, die, and know.