Written in 2024
When the "Dawntrail" expansion of Final Fantasy XIV launched, it was often praised for the great soundtrack it has. And indeed, the music is one of the strong aspects of this expansion.
Having played RPGs for a long time now, I noticed that some tunes remind me of music I heard in other games - and then I went to investigate if I could find some similarities to other games.
I do not know if Masayoshi Soken, the famous composer of Final Fantasy XIV's music really intended to have some similarities to the music I found, or if it just are good compositions that just happen to sound similarly. Yet, I thought it was interesting trying to find the pieces that triggered some reminiscence within me when hearing the music for the first time.
This page here names a few examples . If you have any feedback or suggestions, just let me know! Contact options can be found here!
This song plays in the background of dayilight Kozama'uka overworld. It is a nice mixture of south american and fantasy vibes. And then there is the part that reminds me incredibly of "We're Rangers" from Breath of Fire 2. When I roamed the land for the first time and heard that part, I was immediately taken back to the time when I ran around Breath of Fire 2's overworld.
Generally speaking, there is some hints of "Klonoa - Door to Phantomile" and "Wild Arms 2" as well as "Xenoblade Chronicles" within the music.
At certain moments in the story, there is some sort of strategy planning going on in Dawntrail. And whenever such a scene happened, I always thought about the "Tactics" song that was part of many Suikoden games. Here is the example from Suikoden 2 - don't you agree they sound alike? Even the general setting with tactics talks is quite similar!
This one is quite obvious, I think. The similarities of the linked part in Dawntrail's "Event Theme 3" sound so much like the "inside house" music that was present in "The Legend of Zelda" games from "Ocarina of Time" onward. The only real difference is the addition of a little Otamatone overlay.
The last one with a direct connection is a bit more open to interpretation - I think the end of "Desertwalkers", the Western town theme sounds very much like the end of the famous "Wild Arms" intro. Although some similarities could come from the fact that both tend to be music reminiscent of Western movies.
Ah yes, and the background beat is simliar to the "Magitek Research Factory" from Final Fantasy VI. I know it also bears similarities to "We Will Rock You" from Queen, but it's more closely related to the Magitek Research Facility, I think.
There are more music tracks that remind me of other games. Dawntrail's "Windswept Echoes" has a part that reminds me of "Secret of Mana" and "Flash in the Dark" has a brass chord that sounds almost like something from Motoi Sakuraba's "Star Ocean" works. But I couldn't find perfect examples for those.
In any case, the Dawntrail soundtrack is pretty enjoyable and I really recommend listening to every track!
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