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One might expect that if a Final Fantasy V song was to take top seed in a bracket, it would be Clash on the Big Bridge. Not this time, though - this time it's The Decisive Battle. It's another boss battle theme, played when Galuf faces off against his nemesis, and one that lays the groundwork for future similar themes with a pounding drumbeat and a rapid-fire melody. It's meant to get the blood pumping.

Yet another battle theme crops up in the 1/16 matches, but this time it's from this decade. I don't think I'm alone in numbering this among my personal favorite battle themes in the series, with its opening ear-catching melody building into a sort of soaring chorus dropping straight back down to the opening again. It's a theme played repeatedly in the 13 series that to me doesn't get old.

Listen Here!
The Decisive Battle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df7wWItAJdg
Blinded By Light: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th2jeYakyAY

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

The seeds should certainly be reversed on this. Blinded By Light is one of the best things about FF13.

I've always been a fan of Exdeath's battle theme, with its sheer intensity. It's a souped-up remix of Exdeath's character theme, and it matches his unparalleled sheer power. And best of all, it's introduced in one of the most dramatic and memorable scenes in FF history.

The percussion -- especially the triplet-rhythm drums -- and the quick-changing tonality, and frequent use of dissonances like tritones, all come together to produce a combination of intimidation and desperation. And despite the changes in the texture and rhythm, which give the track a constantly-shifting dynamic, it keeps coming back to those intimidating drums, which you're never free from. (My only qualm is that the track doesn't more fully loop back to the G minor drums section at the beginning, but instead just to the E minor section later in the track.)

Some villains possess great power and bully others into submission using it. Some villains are clever manipulators of those around them. Turns out...Exdeath is both. Even when you catch onto his schemes, he still outclasses you in raw power and he's more than willing to use it. And this track underscores that meaning: You're forced into a fight that you can't win but you have to win.

And even when you think you've beaten him...you find out that he's picked up an even nastier bag of tricks. (Leading a battle with an attack that

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

inflicts both instant death AND petrification, simultaneously

should tell you all you need to know.)

"Blinded by the Light" sounds pretty impressive (my first time hearing it) and I'm surprised it didn't get a higher seed. (Seriously, this tourney has done an excellent job of advertising FFXIII to me.)

But my vote goes to a track that gives me goosebumps on entry: Exdeath's battle theme, "The Decisive Battle".

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 15th November 2017 19:51

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current games (2024-02-19):
Fairy Fencer F ADF
Pokémon Perfect Crystal

finished so far this year:
Gato Roboto
drowning, drowning
New Super Mario Bros.
TMNT 3: Radical Rescue

tabled: Lost Ruins

Blinded by Light is neat, but The Decisive Battle just has such weight to it. I have always felt it's well put together as a track and gives power to the game's villain, Exdeath.

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Games on the Go
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy: Four Warriors of Light
Baldur's Gate

Too much to play, so little time!

Greg