The best Final Fantasy XIV soundtrack of the last decade — “Shadowbringers: Final Fantasy XIV” — has finally made its way to Spotify.
On August 13, Final Fantasy XIV composer Masayoshi Soken tweeted, “The Warriors of Light asked me, “Is there a Spotify for ShB yet?” We finally got to answer that question today. Sorry for the delay! ShB is now available for stream! Go ahead and listen to it! Enjoy! #FFXIV”
Final Fantasy XIV‘s soundtracks are enormous and full of quality. I get emotional whenever my duty roulette takes me into instances where I have the privilege of hearing Heavensward‘s “Dragonsong” or Stormblood‘s “Wayward Daughter.” But you’ll find that fans talk about the Shadowbringers soundtrack as if it’s on another level — and that’s because, much like the expansion itself, it is. The soundtrack is composed by the beloved Soken and arranged by Daiki Ishikawa and Takafumi Imamura. Director Naoki Yoshida spoke with Fanbyte earlier this year about the emotional ending of this year’s Fan Fest, where he and Soken shared with the community that Soken has battled cancer — and continued to compose music for the MMORPG — in the last year.
Even if you’re not already caught up on Shadowbringers, it’s just an objectively great soundtrack to listen to. “Neath Dark Waters,” “Mortal Instants,” “Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” “Who Brings Shadow,” “Insatiable,” “Civilizations,” “Insanity,” “What Angel Wakes Me,” “A Long Fall,” and “Shadowbringers” — each one of these is nearly impossible to get out of your head after you hear them. But there are so many other gems, as well. And that’s not even counting the music from the Shadowbringers patches that aren’t in here, such as the inimitable “To The Edge” (spoilers for the final patch in the link).
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I say “the best Final Fantasy soundtrack of the last decade” only because it’s the truth. The best of the prior decade was Final Fantasy XIII, which was released in 2009. And the best soundtrack of the decade before that was Final Fantasy VIII, which was released in 1999. There are simply no other Final Fantasy soundtracks that match up to their genre diversity, caliber, and emotion, in my opinion. I’ll gladly fight any of my wonderful coworkers on this.
Speaking of Final Fantasy VIII: even if you’re not caught up on Shadowbringers yet, there’s much to appreciate here. May I direct you to the Final Fantasy XIV renditions of “Blue Fields” and “Force Your Way?” Shadowbringers‘ unique Eden raid is heavily influenced by Final Fantasy VIII, so that’s why those iconic pieces from that game are in this soundtrack. It’s proof that, while Nobuo Uematsu’s best works remain undefeated, a different, equally genius take on his work can be just as fulfilling to listen to.
