When I think of Final Fantasy music, the first songs that come to mind are almost always the epic ones or the touching ones. But there’s a lot more to the various Final Fantasy soundtracks, including some great action oriented themes. One of my favorite examples of this is Movin’ from Final Fantasy VIII.

In a way, the name for this song says it all- it’s about motion. The song’s brief intro (first 20-25 seconds) makes it sound like it’s getting revved up, almost like a giant waking from its slumber. Then it kicks in with some simple but effective drum beats to further advance proceedings, proving that it’s starting to get into gear. This fits perfectly with the part of the game where the song plays, when Balamb Garden first becomes mobile. The intro occurs when Garden is waking itself up, starting to move for the first time, and you literally see its gears start turning. Once it shakes off the rust, Garden is quite a sight to see in motion.

Those drums that help getting everything moving also do a great job at meshing with the military vibe that accompanies Garden. Such drums would be fitting for a marching army, and likewise work extremely well with Garden as it makes the transition from stationary academy to mobile fortress. The song keeps that militaristic beat throughout; it’s what keeps driving the song forward. Along the way a lot of other fantastic instrumentation and motifs are layered in to add texture, and do a good job at, in a way, narrating the ensuing encounter that occurs between Balamb and Galbadia. But it’s that driving beat that makes this song memorable to me. As the name implies, Movin’ is constantly moving, making it a great song that fits perfectly with one of Final Fantasy VIII’s biggest action sequences, which I think is awesome.

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