Liner Notes XII: “No One-Winged Angel.”

(Editor’s note: From Fire Emblem to Persona, everyone’s got at least one videogame tune stuck in their heads. Enter Liner Notes: a Pixelitis feature in which our writers discuss their favorite videogame music.)

Have you ever heard the saying: “No Stairway” before? Yes, it’s a Wayne’s World reference and jokes about amateur guitarists butchering a Led Zeppelin classic. It can be seen as a snobby way of saying that the song is overplayed. But, that’s how I feel about one of the most popular Final Fantasy tracks ever, “One-Winged Angel.”

Now, I’m not going to flat-out proclaim that the final boss theme from Final Fantasy VII is overrated. It’s a phenomenal and haunting track, especially when Uematsu’s former progressive metal band The Black Mages covered it. I simply feel that there’s been enough obsessive adoration and praise thrown at it, so how about all of those other fantastic final boss themes that Uematsu and his fellow Final Fantasy composers have under their belts?

Final boss themes are the crème de la crème of battle themes in an RPG. The fate of the entire (in-game) world rests on the player and his or her party, so the game better have fitting music to go with it. So join me in my third and final examination of Final Fantasy’s battle themes and let’s talk final battle music. Bring plenty of Megalixirs (and be sure to actually use them, dammit!).