Reacting To Video Game Music! | Final Fantasy X – To Zanarkand / The Skies Above
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03.01.2023
Ngl, would definitely recommend FFX as the next mainline FF to sink your teeth into. Some really good vibes and feels.
To Zanarkand, and the version that plays at the end of the game, has a special place in my heart. I originally beat FF10 on New Years Eve way back in 2002. And every year, I load up my old save on my PS2 and beat the final bosses again and watch the ending cutscenes. It's become a yearly ritual, and every time the ending version of the song plays, especially at the end of the song when the cutscene gets to "that' point, I always feel sad, and happy.
My all time favorite song! Ohh the feels 🙁
If you liked FF7 plenty enough, I cannot recommend FFX enough. It is, in my opinion, the most stellar entry as far as turn based combat goes. It is ALSO, for the most part, the most straightforward experience!!! I would absolutely say it is more of a direct ride from start to finish until you reach the ending section, where it opens up far more for any side content.
Gameplay feels plenty good, I really think you would enjoy it, and especially it's tone and music. It is the most distinct entry in the series visually, where we have plenty of medieval ages, steampunk and modern sci-fi all, FFX has a truly unique blend and cultural taste that I believe is more than worth experiencing.
Definitely a must play Jesse!! It definitely came from a time where i feel storytelling was at its finest. Hearing this song brings a tear to my eye everytime and you wont know until you play the game.
I used to play piano in high school and this was the only somewhat complex song I completely learned. I barely play now but the muscle memory of the main parts has lasted many years. I annoyed people with how much I played it back then haha. I think the reason I was able to fully learn it was because I was learning it both for outside piano lessons and in a piano class for school as my main assignment. It was the only class I ever had with him, but the high school music teacher was really well liked. Unfortunately he was suffering from Leukemia during that semester and passed away from it soon after. Whenever I play it or even just mentally keep up the muscle memory I remember him a bit.
Ohh the tears… All the tears. The alternate version with that thumbnail just killed me 😭
I signed my wedding register to “To Zanarkand”! So lovely to see you react to this one ^_^
My take on "The Skies Above" is that it sounds like something that would be blasted in the cockpit of a kamikaze runner's plane during their final mission, the last minutes in which their souls shine more brightly than they ever have before or ever will again. Honor and glory, but also great loss.
Play the game, it’s incredible
FF7, 8, 9 and 10 are the golden age of Square. You can even see X as a culmination of sorts. That feeling of melancholia hits odd at first because everything looks bubbly and happy, but as you go on… It's a rollercoaster. Also a game probably closer to FF8 in themes, character portrayal and relationships, since a lot of the team of the former worked on it, but with one of the most sleak gameplay experience turned based FF ever had and a compelling leveling system. Also features a way to make all of the companions fight by swapping them in combat depending on which is needed.
I was smoking a bowl on my patio while watching this video. I got the lighter for you don't worry.
Besaid is my favorite theme. The remaster version is quite pretty. But the crunchiness videogameness of the original is always too charming to pass.
Zanarkand is Tidus' home town. you learn this in the first 5 minutes, there is more, but spoilers….
To Zanarkand is the first track to play. As soon as the game starts you see a scene with the main characters sitting around a campfire with this playing over the top (hence the opening line in The Skies Above ‘Sparks from the fire reach up to the sky’). As it ends the main character implores you/them to “Listen to my story”. You then play the game to reach the point he is telling it from. Zanarkand is where the game and his story begin.
Yeah you’re pretty right. The song is about sorrow, but finding resolve in spite of it. The characters in the story are essentially on a journey that ultimately is meant to end in sacrifice for the greater good. It’s a long and exhaustive journey, and the characters experience so much along the way—family trauma, betrayal, fears, hope, love, etc. it’s a fantastic story, and the music makes is truly a wonderful experience
The following is the official credits for "The Skies Above". Nobuo Uematsu wasn't actually involved in the music but the rest of the band. The vocalist "mr. goo" is a tenor and his real name is Tomoaki Watanabe.
Composed by Nobuo Uematsu
Lyrics by Alexander O. Smith
Arranged & Synthesizer Programmed by Kenichiro Fukui
Vocal: mr. goo
Electric Guitar: Tsuyoshi Sekito
Synthesizer, Organ & Piano: Kenichiro Fukui
Bass: Keiji Kawamori
Drums: Arata Hanyuda
It's been 10 years since I played and when that ending theme came up, I automatically just teared up wtf 😭 😢
The visuals are the games intro so you're good
Incredible track
This music hits me in the feels every time I hear it. FFX is one of my favorite Final Fantasy games after VII.
FFX is my personal favorite final fantasy game and well worth playing… Could make reaction outta your gameplay
FFX really is a great game, especially if you enjoy a story. If you play & finish the game, you can't really help but have a permanent emotional connection with this song. The first part is literally in the opening, and obviously have the ending version to which this game has an ending everyone who plays will always remember.
I mean, they wouldn't make different Remastered versions for both the PS3 & PS4 if it wasn't a game people didn't want to play to this day.
Did you know that this song is Nobuo's favorite Final Fantasy song of all time. His favorite game is FF6 but this is his favorite song. I would recommend playing this game it is between this and FF7 that's up for debate on which is the best FF game. The remaster of the game has the option to play with the original soundtrack of the game or the arranged (orchestra) version of the game. I think that the arranged is better made and better sounding personally even having grown up with the game but the original is still great, the 8-bitness of it does take away from the feel of the game's story I feel.
Man, just the first new notes still make me tear up again everytime.
"It's somewhere between sorrow and content; completion."
Man, the nail has never been hit on the head so hard.
The game got a lot of flak when it came out, due to the voice acting, but I have yet to talk to a person that did not cry at the end of the game.
It's actually the translator for the FF X game that sings the vocals for the Skies Above version.
The Black Mages was Uematsu's private band.
I always wanted this version to be in ffxiv one day
Would be orgasmic
That guy is a really famous Opera singer in Japan. 🤘
I caught the Silent Night comparison years ago and I still can't unhear it and it bugs the crap outta me!
Also, you should totally play FFX. One of the best games in the series both gameplay and story wise.
yes! play ffx ❤
So Blind Guardian!
I love these songs. Happy New Year to you Jesse
nobuo uematsu plays keyboard in the black mages.
What ff games you have played. I know 1 ff7 remake. But I dunno the another 2
You must play ffx. I totally loved it
I've been listening to this specific song for over 20 years and in the last years I'm using it every damned night to help me sleep, playing it with Alexa to use the music to cover the tinnitus in my ear. I really suggest you to listen to the orchestral version from Distant World concerts.
A bit of context for you: The piano version of To Zanarkand plays at the beginning of the game, in a "let me tell you my story" kinda scene, and again when the gameplay actually reaches that same point after a giant flashback. As you said, the orchestral version plays in the ending of the game. The scene in the piano version is a somber one: The city of Zanarkand was the protagonist's home and it's now in ruins, destroyed by a world-destroying monster: Sin. The characters have set out on a journey to defeat Sin, and when this scene occurs they've reached the conclusion that they're likely the only ones with a chance, but at the same time the method they planned to use to defeat Sin is flawed, and regardless of the outcome they're probably going to die. They ponder this, camped just outside the ruins of Zanarkand before setting out for their last travel.
There is one way to perfectly summarize FFX as a story "depression the video game" and this track immediately brings on a torrent of powerful emotions from the very first key that is played. Takes me back to a time and a place that is for sure and I even recently (in the last few years) replayed this and still love the story despite how much it hurts you. Highly recommend you play this game.
you can give this song context without having played the game.
I feel like I've been conditioned to just start tearing up whenever To Zanarkand starts playing
My uncle past away in March of last year and final fantasy was his favourite game series and this song was on in his funeral and ever since I listened to it it reminded me of him so I think I’m gonna play all of them too like he did
I was playing bloody roar 2 before watching this video and i was so confused i was listening to bloody roar 2's soundtrack i thought the game was still on but it wasn't, then i realized it was on your viideo haha
This one hits like Aerith’s theme🥹
I like the way the potential spoiler you're avoiding should have instead been what game plays immediately when it boots up anyway, with this song, and it's deliberately there to foreshadow xD
To Zanarkand sounds like a Christmas song because it sounds like Silent Night 😛
Being undecided on playing this game is like choosing not to watch Inception or Interstellar: everyone who watched simply knows you're missing out on a timeless masterpiece. It's those games it should become a movie or series by itself, because the story is just too damn good; its round, deep, mysterious, hopeful, heartbreaking, happy and sad. God knows how many times I cleared (and cried on) this game, and watching this makes me want to just go at it again.
"The Successor" from Final Fantasy 8's OST is another Nobuo Uematsu solo piano piece. Also beautiful.
I think ff10 is very user-friendly, unlike ff8
My favorite final fantasy 😊
If you like this, check out Philip Wesley;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSATB6x6j8Y