One thing I always say about Final Fantasy VIII is that I didn't give it a fair chance. I keep meaning to go back to that game and really give it my best attempt. Final Fantasy VII was a tough act to follow in 1999. This game just felt like it was trying to ride on VII's success to me. It came out so quickly and paled in comparison on many, many levels. However, compared to most other of its contemporaries, it really is a good game. I admit all these years later that I judged it too harshly and need to come at it with a fresh perspective. It did amazing things with graphics and music, and "Liberi Fatali" is proof of the latter. Unlike Final Fantasy VII, it aged well. I was surprised that only "Liberi Fatali" made it to our final list. I had nominated a few other songs off this album for judgment, but this one really does stand out.
Following on the curtails of "One-Winged Angel" from VII, this song really plays to Uematsu's strength with vocals, particularly opera-sounding. Video game music with vocals is hit or miss with me, but Uematsu proved that it can be done well and really stir a strong emotional response.
I should also note that TOP Track #15 marks all the songs that got perfect scores from our judges. It is also unanimously the worst of the 15, losing both a single-elimination and round robin tournament. Yes, we listened to these songs many, many times. If I could make full orchestra sounds with my mouth, I'm sure I could regurgitate all of these songs. They are imprinted permanently on my brain.
- TOP
@TOPGamingBlog
I never played Final Fantasy VIII. I never had a desire to. I watched TOP play a demo of it before its release and I had no interest whatsoever. According to him, VIII would make a fine stand-alone game, but doesn't fit in with the rest of the series. I've heard it is a love story pretending to be a fantasy game. Can you imagine how boring that sounded to the adolescent Deez? Well, based on the music ... maybe I should reconsider.
Between "Liberi Fatali," "Force Your Way," and "Man with the Machine Gun," VIII has some truly outstanding music. Everyone knows I'm a sucker for these Latin choruses (cough"OneWingedAngel"cough) and this song doesn't disappoint me in the least. I have no idea what happened in-game during this song, but the various tempo changes and transitions from light to heavy tell me that it must be intense.
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