"To The Edge" with Official Lyrics (Seat of Sacrifice Theme) | Final Fantasy XIV
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- Опубліковано 9 вер 2020
- #WelcomeBackSoken
The official lyrics are out! Instead of adding annoying annotations to the old video, here's a new one. To The Edge is written by Masayoshi Soken and is a reprisal of "Shadowbringers" and "Neath the Waters".
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#FinalFantasyXIV #FFXIV #Shadowbringers - Ігри
Elidibus wasn't the only one expending four limit bars when pushed to the edge. #welcomebacksoken
SO WELL SAID
Best quote ever
Na, that was just another Red Mage jumping off the edge.
@@Spyrit2011 In case you didn't know, OP's comment is about how Masahiro Soken, the composer of this song, was in the hospital battling cancer when he composed it. Hence, Soken expended four limit break bars when pushed to the edge. His cancer was later announced to be in full remission.
@@Webberjo I know the story I was making a joke.
Producing this song while in hospital fighting cancer. Soken is a Legend.
he Is a Legend, our legend
a legend with his work, and someone that still can make us fall out of our chairs with all these things going on
He is the genuine warrior of light
As this boss says..."For victory, I render up my all!" That's Soken. He is striking down cancer with all of our cheers.
Soken
I completely broke down when Yoshi-P cried and said he's so happy his best friend is back with him. You can tell just how bonded that dev team is.
"Like broken angels, wingless, casts from heaven's gate."
"No more men shall have wings to bear him to paradise. Henceforth, he shall walk."
The song already hit hard, but after endwalker and that line from Venat, it hits so much harder. The music in FF14 is a love song to its players, and I cannot get over it.
@@michaelbart7014 The scene after that is the best part of that whole cinematic. Venat played no favorites, she cast herself out too.
@@NebulonRanger She knows that, those who play favorites cannot truly be saviors
It hits even harder when you realise that Elidibus's sigil is a pair of wings
This is all pretty much *false* .
** SPOILER ALERT **
The player is a shard of the soul of Azem.
Azem was friends with many, and if I'm not mistaken, Venat was also Azem reborn just as the player is.
The player also goes back in time, meets Venat, and tells them all of what happens.
She *absolutely* plays favorite since she has met you, she knows who you are and what you will do.
It's a Paradox, the endless loop just like Final Fantasy 1.
Only the PC after all these long years have the ability to end it all - Therefore the player **is** a favorite as it was _foretold_ by ourselves.
When you fight the protagonist from a story that isnt yours...
For Elidibus, we were the final boss
We are everyones final boss
@@bLuGhOsT_ For some people, we're even our own final boss...
@@bLuGhOsT_ Fran literally says she doesn't wish us on her worst enemy.
Well...isn't everyone the protagonist of their own story?
On that note, how many imperial foot-soldiers do we kill across the MSQ so far? Now consider that most of those were conscripts from the conquered providences, many of whom probably didn't want to fight at all but had no choice. Yeah, it's kinda easier when you think of them as "Imperial Hoplomachus, lvl 39."
Fun Fact: The person providing the vocals is Jason Charles Miller, the original English voice actor for Raubahn (from ARR)!
And he sung for Metal Gear Revengence too! He sung Rules of Nature.
Well shit. This is more of an Epic Fact.
So the good Raubahn, the one that doesn't sound like he's selling me an O2 phone plan.
He also sang "Resist and disorder", one of the best songs in Cyberpunk 2077
MAD SNAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The portrayal of Elidibus is something I still love; he was always seen as kinda the leader of the Ascians or at least the most powerful while being the only white robed one, but now we know that spot was probably Emet-Selch’s, while Elidibus was their hero and their martyr; in a way Emet felt bad about him; the young Elidibus sacrificed his life and now he was bound to his duty for all eternity.
He knew that after his death Elidibus would have no way of ever remembering what they were fighting for (even if Eli himself didn’t want to remember) so that’s why he chose to give you the means to kill him and finally put him to rest. So that in a way, his duty would end and all the ascians would see each other again in the afterlife like he wanted, just not how he wanted.
The part where Emet helps you breaks me, because Elidibus reaches out to him, only to be received by his farewell, realizing he’s truly alone in his fight, but of course that doesn’t break him and he calls for the warriors of light to continue the fight, because he’s will incarnate and will never give up. Which is another reason why Emet knew the only way to stop him was to kill him.
Tbf though, we didn't kill him. He's locked in the Crystal Tower with all the memories of his dear friends. Hopefully he'll be able to find peace in there.
In Final Fantasy Tactics, which he was portrayed as an optional boss, he is technically speaking the last of the Lucavi demons that transforms and he uses the Serpentarius auracite which represents Zodiark. In essence he is technically also their leader as he is the only one of the Auracite bearer to not succumb in the Lucavi's power. He is also the first person in the game to allow you to learn the summon Zodiark. Also each of member of the Convocation is represented by a Scion of Light (with the exception possibly of Ultima), and in this case Elidibus properly represents Zodiark, while Emet-Selch represents Zalera the Death Seraph
@@robertocaballero1009 hades does look like death itself
@@robertocaballero1009 I don’t think the Lucavi equate to the ascians
@@fancywire7606 They don't. FF14's Ascians is loosely based on Ivalice's lore of Scions of the Light, in itself is already a big nod to all FF series that has used the plot of Ivalice or the Ivalice project.
To think that Soken produced this song on hospital bed while fighting cancer... This brings more emotion to this song.
Yeah. Just had to give it a listen again hearing that 😭
thats true, he is a fighter and now i can hear all his strenght in this song. one of my favorite tracks of ffxiv since it came out
And in the middle of a global pandemic to boot... the heart of a true fighter and Warrior of Light. I think this just became even more of a favorite song to me.
I think we all came here to listen again the song knowing this...
He says working on this, and our reactions to it, really helped him... God...
Coming back after patch 6.4 really makes the story come full circle. What Elidibus could have been.
and what he will be when he is born anew. all our old friends, finding peace, at last return to the circle
They rounded out his story beautifully he is easily one of my favourite characters now . A true friend and warrior returned to the atherial sea. “We are blessed with yet another beautiful day but you are not here to see it”
Without elidibus we might not of been able to save the star he trusted us with his mission to protect the star he is our hero
It's always fun coming back to FFXIV music video comments when something relevant happens in the plot years later
I honestly kinda wish I could feel the same way about Elidibus as nearly everyone seems to, but I just can’t and I have no idea why
THIS SONG HIT DIFFERENT NOW ;_;
We're all here because of a certain bard, who wrote this in the hospital.
Let me correct this statement, we are all here AGAIN, because of a certain bard, who wrote this in the hospital.
cool song, sadly it does not fit the game.
@@jonathansoko1085 how so?
@@Soomies I'm curious as well why it doesn't fit, since it's pretty clearly a song about the Ancients and Ascian's attempts to bring them back.
@@jonathansoko1085 you think a fantasy game cant have this kind of music?
"My duty...no! Not yet!" - soken
God this hurt my heart a little
This gave me shivers on my whole body, Soken is true warrior of light
This song now hits like an unmitigated tank buster to my feels.
These are not tears, they are vulnerability stacks.
Mood
@@MultiMelodia 52-Vuln pick-up. xD
Not even hallowed ground can mitigate that hit.
@@damir_van_kalaz _laughs in Living Dead_
"Hell take us, Heaven can wait" will never fail to crack my voice when singing along.
For me it's "Come and save us, catch us before we fall."
"Only alive in fighting death's amber embrace." Azem's star crystal is amber colored. Elidibus called the WoL the personification of death. Sweet mercy the references.
@Ji Tiv If you imagine the lyrics as the final dirge of Elidibus and the ascians you find a lot of poetic references to them!
"You are death. And only IN death shall you serve any purpose."
isn't death's amber embrace literally the amaurot going down in flames ?
@@danilooliveira6580 Azem did not agree with the Zodiark plan, he "abandoned" them to their current doomed fate and reincarnated down the millennia to oppose them despite his soul being fractured.
I always interpreted amber not as the color but as the substance, a crystalline material made of fossilized tree resin which can preserve long-dead bits of plants and animals. “Death’s amber embrace” sounds like what happens when naught is left behind but their memories preserved in their crystals; fighting that fate was their only reason for continuing to live.
Oh god the song is all about the Final Days of Amaurot
This is the Ascian equivalent to Answers
Its also Elidbus telling us to end this
@@kyero8724 Hope carried him over the millions of years. In the end, it wasn't enough. That's one reason why it hits so hard for me, at least.
@@AlphaNumericKey It's been 13,000 years since the sundering. A long time, for sure, but not quite that long.
You know, I've always kind of thought that "Answers" was about the Ascians. Or at least the people who survived with some memories of Amaurot.
@@BenWillock I also remember that number as canon, but I forgot the source. ^-^;
"To begin, we must first see the end."
This hits SO HARD after Endwalker on so many levels.
Soken made this while he was in the hospital with cancer... I'm speechless... We're blessed to have the XIV development team.
And this is the same man who gets up on stage and intentionally does bad performances to make the fandom laugh. Soken is an international treasure. We're lucky to have him.
@Vicente Velasquez Koji Fox. Koji Fox and Masayoshi Soken are the ones who really made this game a masterpiece.
@@Noobzlikeu This. True.
@@Noobzlikeu They have a huge team you can't let the other handworkers go unnoticed my friend :)
@@Noobzlikeu I know there's a legion of fans singing his praises, but you can't downplay Yoshi-P's fantastic management of the team. He's by no means the sole architect, but his scheduling and direction ensured not only the revival after 1.0, but that it took a global pandemic grinding the world to a halt to make the team miss a deadline, and even then not by much.
"The rains have ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day...
...but you are not here to see it."
that sums up exactly how I felt over a year ago when I found out that cancer had claimed someone I personally held in high regard.
felt this way when my mom died in '22
The song is about a group of people fighting the good fight to the very last breath, even though the world has decided it’s their time to die.
The fight is about a hero going beyond his limits to save his loved ones in one final stand.
Yeah, I can see how this could be inspired by a man battling cancer.
not just that though this song could be about the scions and thier struggle to survive and return home as they worry for the WoL or it could be from the POV of the ancients lamenting what they have lost and wishing for Elidibus to give up on this crusade for his own good.
omg it's armydillo haha boat
The ascians had sunk too much into their failing scheme, and thus Elidibus was the only one left, who was basically a robot running on a preset program; rejoin the shards.
He not only realizes this, but also knows that he is the only one left.
This was a mercy kill.
this shit hits different after fanfest...
“All things change, drawn to the flame. To rise from the ashes
To begin, we first must see the End.”
Damn it was referencing Endwalker
I think it was referencing the ascians intentions to unbind Zodiark after causing all the possible rejoinings and sacrificing all of the remaining people in the Source to finally resurrect their people.
That's because the whole song can be interpreted from an Unsundered's viewpoint.
@@_amanojaku we're talking about FFXIV though
It may actually be a reference to both, and to Umbral Calamities. FFXIV's writers love to make throwbacks and hidden hints (ie : Lahabrea's speech in Prae feels much different After Shadowbringers)
Add this to Soken's mastery in music and leitmotivs to help tell the story (with same throwbacks and hints), and you Can fairly assume that it's a reference to the sundering, Umbral Calamities and probably Endwalker
@SiriusSooty Considering so much of what we've seen about Endwalker so far mirroring the fall of Aumorot, it could be both.
Not the first time. Read the lyrics of eScape, the Alphascape v3.0 theme.
It's literally about the time travel and dimension traveling efforts to save the WoL
@SiriusSooty seeing as how that last line is said by hythlodeus The final zone, I think it’s safe to say that you were wrong
I don't think it's hyperbolic to say Masayoshi Soken is one of the greatest composers of our time.
the way he uses leitmotifs and intertwines them in different pieces is really good
I'd like to see Soken compose for a Platinum Games title. I think he's definitely up there with those legends and would fit perfectly
Even better than Uematsu
Uematsu was a genre of his own, a genius but you can always tell it's him
Soken meanwhile, claimed EVERY genre, to the point Its genuinely shocking that basically every song in the game is make by him cause they're all so unique
@@BlueMageDaisen *holds What Angel Wakes Me next to Oblivion*
I DARE someone to try and guess that these two are the same people.
Knowing now that he wrote this masterpiece in a hospital bed, in the middle of a pandemic and battling cancer, and it was our reactions and love for his work that kept him going to put that cancer into almost a full remission from the time of this comment? Yes. Without a doubt.
WAIT I JUST REALIZED THE LIL POSE THEY DO AT THE START IS THE ARR LOGO
wait that's so fucking peak holy shit
Soken is the true Warrior of Light. This man deserves a statue.
Well, you know on The First. There is the "Minstreling Wanderer". Hear me out. What if? That is Soken? I mean the Wandering Minstrel that is seen on The Source is supposed to be Naoki Yoshida. SOOooooo....just a thought.
@@Qardo OH MY GOD The Minstreling Wanderer looks like Soken! You're so right!
I feel so stupid. For as long as Shadowbringers has been out I just now noticed the literal countdown in the whispers. One brings shadow. Two toned echoes. Threescore wasted. Four-fold knowing. I am disappointed
in myself.
Guess you can say it's a countdown.....
To the edge?
What if I told you it's even deeper than that count?
@@Diraphe we need to go deeper!
@@Lugzan0 "One brings shadow" = Ardbert
"One brings light" = WOL
"Two toned echos" = Ardbert + WOL
"Threescore wasted" = Lahabrea, Emet-Selch, and Elidibus
"Four-fold knowing" = Lahabrea, Emet-Selch, Elidibus, and Azim
That is my interpretation at least.
Threescore puts some doubt in my interpretation; because technically threescore is 60.
I think it just might be some artistic license and simply mean 3 though.
As someone who played the series since the 1st game, it was such a massive shock that Elidibus transformed into the first hero and still is to this day. It was all beautiful.
This song hits even harder after Endwalker.
the fight makes even more sense after endwalker as well
@@titanqore1813 Yeah now we understand why Emet saved us
The line about broken angels, wingless, cast from heavens gates in particular means so much more now
@@yellowbeard1 "no more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise. Henceforth, he shall walk."
Mankind's first hero...and his final hope
For victory, I render up my all!
So awesome
"Mankind's first hero...and his final hope"
this sentence has a double meaning! it certainly speaks of the first hero of this world, but also of OUR world!
replace "his" by Hironobu Sakaguchi .... and remember why the game is called Final Fantasy
edit : look at the cover design of the first FF, and then look at the boss...
The rains have ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day... But you are not here to see it.
"Stay strong, keep the faith. At duty's end, we will meet again. We will. The rains have ceased and we have been gifted with another beautiful day. But you are not here to see it" IM NOT CRYING YOU ARE DAMN IT!! -bawls in the corner-
Knowing that Soken was battling cancer when he composed this song, that "You still stand" after the LB4 hits very differently.
He thought he was running out of time. :(
Maybe that's why it sounds the way it does.
The song actually works both ways. If you consider the song from Elidibus's point of view, it gives a lot more context to the song as well. The numbers at the beginning for example, do make sense if you're looking at them from the point of view of the Ascians.
"One brings shadow, one brings the light; two-toned echoes tumbling through time."
I love how the meaning of this line changes the further you get into Shadowbringers. Originally, you are the Warrior of Light, and the Ascians are beings of shadow. But in the First, you become the Warrior of Darkness, saving that world from the Flood of Light. When you fight Hades, it is quite literally your Light against his Shadow. And now, in the dirge of the last true Amaurotian, you remain the Warrior of Light fighting against THE Warrior of Light, the originator of the very idea of the Warrior of Light.
"In the rain do darkness and light fade."
This final battle isn't between Light and Dark--it's about a tragedy, about people who suffered immensely, who lost everything, and desperately yearn to save/restore what they had lost. Defeating Elidibus here would have been seen as a triumph back in Stormblood, ending the last of the Paragons. But now, it's not so much a victory as it is a funeral for a loss so great that it's difficult to imagine.
Honestly I think many people overdramatize the Ascians plight. Sure, they have lost their grand reality and you can somewhat sympathize with their desire to bring back the world that once was, but you cannot deny that they are very selective in who they wish to save. Its only those of the ancients who believed in Zodiarks cause who deserve to be ressurected and with the price being the world and the lives of those of their bretheren who championed the cause of Haydelyn. Even when this is made blatantly clear by the WOL being revealed as the reincarnation of the lost 14th convocation member, both Emet-selch and Elidibus refuse to acknowledge him and rather dwell on their prejudices and misconceptions than seek greater enlightment or any sort of compromise. The ascians, while not without their charms, are still deeply evil, misguided and deserve the fate they recieve in the end.
@@Jay-bz5qk to be fair, to the Ascians, residents of the 14 worlds are no more than NPC in the virtual game created by Haedalyn, exist by taking the power of the original humans
@@Jay-bz5qk The Ascians refuse to acknowledge the WoL as the 14th/Azem because he betrayed them. He's the only member of the Convocation that refused to summon Zodiark. From their PoV Azem is almost as bad as Hydaelyn, who sentenced the remaining Ancients to a mortal life with disease and suffering.
If tomorrow we humans faced extinction and had to sacrifice all monkeys on the planet do you think we'd bat an eye at it? The Ancients were lightyears ahead of the new races from an evolutionary point of view, so yes, they wanted to sacrifice them all to bring back their kin.
@@VDA19 what I meant by acknowledge wasnt ally with, it was assent the close connection between the sundered and the ancients. Emet sees the WOLs soul for what it is during their last confrontation and refuses to give up his assault regardless of this fact alone meeting the "worthiness" criteria he himself set and thats discarding that Azem whose soul WOL bears was his closest friend.
@@VDA19 They didn't sacrifice monkeys, they sacrificed half of their own population, and keeping Zodiark persisting would have cost MORE lives. Zodiark was never a permanent solution. And yeah, they 'oh they're less human/like npcs' argument holds absolutely no ground because the sundered live rich lives, and clearly are *people*, that's the entire argument. The Ascians viewing them as lesser is rationalization of a people who can't accept their own grief and help their descendants prosper.
Sorry Themis, it had to be this way..
To this day To The Edge is still one of my favorite pieces from him and the fact that he wrote it (and many other songs) while battling cancer in the hospital says a lot about how much he loves what he does and how passionate he is for Final Fantasy.
Thank you so much Soken
Any idea what else he wrote during this time?
I was just posting on social media how To The Edge was one of my favorite themes in ShB JUST BEFORE the confession dropped. I crie evrytim
Something no one ever brings up. Back in Heavansward, when you kill Thordan, right before the evil pope dies he asked, "What are you?" implying we somehow defy what a mortal is capable of. Cut to 5ish years later. When Elidibus attacks you, and you (somehow) deflect the attack with the stones power, triggering this song to play, he comments on the spell asking "What are you?"
Us as the player at that point realizes what we are, or rather were. Azem. And as we've seen reincarnations of the convocation appear to in general more than an average person possibly cause of a stronger soul, so they had more when it was divided, though thats just a theory.
Either way, just think its one of the best call backs in the series.
Elidibus: "Impressive... Warriors of Darkness... Your Limit Break 3 is quite powerful.... But behold my FOUR BARS!"
"Ohno"
last year i saw everyone posting about this song, and not being on shadowbringers i still went and listened to it, and thought it was alright. fast forward to right now beating 5.3
its peak... its so fucking peak......
Fun fact that's likely well known at this point. Jason Charles Miller, singer of this and others in the game is also the singer of the legendary pieces Rules of Nature and Red Sun from Metal Gear Rising Revengeance. So you've got Soken and Miller teaming up to make something downright godlike!
Holy crap I've been playing FFXIV for a few months and I never realized that!!! No wonder the Shadowbringers Opening song and this one are so amazing. Some of the best music made for games over the past 15 years seems to be all connected.
Additional Fun Fact: He's also Raubahn's ARR Voice Actor.
That line 'We're nothing more than Scions and Sinners.' hits hard for me as it's interchangeable for both sides. Most people will see the more obvious one which is the Ascians being the sinners and the heroes being Scions. But! That can be flipped around, especially under the circumstances of the story. The Convocation titles are all the names of Scions of light in FFXII lore, where the names come from. With mankind then being the Sinners.
That that was pretty interesting.
@@ravenblade5035 At the cost of every life that has arose since that disaster. The Ascians goals are understandable, even pitiable to some extent, but to reach their end they are inflicting the same mass destruction that laid waste to their world over and over again to the Shards and the Source.
And that is if their goal is even achievable. Remember, restoring the death is in canon nigh impossible, if not outright impossible. Best example is the primal Lakshmi who restores the body of a dead person, but cannot restore the soul. Now Zodiark is on an entirely different level in terms of power and I wont deny the possibility that it could potentially keep to its end of the word, but it is just as possible that we would just have another Lakshmi situation on hand, Zodiark addhering to the letter of the promise, but not the principle by bringing everyone back as empty husks.
Jacob which to them is ethically valid to do esp since they are a utilitarianist society.
As Emet said the victors will be the heros the losers the villains
Neither side is right whole situation is fucked
@@ravenblade5035 Except WE are Azim reincarnated so we only work for Hydaelyn's ends when we feel we're protecting things we care about
@@RyuLightorb One side is trying to kill the other side. The other side is trying to not get killed.
I'd say the whole situation is pretty clear.
@@ducksplain It's not that simple but if you put it like that sure.
This song is a special concoction that means something to everyone. Soken’s possible last soundtrack, a climactic part of shadowbringers, the literal manifestation of John final fantasy as a boss, thousands of hours of fighting the ascians to get to a truly sympathetic one, lyrics about refusing to embrace the end, it’s just a perfect storm. There’ll never be a moment like this. It’s emotional in every sense of the word.
Elidibus was one of the most terrifying villains I've encountered (his shadowbringers appearance specifically). He's so intense and dedicated his peers even say he should chill out a bit. He's so zealous he refuses to surrender or concede an inch. And he had a plan that used heroes of the various reflections to his own advantage. What a scary foe to have
There is only one thing I wish was different about this fight. The Warrior of Light's LB4 attack is called "Ultimate Crossover". It should have been called "Final Fantasy". There will never be another more perfect moment to drop it and it fits so well with Elidibus' story.
It might have been a bit pretentious to announce that your Final Fantasy is _the_ Final Fantasy, but it would have been so cool
It's most likely called that because the Dissidia Version of Warrior of Light has an Attack that's literally called "Crossover", so his LB4 is simply supposed to be a super-powered Version of that, rather than the Name having any deeper meaning.
It's ok because the dead ends dungeon (last endwalker dungeon) in Japanese actually translates to "the final fantasy".
@@bigballs7911technically "ultima thule" is also just a roundabout way of saying "final fantasy"
"Riding home
riding home
Finding hope
don't lose hope"
Those lines have now more meaning for me after knowing Soken wrote this song in hospital while fighting a RL savage fight against cancer! T_T
Im tearing up right now as I think of the meaning of these lyrics for Soken
@@Mysteryof89 Yeah that's exactly why they hit different now Q_Q
Seriously made me cry
A "fun" thing to note is that the lyrics writer, Koji-Fox, wasn't even aware that Soken was in the hospital at the time. Only Yoshida and the CEO knew. It makes the lyrics hurt threefold now. T_T
@@TwilitFall But the “Riding home” refrain was written early for Who Brings Shadow and the title theme, yeah? Soken would’ve known if he put that in, I feel like...
"To me, Warriors of Light!!!"
"I am salvation given form!"
"Mankind's first hero and its final hope!!!!"
These lines in the fight always get to me. Makes me super hyped whenever I just pop in to the duty finder just to fight this guy again.
For me it's the line right after.
"For Victory... I render up my all!"
Such a powerful statement, desperation on both sides are sinking in and now they are both at the edge of the abyss with the whole world on the line.
I remember when I heard Elidibus voice I thought it sounded stuffy and old which is fitting and ok but it wasnt until we fought him here "Spawn of shadows!" That I freaking loved it. Great voice for video game! Another one that comes to mind is Asahi when I first heard it I just knew his voiced meant to have a bigger role, it was just too good as a villian and lalida Fandaniel perfect!
Shadowbringers really is just Peak Fiction with how phenomenal it is.
This song is a masterpiece.
Ascian official theme.
On its own, it's great. But it's the context and all that came before that really makes it a masterpiece of both music and storytelling.
It truly is
That it is, fuck all the extra info. Circled the entirety of this MMO because I don't care about a plot that will never fucking end. But this song? This song is PERFECTION.
@@solaronyou8610 I mean, this "story" is ending in the next expansion. There will be more after, of course, but 6.0 is wrapping up everything from ARR-ShB.
Its weird but this is my "Cure for Depression" Song, not because its happy, no the song ignite in my heart the will to fight, to stand up against the pain and the darkness in the world and in my mind.
100% bro. For me it's FF6 Terra's theme. Really motivated me when I was at my lowest in pandemic 💖
Coming to this years later to agree 100%.
There are a couple of songs in Endwalker that hit similarly for me, but I still keep coming back here.
Spoilers for Endwalker.
Something really cool to notice in retrospect is that Eldibus in this fight became the first Ancient to properly control Dynamis. Since its revealed Limit Breaks are a form of Dynamis for Eldibus to wield it as frequently and as powerfully as he did probably made him the strongest Ancient to ever live. If we didn't stop him atop the Crystal Tower it's likely nothing else would have been able to.
It also adds to his tragedy by showing how emotionally invested he was during this fight
Gonna be honest here, y'all need to notice that this is a bullshit ad hoc claim that they made in the story, and it is belied by its use in this very fight. Limit Breaks were in fact already defined; specifically as ambient battlefield aether before. It was said to be something else because dynamis was a not-particularly-well-planned addition, and they wanted to give it that bit more gravitas. I don't mind those things, but it is, in aggregate, true.
@@Ruteekatreya Who says it can't be both? Like most things, it's left to the player to interpret however they want to.
@@Gobble-mike-hawk Sure, interpretation is a big deal - but the framing around this tidbit, whenever it gets thrown out, is around how it was amazing characterization. It imputes motives to the devs, on purpose. That goes a little further than interpretation! And it's generally healthy to understand that retcons happen and aren't the end of the world - they had a point they wanted to make, and they changed a fact to make that point. Which is fine, because it's fictional and doesn't really detract from what was happening prior.
@@Ruteekatreya I'm sure EW story was on paper when 5.3 was written so they "could" have planned this somewhat. And it's not THAT big of a deal so why bother disputing it.
Like I said earlier that nobody has stated that it can't be both and it happens to fit into both theories of aether and dynamis. So again why bother disputing it.
I like that if you listen in headphones you can hear a very faint but distinct second set of vocals during the verse "two-toned echoes tumbling through time" that fuses with the first one right after
Last year I started playing this game thanks to my girlfriend, it took us between 3 and 4 months to get to shadowbringers, I fell in love with the song that appears in the city located in the tempests. Unfortunately, a few days later I began to have the effects of covid and later I went into almost critical condition because it was difficult for me to breathe on my own, I was in the hospital for a couple of weeks, cut off from my family, friends and my girlfriend. I just hummed that song to keep my spirits up, sometimes I didn't eat and other times I just slept all day to stop living that experience even though in my mind I kept humming that song, remembering all the adventures in the eorzea universe with my partner , time passed and I recovered, I returned home and resumed my adventure with my girlfriend until we reached the fight against elidibus and this version of that song starts playin. Deep down I felt as if it were my own reward for having spent such a moment of being prostrated in a bed without any encouragement to live to be with my family again. I know soken wrote this song while battling cancer and if he found a way to move on, I think all of us should find a way too.
👍
I barely started playing for one month and i'm already in Heaven's Ward.
Glad you made it through, Warrior.
@@StrangerForever85 But ofcourse ol friend after that i got to endwalker and i almost finished endwalker if my darn game's subscription didn't expired!... TT v TT I WAS SO CLOSE MAN I WAS SO CLOSE!... TT A TT
We stand against fate!
Finding Hope, Don't Lose Hope. Only alive in fighting Death's amber embrace.
To think that he was working on this song with such an uncertain future, and that work kept him moving forward, simply because '... the Players are waiting for us.'
The sound of time ticking, in the context of the game:
1) The desire to turn back in time, returning to a familiar, safe time.
2) Time running out, ushering in the End(walker).
3) Life always moving forward, changes being invevitable, no matter how much you struggle.
and that's just a fucking clock sound, haven't touched upon how well the tonal shifts and the lyrics compliment this.
Now add in the backstory of Soken and his struggle with cancer like many others here have pointed out. This piece (like all of FF14, especially shadowbringers) is just exceptionally well conceived and composed. Might actually be my favorite game music of all time, which - if you know the history of games well enough - is not a small feat. Thank you to the entire ff 14 for invigorating my passion of the mmo genre, and games in general. I hope the future of FF14 will be as bright as Hydaelyn's light, and never fall down the pits of WoW's capitalistic void, to fade with bitterness and sadness.
/Essay over, you can go now. Thanks.
My turn to do an essay, because yours inspired me to talk about it to :D
Just from the POV of Elidibus this is just such a meaningful choice to use that ticking sound that it can have 2 meanings for him.
Time ticked, all his friends left him.
Time ticked, his purpose and meaning became clouded.
Time ticked, and yet he remained here stuck in time, stuck in the past.
Even his incarnation of the very first Warrior Of Light shows how stuck he was in the past.
Even when trying to move forward. All he did was stay in the past.
Yet here you stand as your hear the sound of time ticking around in front of that man... But that's no man.
For, his clock stopped ticking when he was just a child. So here lieth a child crying and dying.
So then you can ask yourself, is the ticking sound during that fight just the sound of the world around ticking while he is stuck in the past, frozen in time.
Or was it his time, stuck since when he was a child, finally starting to tick again after so long? Just as he decided to become a hero. A child turning toward super heroes when in a bad situation is so powerful because it happens. And this child's time starts to tick again as he turns to one of them (The First Warrior Of Light). A time that as it just started to tick again. And you bring an end to the time of a child stuck in time.
This is truly a masterpiece, when this is just one of the many different meanings that a sound effect can have in a song.
Soken is a fucking legend.
I never thought about the clicking time when listening, it's one of my favorite parts of the piece but it never clicked (hahaha) for me until seeing this
What's even more heartbreaking is the fact that in the games story Crystal Exarch was basically suffering from crystal cancer at this point of the story, and the writer didn't know what Soken was dealing with at the time
Everything about this fight is peak FFXIV. Don't @ me.
I swear I was in tears the whole patch. The game is emotionally powerful in so many ways.
When you learn that Ascians aren't actually bad people; they're just people who did what they felt they had to do to prevent their world from ending and gave up their free will as a result, though it still ended up being in vain. Also, *spoiler alert ahead*
The player is the reincarnation of Emet-Selch's old friend. That's why in our fight against Elidibus who took on the form of the WoL, Emet-Selch made one final appearance to pull us out of the void. He recognized the soul of his old friend in us during our fight against him. That's why he said that one line. Something along the lines of: "It can't be..."
@@Noobzlikeu They're also tempered by Zodiark and do its bidding. When we defeat them we're also setting them free
True.
@@Noobzlikeu Im sure he knew all along, but it was more of a "ah just another one of her shards..." until we got actually 8/14 and looked like our "true" self for a moment...
5.3 was the best thing in any MMO ever. It's just impossible to top.
"Brother stay this descent to madness, come and save us before we fall"
That line really struck a chord with me, it's like Elidibus wanted Azem to save him from his eternal and now unclear duty.
'Perhaps I never knew you' Elidibus to WoL. I don't think the song is from Elidibus' perspective but those ancients long departed
I think it's safe to say that FFXIV has been almost a true spiritual experience.
We've been through heartache, pain and separation. We've weathered storms unfathomable and nearly lost our dearest friend Soken, but like some kind of miracle from Hydaelyn herself, we've all pulled through adversity together as a family and pulled up our comrades when the world had beaten them down, and at the head of our party, Soken's truest friend, our champion: Yoshida, pushing us all ever onwards.
Father works in mysterious ways for those who seek Him.
"Finding Hope, don't lose hope" ...........It means so much more now.
“Pointing to the edge”
**targets dark knight**
Coming back here after the fanfest...
Thinking about Elidibus saying "You still stand???" after the tank lb3 hits a lot different now.
Imagine being on chemo, fighting cancer. Every single part of your body wants to shut down, you're vomiting, shitting yourself, barely able to be conscious...
Then you write perhaps the best song in Final Fantasy history, possibly the best piece of music in 2020. What a legend you are, Soken.
What's funny is that the week before FanFest I got the mount because this trial's theme was my all time favorite in Shadowbringers. Knowing he was in the hospital when he wrote it is why I still ride around on it because it has a stronger impact now
Best in FF history? Wouldnt make to top100 even. Good Song but way overrated imo
@@keimojeppe Subjective opinion is subjective.
@@keimojeppe Now you’re just being mean because you think it’s cool
@@hideharu-xiii8852 how im mean for sharing opinion in music? Pretty weird thing to say..
The rains have ceased and we have been graced with another beautiful day and you are back with us to see it.
Soken really channeled the emotions of the Ancients in this song. All the emotions he felt himself while in hospital was what helped him write this masterpiece. Like the Warrior light he is he didn't lose hope and kept fighting.
Many years ago I took a music composition class. Our big assignment was to do a PowerPoint about our favorite movie genres. When I presented “Video Game” music, my teacher didn’t take it seriously, comparing video game music as “Very Hitting a button to change a tune”….then he insulted Dance/Techno/ Trance of being just the same (during his rant about music not having instruments anymore). I wish this song was out in 2012, so I shove it into that professor’s face as proof video game music is real music! Soken is living proof!!!!
What a sad excuse for a teacher.
@@souldanny. i know right!!! He was a pompous ass-hat. He was like “ hey look at me I pressed a button, yeeeeaaaah look at me slight change a tune”… just stand in front of the class just mocking dancing next to his laptop
In 2012 you already had at your disposal Nobuo Yematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda and Hitoshi Sakimoto among several other composers to show your teacher what video game music is.
The clock ticking in the background just hits different when you know what Soken was going through while making this.
FInding hope, don't lose hope.
Soken you living legend.
It's so weird listening to this song without "Begone, spawn of shadow!" in the background
Your demise shall be our s a l v a t i o n
So weird listening to the song without having to tank the floor ;_;
I AM SALVATION GIVEN FORM
@@deadeye415 Mankind's first hero...and his final hope!
@@crazy13alex me: *limit breaking*
Elidibus: Clad in prayers, I am INVINCIBLE.
Me: gonna cancel that LB real quick...
“Come shadow come follow me” as emet resummons the warriors of darkness, an amazing touch
Soken on medical: Fuck it, if I'm goin out I'm leaving one hell of exit!
Soken writing Endsinger phases: Really? I have to outdo myself? Again?! Aight.
This man deadass fighting to die.
Like the world he wants returned will have no need for him. And where do Ascians go when they have no purpose anymore? That’s right.
They go in the square hole.
"All things change, drawn to the flame, to rise from the ashes"
Tales of loss and fire and faith
going to start playing ffxiv today because of this song, holy shit
Great choice, you won't regret it 👍🏽
Great choice king
Any update on your journey?
@@yukirin2825 yes. 140 hours in and it's incredible. about to finish seventh astral era and looking forward to heavensward.
@@lfc3908 You are about to enter one of the best parts of FFXIV. And it's only the beginning of your amazing journey! Take your time and enjoy it.
During the french version of this fight, Elidibus yells something like "For those who never give up !!" and after watching the fan-fest video with Soken's revelation, this song, this sentence and this fight really hit differently. A humble soul.
obviously answers hits harder after a certain endwalker moment but the lyrics and somber tone in this one equally do imo
Answers is Hydaelyn's theme, while this is essentially Zodiark's
man this hits different now. Soken-san crafted an absolute masterpiece while bedridden with cancer...it boggles the mind. I'm so glad he's in remission and I hope he stays that way!! #WelcomeBackSoken
Damn, Soken is a legend. Song hits different now
I heard this song without knowing the full context of the situation, back when I was still in the middle of Stormblood, because a friend spoke so highly of the song, and I thought it was absolutely amazing. When I got to Amaurot and realized that its BGM was this, I realized that the song had a lot more weight than I thought. And then when I got to finally take on Elidibus, I asked the friend who spoke so highly of the song to join me so he could hear my live reactions.
Needless to say, when I saw who saved us from the Void, I legit screamed "I THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD".
Average game devs : "We know our OST was lacking, but you don't understand how expensive and difficult it is to make good game music in time for release"
Soken : "I'm sorry cancer, but you're going to have to wait, the players need me"
Jason's vocals are amazing, and coupled with Soken's sound, this is easily a 10/10. The lyrics are extremely good, too, and everything just wraps up neatly into a Shadowbringers masterpiece. I love the direction the XIV music team has taken this expansion.
Saaaame. I really hope they get to work together again in the future.
Who is Jason?
Amri Mazlan Jason C Miller, he sings the Shadowbringers theme and this, I believe!
@@DigitalCoffee08 hes also the guy that sung the lyrics for Rules of Nature in Metal Gear Rising Revengence
shame hids voice acting is going to be remembered as "mad snaaaake" (dude voiced arr raughban)
The WoL is bringing Light to the Source.
The WoD is bringing Shadow to the First.
...and yes, they're both you. Just kind of neat.
Using the blessing of the Light creatively, I'll say... lol
"in the rain, do light and darkness fade"
"for whom weeps the storm, her tears on our skin"
ow ow my heart
The lyrics I'm convinced are from Elidibus' and those sacrificed to Zodiark's point of view, after playing Endwalker.
Stand tall my friend, may all of the dark lost inside you find light again
"FINDING HOPE. DON'T LOSE HOPE." All our hopes and all our prayers are with you, Soken.
I can't wait for the lads from Grinding Gear to hear this. Soon...
This song has a whole new perspective now... Especially the "Finding hope, don't lose hope" bit...
"We only fly when falling. Falling far from grace (Hell take us, Heaven can wait)"
My favorite quote ngl
Most powerful song in the wholegame. Practically brings me to tears Everytime. Emet saving you is the single most emotionally powerful moment in the game
"Recognition: Tomorrow's come too soon."
I've never empathized with the Ascians so much.
@Vicente Velasquez They... they're still trying to commit 13 global genocides dude
@@BlueMageDaisen 14 because they will sacrifice those remaining on the source to zodiark
@@cheesybutters5053 True!
@@BlueMageDaisen wholesome
@@BlueMageDaisen yeah, but...five more minutes of sleep please.
(Endwalker spoilers)
I've just noticed a few lines of this song were eluding to or got more context in Endwalker.
"Like broken angels, wingless, cast from Heaven's Gate."
A reference to the Ascian's point of view from the Sundering and Venat's line "No longer shall Man have wings to guide Him to paradise. From Henceforth, He shall walk."
"Our Slumb'ring demons awake" possibly about the survivors of the Sundering turning mad from years of trying to revive their brethren
"Quick to their ends, our Candles burn until we're free" another stretch but Zenos mentioned 'fighting until we burn the very candles of our lives' before the Duel, freeing him of his one true goal. Could be something else
And the line that got me thinking about all this and ultimately more significant to my point "Yes, Time circles Endlessly. The Hands of Fate Trained ahead (pointing to the Edge)
The first bit would probably elude to Elidibus' warning at the Crystal tower that we would not be able to change the future. When we exited Elpis, we in fact did not change the course of history, but put it now in this new loop of the WoL going back in time to gain information to where the source of the Final Days is from the people who first witnessed them. In doing so, it reaffirms Venat's resolve to sunder the Ancients so that they suffer and find a better solution, as she knows that we, the result of such a decision, have found or would find the Answer to Hermes' question.
The second part, "The Hands of Fate trained Ahead (Pointing to the Edge)" is likely about how with our destination in mind, we use our connections from our adventures (even the side content) to supply the ship that would take us to the Edge of the Universe.
If I could give everyone involved in making this story a hug, I would because I love this game dude.
Quite an awesome analysis. Thanks for this!
Still love how with Pandæmonium we now know that this was likely how Elidibus would've looked had he been allowed to grow
Ugh, I love the Riding Home part so much.
After the news from Fanfest this hits differently
HOW DOES THIS SAD SONG GET SADDER?!
“Only alive in fighting Death’s amber embrace”
>Elidibus refers to us as ‘death’
>The color of Azem’s stone can be seen as amber
>pain
@@f_mili_r And Azem being the "traitor" only had a stone because of Hades foretelling ability
This song is sung from the ancient's perspective. That just makes it so much worse when you pay attention to the meaning of the lyrics.
4:09 rock of ages is a bible reference, there's quite a few in this ost, means an unfailing source of strength (did a 5 min google search on this so theres a good chance i either barely grasped this or got it completely wrong), "cast the first stone" means being the first to make an accusation. I'm guessing this is when azem was branded a traitor but i could be wrong based on past and possible future updates
4:12 literal and figurative metaphor for being trapped during the final days
4:17 the convocation were constantly at a disagreement with what to do with the final days in full swing, elidibus actually mentions this in his final speech
4:22 acknowledging that they've wasted too much time and now they need to take action
4:27 blindly praying zodiark into existence and putting faith in him without questioning his motives or methods, could also reference to a majority of citizens' absolute trust in the convocation
4:31 the sacrifices iirc but one thing that makes me unsure is "ply the sword" aka "use the sword". We were told that the ancients sacrificed themselves but this sentence suggests that the convocation chose who got sacrificed and who didn't. It could also just mean those who used sacrificed themselves with a figurative sword. Who knows but it still references the sacrifices.
4:36 the legacy and ruins of amaurot left underwater
4:42 their legacy is forgotten by the old sundered souls (created b4 zodiark) and by the new sundered souls (after zodiark)
4:09 to 4:42 tells the story of when convocation decided to create zoroark
5:04 this is all new territory for the convocation so they're blindly wandering hoping they'll make the right decisions. They're also blindly putting faith in zodiark buying into his lies of bringing everything back to how it was previously
5:18 explained in someone's reply
5:24 actually praying and summoning zodiark
5:36 zodiark was summoned last second (not literally but you know what i mean) during the climax of the final days of amaurot, this was their last chance and only (as far as we know) at survival; "no more time to breathe" is possibly about how tense and stressful it was
@@107frenchy I'm not sure the lyric implies the convocation got to chose just we went to our deaths and we didn't know this would lead to death(blindly led like lambs to slaughter)... they probably thought it meant giving up large chunk of creation energy like every other pattern but the Convocation knew as much energy they needed life blood would be the price. The 3 score wasted were the 3 score dead and 10 cast aside were the dissenters that summoned Hydaelyn.. Also 5:04 I interpreted different of AZEM was the compass and being banished pretty much as a traitor he/she couldn't be moral compass anymore to go hey don't just think about the city what about the outside world?
@@107frenchy I would consider "Follow blindly, like lambs to slaughter" and "At the mercy, of those who ply the sword" to be specifically about the ascians blindly relying on the Convocation to solve the Final Days. They are at the mercy of those who act for they have no plan of action themselves.
5:03 - 5:42 is easily my favourite part of the song. It's all around great, but the lyrics of this specific part is so melodically pleasant and profound within both the context of the game's lore, or however way you choose to interpret the song outside of it.
The Final Fantasy franchise has a lot of great music. So I cannot stress enough how elite this track is. It is my favorite of them all. The final battle between two forces fighting for similar goals, taking place upon a tower that symbolizes the hope of the people, carried on by the last wishes of a dying realm. On the line? The fate of the world. Wouldn't be a Final Fantasy if less was at stake. Soken, you brilliant genius, it cannot possibly get better than this.
For Soken-san composed this song in a hospital bed fighting cancer. This song is very meaningful. Dont worry, were here to support you
Man, after reading the newest Tales from The Shadow, some of these lyrics hit HARD.
This... was the best finale for a story arc, ever... of all time.
@Vicente Velasquez Well, in my opinion, it is. -_-
@Vicente Velasquezdo you have a counter for "best story arc finale"?
@Vicente Velasquez I dislike your comment solely because it was for this man, meaning you're just telling someone they are wrong about their own belief. Diiiisgusting :D.
@@narius_jaden215 Hey, it's fine. Everyone has their own opinion. But still, to me, this was an incredible way to end off the entire Warrior of Darkness saga. I mean, what better way to conclude such an amazing story than with a battle against what's essentially our antithesis? I really hope Endwalker lives up to the same heights that Shadowbringers reached... but this is CBU3 we're talking about. Chances are, they're going to completely *surpass* their previous works once again, just as they've done time and time again.
I'm 7 months late but aaaah I caught that Red vs Blue reference, well done 🤌🏻💕
Well if these lyrics don't hit you like a fucking truck even harder now...