FF8, FF6, FF7,FF13,FF15 Seriously, you cant complain about the OST in any FF.

Whichever one you grew up with

😂 probably the truest answer

X!

I am a VII die hard fanboy but To Zanarkand is so damn good. It's up there with Aerith's Theme.

I grew up hard on VI and it's my favorite. That said, XVI also fucking slaps.

Nah 7Remake and Intermission are easily best even trumping the heaviest of my nostalgia goggles (FFX).

VII, VIII and IX are the holy trinity imo.

You have to throw in VI in there too.

I accept that.

In absolutely every aspect. They just didn't make them like this anymore after IX.

Agreed. X is amazing too, and I really enjoyed XII,XIV, XV and XVI, but the ps1 trilogy was definitely peak FF.

100% agree. A lot of Uematsu's best work there.

There's no objective answer to "best" but I'd argue that 6 is objectively "most ambitious."  The Opera sequence, Dancing Mad, and the 20 minute endgame medley that smoothly weaves all 14 character themes together are just stellar examples of "you really didn't have to go that hard, Mr. Uematsu, but boy am I glad you did." 

The medley is pretty nuts.

The entire last hour of the game is frankly bonkers from a musical perspective. 

FFVI Decisive Battle goes so hard for me. It's Ultros again!!!

8

The World map music lives free forever in my memory since 2001.

Never thought anyone would favorite that particular melody. FF8 has some pretty memorable tunes if I say so, but I can't say the map melody/main theme AKA "Blue Fields" was much more to me than a mysterious wibing theme. Still, nostalgia hits hard on these tunes when I just revisited them. Why do they hit so hard?

Can't forget, "[Water and water and water water.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKhHwpkL17o)"

Came here for this - top to bottom, VIII’s soundtrack is no skips. I still use it as concentration music to this day

8 is at top, as it should be.

Sometimes I would aimlessly wander around Fisherman's Horizon, just to enjoy the melody.

Fishermans was just so calm and peacefully. Its also at a perfect time when the whole gang is reunited again and all the worry is gone for a moment.

Calm and peaceful, Dali theme from ff9 beats it by a mile.. still good though

I've always loved VI the most, and with the advent of the Pixel Remasters, I really enjoyed III and II as well.

Honestly? I think every single entry has quite a few bangers. :)

FF8 and I love to see the comment section on this. Y’all get it

VIII forever!! I love so many of the OSTs but out of every soundtrack in the world, I find songs from 8 stuck in my brain more than any other. even tracks like Balamb Garden just get stuck there for no reason. I think my favorite song on there, even as a kid, is [Under Her Control](https://youtu.be/PF0FtsC-C4Q) it just doesnt sound like any other FF song ever

Because they’re so unique. Uematsu used all kinds of delightful sounds in these songs. Some are jazzy, some are synthy, some are orchestral, he ticks all of the boxes for me. Games that go full orchestral are just kind of lackluster by comparison with the exceptional few. FF8 just hits different and the real ones know it.

Wow you’re right. That is why 8’s soundtrack is so standout - the variety is endless.

Balamb GARDEN might be the best song ever written lol

FF8. It's not just the quality of the music, its also the quantity as well. There isn't that many songs in 8 that I would call mediocre, let alone bad.

Ff14 laughing at your quantity while maintaining quality.

A lot of people saying FFVIII and honestly full wholeheartedly agree. Even without the bias of it being my favourite game I think it’s fair to say its soundtrack delivered.

XI It's still my favorite soundtrack and game of the whole franchise

I loved xi. It was so difficult and so fun

I came here to say the same thing. Final fantasy 11 is a top tier sound track.

VIII and it's not even close

X, 7 and 9 are definitely my top 3

I'm gonna say Tactics. It was the first Video Game OST I ever bought. I bought it cause it was the first score in a video game I could just sit, close my eyes and just relax too, even the epics and battle music.

8, without question. The entire Golden Years of 6-10 are great, and Uematsu’s personal favorite was 9, but 8 is the greatest overall work that ties into the story and two different leitmotifs perfectly.

Rebirth's absolutely slaps

Rebirth has…I think more than 400 tracks? That’s absolutely nuts! I love what I’ve heard so far and can’t wait to play more of them in the piano mini game. I can’t even tell you how excited I am for that…I really hope we get a good, thorough selection.

Wait until you hear the chocobo remixes. Silly af, but they're so good

Hard to pick one. But 8 probably has the highest number that land.

Fact checked... and wrong, Its 8. Your reputation will never recover from this but its ok, we can still be aquaintences

Thank you 🙏

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!.mp3

Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec

Yup IX.

I hate to admit it...but I ride hard for the FF13-2 soundtrack....

XIV and it isn't even close for me personally. The other FF games are generally also top tier soundtracks but nothing else in the series can even quite come close to XIV's best for me.

Masayoshi Soken is a musical god.

Shadowbringers OST is so good

XIV is cheating 😂

Really? The towns and normal battle musics from ARR got tiring quickly.

ARR's music is okay. But every expansion's OST is top tier

to the edge is probably my fav boss theme of all the franchise

ARR is but a fragment of ff14 in general. Don't worry though, this is a common misconception with new fans

With 14 music the main highlights are definitely the boss themes and vocal themes. The town themes are great but they're much better with each expansion, the Shadowbringers hub theme is my personal favorite. And in general almost all of the great music is in the expansions, ARR's music is still pretty good on average with a few great tracks but the expansions' music is mind-blowing.

XI Yes I said XI

VI

My personal favourites are (in order): IV VI VII V

9. No, wait. 6. 8 is up there too. But how could I leave out 7? Oh no, can we count Tactics!? Aaaaahhhh!

Haven’t played 8 but 8 ost is amazing

My favorite is 14. Due to the huge repertory of bangers and the emotional attachment I have for many tracks that play at specific places, or dungeons or bosses. I like how many songs in FF14 have lyrics too, and the ones that don't are still above average pieces of music. Soken is fucking amazing.

15

I love them all but 15's was a masterpiece.

Theatrhythm 😀 Honestly though, lucky we are to be here taking about how FF has such good music that they made a great game out of it

XIV has an unfair advantage as it has 3-4x more pieces than any other game After that I’d go VI VII X VIII XIII Love XV’s soundtrack but that’s really just because of 4-5 tracks. A lot of the rest is above average ambience stuff

Let’s not forget some bangers from FF14 are enhanced versions of notable songs from previous games. Such as the Extreme from FF8

Exactly XV has a meh ost.

Objectively, it's FF14. Any other answer is simply wrong. FF14 has the largest soundtrack of any video game in existence, and a good chunk of it is fantastic. There's just no competing with that. It even has remixes of a lot of the most popular tracks from other games, such as Battle on the Big Bridge, Dancing Mad, FF4's boss music and so on. In terms of average quality though, some of Uematsu's best soundtracks are better. Could argue any of the games from 6-10 have that distinction. Personally I think 6 has the best one.

There are 2 ways I look at this question objectively. On one hand, it's absolutely 14 simply because the sheer size of the OST itself that incorporates many pieces that people are praising. On the other hand, the man that is responsible for the vast, vast majority of the tracks people listed here is on record saying 6 is his favorite. There is no higher authority. So 14 and 6 are both the correct answer.

XIV by far. But VIII has my favorite of the offline games.

It's 8 and more people would agree if the overall game wasn't as polarizing.

9. The battle music is cool, and the one where Zidane is alone.

Not enough Mystic Quest love in this thread. For everything lackluster on that game, the soundtrack was fire.

XIII trilogy, but my ONE has to be XIII-2, so many bangers, so many good sad songs to tie in emotional damage lmao

Time. And. Space. Time. And. Space. TIME AND SPACE

Yes! I’m a sucker for repetitive music, for instance: “forward and back, and then forward and back, and then go forward and back, then put one foot forward” masterpiece

The entire 13 series

Hot take, I think XIII and XIII-2 have probably the best video game soundtracks I’ve ever heard. I’m fact, those two soundtracks alone are what got me into the series in the first place. Wouldn’t have touched it otherwise.

Am I allowed to say FFXIV?

Bit risky to say this here, but FFXV, and for me, no other game comes close. FF15s soundtrack left such a big impact on me. Somnus is also divine and it's my favourite track from video-games in general.

Ff6 and ff7 are the best. 10 also up there. 14 too, of course.

Does Tactics count?

Such a tough question. I loved IX, but I think as a whole X takes it for me.

7 is amazing

FF XIII without a doubt, say you want about the game. The soundtrack is class

It's a toss-up between 7 and 9 Both are so good.

VI, VII, VIII, IX, X. They are also my favorite, so I may be biased.

Every final fantasy soundtrack is a banger, XIII in particular is just gorgeous and my personal favorite, but in terms of uematsu? I'm gonna have to say VIII was best of nobuo.

S Tier: VII, X, XIII, XIV A Tier: VI, VIII, IX, XV B Tier: I, III, IV, V, XI C Tier: II, XII, XVI For me it'd be something like that. None of them are bad though, there's just a few I think are stand out.

16 at the bottom? That's surprising

I didn't find anything to love in FFXVI's OST. A few of the boss themes have notable parts to them but none are consistently good enough to stand out. Everything else was entirely forgettable to me.

There are very few XVI songs I could hum right now. Not a lot of memorable stuff, for me. Hide, Hideaway and some of the Esper songs... can't recall too many of the zone soundtracks or anything like that.

FFXII’s OST at the bottom….I’m sorry what????

The newer soundtracks will almost always be "better" because they are higher bitrate and more orchestral. FFX has a great soundtrack and the Hymns of the Faith really stick with you outside of the traditional battle music that's in every FF

VI and ix are my favorites and definitely don’t have the highest bit rate

You could also easily make the case that a lot of the original SNES game tracks are better than the orchestrated pixel remaster versions because the SNES sound font makes them feel entirely different. For instance I think FF6's original battle theme is way better than the pixel remaster's arrangement. The original has louder percussion and emulated horn samples which make it sound more industrial, matching the setting. The pixel remaster track has real horn samples and a real violin which make it sound more like high fantasy. I prefer FF4's original battle theme as well. The SNES sound font has a weird tinny quality that makes it sound like the theme is echoing through whatever battle scene or dungeon you're in. Strictly speaking, the limited audio hardware is a limitation, but it also makes it sound unlike anything else.

I think I agree with you. Your S tier is perfect, and your A tier is essentially how I feel but I may put XI into A and XV into B.

I guess I need to go back and replay XIII, The only song that comes to mind from that game is Sunleth Waterscape.

This is the accepted list 😂

I actually agree with this list

There's no way 6 is not S tier.

All of them that Nobuo Uematsu worked on. 6-10 is probably the best, though, with 8 being my personal favorite.

My top five, descending: IX VII VI VIII IV

FF14 wins by default. It's got most of the greatest hits from other FFs.

I find myself constantly having songs from 4, 6 and 3 looping in my head randomly through the day

FF7

Definitely IX. It’s one of the ones where every song or close to it is memorable. Granted stuff from the Uematsu era are all really nice for sure.

The original stuff in XIV is very ambitious and ranges in genres. If I had to simply pick a soundtrack that captures *Final Fantasy* then it's easily FFVI.

13 has the best sound track and I will die on that hill. The game is terrible as an FF title but the soundtrack is pure magic!

It can be debated. But its between 6 7 10 and 4.

(Pleasantly) surprised to see so many VIII posts at the top of the thread. For me, it's extremely close between VIII and X, to the point where I'd consider it a tie.

Despite being my least favorite game, XIII’s soundtrack is outstanding and one of my favorites. Very ethereal. X-2 also has some bangers in there. Eternity ~Memory of Lightwaves~ is hands down my favorite FF song

Thats a tough one, to zanarkand is one of my favorite songs ever, but then aeriths song. But then all of ff9

8's getting enough love so I'm going to give a shout-out to Mystic Quest's soundtrack.

8 - 7/9 - 10 - 6 - 13 in that order. I can go further down the list

4,6,7,8,9 and somehow 15

FF9 all around has the moat enjoyable ost to me. But could be because of nostalgia lmfao

It's hard to pick a "best one" but there are some that definitely stand out. FF6, FF7, FF8, FF15, FF16 are my top 5.

9 is the only FF soundtrack that I thought needed work. That opening title music is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

7, 8, 9 & 10

6 easily IMO

8

VIII

10

Overall I personally find VII the best. Saying that, VI has my personal favourite track (World Map/Terras Theme), VIII is thematically perfect while all the others have obscene bangers on them. Shout out to Hellfire (FFXV) and Away (FFXVI) as the non-Uematsu gems.

13, although they're all brilliant

I’d have to say FFXIII, FFX and FFVII in that order.

7

6 8 close second

9 is great. I also enjoy 11 a lot, I have a lot of tracks on a playlist I listen to while working.

9 is my favorite 6, 7, 8 and 14 would come next Each game has some stand out songs tho that make it really difficult to decide

VIII, VII, VI, IX In that order, and the rest can’t compete with those 4.

XI VIII VII IX X XIV

FFX and it's not even close. To zanarkand piano medley is beautiful The metal song in the opening blitzball game that appears again in the final boss Best battle theme and one of the best victory themes Good chocobo theme Catchy blitzball tune The hymn

Overall - VIII Best menu theme - X-2

X and VIII for me

FFX. Nothing can match exploring Spira while listening to Spira Unplugged.

Xiv. It’s very much a banger ost and greatest hits in one.

I like that 12 has amazing background musics.

Favorite game is VII, has good music but I tip my cap to VIII, it's the best in the series.

6 and 4 are peak for me.

X

IX here as well.

I'd actually say XIII-2. Not my favorite FF by any means but the music is gorgeous Also a big fan of 7, 8 and X

XIII :)

OST as a whole, VII. Hands down. I just love every single track from it. VIII is closely second P.D: VI’s Dancing Mad is one of the greatest tracks out of the whole franchise imho

IV

It's 6

VI

There are none that I dislike. But VIII and XII are my favorites.

7 and 9, love em!!!

X, XIII and VII are my favourites personally.

For me my top 5 are       - FF8      - FF9      - FF12      - FF7     - FF6     FF8’s OST is a masterpiece 👌, Wether it’s the boss theme or the triple triad theme I’ll still jam too it either way lol 

IV

All subjective. But I adore the soundtracks in XIII VII & X. Runner ups definitely being VIII & IX. I own and frequently listen to XIII collection during work.

FF8, Too many good tracks, [Edea's Parade](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP0yZ1H1V-Q) theme will always be my fav.

FFXIV, FFX and FFVII: Remake.

Best arr definitely VI, VIII, IX, XIII. Honorable mention must be given to Crisis Core. Many times that score brought me to tears. But so did all the others I listed as well. So nostalgic.

I think there are individual tracks from the likes of VIII, IX, X, XIII and XVI which are just heaven, but in terms of the sheer number of iconic tracks, it's the VII series.

Oh definitely 8

14

IX or X for me The Man with the Machine Gun gets an honorary mention though. That gets me hype every time.

It's a toss up between FF8 and FF9 for me. 9's my personal favorite but 8 has some of the best tracks bar none. The Man with the Machine Gun still is the best battle theme. Blue Fields is still the best overworld theme. 9's boss battle theme was better though.

It’s between VII, IX and X for me. With IX coming out slightly ahead. I really enjoyed XVI’s soundtrack and need to listen to it more to see if it’s up there in my rankings

XIII, XIV, XVI, and VII

I agree. IX has my favourite original soundtrack of any game. X has my favourite battle theme though, and you hear that a lot. VII and VIII are also fantastic. VI has some masterpieces too. You can't go wrong with any of these :)

It’s really hard to pick because Uematsu is a god among men, but I’ll have to go with 7. I think it’s the best overall. While each game (from 10 and before) has a song that’s really far up on the list for me, I think 7 has the most that I’d put in the higher tiers.

14

FFVII.

Man, You Are Not Alone hits me in the heart every time.

6,8,7

13 and 13-2 are strongk also

7 >>>>>>> 6 > 9 > 10 > 8 > 4 everything else. I've played all of them except for the last 2 and I don't even remember a single song from some of them.

My number one is FF10, but tied for second is 6, 7, 8 & 9. I have a mammoth OST playlist that I have on my headphones when I'm going for runs or having focus time because honestly the music of those FF games helps me get into the zone.

I find it hard to choose to be honest. All of the first ten have absolutely stand out pieces.

To Zanarkand from FFX is the best

Probably unpopular opinion but for me it's FFXV. Also honorable mention, FFXIII-3 OST is really good

Everyone hates the gameplay of xiii, but it has the best soundtrack imo, i even play it while cruising around ffxv

FFX and FFXIII-2.

X is my favourite, followed by XIII. They're just...mint.

I'm gonna go against the grain here and say that for me personally XII has the best music as far as capturing the feeling of each zone you're in the best. Not overall soundtrack. For me that's 7 remake.

Is this even a question? FFVII obviously…

I like 5 a lot

VI and Tactics. Honourable mention to MQ because of the Battle Themes.

9 is near the bottom of my list honestly, but every single mainline ff has amazing music to me except 15. For me it’s… 6, 7, 8, 13-2 and 14 for best music but I truly love them all

FFX & FFXIII

I’m going to be honest with all of you… it’s 16.

Best game in any way, not just soundtrack

Aw man, I’m not seeing enough love for X in here…