MUSIC DIRECTOR REACTS | Dragonsong - Final Fantasy XIV

Alright, which piece are we listening to next? 👀 For live content catch me on Twitch. www.twitch.tv/drumrolltony

Then the order will be , Answers => Dragonsong => Revolutions => Tomorrow and Tomorrow => Flow

Oh, he stumbled on FFXIV. Have fun on your listening journey :D

"When this plays I'll put the controller down" Well, rip the rest of your team mates facing the expansions final boss

When she sings "A throne lying empty, A reign incomplete, Alone for eternity, A pain without cease." That whole section with the orchestra just stabs straight in my heart the best way.

Great timing to do FF14 reactions with the new expansion, Dawntrail dropping soon

Your companion possessed by an evil dragon, the dragon's brother coming to help us stop his rampage -- after a vicious battle of two ancient dragons tangled in the skies it concludes with the two collapsing on a bridge before you. The evil dragon is victorious, but not all hope is lost... bestowed with the last of the fallen dragon's power, it's up to you to fight the evil dragon and try to save your companion from the evil dragon's thrall and put an end to the 1000-year dragon war once and for all. As you turn to face the evil dragon this song begins to plays seamlessly from cutscene into battle.

Omg you should do “Tomorrow and Tomorrow” and “Flow” next (but I’m biased cuz I sing those songs…. 😅)

You've opened up an enormous can of worms with FFXIV music. It's an endless selection. One thing you may be interested to note is that Answers (from base game) and Dragonsong (from first expansion) are from Nobuo Uematsu. At around the third expansion, Masayoshi Soken takes over as lead composer for the game so you may notice some differences. Still very great music, bit of a different style. Soken is also part of a metal band for the game, The Primals, which features a lot of great music as well.

So, a few things about the context of the lyrics, Heavenward is about finding the truth behind the theocratic city-state of Ishgard (the "Children of the Land" in the lyrics). It was once ruled by a king, and they went to war with dragonkind over territory. One day, a woman of Ishgard fell in love with a dragon, and together they brought their people together in peace, ("one true love they did find, bringing land and heavens near") until a king, after 200 years, was manipulated into killing and harvesting one of the elder dragons for power. That dragon's brother went mad with grief and anger, determined to bring pain to that king's people and decendants for all time, as dragon perception of time is different from mortals: after a thousand years, his sister's death was as fresh as when he first discovered her mutilated corpse. The king's children thought they killed this dragon, and decided Ishgard no longer needed a king, ("a throne lying empty, a reign incomplete") and gave a false account of events to take away their complicity in events. But that dragon didn't die, and instead periodically continued the war, killed thousands of Ishgard's people every few years for the next 1,000 years, with Ishgard changing their doctrine to obsolve them of guilt and making the war with dragons a holy war in order to provide stability and hope for their people, even though it also ensured the people of Ishgard would never want the war, and the cycle of retaliation, to end. The expansion really delves into themes of how lies create pain far beyond what you initially expect, and the importance of letting go.

To the Edge is my personal favorite song in FFXIV. The fact that Soken wrote it during his battle against cancer just makes it hit that much harder

Another vote for To the Edge! Give this man some variety.

Funny part is this song in game plays just before the final boss of the expansion AND during the boss fight. So you are trying to stay alive while in awe of this track. Made for a memorable experience.

"Don't you like hearing adults playing major chords in tune?" Seriously, my heart goes out to all the music instructors out there lol

I'm sure I do not talk only for myself but on behalf of others by saying this : I would pay you for sure to see you play this game. I mean... It's a must and a once a in lifetime experience to listen to that beautiful music and to play at the same time because then you understand what is at stake. The story is as beautiful as the music. Who's with me? Who wants to see him play this masterpiece?? Do a thumbs-up!

The great thing about this piece is it builds slowly over the whole story arc becoming more and more complete and at the end of the expansion when the story hits the hardest it plays the full song.

16:41 You ask when this song plays in the game, and the answer is kind of constantly? Just about all the rest of the music used throughout an expansion is based on the main theme via heavy use of leitmotifs, but each track is done in different styles and tempos. The repetition of the theme in this way really cements the vibe of each chapter in the game's sprawling story.

When this theme plays in game, it's a lyrical version of a motif we hear a lot throughout the story, and this version is right at the climax. The song plays right before a matchmade activity, so you have nothing to do other than sit there waiting for the queue and listening to the song. When I played FFXIV for the first time, THIS is the point where I knew it would be one of the best games I've ever played.

I can't tell you how excited I am for you to listen to the countless FFXIV ost masterpieces

Final Fantasy series has 100x more great songs than any other game series. There are litterly thousands.