Music Producer Reacts: Forza Finale (Kingdom Hearts 3) 

What is your favorite part of Oscurità di Xehanort? Personally, I was blown away by that secret string run I talk about around the 2 minutes mark.

This may have been incredibly obvious to anyone who listens to KH music a lot, but the one thing I LOVE about Vanitas' theme is that it is almost entirely comprised of Sora's, Roxas' and Ventus' themes. Not only that, but during each section, you can faintly hear the upcoming melody playing behind the current one. It's why Unbreakable Chains/Enter the Darkness was always one of my favorite tracks.

3:05 All I can hear is an alarm and Aqua doing cartwheels

Xemnas is peak kingdom hearts, in every aspect

Kingdom Hearts releases have varying levels of gameplay and story, but the music is always EPIC, TOP LEVEL QUALITY STUFF.

"Sounds like Xehanort snapped" Bad memories of Xehanort Data Org fight. Keyblade. KEYBLADE.

The lyrics being syllables rather than entire words actually blows my mind. It's appropriate because you're fighting three different fragments of a whole person.

I remember thinking "They should combine the boss themes for Ansem, Xemnas, and YX for the final boss theme in KH3," so when I got to this point I was like "YO, THEY DID THE THING!!!" I was so happy

We really need to get Yozora's theme in here. It's pretty short, but it's such an impactful song.

I also like how the sections kinda reflect the personalities of the 3 xehanorts. Ansem's is loud, bombastic, and imposing Young Xehanort's is methodical and almost has this smug energy to it, along with an air of mystery since we know the least about him and Xemnas's starts out sounding like the theme of a megalomaniacal ruler like he was for the Organization before shifting into a more melancholy sound to represent his inner conflict

Please do Scala Ad Caleum. Theres so much emotion put into it and is so powerful.

Man, this was amazing! I absolutely love seeing how you dissect the piece and actually look at the harmonic structure of the melodies and motifs! So happy I found your stuff!

Please do an analysis of the battle music that plays in Roxas comeback, The Other Promise / Vector to the Heavens. It's so epic and emotional in the way that fuse their themes.

Xemnas & young xehanort themes are so beautiful. I always have goosebumps when I hear them. I've never noticed the similarities between Darkness of the Unknown & Organisation XIII themes ! I hear them differently now !

I love the transition into Darkness of the Unknown in the chorus, because to me, that's the height of the song. And the way that it just drops on you is amazing.

That Bloodborne “attempt” gave me chills. That was incredible!

My favorite boss tracks in KH were Dark Impetus and L'impeto Oscuro, mostly for that solo cello and violin. I nearly lost my mind when this track came along and I heard how those strings had evolved.

Anti-Aqua's theme sounds like it was pulled straight out of Dark Souls III. The vocalist might even be the same: compare it to the Abyss Watchers as an example.

Nomura: So we have an idea for the penultimate boss fight, just wanna give you a heads up. Shimomura: Okay, lay it on me. N: We’re bring back all previous Xehanort’s, and it’s gonna a three on three fight. A smile cut across Shimomura’s face. S: I think I know what to do. N: How many pianos do you need? S: Tetsuya, you know the answer already. N: All the pianos? S: All the pianos.

I just really love how this song covers 18 years of Kingdom Hearts villainy. If I have to pick as particular version of Xehanort's theme as a favorite, it's got to be Darkness of the Unknown, the KH3 version. It's just so elegant and menacing!

Such a good breakdown. Would love to hear you do more KH stuff, especially the character and boss themes!!!

Non sapevo tu fossi italiano! Ti ho cominciato a seguire un po' di tempo fa e sentivo qualcosa di familiare nel tuo accento... Adoro le analisi che fai, ottimo video come sempre! Greetings From Italy!

Petition for alex to make a dissect video on slave knight gael's ost ⬇️

Amazing video! I love that you show the music on-screen while you discuss it! Ansem’s theme/“Forze de Male” has always been my favorite because of the French horns and organ. It’s so vampiric and eldritch. But Xemnas’ theme shows the strength of Shimomura’s melodic writing. That string climax is so perfect it’s as if it always existed (or non-existed lol?). I really appreciated that you highlighted the classic Shimomura piano style. She pounds that keyboard like a rock n’roller! As for “L’Impeto Oscuro,” Yoko let her Latin influences shine and it works brilliantly. I agree with you that the sophistication of the melody represents a “great mind”-to me, it’s a musical hint that Young Xehanort is possessed by Master Xehanort. I don’t understand why they didn’t further develop this theme for the final boss. Just go the Bloodborne route and give us a slow, choral interpretation with a lower cello.... sigh. On that note, I’m glad you mentioned the final boss theme being inferior to this. The final boss theme is controversial for good reason, and this video-the complexity of the instrumentation on display, like those string runs-illuminates why so many KH music fans were (are) devastated by it. I feel strongly it was an insult to longtime KH music fans. I still wish they would fix it, but I’m thankful that Yoko and Keiji Kawamori gave us this masterpiece. Thanks for this vid, and looking forward to more! Subbed.

I've been listening to Alex's analysis of video game music and I'm so happy to just have them play and listen to the various nuances that are being explained and discovering new things that makes me appreciate the soundtracks even more. Would love to hear an analysis on Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower by Yuka Kitamura or the various renditions of Xion's Theme/Vector to the Heavens by Yoko Shimomura, please!

Your passion for music is incredibly inspiring.

There was something I've been thinking about for some time. Some time back, you made a poll asking what our favourite part of your music analysis was, and the majority (me included) seems to like the parts where you explain how music conveys character and story. You have always enjoyed flexing a bit those composer muscles of yours, with all the arrangements you make during your analysis and as standalone videos. So, why don't we combine what the community enjoys and what you enjoy most? I was thinking about a contest, between subscribers or maybe just within patrons, if the entries are too many. We send you brief descriptions of scenes or characters we came up with. We try to leave some room for your imagination, but try to convey what emotions or ideas we are trying to get across. Then you pick one or maybe more winners and compose a brief piece of music (maybe even just a litemotif, if you plan to include a lot of winners) that would accompany the scene/character. I think a lot of your subscribers would love such a format!

That Bloodbotne-ified version of Impego Oscuro was too beautiful my man, like it wasnt just fire, that was a full on zettaflare

The live arrangement during the KH orchestra blew me away. Best live performance intensity wise, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

I LOVE how passionate you obviously are in these videos! Not to mention the way you break these pieces down and explain how the smallest of characteristics help to build the composition is extremely interesting! I'm very glad to have found your channel and I can't wait to see more of your content!

I think the reason why young's Xehanort uses that violin is because it evokes a hint of sadness or tragedy. This is our main enemy BEFORE he goes off to become the twisted old man & we know, his fate is sealed.

I love that the Org. XIII theme is peppered in all of the boss themes (13th Struggle, 13th Dilema, 13th Reflection, Lord of the Castle, Darkness of the Unknown, etc). Yoko Shimomura is so talented.

One thing I like you noticing is how emotional Xemnas’s section is. Which is kind of funny to me bc he’s the Nobody in the fight, who supposedly doesn’t have emotions. Yet, he’s also got the most emotional of the death scenes for that fight, strangely enough. Idk if he’ll be brought back at all (probably not imo), but it’s good discussion and fanfic fodder.

LOVING those string runs, breathtaking cello/violin solo and the elegance of piano chords. T.T

My favorite part of this track is when the strings come in for Xemnas' theme. It never fails to give me chills 👌

Kingdom Hearts has so many amazing tracks, and playing these games throughout my childhood is what got me so interested in video game music. Thank you for making these videos, cause now i finally understand why my favourite video game tracks feel so damn epic XD My favourite track in this game has to be The Other Promise though, the amount of emotions i felt in that fight having the sea salt trio back together was insane and i totally cried in that cutscene after :'(

Great video as always Alex ! EDIT 2 : I guess I simply misinterpreted Shimomura's words as it has now been confirmed in the official OST that Yasunori Nishiki handled this arrangement. Thinking of it now, it really isn't that surprising considering that his "epic percussion" sample (I don't know the technical name for it 😅) is the same one that he used in Octopath Traveler and OWA - Rebirth in FFVII Remake.

I really loved this boss battle music, as I first heard this when facing this three-boss battle I was on the edge of my seat. It was satisfying, engaging and knowing that the stakes are high. This is hands down one of my favourite tracks on the Kingdom Hearts franchise as well as one of my favourite video game tracks out there. What an epic song to ever hear :)

4:21 I NEED a full version of this!

This breakdown just shows how talented Yoko Shimomura is because even if she didn't fully compose this piece, she laid the ground work for this track to happen. Honestly, I believe she's the main reason why the KH franchise has had such longevity. Because her leitmotifs/themes are so beautifully woven together, that even as the story gets more and more complicated/convoluted, the player understands the emotion of any given scene because of the many leitmotifs/themes. I would honestly love you to break down some of the music from Final Fantasy XV, though I can understand if you choose not too. I'm just honestly curious to hear a professional's opinion on Yoko Shimomura's work.

your videos are always fantastic and fascinating! they make me wish i could learn a string instrument so badly i'm curious, would you ever do a video breaking down yoko shimomura's general style? you mention in several of your breakdowns of specific shimomura tracks little signature aspects of her music, and in my experience you can usually pick out a shimomura track even without being aware beforehand that she worked on a game's soundtrack. as someone without a musical education, it'd be interesting to watch a video dedicated to explaining specifically WHY her style is so distinctive that even people like me who aren't musicians or experts can pick up on it. it's SOMETHING about the way she uses piano and strings together, but i can't quite put my finger on it...

God-tier, S-tier track. Watch it not even have that name if we ever get an actual OST release lol. I really did love how they gave the Forze melody to choir, and thank you for explaining how the part I loved was the jump up to d# minor. That repeated section I don't believe was in the original track back in KH1, and it's epic. Also loved how they put Darkness of the Unknown in a higher key than usual. When you think about it, this theme is basically Forze dell'Oscurita on steroids. And you're right, definitely thought it was better than the final boss theme, which left me very musically confused (Rage Awakened for Master Xehanort? What?) and let down. When you fight Data MX in ReMind, the track they use there felt a little weak in comparison, too. The only thing I was missing from all the musical Xehanort celebration was Disappeared, Xemnas' other theme. Disappeared never gets any love, it's always about DOTU. Such a shame. It was such a unique sounding track. I can't say way, though you could probably identify it pretty clearly.

Everything about this track is godlike, but my favorite part is Young Xehanort's. My favorite KH track is Dark Impetus and hearing that violin solo (along with the cello playing the beginning of said track in the background) gives me the goosebumps everytime

I haven't played KH3 yet but I just had to watch this video. I see update, I click

Fantastic video, as always! KH has some phenomenal music, and this video helped me appreciate it even more.

The organ in Ansem's theme also calls to mind the Church-ass looking doors of Kingdom Hearts (the physical thing, not the games).

I think my favorite example of leitmotifs in the KH series is having a piece of Rage Awakened/Terra's theme playing within Terra Xehanort's theme at the end of BBS!

wow, I am so glad I found this channel because it's not just entertaining, it's really, really educational and I've been playing music since I was pint sized. There's always more to learn and this is an awesome way to learn it!

This was so interesting!!! Thanks for the analysis, it's like I knew this was a great piece of music and now I know why is it so great, and that makes it even better. Nice communication and divulgation work here ^^

Your analysis of these pieces of music are so awesome, thank you for all of these!!

First video of this channel that I’ve watched, discovered the channel on the same day...and now I’m gonna watch every single other video!!! Love the content!!! 😁

Incredible video. Not only is t interesting to learn about the structure of the music on a fundamental level, but also your interpretation of the narrative implications behind them. I get the vibe that you really like Kingdom Hearts and have thought about it a lot lmao. Keep it up, I'd love to see more KH-related breakdowns.

Bro you gotta do more Kingdom Hearts OST breakdowns. Their play with motives goes really deep

Excellent work on one of my favorite video game tracks in the last decade. Just found your stuff and I'm definitely subbing for more!

This is the type of channel I never knew I needed, good shit man

I always keep asking when Alex going to do Kingdom Hearts Ost. Now that you did, i thank you for this. I recommend do L'Oscurita Dell'Ignoto from Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance.

Gosh, this video was amazing! Thank you for analysing this great track and giving your thoughts! As for favorite part... It's really hard to pick just one because I love the three Xehanort themes, so I'll just pick based on each individual character theme. So my fav parts are: Intro and the 1:45 choir part (these were also my favorite parts of "Forze del Male" as a whole), the crazy "L'Impeto Oscuro" strings around 5:24 and the soft strings of "Darkness of the Unknown" around 7:45. This track was truly better than the final boss theme. I just really, really love how Yoko Shimomura plays with leitmotifs and recurring themes. I remember being blown away the first time in BBS when I realised that "Dismiss" (vs Terranort theme) actually had a part of Terra's theme playing in the back around the 1:25 mark with the "Aha-aha OOH-haha" Destati choir (sorry, I don't know a better way to describe it lol. But it's another recurring theme used in the usual "Destati" themes like "Fragments of Sorrow"). Anyway, not only does it sound great as a whole but lore-wise, it also shows how Terra is still in there, struggling and drowning in Xehanort's presence.

This video is fantastic! I've been really sick of watching most "composer reacts" videos because it's usually them just not reacting or disecting what's good about the music just standing there and smiling like, "Oh yeah this is good." You really pulled out the music in bits and showed everyone how beautiful this music really is. I appreciate this video so much. Well done. You got another subscriber.

oh heck yeah i love your analyse of my favorite pieces of my fav game. been playing all the games for almost 10 years now. It brings back so much memory(of melody)

I'm glad he knows the different themes. They all fit together

Wow, that young xehanort part slowed down REALLY does sound like something straight out of bloodborne or dark souls!! That's so interesting to me, really!

Second time here. An people analyzing Yoko e Nobuo composition, is what i ever did want in a channel! Thanks!

Thank you for this! Great video, amazing track that gives me chills every time.

Damn bro thanks so much for reviewing this. This is the dopest OST in KH3, I really loved it so much!!

A bit deceived tho I expected you to react to the violin part that comes right after the piano in darkness of the unknown, this violin defines Xemnas as a vilain to me ! Excelent video As always

Dang, I clicked on this expecting a pretty standard reaction video to watch before I go to bed, but now I'm going to have to make sure I check out your channel tomorrow.

That's a sick looking shirt man. Nice video as always, really enjoy you going into some of my favorite games. Keep up the good work!

Keep in mind, "Oscurita di Xehanort" is a fan title in the same vein as official titles of earlier tracks associated with Xehanort, like "Forze dell'Oscurita" (one of the secret boss themes in the Final Mix edition of Birth by Sleep). The official title will likely be different.

I love that you're so expressive about music and Kingdom Hearts :)

Nice breakdown. Especially of Young Xehanort’s part. Side note: love how u enjoy these pieces as much as I do lol.

Wow. How am I just finding your channel now?? This is awesome!!!

OMMGGGG I wasn't prepared for this ! I'm so happy rn

You analyzing Kingdom Hearts music is just so perfect! 👌🏾 please do more!!!

God bless Yoko and her skill of making KH music. This song is so damn good. Xemnas part is SO GOOD

Commented on your last video regarding your analysis of Ludwig, the Holy Blade, and I happened to find this one, too. Are you a psychic who knows all of my favorite games in disguise? As with the last video, I think you did an outstanding job with your discussion of this track as well. To me, this is probably one of the greatest themes in any game, hands down; the history behind it, the characters it represents, and the intensity of the battle it plays over are all amazing and create a truly unique experience unlike any I’ve seen in any other game. Hearing you break it down and discuss why things were set up in a certain way adds that much more depth to the track and makes it seem even more epic. As for which theme is my favorite, I would have to go with Xemnas. Complex and conflicted villains are the best in my opinion, and Xemnas’s struggle with finding friendship and being human is a very real one that I’m sure many could relate to. His track embodies the struggle of his battles and the power he commands but also carries a tinge of sadness that signifies his own personal losses and regrets, a life that he never had the chance to live; if you think about it, Xemnas isn’t even a decade old by the time of his death and never knows the friendship that empowers the protagonists of the story. It’s a truly powerful theme and carries emotion that, in my opinion, those of the other two can’t compare to.

The violin drop on young norts theme is my favourite music drop ever

I love your analysis so much omg I would honestly love to see you break down the data fights themes! (Also that kh music in bloodborn style? Epic.)

"How the wielders weep for you!" - One of my favorite tracks not only of KH3, but of all KH series, the way all 3 themes were combined in a single epic boss theme is just godly.

I'm somehow still so impressed everytime you put a new video out! Love the content!

Nice music analysis boss. I make sure to watch till the end in hope that you will gain profit & continue producing this kind of video. Cheers. P.S: Would love to go again to Kingdom Hearts Orchestra World Tour in the future and listening to this live.

Gosh I love how you analyze and describe this stuff...it's like putting words to thoughts I have but hadn't fully realized. This is probably my favorite KH track...of all.

I love that nod that he put in the song for connections! Really make special. Also I'm still waiting for Devil Trigger theme as Bloodborne haha Thanks for the effort!

This was incredible. Kingdom Hearts means a lot to me and to see an analysis of one of its most incredible pieces of music was fantastic. The way the characters of Ansem Seeker Of Darkness, Young Xehanort and Xemnas are represented in the music really exemplifies Yoko Shimomura's talent. I agree with you about the Organization XIII theme being one of the saddest. The only thing I was a little disappointed about was that you didn't talk about the part in the piece that features Oscurita Dell'Ignoto; Xemnas' Dream Drop Distance battle theme, and another one of my favourite KH pieces

My man, what a dope t-shirt and video as well. It was wonderful to hear that song when it came on the game, I use it to work out as well

Like the breakdowns, great vid!

React to Vector to the Heavens (Data Xion version) :D

Oh heeeeeeell yeah Kingdom Hearts music! You could make so many videos on this series. I love this battle theme so much and the Young Xehanort part is my favorite but it's really hard to pick.

The way that 3 themes were blended into one, while still doing them all justice and giving them a more powerful feel than the originals still amazes me. That "final battle" desperation feeling is so empowering when playing. Mind of a composer is something else, man.

I cant put into words just how happy this whole video makes me, I had a smile on my face the whole time! Your energy is so infectious and you describe the music theory well enough for someone like me who failed music theory could understand LOL loved every second of it!!

I'm so glad that you reviewed this. This track screams nostalgia from past games in my childhood.

I love it. This was an unbelievable game and the battle was more epic than I could possibly imagined.

"...l'impeto Oscuro which is the theme for Young Xehanort, the final boss on Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance" *stares in Armored Ventus Nightmare* . . : Jokes aside, regardless of anyone's opinions on KH3, this song is a goddamn masterpiece and definitely deserves all the praise and attention it gets. As a side note, i would love to hear your thoughts in something like ReMind's Secret Boss' soundtrack if its ever on your list, that song is amazing too, really up there between some of the best in the franchise imo

I spent a bunch of time yesterday watching your breakdowns of ffxiv tracks, and then all of a sudden you upload a video on one of my favourite KH3 tracks, amazing! Really interesting video as always

I love these music analyses, they make me understand the songs much, much more than what I did already, and in this case specifically it made the song ten times more enjoyable. Thanks!

I get nothing but joy from watching your videos, your passion is absolutely infectious 💖

Yoko shimomura is a living legend all the musics she has produced are sooooo epic Btw first time i watch one of vids and .... i subscribe right now without spending anymore time you're great man lov u keep at it .

The other ABSOLUTE BANGER, IMO, is the Vector to the Heavens/ The Other Promise Mix. I hope you'll cover that someday as well, love your content!!!

It's amazing how you were able to breakdown how the music, down to the instruments and notes, become part of the story and characters. Killer video man!

Can’t wait to see you tackle the Re: Mind tracks like the secret bosses theme

This is some of the most satisfying video game content I've seen on RU-vid. Please feed my obsession with video game OSTs, I think you will like taking a look at Hollow Knight a lot. Thanks for the great stuff, I've watched this video probably 5 times since release.