Since it was the first entry of the franchise on the SNES, it is a little rougher around the edges in its composition, but charming nonetheless. If anything, Final Fantasy IV’s soundtrack provided a sort of blueprint for the rest of the franchise as it contained an appropriate amount of character themes, villain themes, and iconic battle tracks that kept the player engaged to the story and action. Overall, it's solid though it pales in comparison to Shimomura’s work on the Kingdom Hearts franchise. And the music certainly cranks up in epicness when it comes to the more poignant points of the story. The tracks work well since most of the journey in FFXI is a massive road trip.
The latest entry in the franchise, Final Fantasy XV’s ethos of being a ‘fantasy based on reality’ extends to its soundtrack as well, with Yoko Shimomura providing a ton of bossa nova and blues rock-inspired tracks into the mix. So without further ado, let’s rank the top 10 best soundtracks in the mainline Final Fantasy franchise.
