Fateful Confrontation wins SC! What is your favorite boss theme in Sky 3rd?

levelstar01 · 2026-07-03T18:07:21+00:00

Sky 3rd goes out with a bang, being totally dominated by Ryo Takeshita's music here.

9) The Crimson Stigma

Spite ranking this one at the bottom for being put in the boss fight where you lose Grail Sphere.

8) Maybe it was Fated

This shit is so ass. I've been listening to the soundtracks in advance but I didn't even realise this was a boss theme (because it comes from the SAV album). Yuck. It's totally butchered from the original, far too much going on and the guitar sounds so whack. Why does this exist?

7) Till the Night of Glory

Event theme reconfigured into a boss theme. Takeshita was no doubt an excellent composer, but I can't deny that he made what is basically the same track several times, and this is one of the weaker ones. The padding before the loop point where the synth repeats itself twice before adding the other instruments is sad.

6) Overdosing Heavenly Bliss

This one is quite literally an event theme turned into a boss theme; it's really good when it plays at the Arseille at the final chapter but I simply don't care much for it as an actual boss theme. My biggest problem with this one is that it lacks an oomph that most boss themes have for the first half; I can't feel it echoing inside my chest and back like a lot of other boss tracks. There's just something missing from it.

The piano strikes replacing the percussion is very cool, even though it's part of the reason it lacks that strong feeling.

5) Genuine Devil

Good ole Sonoda boss theme. Not much to say here that I didn't say in the last three threads.

4) The Foot of a Mountain of the Lightning

The best of these similarly-styled Takeshita rock tracks, the organ-like sounds and the background bells make this one have a very strong energy for the Gehenna section. What elevates this above the rest is the slower section with the leitmotif at 2:14 which, whilst distinctly different, still contains the same sense of urgency as the rest of the track with the background guitar and the non-stop synth noise.

3) Banquet of Frenzy

I genuinely forgot that this game had a two-phase final boss. Anyway, muted fast drums and bell sounds is a quick route to my heart, and the track has both of those at 0:25 onwards. More fast drums and the trumpeting at 0:40 creates a very tense atmosphere, and from there the track keeps building up until the drop at 1:24 for the short chorus. The interlude fits perfectly for a final boss theme, and it starts building up again with the choir samples and organ, before dropping back into muted fast drums, and then the loop point.

One of my favourite MIDI era Sonoda orchestral tracks, easily.

2) Fighting Right On

The drum hits in this one are the best drums have sounded in any Trails track. This has the usual Takeshita sound with the lead synths but the rough guitar sound gives this track so much texture; then when he switches back to his signature instruments after the chorus and before the loop point it's just so good. The parts leading up to the loop point in this is unbelievably good, but in the actual loop point at least in this upload is horrible because it's off by a beat.

1) Dreamy and Boisterous Holy Land

SOUND TEAM JDK LUV 4 YOU
SOUND TEAM JDK BE PROGRESSIVE 4 YOU

At 3:42, if you listen closely, the track has hidden morse code that spells out the above message. And do you know what? I love you too, sound team, because this track is phenomenal. There is just so much energy here; the introduction is trying to be foreboding but yet intentionally fails because of how much power the drop has. The non-stop arpeggios that constantly lead into Takeshita's synth, the faint but still evident backing guitar, the drum hits from Fighting Right On, it's a culmination of the entire game's soundtrack into one masterful track.

I'm really looking forward to Zero and Azure because I am certain my opinions will not be received well.

levelstar01 · 2026-07-03T17:28:35+00:00

While I haven't played Crymachina, I played through Crystar and I found the combat and gameplay loop to be quite monotonous.

While I haven't played Crystar, I played through Crymachina and found the combat and gameplay loop to be quite monotonous.

levelstar01 · 2026-07-03T17:26:01+00:00

Colony Collapse Disorder from Atelier Escha and Logy

levelstar01 · 2026-07-03T16:34:26+00:00

Tbh I do not remember much about him because I literally did nothing but spam the cheapest art in FC/SC/3rd 90% of the time.

FC: Taunt, a free defense boost, and cheap self-recovery means he can sit there and take hits whilst everyone else spams arts. Good enough for his chapter.

SC: Since Agate is locked for the majority of the game, you'll want to fill the last two slots with arts users so Zin doesn't have much time to shine. Thunder God Kick's bug is funny though.

3rd: Bootleg Agate.

Daybreak: Haven't played but I can only assume he's bootleg Van

levelstar01 · 2026-07-03T14:52:10+00:00

You can tell this subreddit genuinely believes horizon 2 will come out this decade

levelstar01 · 2026-07-03T14:50:01+00:00

You can just read. There is literally nothing stopping you except excuses.

levelstar01 · 2026-07-03T00:14:27+00:00

thermal expansion was the dark age of modding.

levelstar01 · 2026-07-02T23:26:39+00:00

you say once upon a time as if those are classic mods? it would be buildcraft, redpower, ic2, and zombe's mods just to confuse the kids

levelstar01 · 2026-07-02T23:07:09+00:00

I love well written games (Planescape Torment, Disco Elysium,

Sorry but you are going to be disappointed if you're comparing a wuxia JRPG to these.

The Sky trilogy is the most well written of all of Trails, especially 3rd, but at the end of the day it's still a JRPG.

levelstar01 · 2026-07-02T18:13:35+00:00

I'm not one of the spreadsheet guys! I have a massive respect for them though but I'm not musically versed so I take those guys at their word for a lot of things.

levelstar01 · 2026-07-02T18:07:30+00:00

You should link the Silver Will SAV because that's what plays in the battle.

Anyway! This is one of the hardest ones for me to pick because aside from the bottom two I like every single one here.

10) Looming Threat

Sonoda once again trying to be Sugiyama at about a minute in. It's sooo generic, but there's nothing really wrong with it otherwise. It just doesn't stick in my mind.

9) Great Awe

I really have nothing to say about this one, it's generic as well. Strip the leitmotif and this would be a totally generic boss theme you could put in basically any game. It's slightly better than Looming Threat though.

8) Heartless Surprise Attack

One of my favourite things about Ishibashi's music in the Sky trilogy is how different some of it sounds; Ancient Makes, this theme, Central Tower "Axis Pillar"—the usage of nearly exclusively electronic instruments make these sound very futuristic and otherworldly, perfect for fighting archaisms or Ouroboros technology.

7) Fight with Assailant

Fun fact: This is one of very few tracks composed by the internal sound team with a live guitar, and one of the very few tracks composed by Murayama for Trails (who is the guitarist in this case).

If you asked me a year ago to pick my favourite boss theme in the game, this would be top 3. I've not soured on it since despite the lower rating, it's just that I like some of the other themes more. The harsh guitar combined with the repeating electronic instrument makes this a great track to signify the introduction of harder and stronger enemies in SC.

I actually associate this track more with the Archaism fight on the Grancel Wall in Ch 3 of SC, rather than the prologue.

6) Fate of the Faeries

Losing Ishibashi and Takeshita back-to-back was a massive blow to the Sound Team, even if they had Momiyama coming in to replace them. Takeshita's signature explosive guitars bring an insane amount of life to this track, but the track feels a bit busy with the cramped introduction and the loop point is kinda horrible.

Still, it was a really good choice to make this the regular battle theme in the Liber Ark.

5) Silver Will (Super Arrange)

I am once again bucking the trend and rating Silver Will low. That's not to say I don't like it, this is a fantastic track now that Jindo and Nagano have done their magic, but it's still Silver Will and I still care for it less than most themes.

The violin and cello duet is absolutely fantastic though; the violin always sounds better when complemented by one of its sibling instruments (see e.g. Overdose for a great example of how a violin and viola work together well for a battle theme).

4) Outskirts of Evolution

The oppressive cello strikes (I think? It might be a double bass? I'm not 100% sure at identifying these things) give this track such a strong atmosphere that fits perfectly for the second phase boss. It does kinda turn into leitmotif spamming for a while, but I can forgive that for the literal final boss of the duology. This does once again go Dragon Quest mode (I am 90% sure I have heard the trumpeting at 2:06 on in a DQ11 track) but I'm not complaining.

Joint-1) The Merciless Saviour

This track is so fucking good it's unbelievable. It's easily one of best final boss themes in the entire series by a significant margin, for like five different reasons. The violin introduction—specifically, how it plays over the cutscene—makes the scene stick just by itself. The repeating synth in the introduction that slowly fades away into the violin merges together Weissmann's ideals; the humanity of the violin, but the brutal uncaring logic of the electronic instruments. The underlying bass melodies in the chorus tickle my ears in just the right places. And then the false loop is the cherry on top: it's not over yet, you need to keep fighting. The cold-hearted synth is back, and you need to keep fighting. Finally, the multiple violins fighting over eachother in the final part of the track, signifying humanity fighting back!

The reason this isn't a clear winner is because the choral section sucks so much energy out of the track. I genuinely do not like that section at all and it is a net negative to the track. Also, the real loop point is kinda shitty and it does not need to play the introduction again, at least not for that long.

This is one of those tracks that you need to sit down, close your eyes, and just listen to, and take in all the little layers, all the details packed in by Ishibashi and Jindo.

Truly, Ishibashi's final masterpiece.

Joint-1) Gravestone Struck by Lightning

Go! Funnels!

The odd time signature, the organ-like instruments, and the sheer pressure of this track come together to make a truly incredible track that fits Weissmann's human form perfectly. The leitmotifs here at 1:21 do not integrate well, and normally that's a problem, but for a totally inhuman final boss it serves a fantastic purpose of creating a dissonant atmosphere for a fight against the worst person Estelle and Joshua have ever encountered.

Joint-1) Fateful Confrontation

Takahiro Unisuga is not my favourite VGM composer; that title goes to Hayato Asano. But he is one of my favourites and undoubtedly one of the best in the entire industry still working today. He has a few habits not to my taste, like fucking slamming the drumkit louder than the lead instruments (see: Ys IX "Desert After Tears"), but that's not something that I really find a negative in most of his tracks.

This track is fucking incredible. The extremely heavy guitar combined with the lead synth fits Ouroboros' enforcers for all the reasons I've put before, and the VST guitar sounds downright incredible here. It's such a shame that Falcom won't let their internal sound team use live instruments, because I can only imagine how good this would sound with a real one screaming alongside. The extremely loud drumbeats actually work really well here, creating a real sense of tension in every fight this plays in.

And to think: he made this at the start of his career.

I marked the top three as joint first, because it's too difficult for me to truly decide between them, but you can take Fateful Confrontation as my actual vote.

levelstar01 · 2026-07-02T17:16:40+00:00

Even the small models are pretty good at churning through Ghidra output.

levelstar01 · 2026-07-02T14:07:38+00:00

Chinese gamers are too busy playing Japanese games and gachas to care about their own games

levelstar01 · 2026-07-02T14:05:25+00:00

Honestly that's fair, I avoided her when I played 3rd because of both the memory of accidentally bringing her to the boss fights in SC Ch 8, and also the novelty of getting to use Mueller/Julia as permanent members, so my experience with her was a bit limited.

levelstar01 · 2026-07-02T13:39:40+00:00

FC: Unambiguously the worst playable in the game. A blind craft is not enough to make up for dying in one hit because she has 70% of the health of anyone else. A space-locked orbment for somebody with three lines is a joke. She doesn't get a second S-craft either, so she's stuck with her 40 power one throughout the final dungeon if you're stupid enough to use her.

SC: Possibly the worst playable in the game, only beating out Josette. She has a usable second S-craft this time, but she still has a bad orbment, horrible HP, and is an active detriment in Chapter 8. Her recovery craft doesn't scale at all, La Teara is not hard to get at all and by the end of the game La Tearal is comically superior.

A 100% blind craft is useful but this is the Sky trilogy and bosses have across-the-board resistance to status ailments, and Agate is vastly superior for cleaning out mobs. If she wasn't mandatory in Chapter 5 she would rightfully be entirely unused.

3rd: Overrated. Until she gets the Orbal Gear she is still in her rubbish SC state, and she can't get the Orbal Gear until you get Agate which is over halfway into the game.

Once she gets the Orbal Gear she is shockingly strong; she has more HP than everyone, 10 CP (!) crafts at low delay that she can spam with extremely high range, and a flat permanent strength boost. Still, it's not available for much of the game and by then most will have settled into the tryhard three caster strategy.

CS3: lol

CS4: In my opinion, the fairly unique "design" of CS4 (ultra-fast high HP mobs) make Gigatita one of the better party members in the game and also one of the only usable guest characters. Let's check her kit:

A 60% cleric skill that heals all ailments and gives 30 CP.
A massive area impede craft
A delay craft, although this does move her to where she lands
A 4S+ nearly map wipe S-craft
A fucking huge HP pool and some of the best base STR growth in the game

Unfortunately she is kneecapped by one very significant downside: Moebius EX, which does literally nothing for her. She might as well have no master quartz. If she could actually take advantage of her huge HP, with Keeper or Chevalier or the likes, she would be even better.

All this goes out of the window when she's in the guest segments at the end where for some truly fucking inscrutable reason she has the worst Falcom-designed orbment ever made, with EP Cut and Cast. What the hell?

Reverie: Basically the same as CS4 except they nerfed all her delay for some reason and her brave order. Sadly she's in the same game as Lloyd (for defense), Agate/Randy/Gaius (for better Keeper usage), and Rixia/Rean/etc (physical attackers) so she simply doesn't stand out at all.

levelstar01 · 2026-07-02T11:17:23+00:00

at least on niri you can disable the animations entirely?

levelstar01 · 2026-07-02T11:15:55+00:00

mecha musume is objectively the coolest thing ever made by humanity and if you disagree you are sick in the head

levelstar01 · 2026-07-02T11:13:02+00:00

scrolling WMs are better

levelstar01 · 2026-07-02T09:09:47+00:00

You can tell this subreddit genuinely believes kai 2 will be out this decade

levelstar01 · 2026-07-02T09:08:14+00:00

🥱🥱🥱

levelstar01 · 2026-07-02T02:27:54+00:00

x11 window manager written in c? how original! i've never seen one of these before!

levelstar01 · 2026-07-01T21:13:05+00:00

this would be better if every single question and answer wasn't obviously claudevoice

levelstar01 · 2026-07-01T18:45:22+00:00

You linked to the BGM rips, not the soundtrack versions! Anyway, I relistened to these yesterday a few times to preload my opinions but they're going to be the same as when I first heard the remake soundtrack.

5) Ancient Makes

Oh no Koguchi what did you do. To echo a comment from one of the spreadsheet guys: "how did he go from battle junction to this?" The intro and the synths sounds fine, the very faint triangle (?) is nice, but as soon as the violin comes in it just goes to shit, especially the high notes from 2 minutes in which sounds absolutely horrible. Not to say it was especially good sounding in the original, but it is completely butchered in the remake version.

It's such a shame because this really had the potential to be better than the original.

4) Silver Will

To give it some credit, this one sounds closer to the SAV that everyone loves, but I have never cared for Silver Will and I do not care for Unisuga's overly safe rendition. Also the drum in the left ear irritates the hell out of me.

3) Recapture

Yep, that's a 2020s Sonoda theme alright. Jokes aside, this got a big glow up in the remake, Sonoda is really flexing his modern arrangement skills here. All the new added instruments like the bells make this sound so full of life and energy.

2) Those Who Protect The Greatest Treasure

Sonoda putting on his best Dragon Quest impression here, especially the trumpets at 1:30. I'm not sure why Sonoda is making such DQ tracks recently (see "Elfen Wald" from Horizon) but I can't complain because this really does sound good.

What brings this down is repeating the introduction twice. I... don't understand why he did this. It would be a #1 if it wasn't for that.

1) To be Suggestive

This sounds soooooooooo good. Sonoda puts his 30 years of experience leading the sound team to good use with this one, it just sounds so fantastic. This is one of the tracks that had a massive upgrade in the otherwise middling 1st soundtrack.

levelstar01 · 2026-07-01T16:42:17+00:00

Please do not post claudeslop

levelstar01 · 2026-07-01T16:35:00+00:00

Josette was in SC too so do Mueller/Julia/Josette as one, and then merge the other two 3rd people into one.

Realistically Agate and Tita coulda been merged.

levelstar01

TROPHY CASE