Board 8 > Ranking 200 User-nominated Final Boss Themes

(+) Yeah! (+)

So I finally listened, wrote about, and ranked those 200 songs. Thanks for the patience. The wait is finally over. A few notes though....

• I complain a lot about the vocals in many of these. I just want to say that I don't hate songs with vocals. Like, that's most of the music I listen to. Just wanna clarify I don't just think vocal songs are worse than instrumentals.
• Don't anticipate, like, high quality, well thought-out analyses of these songs. It's a lot of really dumb jokes and low-effort memeing
• Separating these songs into 6 tiers. 1 is the lowest, 2 is second lowest, etc.
• 1 = 14 songs, 2 = 37 songs, 3 = 52 songs, 4 = 59 songs, 5 = 29 songs, 6 = 9 songs
• Unfortunately I guess the list trends more negative. Sorry for that.

Might throw together a spreadsheet at some point, but I'm kind of tired today, so I'll just make that a future me problem.

at least give us funny names for the tiers

Oh nice, I'm gonna have to remind myself what I nominated

Edit: Uh oh, almost all of my noms have vocals

Topic ID is 80193504 on the forbidden archive site, if anyone else wanted to check

oh apparently I didn't nominate for that?

could've sworn I did

Hey I nominated some cool shit (well cool to me)

200. MARIA
Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVcc16o0SaY
@azuarc (5/5)

When I saw this nominated I shat myself. I was wanting to just ignore it but that wouldve been rude, so Ill just be mean in a write-up instead, which is way worse. Was hoping my brain from back when this was in every VGMC was just not developed enough to recognize this as a good song, but nope, this is bad. This is cringe incarnate. Its the ending to a straight-to-video Disney ripoff your grandma bought in a Walmart for five bucks. Its the guitarwork of an admittedly talented teenager who lets his poor hygiene get in the way of achieving anything special. Its the vocals of a Christian Christmas special that children are forced to watch in Sunday School in the middle of October because the regular teacher got COVID after refusing to get the jab.. I fucking loathe this song. It is the bane of my existence. I would make a joke that it makes me want to die, but that would be insensitive to all the people this song killed. Im never listening to this again. I am about 40% through the list so far and Ive been trying really hard not to be extremely mean about the songs I dont like, because that is exhausting to read. But I am not holding back on this, which almost certainly bottoms out on the list. Like, it wont even be close, barring some absurd new song Ive never heard. I hate this song so much. I promise the other writeups arent this mean though, please dont stop reading.

199. EXEC_over.METHOD_SUBLIMATION
Ar Tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofOljPcDskg
@dowolf (5/5)

Oh hey this is my first and only write-up I have to do for Ar Tonelico songs. Too many of these were nominated! Shouldve been 0, I mean. And this one is 17 minutes, good lord. I dont like any of these songs. Something about the odd production mixed with the oversinging of the vocalists creates this really messy, discomforting sound, and this seems to be the case for every song Ive heard which begins with EXEC. Like, the part at 1:53 is a perfect example. It sounds like shes straining herself with her mouth right up against the mic. It just sounds bad. These games certainly have great music, and the potential for greatness is evident (That violin at 8:36? Fucking wonderful), but the team gets the yips when it comes to making these vocal epics.

198. Otherworld
Final Fantasy X
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9dEu29RY44
@Lord_Bob_Bree (5/5)

As Ive grown older, a lot of harsher music has been more enjoyable for me. I had some hope that I might enjoy Otherworld now, but uh, no, this is still really bad. Completely uninteresting riffs that would sound fine on their own, but are paired with vocals that, if Im being nice, sound like a teenager doing his demon voice impression in an effort to make his crush laugh. Curious how metalheads feel about this? I dont consider myself to be one, but I do listen to quite a few different styles of it, and I think this is complete shit. Not trying to diss, Im genuinely curious if this is considered good based on the standard of someone whos favorite genre isnt pop. Anyway, bad song that only gets in on a technicality. Shouldve been stricter on the rules but ow well.

197. Battle! (Steven)
Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaAGsbtETIg
@Natwaf_akidna (5/5)

As someone who enjoys some crunchy GBA tunes, this is the exact opposite of a song using the soundfont to create something good. As in, its bad. This is hard to listen to if Im being real. Its like listening to a high school rock band play underwater. Though this is exactly the quality of song Steven deserved.

196. Daughter of the Dark God
Octopath Traveller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhRjEifd0Go
@MacArrowny (5/5)

Some operatic singing in what I assume is a pretty traditional form? Idk, I dont listen to much opera, or any to be honest. The reason for that is I dont like opera. It especially clashes here because the melody and backing instrumentation dont really feel like a natural fit. Like, its just standard JRPG fare with some opera singer layered on top, which makes it go from fine to bad. Sorry, this one was hard to get through.

rip four great songs immediately lmao okay maria is only good with context and otherworld is only "good" but still

and your maria writeup is amazing, dw

whoa tag! I don't remember what I nominated for this at all

im def certain i nominated but can't remember what i would've nommed at all so this'll be surprise!!!

also damn those are some kills right off the bat and otherworld

Tag

I didn't remember this topic existing until it was mentioned that it was almost finished a few days ago. I had to check to logs to see if I nominated anything (which I did). So I'll follow along.

Tag.

I wish I liked Daughter of a Dark God but even as an opera music fan it just sounds very bad to me. (I wouldn't really describe this as "opera music", but it does at least have opera-style vocals...I digress)

EXEC_over.METHOD_SUBLIMATION I think is great but I can sort of understand ranking the full version low. The only phase I really love is the 3rd one and the others are just sort of fine.

List appears to be backwards.

Maria: I think as a culmination of the game, as a reprisal of some motifs that have been present throughout, it's fantastic. Without that context, I understand why some folks bounce off of it.

Sublimation: literally perfection.

Otherworld: Definitely an acquired taste, that style of vocals. I am a huge fan of the Black Mages version, though!

Daughter of the Dark God: if you can understand why I dislike this but adore The One They Call the Witch, please let me know. I would like to understand myself better >_>

195. Final Lorenzo
Haunting Ground
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ohlMlQ8WJo
@Snake5555555555 (5/5)

This has a lot of sounds and effects that I like hearing, but not when Im trying to listen to music. Top tier SFX pack, low tier song.

194. Sins and Gods (Quiet Version)
Divinity: Original Sin 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Vk71RaVmU
@Lord_Bob_Bree (4/5)

A big red flag for me this ranking has been seeing WRPGs nominated. I do not like these scores. They are boring. Maybe that makes me a filthy man, but I already know that. So that was a red flag here, and the bonus red flag of quiet version was not fun to see either. If youre going to bore me at least make my ears bleed or something. There have been a lot of songs in the ranking that bore me to the point of completely forgetting everything about it the second Im done with it, and this might take the top spot. What even happened? Idk man, the LOUD version wouldve done probably at least 2 spots better max.

193. Mellisan Battle
Baldurs Gate II: Throne of Bhaal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPI1hw5L8dI
@Anagram (5/5)

I feel like theres a pretty huge gulf between JRPGs and WRPGs in relation to musical output. Im not sure theres a single WRPG Id suggest has a soundtrack Id even identify as being memorable, much less good. This is fairly standard fare, as far as my musical ineptitude is aware of. Just some dull brass blaring without much of a melody to entice me. Im sure it works in-game but I would never choose to listen to this on purpose.

192. Battle! (Volo & Giratina)
Pokemon Legends: Arceus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6JSc_qmnT8
@Mihark (5/5)

Another day, another Pokemon final battle theme that sounds like a teenager going into a free music maker and just pressing a bunch of instruments and effects together.

191. Syrups Gadgets
Wario Land II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSAF36qnaMw
@-hotdogturtle-- (4/4)

Its farts, get it?

190. Demon Lord
Jewel Master
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBzGAS4KBCs
@Fluttershy_Pony (5/5)

Im usually down for some Genesis songs, but this is pretty bad. Sounds like my first experience with Loop Labs or some shit.

189. Crawl
Guilty Gear -Strive-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT4OVhAoAwA
@TheArkOfTurus (5/5)

I dunno if Im in the minority, but Strives soundtrack is incredibly disappointing. The chorus in this song bangs, but the rest of the time this dude is yelling at me just makes me feel like Im back in little league and disappointing my father. What the fuck does, I want the freedom of Carl even mean? Who the hell is Carl? This sucks.

188. Battle! (Doom Dragon)
Golden Sun: The Lost Age
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoQhfeoYZD8
@tgs2 (5/5)

Sakuraba woke up a chose pure chaos when he composed this. Fucking legend. I hope he is well. This barely resembles a functioning song though, so idk. Im inclined to rank it poorly despite how much I appreciate it exists. Need to control my bias when I can, and I definitely can here, but its hard.

187. ism
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIkQ6yAfVgg
@paperwarior (4/4)

I dunno, I havent been able to get into any Yakuza song Ive heard and this honestly sounds kinda bad. The mixture of orchestral strings with the awkward dubstep and occasional electric guitar feels incredibly lame in the worst way possible. Its also far too slow to provide what Im sure is meant to be an intense moment, given its the final fight in a game about gangsters. Sorry, this aint it

tazzyboyishere posted...

Its farts, get it?

No...

TIER 1
200. MARIA (Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk)
199. EXEC_over.METHOD_SUBLIMATION (Ar Tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica)
198. Otherworld (Final Fantasy X)
197. Battle! (Steven) (Pokmon Ruby & Sapphire)
196. Daughter of the Dark God (Octopath Traveler)
195. Final Lorenzo (Haunting Ground)
194. Sins and Gods (Quiet Version) (Divinity: Original Sin 2)
193. Mellisan Battle (Baldurs Gate II: Throne of Bhaal)
192. Battle! (Volo & Giratina) (Pokemon Legends: Arceus)
191. Syrups Gadgets (Wario Land II)
190. Demon Lord (Jewel Master)
189. Crawl (Guilty Gear -Strive-)
188. Battle! (Doom Dragon) (Golden Sun: The Lost Age)
187. ism (Yakuza: Like a Dragon)

That's the 1/6 songs out of the way. What's the best result? The worst result? Did you learn anything new? Are you still reading? I don't know.

tazzyboyishere posted...

Im not sure theres a single WRPG Id suggest has a soundtrack Id even identify as being memorable, much less good.

You know, aside from my own nomination being out so early, I feel like we're mostly on the same page in terms of things that we don't like.

Hey cool I survived the first tier.

-hotdogturtle-- posted...

No...

Well my nomination was something I just threw out here, but this evaluation means I'm not bothering reading any more of the topic.

Darn. I almost survived, but I do consider Doom Dragon my #5 from what I nominated so a match of taste by technicality at least!

Also Tag

Some operatic singing in what I assume is a pretty traditional form? Idk, I dont listen to much opera, or any to be honest. The reason for that is I dont like opera. It especially clashes here because the melody and backing instrumentation dont really feel like a natural fit. Like, its just standard JRPG fare with some opera singer layered on top, which makes it go from fine to bad. Sorry, this one was hard to get through.

Popping in to say, as a former opera singer and current opera enthusiast, Daughter of the Dark God's singer is absolute dogshit. Good placement.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1658SApTXMbkoREB3Kb5deZVMkwMTq-_0rRo0XkUHx7Y/edit?usp=sharing

here's a spreadsheet enjoy the obnoxious colors turn them off or change them if you wish in conditional formatting

tazzyboyishere posted...

1 = 14 songs, 2 = 37 songs, 3 = 52 songs, 4 = 59 songs, 5 = 29 songs, 6 = 9 songs
Unfortunately I guess the list trends more negative. Sorry for that.

That's not negative. That's just "bad, meh, okay, good, great, amazing."

tazzyboyishere posted...

200. MARIA
Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk
<review>

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/duty_calls.png

I can't remember if I nominated anything.

Can you tell me if I actually nominated anything?

I don't mind waiting to find out what I nominated, but Imma feel silly waiting for something that never comes.

Actually I just remembered that I did

If I get time tomorrow I'll make a spreadsheet of nominations

NFUN posted...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1658SApTXMbkoREB3Kb5deZVMkwMTq-_0rRo0XkUHx7Y/edit?usp=sharing

here's a spreadsheet enjoy the obnoxious colors turn them off or change them if you wish in conditional formatting

This is awesome btw, thanks for putting more thought into this than I am

NOMINATION SPREADHSEET
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1azDQFmeWu5xTKGaibGraRoHnTZPPQkbFSLXuh7dM2CY/edit?usp=sharing

HERE COMES TIER 2!! Most of these songs I still don't like, but I didn't find them quite on the level of tier 1. This is a lot of songs that were either boring to me, or just don't at all match up with my tastes.

186. Nemesis Final Metamorphosis
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4ZpiVXa_KA
@Snake5555555555 (4/5)

Horror music, on its own, isnt going to work too well without a really strong driving melody. There is not one of those here. PS1-era horror music is at especially challenging odds, though this sounds better than some of the stuff Ive heard from those Resident Evil games. Cant imagine enjoying listening to this without a memory of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, which I dont have.

185. Precipitation
Risk of Rain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGmp2JP_SD8
@bebr117 (5/5)

No clue what this is going for, but I am not into it. The melodies coming together would probably sound solid with different instrumentation, but I don't like much of what's happenning here.

184. Last Judgment
Resident Evil 2 (2019)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PpV3aiRS_I
@andylt (5/5)

This song sure is spooky. Just listen to the women screaming! I have nothing to say about this, its very bland. I'm honestly not even sure I remember much about the final boss within the game itself, so this never had a chance. Honestly, fellas, I don't know if I like any Resident Evil song on it's own.

183. Seraph, the Traitor
Monster Train
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdJ_iwFL6R8
@TheArkOfTurus (4/5)

I forget what I heard literally while listening to it. Not outright bad but intensely uninspiring and dull. I feel like it's going for high atmosphere, and, again, that just doesn't really apply to my specific tastes. Thoughts here probably change if I ever play this game (I probably won't), but it doesn't do much for me.

182. Nascent Requiem
Final Fantasy XIII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw6ycaCpN7k
@pjbasis (5/5)

Generic orchestral bombast. While FF13 didnt have as aggressively dull music as FF12 on the whole, Uematsus influence is terribly missed. This song isnt really doing anything to tickle my brain, so unfortunately, dont really have anything to say. Here's the provided link, I need to have it here for a bad joke next writeuphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ERJc-DJfRU

181. The Battle for Freedom
Final Fantasy XII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiZVY7KOQjw
pjbasis (4/5)

Oddly enough, better than the FF13 song nominated, but possibly only because the source doesnt sound like a TazTastic VG Music upload. Ask me to identify which is which without that modifier, and I probably cant.

"dull" and "uninspiring" are certainly words to describe seraph

When I saw MARIA ranked dead last I shat myself.

LMAO I was just wondering what happened to this topic

I just grabbed some links what ever

FL81 posted...

When I saw MARIA ranked dead last I shat myself.

Same, it was nice to see someone else on B8 recognize it

tazzyboyishere posted...

Uematsus influence is terribly missed.

And yet the Uematsu song is ranked lower, curious!

I am very intelligent.

Uematsu's influence is terrible

Uematsu rules. Top 5 JRPG composer

dude wishes he was a top 5 final fantasy composer

Hey not everyone can be Ryuji Sasai

Uematsu is just too prog for some people.

yeah that's me, notable prog hater

In honesty, the Syrup's Gadgets write-up is just a troll. I don't want to shy away from criticizing songs I don't like, but I feel in order to be a dick I have to at least make legitimate comments about the songs. I'll be rewriting that one soon, and going forward I'm looking at these and rewriting if necessary, since there are a few more that are just pointless to have in here.

180. Who Brings Shadow
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSYGILOL-tg
@dowolf (4/5)

Really corny and not in a fun way. This sounds like off brand Breaking Benjamin, which already sounds like off brand Disturbed. No idea why Soken is so obsessed with these types of songs since I've heard like 3 similar ones and 3 is exactly the point where I define obsession I guess. I do like the initial guitars, the piece just doesn't come together enough on every other part, and the length certainly doesn't help it's case.

179. The Battle on the Ice
LittleBigPlanet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucVUGsydhBE
@-hotdogturtle-- (3/4)

This sounds far too intense for what I know of LittleBigPlanet, which is admittedly not much. Did these games even sell well? I dont remember anybody ever talking about them when they came out and they made three of them plus spinoffs? Like, theres no way these games were popular, right? Anyway, the song sounds bland and the transitions between intense and whimsical parts do not feel natural or enjoyable.

178. Our Paths May Never Cross
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8jW4nWpDxk
@MaxGalactica (5/5)

Xenoblade soundtracks have never really gelled with me outside of a few standouts, and this is no different. Struggling to think of anything to say about this, other than it feels quite drab in comparison to what I know Mitsuda is capable of. I've listened to the dude for nearly my whole life, and his work is part of the reason I love video game music, and music as a whole. It hurts to put him down this low, but at least I can take solace in the fact that this likely sounds way better in the game itself, as do, like, almost all of these. Gameplay moments are important features of this type of song, and I've noticed a pretty high degree of tracks that do better with my own knowledge of that installed. Sorry to have the writeup be taken over by shower thoughts, but when one of the greatest musicians whose ever lived makes a dud two decades after his peak era, what else is there to say?

177. Reds Last Battle
SaGa Frontier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMPqf4oWSu0
@RySenkari (5/5)

Fairly low energy for something as climactic as the final battle of a story. It seems there are a number of final bosses for different paths of SaGa Frontier based on the two nominations here and further looking into the track listing. Id say this would be an acceptable boss theme, but it just doesnt catch me too much here, especially with, what I hope, will be a group of pretty powerful tracks (Im writing these in order of nomination so this is my first write-up. Guess I cant truly confirm if the field is great). I don't like the use of those trumpets very much. I think they overtake an otherwise interesting melody, even if that melody isn't really expanded on in a way I enjoy. Either way, list spoilers, Reds theme is a lot less exciting than the other theme nominated from this game by a pretty hefty margin.

176. Shriek and Ori
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClCW2A1355A
@andylt (4/5)

I keep reading this as Shrek and Ori and I think that would be a pretty swell thing to witness. I want to enjoy Ori music more, since the games, especially Ori 2, are fucking outstanding. But the music doesnt provide the same pleasurable feast the visuals and movement do. This song in particular is backing an incredibly tense and emotional boss fight, but I dont remember a single note, and I feel like, with a game as memorable as Ori 2, that shouldnt be happening. What do any of the songs sound like? I guess it makes sense though. Cinematic scores rarely stand out to me, and I'm pretty sure that's the exact type of presentation Ori attempts to, well, present. And the fight is quite cinematic in nature, so yeah, I guess this is exactly as it needs to sound.

Not surprising that Battle on the Ice dropped considering the types of songs at the bottom of this list. Kind of surprised that I nominated it. I think it works better in context than out of it because I imagine that a lot of people don't go listening to that kind of music on their own.

LBP was definitely popular. And awesome!

I'm kinda seeing the MARIA camp perspective now of "I get why Tazzy dislikes this in a vacuum, but it's amazing in context." regarding Who Brings Shadow.

MARIA still sucks

Oh, I missed the nominations.

I hope songs I like made it in.