On that absurdly long list of reasons why none of us can hush about Final Fantasy XIV, a bangin’ OST from series composer Masayoshi Soken sits somewhere at the top. Even months after its release, Endwalker’s score continues to deliver devastation in the best ways, and now I can sob a little more about the music with FFXIV’s very own version of Heardle.
Heardle—a musical version of the beloved Wordle where you listen to a song sample and have six tries to name the piece—sent the resident FFXIV gremlins across my usual MMO hangout spots into chaos. After “FFXIV Heardle” started trending on Twitter this morning, I decided I’d show off a bit in front of my friends and get my guess in. In a sad attempt at a flex, I was incorrect on my first try, then wound up spelling the correct song name wrong with my other five chances.
Peach, the creator behind that trending FFXIV Heardle, told Linkshell she whipped up the project after seeing a make-your-own-heardle code uploaded to Glitch. “I picked a few FFXIV songs off of Soundcloud and added that to the code, where it plays the first 9 seconds,” Peach said. “The original code had great instructions on what to replace, and the program allows for live updates of your website.”
Right now, her FFXIV Heardle has around 50 tracks loaded up and ready to go, so you’re good for at least another two months of racking your brain over song names. As a self-described Soken fangirl, the FFXIV Heardle creator listens to the game’s massive soundtrack every day, even when she isn’t playing, so you can expect quite a bit of range from every expansion. Peach says it has input from friends and some of her own picks, but the guessing game has everything from the more popular beats (like today’s) to those “niche songs from small moments in the game.”
Why am I crying about this song at 4pm on a Saturday?
Anyway, as a writer who cannot spell to save their life, I’ve mostly dodged Wordle and all of its spin-off iterations, but this one is too tempting. Soken’s work probably dominates my top tracks, and I totally forgot FFXIV held a Guinness World Record for “most original pieces of music in a video game.” Major respect to anyone who can curate a neat game out of it, I can’t even stop crying about the same few seconds from a song I heard back in A Realm Reborn.
This FFXIV Heardle adjusts to your timezone, starting from midnight EST. On my end, I’ve got about eight more hours before my plight is repeated, but here’s to hoping my spelling woes don’t embarrass me again. I’ve been trying to complete my Orchestrion collection in-game, so maybe I’ll get better at the spelling part.
As for today’s challenge, if you need a hint, I’ve got you. Beware of FFXIV Heardle hints below:
It’s, uh, not “that song that plays when you see Thordan,” and there’s an ‘e’ in it. I may or may not have forgotten the letter ‘e’ every single try, so don’t make my mistake.
