All FF's before 5 feature some of the best music on their systems. They've been remade a lot but even the original versions have the same strong uematsu melodies. The FF3 overworld music in particular is worth mentioning. The final dungeon of FF4, FF2 and of course the arpeggio prelude and main FF theme from FF1. FF3 also introduced the chocobo theme.

Hey man, the NES had plenty of good music! Don't throw the system under the bus like that :((((((

That said i wouldn't have voted for the first game anyways even though I think it's good. This question always comes down to a huge amount of preference with a dab of nostalgia since the soundtracks are generally great but also wildly different from each other. It kinda becomes a toss up for me between 6, 7 and 10 probably. 10 wins out because that's my Final Fantasy, that's the game that defined the franchise for me.

Shoutouts to 8 for having an amazing soundtrack even though the rest of the game does nothing for me.

Here's the theme of my boy from 10. I could've picked a ton of songs, but let's go with this.

X, VIII, VII are pure nostalgia. But X has one of the best sounding soundtracks that ranges from adventurous, dramatic, cool, to haunting. That's not to say that the rest don't do that, but the instrumentals and compositions are all super on point with X.

XIV, particularly with the Stormblood expansion, has gone way above any MMO soundtracks. This soundtrack has some really great tracks that are unique and give dungeons and bosses some fun sounding tracks. I think some would argue maybe it detracts from the emotion behind the story, but I feel like having all these different sounding tracks really gives it a unique flair that you definitely don't see in other MMOs and it makes it for a much funner experience. Susano's Theme and Doma Castle are some of my favorite from Stormblood.

Apologies if I missed the mark on not including the older ones, I had no idea.

And man maybe I should consider finally playing FFXIV

XIV gets my vote if for no other reason than the sheer volume and diversity of music, so you're bound to find something you'll love. X and World of Final Fantasy are my runners-up. The latter really resonated with me in a big way. It's just such a warm, joyous experience with a lot of heart.

Even though FFIX is far and away my favorite FF, and the music is definitely a part of that, I think I might have to give it to FFXIV too, much to my surprise. A Realm Reborn started out with only decent music, apart from a few standout tracks like this one, but Heavansward and Stormblood really knocked it out of the park. Which is a big boon for an MMO, because you're going to be hearing those tracks a lot.

Shit, now I want to resub.

Main theme: FFIV (Main Theme)

Boss theme: FFXII (Boss Battle)

Vocal theme: FFXIV (Answers)

Battle theme: FFVIII (The Man with the Machine Gun)

Overall:

You totally should! It's got a free trial! Nothing to lose! Go for broke! Triumph or die!

I can't imagine they were even capable of having good music anyway?

I'm not good with emojis but imagine one here with its arms crossed and an irritated look on its face.

Final Fantasy IV was a SNES game and I do see it mentioned a fair bit. The SNES version isn't the best way to play it, though - some people say the DS version, others say the PSP version. I personally would go for the PSP version, but more people seem to side with the DS version. The whole game is essential if you like classic Final Fantasy.

Here's a Youtube video of the SNES version's OST. It's pretty good! Also worth noting that NES games could also have good music, or have you not heard the bazillion covers of Wily Stage 1 there are?

Though, to be honest, the SNES version of Final Fantasy VI still takes the cake for me. It's the best Final Fantasy in all ways as far as I'm concerned.

Stunning. Tears every time.

In most cases I take VII over VI in the head-to-head, but VI wins in music for me. It's the only entry where I find myself whistling themes from the game without any prompting whatsoever. Well, maybe I sometimes hum the Jenova theme, too.

I have tremendous nostalgia for the original games OST, but I do think that some of the tracks are legitimately good as well. The symphonic versions that are available out there prove that the music may have been limited by the NES hardware, but are still very well written. Matoya's Cave and the main theme are probably my favorites, but all of them are burned into my memory. FF2 also had very good music for which I have no nostalgia, because fuck that game. Of the more recent games, I have to go with VII.

Tactics is the real answer.

Haven't listened to all of the MMO's music, but I'll take VIII. Say what you will about the rest of the game, it has a heck of a soundtrack.

XII taking a beating in this poll, but it's been my favorite since it arrived and the re-orchestration for The Zodiac Age is really well done.

Edit: In case no one says a word for XIII, the one thing that game had was a good soundtrack. Almost no one is going to pick it as a favorite, but it really was high quality orchestral music.

I have been listening to Final Fantasy X's music since it came out and I have enjoyed every second of it. My favorites are Besaid Island and The Splendid Performance.

Close second is Final Fantasy XII, which is very distinctive, and XIV and XV tied for third.

Yeah, you can tell I'm one of the relatively newer fans.

I like a good 5.

XIV gets my vote too. So much variety and plenty of belters for any taste imo. It even has some of the classics (eg. it plays Terra's Theme from VI when you ride a Magitek mount). Close second for me would be VII but that's going for a very particular theme that not everyone loves I'm sure.

I've listened to the X soundtrack the most, but I have a hard time calling any one my absolute favorite. I love the Piano Collections they've done in particular; they're my favorite way to enjoy the soundtracks.

XIII, specifically XIII-2.

I'd say this game has the most unique music of the franchise.

FFXI's music is the only music I remember.

This feels like a repeat of something that comes up every year or so here.

For me the most iconic music is FF6. After that its a toss up of 14, 15, or 11.

FF14 is probably the "best" just due to the sheer number of great tracks that it's gotten over the years, but if I had to pick a traditional single-player one, it'd be FF6.

II, VII (including Crisis Core and Advent children), XII, and XIII-1 have some bangers, but I give it to the original X (though I also like the remastered version) as a complete soundtrack; also because X was my first Final Fantasy so obvious bias/nostalgia and obvious.

IV has great music. Tell me this isn`t great. (overwold theme) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8PBB5Oixlk (Battle theme) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiyugfW4MX8 (Boss theme) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT803dOa_TY

Edit: Something happend to the links but I can`t be bothered

I think VIII has some of my favorite so I voted for it. But I also enjoyed a lot of XIII.

So FFVI is really good, eh? What's the recommended platform I could play it on?

FFX has the best soundtrack by far.

I think the highs are higher with specific tracks on the other OSTs, but X has a consistency in quality and tone that is unmatched by any of the other FF games.

Different games for different things:

Best Main Theme: FFXII - The classic Final Fantasy title theme but now orchestral. Also, same guy who did this scored Valkyria Chronicles, which is one of my favorite game soundtracks.

Best Normal Battle Themes: FFVIII - Man with a Machine Gun is pretty classic. The normal battle theme is pretty good, too. I have to admit that FFXV comes pretty close, but the way battles work in that game kind of diminish the importance of a battle theme.

Best Boss Theme: FVII - It's a good dumb midi-rock thing.

Best Final Boss Theme: FFVII - One Winged Angel. I mean, c'mon.

Best Overworld Theme - FFVI - It's got two of theme, each of which fit the two halves of the games they are put in.

Worst Soundtrack: FFX - Sappy piano music, lame battle themes and god-awful synthy pop-stuff in between. It's completely out of place for the series. It gets even worse if you consider FFX-2 an extension of the same game.

The music of FFXIV is incredible and has some of my favorite battle themes in games let alone in one franchise.

I've rarely been more hyped for a boss fight than when Stormblood came around. It's diverse and weird and I love it all.

I wish it were easier to find videos that were not layered over very spoilerly boss fights.

I'm absolutely going to cheat and say FFXV because you can get all the albums from every FF you want, including FFXI. Nothing's more calming than shuffling through the entire library of FF music while cruising with your buds.

For the record I would have chosen World of Final Fantasy but it wasn't an option. That soundtrack has like 93 songs for $20 it's phenomenal.

@frostyryan: The Snes version is the best. Failing that, you can either deal with the bad graphics overhaul for the PC version or the long load times of the PS1 version (which you can play on a PSP, PS3, or Vita).

Tha GBA version was fine in its day but the muddied soundtrack and mushy graphics make it hard to recommend.

This discussion is over now.

Final Fantasy IX for me, hands down. I just get drenched in waves of nostalgia whenever I hear the music in that game. Also, I've used the Village of Dali theme to help me fall to sleep countless times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elKGnfiwR2E

@thegoodbishonen: fucking same here. I used to put my head down on my work breaks and play that song while I went to sleep.

Final Fantasy 1, the one FF game I played to completion.

@frostyryan: Haha, nice.

Hard to say, 6 and 7 have some amazing tracks, but the entire soundtrack as a whole, while great in their own right, might not be as good overall as the later in the series. Very high highs, or at least very memorable, but lower average if that makes any sense.

Sometimes I wonder if certain tracks stood out simply because they stand out among the rest of the more mediocre pieces.

There's also a style change from 6, 7, 9, to 8, 10, then to the more recent 13 and 15. Plus the size of the soundtracks tend to get bigger for the recent titles which muddies the water even more, maybe a bit of a shot gun method advantage going for the more recent titles or disadvantage because they blur together more.

was a toss up between VIII & X for me. Eventually chose VIII, but X is excellent as well.

I'm so happy to see all the XIV love here. It really is remarkable how strong the soundtrack is, and that's coming from a diehard fan of the rest of the series' music. Plus it even includes some great remastered tunes from previous games, like Terra's Theme, Clash on the Big Bridge, Dancing Mad, etc.

Discounting that, it's probably a tossup between 6 and 7. Cosmo Canyon or Slam Shuffle is like Sophie's Choice.

XV, I’m partial to the very electronica based tunes of Yoko Shimomura.

*drops mic*

I'll fight any boss to this theme in any game.

FF6 is probably the "real" answer, but FF8 is probably my personal favorite soundtrack of the series, and gets my vote. I mean, it has Balamb Garden, Man With the Machine Gun, AND dat Triple Triad music all in one game.

So many of these have great soundtracks though.

Final Fantasy VIII is unquestionably the best.

....

FF8

FFTactics

FF10

FF9

FF6

FF7

FF12

FF11

I haven't played the others. There's a decent dropoff IMO from 6 to 7, and for what it's worth 12 and 11 are almost completely unmemorable on the spot though I will say when they played some of 12 after its re-release recently I did recognize the music instantly and so the game itself may have had something to do with how I remember that soundtrack (and I really, really liked 12 at the time).

@frostyryan: @justin258: There are patches for the faded colour and shitty sound of FFVI GBA, make it as good as the SNES version imo, with the bonus of the tweaks and added stuff. The controls are still worse though in some cases... but personally I always play the patched GBA version on the Wii U VC when I revisit these days.

I had to vote for VI. Soldiers marching in Magitek suits through snow, and that sorrowful, expansive melody; it'll be with me forever.

Sorely tempted to vote XIV, though. Glad everyone's been linking to the YT vids upthread. They're amazing.

It's been stuck in my head for nearly two decades.