FFXIV - Shadowbringers Theme | Reacting To Video Game Music! 

*SPOILER WARNING* Thanks for those mentioning it as I didn't know. There's some footage attached that contains spoilers. I will be mindful of this in the future!

"I'm curious what instruments [Soken] plays." Do you know... La Hee?

“Does it build up to something?” Oh yes, just one the best endings to a video game ever

"Let expanse contract. Eon become instant. Champions from beyond the rift, heed my call!" And then one of the best cutscenes in the whole freaking game happens.

Fun fact: That SLICK bass line? That's actually set up in the cutscene to start the instant the guy pulls out the axe. It's such a strong note to set up what happens right afterwards.

I don't think I will ever get tired of watching anyone react to literally any aspect of FFXIV

5:31 - 6:41 this part actually track composed by previous legendary final fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu called Eternal Wind. So everytime i heard that part i literally had goosebumps how Soken can fit it properly in Shadowbringers theme.

Soken has a band called The Primals. They perform songs live during events. They often get the lead of English localization to sing and sometimes the producer and director himself. But for this song, it's sung by Jason Charles Miller. I've read somewhere that in their original versions, Shadowbringers is the first FF main theme to feature a guitar. Then it's followed by Endwalker, the upcoming expansion.

"I'm curious what instruments he plays." All of them.

"The way soken composes, he's got to have a band" You're in luck sir! It's called The Primals, and they mainly just do epic rock music for FFXIV, but its so good.

6:45 "I'm curious what instrument he plays." * Bells attached to a carboard box * Toy Piano * Dual-wielding Otamatones

Watch the cinematic trailer. It makes the music even more awesome the way it's arranged with the visuals. Especially the very last scene. Goosebumps EVERY SINGLE TIME.

This theme is really designed to compliment the Shadowbringers cinematic trailer, which I’d also recommend you check out. You won’t have context for what’s happening, but the music makes a bit more sense with that cinematic context. (Not that it isn’t good on its own!) Seconded on Black Wolf Stalks Again. Also Equilibrium, Answers, What Angel Wakes Me, Tomorrow and Tomorrow… so many good themes!

I'd argue that the constant suspense and tension in the track is intended to reflect the constant suspense and tension within the Shadowbringers story, as a reminder that not everything can have a resolution.

To The Edge is one of the songs you could consider a sequel to this song. It combines parts of this song's melody and lyrics with another song called Neath Dark Waters as well as adding a lot of new parts. More mellow, but fairly impactful and emotional, especially if you know the story behind how Soken wrote it. He was in the hospital fighting cancer at the time, no visitors thanks to covid, and getting the same workload and treatment as the rest of the team because he begged Yoshida to be treated the same and to not tell the rest of the devs because he didn't want them to treat him differently or risk their worry for him to change their work. He wrote To the Edge and many other songs in his hospital bed because he was determined to make something the fans loved. His job, his passion, and his love of the fans and the game is what helped him fight the cancer and beat it into remission and To the Edge was his weapon against the cancer. I heard about Soken's cancer in March, i think, and still get emotional thinking about the whole situation and listening to the song.

I have seen the trailer for Shadowbringers so many times when that violin hits I instantly think of that Viera Dancer.

If you're after some guitar, may I suggest a track called The Black Wolf Stalks Again. I believe you will find it spicy. On this, so Shadowbringers is a really interesting track because it's got three components. The opening is the first bit of the Shadowbringers closing theme, Tomorrow and Tomorrow, then the main portion of the song is called Who Brings Shadow. This is then interrupted by an arrangement of a common theme throughout the game, Eternal Wind, before returning to the end of Who Brings Shadow. Oh, and Soken does play guitar with their in-house band The Primals.

Soken himself plays electric guitar, piano, and Omatone lol. And yeah, since the music is part of a game soundtrack rather than a standalone song, it's often chopped up and the melodies and vocals reused throughout the soundtrack and cutscenes themselves, and a host of other songs from the game. Loved seeing your reactions to the game's music, one I can reccomend is "welcome back soken" which is a collaboration of Shadowbringers music by 40 musicians and vocalists from the fanbase. Game has a lot of musical talent who play :D

you know, i'd never thought of it until you said it... but Soken's FF music actually does remind me in a lot of ways of Tool. Both write their music from a classical perspective, but just happen to use modern instruments, and both see mood the music sets as critically important to the song.

The trailer has a voiceover that builds up to a major reveal at the end. The music helps build to that moment in the trailer.

This song plays on Phase 1, so it DOES build up to something. The theme for Phase 2 is called "Invincible".

It’s very fitting that the sunlight was blinding him while watching/listening to the shoadowbringers theme for the first time.

Its always awesome to see people admire the FF series from different points of view. Some people love the lore and that's what captivates them, some love the music, or maybe its the games that hook them. Can't wait to see more.

If you want an even more Rocking version of this song, The version from the Scions & Sinners Album is done by the in-house Rockband, The PRIMALS.

So besides the already massive recommendation list you have, if you want one of the most interesting songs for musicians "Weight of the world/Prelude" is amazing, it is not composed by Soken, but rather keiichi Okabe who is the composer for the NieR franchise (which you will probably also get recommendations for soon)

The lead singer for this track and To The Edge is Jason Charles Miller, from the industrial band Godhead.

One of the genius things in this song... which shows just how amazing Soken and KojiFox are... the tempo throughout the song as well as the lyrics follow the flow of the entire story throughout the Shadowbringers expansion. It also has core lore that was hidden in the background of it the entire time directly in the song. Such an amazing piece of work.

beginning was from "Tomorrow and tomorrow" best song ever made

"I'm curious what instruments Soken plays..." Those who know : Do you know.... LA HEE ? Song related : Rak'tika Greatwood (the concert live version)

if you wanna see Soken playing, you can check out the 2021 fan fest concert. you can find it on youtube, it will be worth the watch

If you want to see what his band is like I'd recommend The Ruby Weapon Theme FINAL FANTASY XIV: Scions & Sinners - Ultima Music Video. Video contains no spoilers. Rise by the Primals is also another gem when they play it on stage.

This song is pretty much the closing of the "opening chapter" of the latest expansion of FFXIV, which is probably why it feels like it's supposed to lead up to something. Its closing counterpart, To the Edge, is played in the closing boss fight of the expansion, so if you want to hear the "continuation" of this song, try it out.

Looking good Jesse! Love watching your reaction and breakdown of these songs.

You should listen to the "Neath Dark Waters" aswell which is a zone theme where players did quests for months then on the next update they released "To the Edge" which is the boss fight theme of the area which combines the games main theme "Shadow Bringers" and the Zones theme.

The string solo is actually the theme of I want to say Final Fantasy 3…it’s called Eternal Wind. In 14 it is primarily used as the theme of a very special character, usually playing during his most pivotal scenes.

I see a lot of people talking about how it's a great song for a great expansion, or that it leads up to an emotional moment, but they aren't mentioning that yes it is actually the 1st half of the final boss fight. The 2nd half is a different song, but it definitely leads into it.

That's not sunlight coming into your room, that's the Flood, run

There literally isn't a bad song in the entire game. I love Soken and Uematsu's music

Imagine listenimg to this at the climax of the story after you invested over 200 hours into playing the story and being just so damn emotionally invested

Yeah the song plays during a main battle and halfway through transitions to another part that actually sounds just as good

"Yo, that sunlight is coming so in right now" me: *heeheehee.. shadowbringer things*

Personally my fav action oriented theme would be "Insanity" which is a combination of "Shadow Bringers" and other sets of themes. I really love how each instrument just tries to 1up each other.

This just came up again while I'm listening to stuff at work. I just noticed Jesse's smiles at certain parts. I feel you bro, I feel you. Lol

"If you had change to take another step could you do it? Could you save our words?" Wol: you know i could "Take it we fight as one" This word is not yours to end this OUR FUTURE OUR STORY." one of the best soundtracks holly shit man, the vocals, instrument ect 10/10

The part that starts at 5:33 is a version of the song called Eternal Wind from FF3. A very beautiful piece in my opinion.

Welcome to the FFXIV community haha 100% recommend just watching all of the FFXIV trailers as each has brilliant music in their own right! Looking forward to seeing you react to some non-FFXIV content in the future though

Coming back to go thru this journey with you again. Always a blast to rewatch your emotions. You mentioned the question if the music goes anywhere as there is constant suspense. While thematically, I’m sure you know the answer is yes. But musically, this is normal for anime style music and eastern pop music. Instead of the standard I, IV, V, vi chords, eastern music often replaces the I (tonic) with the minor iii. That creates the constant lack of resolution. One of the most famous songs with this chord progression, ironically from Europe, is “Never Gonna Give You Up.” That’s part of what made it huge: it didn’t sound the same.

I think this is one of the songs where I find it so much better when listening to the dialogue from the cutscenes at the same time, it has so much more impact.

Highly highly recommend the tracks Insanity, Mortal Instants, and The Black Wolf Stalks Again

When the violins come in it is actually a song taken from final fantasy 3 and it draws on a relation between the two games at that point in the original cinematic.

I still love this song so much. Now I think of all those things I experienced in Shadowbringers.

fun fact if no one else has mentioned it but around the 5:32 mark that's actually an old classic final fantasy song from ff3 called eternal wind.

Soken’s band is called The Primals

TOOL VIBES!!! ive never thought of it that way!

tool vibes, yes reminds me of "rosetta stoned" actually. as for it building up, its the culmination of every theme from this expansion of the game, there are like 6 different songs in there :)

So technically this song is 1 of 3 that each build into each other. This is the first 1) Shadowbringers 2) Invincible (the boss theme for the fight which takes place after the cutscene you see playing in the background) 3) Tomorrow and Tomorrow (this song is the ending to the final boss battle, and basically acts as a requiem of sorts, as well as a combination of two other songs: Who Brings Shadow and Eternal Wind.) The two cutscenes you see in the background feature all three of these songs.

THROW WIDE THE GATES BABY!!

"The sunlight is really coming in right now." Little does he know the significance of Light for this expansion.

This song is very good, but I think the thing that makes people absolutely adore the shit out of it is the hyper intense emotional investment from the insane story behind it. Hearing this song again after that ride gives HEAVY nostalgia, and everyone loves nostalgia.

"Man Sokken has to have a side band" This is his band LOL

I recognized Jason Charles Miller only like the third time I heard this song, but once I heard it, it was unmistakable

I really hope you check out 'to the edge' and 'return to oblivion' next. 'escape' is also amazing with some nice guitar!

As both a tool and FFXIV I FULLY agree on the tool vibes

HOME!!!!! RIDING HOME!!!!!

#1 absolute you must hear is Soken playing La he!!! Can't miss!!!

@jesse Well Soakan HAS a band :) Called the Primals.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow.. that's the song I am in love with.

The co-lead singer on the track is the lead singer of Godhead. Similar era to Tool.

The FFXIV community is comprised of emotional vampires. We LIVE to see other people react to this stuff. And yes. There's a full blown orchestral version for the second phase.

It does build up to a different theme, yes! The boss fight starts with this, and then transition to another track called Invincible.

The way that this song goes is Shadowbringers, who brings shadow, invincible, tomorrow and tomorrow. I think there is a video that has all of them in order like that. And then To The Edge would bring it all full circle ending it.

Haven’t seen anyone mention and I know this is an older video but soken was actually in the hospital battling cancer while making shadowbringers songs he didn’t even tell anyone as he was embarrassed/felt obligated to finish the songs

I always loved the fact that they actually changed the story to match the fact that it's 8 people doing the fight, not just one. but when a song gets sokenized, it becomes a masterpiece

"Im curious what insturments he plays..." yes......all of them.

I always thought the singer was going for Mike Patton. I'll have to think about that Tool comparison.

Soken does have a band called "The Primals"

This is a good song methinks.

Sans the Violin section, the song transitions into another track called Invincible during the final boss of Shadowbringers

I love this game and especially the music, usually I don't care when celebs get sick but learning that Soken is suffering from cancer makes me really sad.

I really like your reaction, subscribed and hoping to see more FF14 music reaction since there's not many of them

These videos give me a great excuse to listen to the music again :D

This is such a banger

"Our lord and savior soken" he doesnt play the game but he's one of us already

You listened to To The Edge before you listened to this! To The Edge is basically a remix of parts of this song man. You should listen to it again. You should also watch the Shadowbringers trailer that features this song instead of whatever gameplay video you chose to watch! It might not make much sense without knowing the game, but it's still a worthwhile spectacle.

Id love to see your reaction actually playing the game, as i love your reactions to these ffxiv music videos. Have you heard of the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV? With an expanded free trial which you can play through the entirety of A Realm Reborn and the award winning Heavensward expansion up to level 60 for free with no restrictions on playtime.

Hello! I didn't see anyone answer your question, but yes! There is another song that builds off of this one. That song is Invincible. Definitely give it a listen. The genre does slam off of rock and back into orchestral but it's *so good*.

yes it does lead up to another movement xD it is awesome

Soken's preferred instrument is your heart.

you're right, this song is the phase one of Shadowbringers final boss which leads into its phase two: Invincible. highly recommend giving it a listen.

Ok so music wise and what's being shown are two different music tracks. The music that's playing in your video is from the trailer for Shadowbrings (would recommend watching that version as it fits better) and the video that's playing is sadly spoilers for the end... but what's REALLY playing during that section in the game is a song called "who brings shadow" kinda similar but different.

It is really odd that that cutscene being shown is of spoilery cutscene but the song version is actually the one that plays in the intro trailer XD. Also its jarring seeing several videos of yours all at once and seeing you with long hair to suddenly being so trimmed lol.

I agree with “Tool vibes”. 100% glad you noticed.

Soken does have a band! It's called The Primals!

Both these Composers have Bands; Soken & The Primals and Uematsu & The Black Mages. Also if you like Guitar Sounds, try this one: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cQDLBKpbXQU.html (Those who fight further, from FF VII remake - which btw. won the game music award 2021).

"I'm curious what instruments [Soken] plays." Otamatone.

Seeing all your reactions for FFXIV so far, you should definitely check out "Flow" It's a track from EW and it's absolutely, incredibly special Given that you like Answers, you might also like "Your Answer"

Even if just on your own you should check out the actual shadowbringers trailer because the cinematic is pretty awesome.

Four words... 'Free trial' and 'join us' ❤

god i wish i can replay this segment for the first time again when i reach this point i had the best shit eating grin and laugh ever in my life, what an adventure

this was actually the music for Shadowbringers' trailer, so I was hoping that you'd watch the trailer instead (the whole song was the trailer!)