The beautiful JP cover art for Final Fantasy IV by Yoshitaka Amano, featuring Cecil standing tall as a Paladin, and crouching below as a Dark Knight.
We finally enter the 16-bit era with the first Final Fantasy game released on the SNES: Final Fantasy IV. Released as Final Fantasy II in North America because II & III were never localized to the NES, it represents a huge technological step forward for the series, even though it was released just a year after III. More colour, a higher resolution, and a fancy Mode 7 graphical translation feature were the console’s major highlights, but more importantly for us, it came with a much improved sound chip.
Unlike with the NES, there were now 8 audio channels available, which meant double the amount of simultaneous sounds, and no need to pause the music when sound effects were being played, it could normally handle both. Further, improvements in storage and processing allowed many more audio samples to be used and at a much higher bitrate so that they don’t sound like they’re coming from the worst drive-thru speaker imaginable. What does that mean for us? No more modulated square waves, we have sounds that actually sound like a string instrument, or a trumpet, or a drum.
Coming off of Final Fantasy III—where Uematsu was already straining against the NES constraints—we might expect him to go hog wild with the compositions here. It’s been a little while since I played this game, but my memory is that this was very much the case. I imagine the Top 10 on The Ranking will be looking quite different in the next few weeks.
But the only way to know is to move forward with it, so without further ado…
FINAL FANTASY IV Original Soundtrack:
The Ranking
The Prelude
Once again we start with that simple arpeggio that we’ve all come to love so dearly, but this time with much more pleasant-sounding strings. Immediately we see the impact of all those added audio channels when a wall of violins suddenly bursts in partway through. They play a smoothly beautiful, almost reverent melody and the missing piece is finally in the mix—this is the version of the Prelude we will hear for many, many years to come. Despite hearing this in nearly every game since, it remains moving, and I adore this arrangement. Some incredible additions to an already great tune.
Ranking: 6/88
The Red Wings
You ever think about how sometimes albums just kick off with the perfect song? I think a lot about the first time I heard David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust; brought it home from the record store and put the disc in my CD player and just had my mind immediately expanded by “Five Years.” Anyway, what I’m trying to say that this song is like that experience but for a Final Fantasy game. You can tell from the moment those drums kick that you were about to experience something special.
I can’t think of a more perfect composition to kick off this game—it really takes you through the entire emotional journey of the first arc entirely on its own. Beginning with a slow fade-in to a story already in progress, we hear a militaristic drum beat as airships fly towards their target. A trumpet enters and plays a mournful lament, sounding like the rendition of a song that perhaps was once was grand and anthemic. A sense of something lost.
Then, we hit chaos. We arrive at pure conflict, crashing cymbals and blasting horns as the Red Wings of Baron engage their enemies, lay waste to their lands and seize their valuable crystals. And then we return to our lament, as we mirror Cecil’s internal feelings of being part of what was once a proud army, now simply raiding and pillaging its neighbours. This is just the perfect song to get you into the emotional headspace of our protagonist, who struggles to balance his oath of duty and the atrocities he commits in his kingdom’s name; I adore when the music and the narrative are in sync like this.
Ranking: 1/89
Kingdom of Baron
We land in Baron, returning from various war crimes, and this march greets us to fully entrench Baron as the militaristic nation of this world, in case “The Red Wings” hadn’t already made that abundantly clear. Effectively the town theme for Baron, it’s a driving march, and a bit more triumphant-sounding than our opening track. Perhaps there's still some hope here, which you can feel when talking to Cid and the soldiers, who display open discomfort at their orders.
Ranking: 22/90
Theme of Love
Okay, I think this one is going to get me in trouble. I don’t really love this song? It has a pretty melody, and is a big milestone for the series as the first real “love song,” but I’ve always found it kind of bland. I know this was enormous in Japan—it’s taught in several music education programs, and was a huge hit nationally, they even wrote lyrics for it and added a vocal performance that was never localized to English. But aside from the striking moment where the strings come in and there’s a beautiful rising scale on the harp, I just find the song kind of ho-hum. Perhaps a reflection of my not really getting attached to Cecil and Rosa’s relationship either, to be perfectly honest.
Anyway, it’s an important song for the series, setting the stage for the series to continue to explore a romantic space, and I appreciate it for that. But otherwise, it's alright.
Ranking: 46/91
Prologue
Our Final Fantasy opening theme, playing as Cecil goes on his new quest to deliver a package to the town of Mist and beginning the adventure that would ultimately result in saving his world. The new arrangement here is excellent, and the addition of percussion and more accompanying strings really adds to the magnificence of the composition. Certainly the best version of this song to be featured thus far.
Ranking: 9/92
Welcome to Our Town!
A pretty good town song! Unique in its sound, I really like how it begins with a all the instruments in unison and then slowly settles into its pleasant melody with beautiful string accompaniement. I appreciate that the melody is unique, I really just wish the loop were a bit longer, or that there were a few more variations to it.
Ranking: 27/93
Main Theme of FINAL FANTASY IV
I don’t have a big personal anecdote for this one, it’s just one of the best songs in the series and probably the best overworld theme? (We'll see how this develops as we get further into the series). Along with “The Red Wings,” it does an incredible job setting the tone for this game as one about melancholy.
The opening strings fade in with a powerful cycling arpeggio, and the drum beat starts playing in half-time, which is a perfect contrast to Baron's militaristic drumming; it's a more reflective and patient rhythm reflecting Cecil's inner struggle as he ventures away from home. A moaning oboe-like(?) instrument begins the mournful melody, accompanied by these diminishing strings, it's just incredible. In the next section we have fast arpeggio scales joined by our lead melody and violin responding to each other and building towards a hopeful resolution—maybe there's a way out of here for Cecil?—only to snap right back into the original melody as the song loops.
Listen to it, it’s beautiful. I could listen to it for hours (and have done so many times over the years, I'm sure). And for a special treat, check out the Pixel Remaster version, the trumpeter who recorded the second section was perfect.
Ranking: 1/94