12 Greatest Final Fantasy Battle Themes

2. "Blinded By Light" - Final Fantasy XIII's Battle Theme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvohXgIKTgU

Now for the top two. Ultimately, I decided a list of the best Final Fantasy Battle Themes should be topped by two of the series' regular battle themes; the best two, in my opinion. However, actually deciding between these two as to which gets the top spot has been a hell of a difficult choice! Two different themes from two different generations, in the end, I let history and tradition split my hairs. The trilogy that the 13th installment of the series has become has received mixed reviews for it's characters, story, game-play and indeed music. The 2nd of the three, XIII-2, took the most unusual and original approach to the music to date, discarding the orchestra, chanting, baselines and chimes that were its bread and butter in favour of various new-wave electronica tracks amidst plenty nu-metal. The result? Not great. XIII-3 has fared better but ultimately suffers from a lack of original material, instead working with remixes from the previous games. The original XIII earns the most plaudits for it's scores, including a strong Boss Battle theme, serene vocal tracks such as "Serah's Theme" and "The Sunleth Waterscape" but it's "Blinded by Light" which blows them all away. What will go down, in my opinion, as THE perennial track of Final Fantasy's third generation, this theme has it all. Brooding, pounding beats befitting of its rose-haired protagonist build up perfectly to a glorious, swooning eargasm of violins- as close to an audible definition of uplifting as I could think of. It peaks, it allows a moment for you to take a breath before doing what any great Final Fantasy battle theme should do... it starts again. This track leaves you willingly absorbing the sobering beats of the percussion before taking you up again to the heady heights of those violins. It's simply a track even those most stubborn of stubborn, traditional fans seem to agree is worth its stock. My personal favourite track on the list, I had to be at my most objective not to place it at #1.